Page 67 of Defiant Beta

I’m stepping out of the wellness center when I spot Ms. Arkwright stalking toward me, and subtly cough.

Xavier drops back out of sight.

“Mr. Tomaz.” She frowns at me, lips pursed. “Why are you so disheveled?”

“Just had a hard workout.”

Her eyes narrow with suspicion. “A word in my office.”

“About?”

“In my office.” She spins around and walks back the way she came.

I glance back at Xavier, who shrugs. He doesn’t know what this is about and neither do I.

“We’ll talk later,” he mouths.

I follow Ms. Arkwright through the school grounds, drawing cool air into my lungs as my strength slowly returns.

I’m feeling stronger and more myself when I take the seat opposite the head of school.

“I’m terminating your contract with immediate effect,” she says.

Someone tries to kill me, and I get fired right after. I’d laugh if I wasn’t fighting to control my mounting rage. One step closer to Aly’s killer, and it’s another two fucking steps back.

“Why?”

She rearranges a pile of papers on her desk. “I can’t, in good conscience, disclose that. After you’ve gathered your things, security will escort you off campus.”

What the fuck is going on?

I sit up in my seat. “Is this to do with my personal leave the other day?”

She smiles tightly. “Security will escort you off the campus as soon as you’ve collected your belongings.”

I study her for a beat. She’s tight-lipped, and I’m too exhausted to push for answers.

All I can think is that whoever tried to kill me decided on a two-pronged attack to get rid of me. Death by sauna didn’t work, so they went to Ms. Arkwright.

An accusation.

Someone went to her and made an accusation.

“Fine.” I push myself to my feet. “I’ll collect my belongings.”

I need to talk to Xavier before I leave.

She smiles. “I’ll have your last paycheck forwarded to you.” Turning to the door, she calls out loudly, “Gerard!”

Someone pushes the door open, and the brown-haired security guard hovers in the doorway, his eyes hawklike and cold.

“Please escort Mr. Tomaz to collect his belongings and then off school grounds. Do not leave him alone at any point,” she says firmly.

It’s a struggle to control my frustration. Someone doesn’t want me here, and the only person I can think would want me gone so suddenly is Thomas Benson.

He was hanging around the girls’ dorms. I confronted him, and nowthis?

I walk out of the building, briefly capturing Xavier’s eye. He’s feet from the wellness center, in his gardening disguise, bagging up raked leaves.

---