The big room felt different when it was empty – sounds were hollow, and shadows seemed to move for no good reason. She threw on her clothes and hurried out – to find Sylvain leaning against the wall in the corridor.
At the sight of him, tall and lean, his blue eyes watching her cautiously, her heart sped up.
‘Hey,’ she said. ‘What’s up?’
‘Nothing.’ But he said it with such elaborate insouciance she knew he was faking it. ‘I just thought I’d walk up with you.’
‘Cool,’ she said, faking it, too.
Their footsteps were nearly silent on the linoleum floor and they were halfway down the long corridor before Sylvain spoke.
‘There was something I wanted to say earlier and I didn’t have time.’
‘OK…’
‘I wish…’ When he hesitated, she glanced up at him curiously – it wasn’t like Sylvain to be unsure of himself. ‘I wish you had come to me instead of… when you ran away.’
Too tired to dodge the subject, Allie sighed. It was all anyone wanted to talk about anyway.
‘I guess I should have. But I thought I had to do it on my own. I wanted to make something happen.’ They’d reached the foot of the staircase and she turned to look up at him. ‘Can you understand that? Does it sound crazy?’
‘I can understand why you felt that way.’ He was choosing his words carefully. ‘But I think you should have thought it through. You could have come to me. I would have told you the truth.’
‘Would you?’ she asked with a touch of bitterness. ‘Or would you have gone to Isabelle and told her what I was planning? To protect me.’
‘Have I ever done anything like that?’ He held her gaze and Allie realised that he hadn’t. Not once.
‘No,’ she said slowly. ‘I guess not.’
His eyes still held hers, as if he was waiting for her to understand something – to figure something out. Or as if he had more to say.
They were on the stairs now and as Allie reached for the banister her hand brushed his accidentally. She felt that touch like a shock, and jerked her hand away.
‘Sorry,’ she said, as heat rushed to her face.
‘For what? For touching me? It’s allowed, you know…’
His voice was gentle, teasing, but Allie wasn’t ready for this. She hurried up the stairs.
‘What is it, Allie?’ They’d reached the ground floor now, and his voice echoed in the grand hallway. ‘We’ve touched more than hands, you know.’
Instantly his words summoned images of that night. Snow falling. His lips warm against hers. Her fingers tangled in his hair.
She shook her head as if that could clear it all away.
‘We can’t,’ she said. ‘I can’t.’
‘Why not?’ The vulnerability in his expression as he looked at her then made her heart flip. ‘You know I like you. And I thought you liked me. But suddenly it’s over and you won’t even talk to me.’ When she didn’t speak he took a step closer. ‘You can’t lock yourself away for ever because of what happened, Allie. You have to keep living.’
‘Gabe already tried to kill you once because of me, Sylvain,’ she said. ‘That’s enough. No more. No one else dies because of me.’
He looked stunned. ‘Is that what this is all about? You’re trying to protect me from Gabe and Nathaniel?’ He held up his hands, trying to make her look at him. ‘Allie, I am not Jo.’
‘I know that,’ she snapped. ‘But don’t you get it? Someone in this building helped to kill Jo. And I’ve got to find out who that is and make sure they get what they deserve. And I don’t want you to get hurt and mess everything up and… and… distract me.’
His eyes blazed. ‘So you’re going to do this on your own, and I’m nothing more than a distraction?’ He raked his fingers through his hair. ‘You’re still running away, Allie. You just don’t realise it.’
With that, he stalked off, leaving her standing alone.
All the way up to the girls’ dorm wing, Allie kept going over the conversation in her mind, trying to find a way to make it less horrible.
The worst part was that Sylvain was right in a way – she was trying to do this on her own. She was afraid to let him – or anyone else – help. When he was around things got confusing and it was hard to focus. They’d just end up kissing again and there could be no kissing until the spy was identified. It just couldn’t happen.
Besides she hadn’t let go of Carter yet – not completely. After they’d talked this morning, some fragment of her heart hoped it was all a horrible mistake and they could find a way to make things work again.
Although every time she saw him with Jules that became a little less possible.
As she walked down the long corridor, her rubber-soled shoes squeaking faintly on the whitewashed floor, she sighed.
What a mess.
In her room, she dropped her bag with a thud. The room felt stuffy and she walked to the window, leaning across her desk to reach the latch. It swung open like a shutter, letting in a blast of cold, fresh air.
