Nocticadia: A Dark Academia Gothic Romance

About a mile from campus, my phone buzzed in my pocket, and I answered immediately on seeing a call from Langmore.

“What is it?”

“It’s Winthrop. He’s asked you to return to The Roost. They have Lilia.”

Dread twisted up my insides, and I pulled the car over to the side of the road as I clicked out of the call. “You need to get out,” I said without looking at Gilchrist. “I’m sorry.”

“Good grief. I am just about tired–”

“Get out!”

“Okay. Fine. I’ll get out.” She slid from the passenger seat, and the moment she closed the door, I hit the gas toward The Roost.

The main building was an old Catholic church, built long before the monastery, but like parts of the monastery, it’d survived the great fire. What had made it such an inviting piece of real estate for The Rooks, was that it happened to be connected to tunnels that ran beneath the entire island, built into the rock. The Rooks had it remodeled and updated with all the latest technology, turning the old church into something of a fortress.

I pulled up to the gate, which was manned by a brute more tyrannical than Sam at Dracadia’s entrance. He didn’t even bother to check my credentials as he allowed passage.

They’d been expecting me.

I drove into the underground parking garage, my head spinning with how the hell I’d get out of this one. Caedmon had fucked me by threatening the chairman’s daughter. Intentionally, I imagined. My brother had always despised The Rooks, and my father’s affiliation with them. Knowing that I’d followed in our father’s footsteps would’ve undoubtedly seemed like an act of betrayal to Caed.

Nabbing my suit coat from the backseat, I carefully slid my arm inside, flinching at the sting. The last thing I wanted was to give them the satisfaction of thinking one of their goons had actually nailed a shot.

A fellow Rook met me at the elevator and escorted me up one floor, to the room where trials were held.

I kept my breathing steady as I entered the room that was packed with Rook members wearing the usual ceremonial garb.

Seemed a bit much for a threat. No doubt, Mel was Winthrop’s princess, and he certainly seemed protective of her in that respect, but calling on members for a meeting like this just seemed to be overkill. As far as I knew, Caedmon hadn’t actually cut her. The garb, often worn for a death sentence, was the first sign something was amiss.

I’d stepped just inside the room, when the Rook who’d escorted me there threw out his hand to stop me. The center floor shifted to allow an enormous golden cage to rise up from below.

Inside the cage stood Lilia.

It seemed death was precisely what they had in mind.

Relief claimed her face as she rushed toward the bars, her hands shaking as she curled her fingers around them. “Devryck!”

My muscles lurched, my body keening with the urge to kill every bastard in the room. The escort lowered his arm, and I strode up alongside the cage, wearing a mask of indifference. Showing any emotion would’ve been foolish.

The associate chair, sitting next to what I knew was Winthrop, stood to address me. “Dr. Devryck Bramwell, you’ve been brought forth on accusations of having threatened the chairman’s daughter, and for the brutal slaying of fellow Rook and provost, Edward Lippincott, who was found moments ago in his office.”

Fuck.

Fuck!

Caedmon again. However, they’d have likely obtained video evidence that, in their eyes, showed my face, not my brother’s. Threatening the chairman’s daughter was bad enough, but killing a fellow Rook was the most grievous crime one could commit. A death sentence.

“Why is Miss Vespertine here?” I dared to ask, already knowing the answer. “She’s innocent. She had nothing to do with any of this.”

“Due the importance of your role in the Noctisoma study, Miss Lilia Vespertine will stand in your place as The Accused. It has come to our attention that the two of you have had relations together. There lies the possibility that she might be complicit in your crimes. While the nature of your relationship is of no consequence, the significance of it is, in this case.” Mel had obviously reported the news to her father, alongside the accusation of my having attacked her. “Do you have anything to say to your fellow Rooks?”

“I do.” I stepped closer, refusing to look at what I imagined was fear and confusion plastered to Lilia’s face right then. “I’ll ask my brethren to pardon Miss Vespertine, on the basis that the chairman’s daughter conspired with Dr. Lippincott to murder a student believed to have gone missing.”

Chairman Winthrop sat forward, his fingers curled in tight fists. “Lies!”

I lifted my phone and twisted to show the members standing at my back. “I have proof. Security footage that captured the crime.”

The associate chair flicked his fingers for my phone, and once I’d handed it over, he stared down at it for a number of lingering minutes. He slowly lowered the phone, passing it to the man seated next to him.

Chairman Winthrop viewed the video next.

Seconds ticked by, and he lowered the phone beside him, clearing his throat. If I had to guess, the man was fuming with humiliation right then, probably ready to strangle his daughter–particularly after the sickening embrace with Lippincott.

“Ms. Harrick possessed data recorded during the Crixson Project, which implicated Lippincott in the crime of having swapped inoculations.” A bold accusation, but one I was willing back with my name and rank. “In essence, he murdered the six women involved in the study and passed the blame onto my father.”

“You’ve no proof of that,” the Chairman volleyed. “We’ve no idea what was burned in that fire.”

