Free Web NovelChapter 20: Sorry isn’t enough
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My heart skidded to a stop.
Sweat gathered at the back of my neck, on my forehead, and in my palms despite the cold.
I stared at the one person we had been trying to avoid. He was here. Headmaster Alaric.
He stood a short distance away, watching us with clear disapproval etched across his face.
I swallowed hard and glanced at Verah. The shock on her face slowly shifted into confusion as she looked at me, then back at him.
"Headmaster Alaric!" Verah laughed nervously, stepping closer behind me as if I could somehow shield her. "What are you doing here?"
"I believe that question should be directed at you, young lady," he replied evenly.
"Um..." she let out another strained laugh. "Sorry."
Verah winced and leaned into me, her voice dropping. "We are done for," she muttered through clenched teeth. "We might as well start digging our graves now, Elyse. Especially me. My parents are going to kill me."
I didn’t know exactly how bad this was for Verah, but I knew enough about parents to understand consequences.
If it were the Bakers, I would already be counting the days I’d spend locked away, surviving on scraps and apologies.
"Follow me," Headmaster Alaric said, turning away without another word.
Verah grimaced before hurrying after him, and I followed closely behind. We made our way back into the station, where Officer Rowan immediately rose to his feet the moment he saw us enter with Headmaster Alaric.
His eyes narrowed, his expression tightening with clear annoyance.
Verah gave him a sheepish smile but stayed silent, and thankfully, Headmaster Alaric handled all the talking.
I barely registered any of it. My thoughts were elsewhere. On the boys. On whether they were okay.
They weren’t with us, which meant they were probably still at the infirmary, and the uncertainty gnawed at me, compressing something in my chest with every passing second.
A hand suddenly landed on my shoulder. I flinched and turned to Verah.
"We’re leaving," she murmured.
Already?
I glanced around and noticed other students filing out of the waiting room, heading toward the exit.
We followed them outside, where a bus had been arranged for everyone.
Except us. Headmaster Alaric had other plans. He wanted Verah and me in his car.
The ride back to the dorm felt longer than the journey here, stretched thin by the suffocating silence that filled the vehicle.
Verah couldn’t sit still. She kept fidgeting with the pink charm bracelet on her wrist, wincing every now and then as she shifted in her seat. Her gaze flicked nervously between the window and the rearview mirror before returning to the window again.
She was scared.
I could feel it in the way her tension filled the space between us.
"Will you tell my parents?" she finally asked, breaking the silence.
Headmaster Alaric didn’t respond, and for a moment, I wondered if he hadn’t heard her until Verah spoke again, her voice softer this time, almost pleading.
"Please... my parents can’t know that I snuck out," she whispered. "Lance got hurt and..."
The car slowed before pulling to the side of the road. The engine was still running as his hand remained on the steering wheel.
"You could have gotten hurt today," he said, his voice edged with reprimand.
"But we didn’t," Verah replied.
Headmaster Alaric turned in his seat, fixing her with a hard glare. "There were witches at that party, vampires, other shifters... creatures far more dangerous than you seem to understand, and you were under curfew. Leaving campus was strictly forbidden, yet you still chose to go."
His voice hardened with frustration as he spoke, but beneath it, there was something else... something closer to fear. Then his gaze shifted to me.
"I trusted you to have better judgment, Elyse. Why didn’t you stop her?"
I looked away, my mind scrambling for something to say, but nothing came.
I had followed because I thought that was what Elyse would have done for her best friend. Now, hearing all this, I wasn’t so sure anymore.
Verah shrank into her seat, her gaze fixed on her hands. "I’m sorry..."
"Sorry isn’t enough," he snapped.
We both flinched. freewёbnoνel.com
"Do you have any idea the questions I would be forced to answer if something had happened to either of you?"
"But nothing happened," Verah muttered under her breath.
Not really.
I had intoxicated myself, somehow ended up bonded to three boys, which shouldn’t even be possible. We had been arrested, and now we were being lectured by the headmaster.
So yes, a lot had happened.
Headmaster Alaric pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long breath, shaking his head as if trying to steady himself.
Without another word, he turned back around, started the car, and continued driving.
The rest of the ride passed in silence, and within four minutes, we were pulling up in front of the dormitory.
I stepped out first, followed by Verah, while Headmaster Alaric got out as well.
Verah’s lips jutted out, her eyes already glossed with tears as she sniffled softly.
"Will you tell my parents?" she asked again.
"We’ll discuss this tomorrow," Headmaster Alaric replied, slipping his hands into the pockets of his black pants before adding in a stern tone, "Go inside. I’m watching."
Verah didn’t move.
I took her hand and started pulling her toward the entrance, but we both stopped when he spoke again.
"Your parents have been informed. Be at the hearing hall by eight a.m."
"He told them," she groaned, stomping her feet like a child. "He actually told them!"
It was the right thing to do. Wasn’t it?
Informing parents about something like this made sense. And yet, something about it didn’t sit right with me.
I pulled Verah inside as she continued to grumble, my mind already drifting to whatever punishment awaited us in the morning.
—
The following day.
Apparently, Headmaster Alaric had been at the station because he was called in the night before.
Unfortunately, instead of the officers handling the situation and letting us off with a warning, the academy’s disciplinary team took over.
Now, all of us who had snuck out were lined up in front of three officials, their expressions cold, their gazes fixed on us with nothing but disgust and disdain.
