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The headmaster opened his mouth to answer when the door opened. Five men, all older, all with very stern expressions, filed in and took the seats. They wore Custodian uniforms embroidered with symbols I’d never seen before. One of them held a clipboard. The others had their hands tucked into their pockets. I would have bet my life that they had weapons stashed in there.
I had been half-hoping that Dru would be among the Custodians sent to deal with us, but he wasn’t.
Honestly, I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, he might have put in a good word for us. On the other hand, he might have spilled the beans about Kingston’s enchanted cell phone and how we had deliberately snuck off on an unsanctioned venture in the underworld last semester, using his knowledge and connections to successfully complete a rogue mission.
Which, let’s be honest, wouldn’t have helped us at all.
“Good afternoon,” the Custodian in the center of the intimidating group said. “As you know, we are here to determine the extent of your transgressions and decide on a fitting punishment. You are all on trial.”
I swallowed hard.
“We have several questions,” a soft-spoken Custodian to his right said. “Primarily about the timelines of certain events. Now—we are aware that you were given your first-year exams late. Could you tell us why?”
“We were trying to save the school from being sabotaged,” I said, keeping my voice as calm and emotionless as possible. “We almost managed it too.”
“Hm, I see. And last year’s exams? Where were you when those were taking place?”
I lifted my chin defiantly and jerked my head at Xero, my heart starting to beat harder. “He was kidnapped by Gavriel when we were—”
“Just answer the question you were asked,” the Custodian on the far left snapped. The look he gave me suggested he’d already decided we were all guilty as sin. “Where were you when your exams were being held?”
I ground my teeth. “In the underworld.”
“Were you given permission to be in the underworld?”
My throat was tightening, panic and anger coursing through me. I cleared it. “Not officially.”
“Unofficially?”
“No.”
“Then you left the Fallen University campus under your own volition, with full knowledge of the consequences, and skipped your exams. What do you think this is, middle school? You can’t skate by with an incomplete, you know. No child left behind doesn’t apply here. Did you really think you could get away with it?”
“I wasn’t trying to ‘get away’ with anything, I was trying to save Xero’s li—”
The Custodian in the center cut me off. “That’s irrelevant.”
“Excuse me, sir,” Xero said, his posture stiffening. “But I think—no, I know—that if they had waited until after the exams to rescue me, that I would have been—”
“Stuck there,” the man on the far left said with an ugly grin. “Yes. We’re quite aware.”
“No, dude.” Jayce leaned forward, his expression earnest. “You don’t understand. He would have died, he was almost—”
“Well, he should have thought about that before he left the safety and security of the school!”
Jayce snapped his mouth shut and glared. I had never seen him look so furious.
“You knew the exams would be held as soon as possible after you arrived back at earth,” the center Custodian said evenly. “And you were fully aware that missing those exams would lead to banishment.”
“Well, yes, but—”
“Then you are hereby banished.”
I blinked.
What the fuck? What the actual fuck?
Banished to the underworld. Why? We’d done the right goddamn thing! Every decision we’d made had been for the greater good. Didn’t they care? Wasn’t there any wiggle room at all?