Allie closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to clear her head.
The moon was full – a bright spotlight in the sky illuminating the grounds with a wash of blue light. Still, even with its helpful glow, were it not for her Night School training she probably wouldn’t have noticed the flicker of movement below her, it happened so quickly.
Frowning, she scanned the lawn two storeys below for a fox or a night bird.
Then she froze, fingers tight against the window frame. Because what she saw was a man, running into the trees.
TEN
S
he couldn’t seem to catch her breath. Her chest was suddenly too small for her lungs.
Shoving things off the desk with a reckless sweep of her arm, she climbed up on top of it to try and get a better look through the window. But he’d disappeared completely.
For a second she stayed still, gripping the window frame. Then she tore across the room and out of the door.
Weariness forgotten, she pounded down two flights of stairs and along the wide, empty grand hallway to the front door, where she fumbled with the complicated old locking system, fingers numb with anxiety and excitement until, with an almighty clang, the lock finally gave and she was outside.
Leaving the front door open behind her she hurtled down the front steps. Her knee protested but she ignored its complaints and sped across the grass.
She wasn’t afraid. She was going to catch that man. And she was going to make him suffer.
The moonlight lit up the grounds like a stage – silvering the grass and illuminating the trees. Allie made no effort to hide herself or to move quietly. This wasn’t about stealth – it was about speed.
She’d made it across the lawn to the tree line, the spot where she’d last seen him, when her muscles – exhausted from the earlier training – began to give. She reeled drunkenly into the woods.
It was darker here – the moonlight couldn’t penetrate through the canopy of pine branches. Slowing her steps, she suddenly realised she had no idea where to go – she didn’t know which direction he’d taken after entering the forest.
Instinct led her to the chapel footpath where she sped up again, peering into the shadows. She stopped to listen, hoping to hear footsteps, breaking branches. But she could hear nothing except her own ragged breathing; her pounding heart.
I lost him.
Despairing, she bent over, resting her hands on her knees and taking shallow breaths. When she raised her head again, she noticed movement ahead – it was just a flitting shadow. But it didn’t seem right.
‘Stop!’ She shouted the word at the top of her lungs, bursting into a run. The shadow moved – turning towards her – and as she grew nearer it became a man, dressed all in black.
Only then did Allie realise she didn’t have a weapon. Desperate, she looked around for a long stick, a large rock – anything she could use. She grabbed a twig – too small and fragile to be
of use – but now the man was coming towards her, fast.
‘I said stop!’ she bellowed… but then her voice trailed off.
The man had a familiar face.
‘Allie?’ he said. Then he stepped into a thin beam of moonlight that broke through the branches. It was one of Raj’s guards – the one who had been with them in the SUV on the way back from the jail. ‘What are you doing out here?’
‘Were you just… on the lawn?’ She was breathing heavily. A stitch in her side had suddenly opened up like a knife wound and she dropped the twig to clutch her ribs.
‘Yes – we’re patrolling.’ Puzzled, he moved towards her carefully as if she might bolt or bite him. He spoke with elaborate calm – holding out his hands. ‘Do you remember me? I’m Peter. This is Karen.’
A guard with long blonde hair plaited into a single, shimmering braid stepped out from the trees to join him. Allie had seen her, too, working with Night School students.
‘What’s happened?’ Peter asked. ‘Why are you out here?’
‘I thought I saw –’ Allie said breathlessly – ‘Gabe.’
Karen’s eyebrows winged up. ‘And you thought you’d just run out to catch him? On your own?’
‘Well,’ Allie said, feeling utterly exhausted and stupid, ‘someone had to.’
The two guards took her down to a nondescript office in the basement near Training Room One, where Zelazny was less than pleased by what he described as her ‘attempted vigilantism’.
‘You could have been hurt,’ he said with obvious exasperation. ‘Someone else could have been hurt. Sometimes I think all our training is wasted on you, Sheridan. It doesn’t matter what you’re taught – you do the opposite whenever it suits you.’ He gestured around the bare office where the guards stood in a half circle around them. ‘This isn’t your living room. We are not your servants.’
Heat flooded Allie’s cheeks. ‘I’m really sorry,’ she mumbled, lowering her gaze. ‘I didn’t think.’
