Ruling silverlake High

Map in the ashes

The rusted engine of my Civic whined against the steep incline of the mountain road, the headlights barely cutting through the dense, early-autumn fog of upstate New York. It had been four days since I walked out of Charles Sterling’s mansion. Four days of frantic digging, late-night phone calls, and an unexpected alliance.I flicked my eyes to the passenger seat where Landon Chase was intently studying a printed topographical map, his varsity jacket thrown carelessly into the footwell."Are you sure about these coordinates, Landon?" I asked, my knuckles white against the steering wheel. "If we get caught trespassing on a private military academy grounds, your senator dad won't be able to bail us out of this one.""Trust me, Aria," Landon said, his voice unusually grim as he traced a line on the paper. "The Vanguard Military Academy isn't just a school; it’s a high-security holding pen for the out-of-control kids of the Eastern Seaboard elite. My dad threatened to send me there freshman year. The Sterlings are the primary donors. The only reason I found out Zander was here is because his dad bragged about the 'rehabilitation' to my father over golf yesterday."Landon rolled up the map, turning his head to look at me, his expression softening with a mixture of respect and concern. "You're really doing this, aren't you? You threw away your entire routine for him.""He threw away his entire life for my brother, Landon," I said simply, my voice tight. "I'm just balancing the ledger."Ten minutes later, the massive gray stone walls of Vanguard Academy loomed out of the fog like a medieval fortress. Iron spikes topped the perimeter, and a heavy, barred gate blocked the main entrance. I pulled the Civic onto a muddy dirt trail hidden by a thick grove of pine trees, cutting the engine. The silence of the mountains descended on us, heavy and freezing.

The barracks are on the north wing," Landon whispered, pulling a black flashlight from his pocket. "The guards do a perimeter sweep every hour on the dot. We have exactly twenty minutes to get to the eastern courtyard where the high-security discipline units are kept before the next patrol."We slipped out of the car, the freezing mountain air biting at my cheeks. We ran low, keeping to the shadows of the stone wall until we reached a section where an old oak tree’s branches hung precariously over the iron spikes. Landon went first, hoisting his athletic frame up the bark with practiced ease, before reaching down to grab my hands.My sneakers slipped against the wet wood, the rough bark scraping my palms, but I refused to let go. With a quiet grunt, Landon pulled me over the wall, and we dropped silently into the wet grass of the academy grounds.The courtyard was dead quiet, illuminated only by a single, flickering floodlight. Rows of heavy, iron-reinforced doors lined the stone building. It looked less like a school and more like a prison."Which one is his?" I breathed, my heart hammering against my ribs."Cell fourteen," Landon muttered, checking his watch. "Go. I’ll keep watch by the tree line. If you see the flashlights, run."I didn't waste a second. I bolted across the damp grass, my sneakers muffled by the turf, until I reached the heavy iron door marked with a painted white number fourteen. A small, barred window sat at eye level, covered by a thick piece of tinted glass.I pressed my face against the bars, my breath fogging the glass. The interior was dark, lit only by the pale moonlight filtering through a high, narrow slit in the stone wall. A metal cot sat in the corner.Sitting on the edge of the cot, his back to the door, was a tall figure. He wore a stark, heavy gray military uniform, his broad shoulders squared, his posture perfectly rigid. His dark, messy hair had been cleanly cropped close to his head, exposing the sharp, harsh lines of his jaw.

Zander," I whispered, my voice cracking against the iron bars.The figure didn't move for a fraction of a second. I thought he hadn't heard me over the whistling mountain wind. But then, slowly, his shoulders dropped their rigid posture. He turned his head, his ice-gray eyes cutting through the darkness of the cell.When his gaze landed on my face through the bars, his entire expression cracked. The cold, unreadable discipline of the academy vanished, replaced by a raw, violent shock.He stood up, crossing the stone floor in three massive, predatory strides until his hands slammed against the iron bars of the window, inches from my face. Up close, his eyes were bloodshot, a dark, dangerous fire reigniting behind the gray iris."Aria?" Zander growled, his voice a low, gravelly rasp that sounded like it hadn't been used in days. "What the hell are you doing here? Are you insane?""I told you, Sterling," I whispered, a fierce, defiant smile breaking through the tears blurring my vision. I reached through the narrow gap in the bars, my fingers brushing against the rough wool of his uniform sleeve. "I always pay my debts. And you don't get to hide in the mountains after buying my brother's future."Zander’s grip on the iron bars tightened until his knuckles turned white. He leaned his forehead against the metal, his eyes locked onto mine with a terrifyingly beautiful, consuming intensity that completely erased the freezing mountain air."You shouldn't have come, sweetheart," Zander murmured, his breath hot against the glass, a dark, ruthless smirk slowly returning to the corner of his lips. "Because now that I know you're out there... I'm going to break this entire place down just to get back to you."