“I have the files. All of them,” Lilia said beside me, her fingers curled around the bars of the cage. “On the computer chip that you confiscated. They were given to me by Professor Gilchrist. She served as a secretary and data entry person for the study. January fifteenth is the date Darrows noted a change in the inoculations. You should find his notes there.”

My brazen little moth. I bit back a smile watching her address these powerful men like she was prepared to fly right into the flame. Of course, she’d have to get past me first.

One of the nearby Rooks handed off what I presumed to be the confiscated chip to the associate chair. In turn, he handed it off to another man sitting two seats down from him, whom I guessed to be Dr. Fausten, and said, “If you’d be so kind as to confirm the notes on January fifteenth.”

Another Rook placed a laptop down in front of Dr. Fausten. Minutes passed in agonizing quiet, as he seemed to scroll through the notes.

I prayed they were in some kind of order. Knowing Gilchrist’s meticulous nature, I suspected they were.

“I’m sorry,” Lilia whispered beside me.

How badly I wanted to hold her hand, to assure her that everything would be okay. Perhaps in any other courtroom, the evidence would’ve held up, but I was up against more than suspicion and doubt. I was up against corruption, politics, and favoritism, and there was no guarantee that they’d find the facts compelling enough to spare Lilia.

My mind scrambled for another solution, another means of saving her life, because there was no fucking way she was going to be killed on my watch. I’d burn the whole damned project down and walk away with a smile. Fuck the consequences.

Another minute passed, and Dr. Fausten eased back in his chair. “The Accused is correct–the notes on January fifteenth demonstrate that the samples had been noted as discolored and possibly contaminated. Darrows did, in fact, administer the inoculations. It seems Dr. Warren Bramwell attempted to file a report, which was rejected by former Chairman Lowenstein.” Winthrop’s predecessor, who’d been exceptionally tight with Lippincott. He was the one who’d petitioned for Lippincott’s position as provost. “Lippincott was noted as suspect in Bramwell’s report.”

“We will investigate this further, in an effort to restore the Bramwell name,” the associate chair said. “As for Miss Vespertine, we find ourselves in a rather precarious position. Her awareness of our organization poses a threat to the security and anonymity we’ve upheld for centuries. As you know, in the past, this has resulted in swift execution.”

“I propose to make her a member,” I said without hesitation. “In the time that she has worked in my lab, Miss Vespertine has made a rather significant contribution in the stability of the Noctisoma toxin.”

“And what is this contribution?” Chairman Winthrop asked with an edge of dubiety.

“I’m not at liberty to say.” I glanced over at Lilia and back. “The research belongs to her.”

Chairman Winthrop tapped his finger on the polished wood of the bench. “One does not become a Rook without proper assessment.”

I was all too aware of their assessments. The initiation. The missions I was tasked with carrying out to prove my loyalty. Every member in the room had suffered at the hand of the elders. “I offer my personal endorsement.”

Doing so ensured that, if she messed up, both of us would ultimately pay the price. Not even fathers personally endorsed their sons, for fear of the consequences. They needed to know just how much I was willing to place on the line for her.

“You are aware of the repercussions.” An air of satisfaction hung on the Chairman’s words.

“I am,” I answered assuredly.

“Miss Vespertine.” The associate chair crossed his hands in front of his body. “Is it your interest to become a fellow Rook? To be indoctrinated into our society, bound by our rules, and branded with our emblem?”

She lowered her gaze, as if contemplating the question. As if contemplating the fucking question?

What the fuck?

The alternative was a cozy eternal nap.

When she lifted her gaze again, every muscle in my body tensed, not knowing what the hell the wild card would say.

“I want my scholarship reinstated. All four years and a master’s degree. And I want my childhood home. Paid for in full.”

Bold little shit.

Again, I had to hide the smile itching to escape, the pride that was damned near beaming out of me.

“A-a-and I feel emboldened to make such requests based on the significance of my contribution. It’s proven to sustain the effect of the toxin, ensuring its success.” She was nervous, hands shaking, but beautifully dauntless at the same time.

“Do you agree with this claim, Dr. Bramwell?” Chairman Winthrop asked, dragging my attention back to The Seven.

“I do. I’ll provide a report by the end of the week with the early in vivo results. You’ll find them most favorable, I assure you.”

“Then, we’ll vote on the matter to enlist Miss Lilia Vespertine as a member of The Seven Rook Society, with the accommodations that she has so brazenly requested.”

It could’ve gone either way. There’d only ever been one female member prior to her–a ruthless woman who’d had far more money than Lilia. They could’ve easily told her to fuck off, killed her, and attempted to force me to reveal the black rock discovery. Of course, they’d have had to torture me at that point. No fucking way I’d give them what they wanted if they dared to lay a finger on her. I’d carry that information to the grave on the promise that Lilia and I would reunite in the afterlife.

Each of The Seven removed their pins from their gowns.

My heart rampaged inside my chest, slamming against my bones. I knew every face behind every mask, and I would hunt every one of them down, starting with Winthrop. I’d start a collection of flayed skin and severed tongues, if they dared to issue a death sentence right then.

One by one, each of The Seven laid their gavels out.

All of them gold.