‘No. You didn’t.’ He leaned forward until she met his eyes. ‘There is a reason for everything we teach you, Allie. We’re not doing this to amuse ourselves. You need to focus or you’re not going to get through this.’ Then he’d picked up a pen and waved a hand to indicate her dismissal. ‘See Isabelle tomorrow after class for your punishment. Now, for heaven’s sake: go to bed.’
The next day, Allie endured all her classes, knowing she’d have to explain her actions to Isabelle that afternoon. The headmistress would not be happy. She’d broken The Rules – did this violate her agreement with Lucinda?
Had she ruined everything?
When her last class of the day finally ended, she walked down the stairs with heavy feet. Her gaze was lowered when Katie Gilmore stepped into her path with such suddenness Allie nearly ran into her.
‘Bloody hell, Katie…’ Allie grabbed the wide oak banister to keep herself upright. ‘What is your malfunction?’
In the light of the crystal chandelier, Katie’s fair skin was flawless; her clear green eyes sparked with malice. ‘Well, goodness. I don’t know. I was hoping a psycho liar who burgled the village church with some smelly pikey boy might be able to tell me. Do you know anyone who fits that description?’
Anger flared in Allie’s chest, hot enough to singe, but she willed it away. She was in enough trouble already.
‘Oh whatever, Katie.’
She moved to bypass Katie but the girl stepped smoothly in front of her, blue pleated skirt swinging.
‘I don’t know why they brought you back. It was the perfect opportunity to get rid of you. Raise the standards around here.’
‘Katie, seriously. Seek. Professional. Help.’ Allie kept her voice as steady and dismissive as she could but she could hear a slight tremor in her own words. It had been a long couple of days – she wasn’t sure she could handle this right now.
‘Allie’s grades are very good, actually. Well above average.’ At the sound of Zoe’s piping voice, Allie and Katie both spun around in surprise to see her standing behind them. ‘The standards are about the same whether she’s here or not.’
Katie eyed her with malicious contempt. ‘Oh look. It’s Robot Girl. Shouldn’t you be off memorising things? Or going through puberty?’ She turned back to Allie. ‘It’s so appropriate the little weirdo likes you.’
Outraged, Allie opened her mouth to defend Zoe, but the smaller girl beat her to it, stepping closer to Katie until she was standing two steps above her, forcing her to look up at her.
‘I’m already going through puberty,’ Zoe said with typical pedantry. ‘The same as you. You start at eleven and finish when you’re seventeen. On average.’
Katie glared. ‘I don’t care, you creepy little android.’
Allie stepped between them. ‘Leave her alone, Katie.’
A crowd began to gather, watching the skirmish with avid curiosity. This was getting out of hand.
Lowering her voice, Allie tried to speak in the same quiet, threatening way she’d seen Mr Patel do when he wanted to intimidate someone.
‘I don’t know what your problem is with me, and I don’t really care. You know who I am; who my grandmother is. Leave me and my friends alone or I will ruin your life. I will make it my mission to break you.’
Katie stepped closer, until their faces were inches apart. ‘I’m not afraid of you, Allie,’ she hissed. ‘And I’m not afraid of Lucinda Meldrum. No one is. You need to tell her —’
But mention of her grandmother’s name was too much – Allie grabbed Zoe’s arm and pulled her with her.
‘Come on, Zoe,’ she said, lowering a freezing glare at Katie. ‘We’re done here.’
When they reached the ground floor, the younger girl spoke, mostly to herself. ‘Puberty is a notoriously difficult and emotional time. I studied up on it, so I’m ready.’
‘That’s great, Zoe,’ Allie said absently. Her mind was on Katie’s words. What had she meant when she said no one was afraid of Lucinda? Was that some sort of message?
Katie’s parents were powerful members of the board. That was all Allie really knew about them.
Zoe, having finished her puberty point, was ready to get on with her day. ‘Anyway, I have to go and study now.’
Her smooth, unworried face showed no signs of concern about the altercation on the stairs.
‘Hey,’ Allie said hesitantly. ‘Thanks for standing up for me.’
Zoe swung her book bag over her shoulder. ‘That’s all right. Katie Gilmore is a bitch.’
When she’d gone, Allie turned towards Isabelle’s door. After a brief hesitation, she knocked on it firmly. When there was no response, she jiggled the door handle – it was locked tight.
‘Isabelle?’ she asked the door tentatively. ‘Are you in there?’
Silence.
‘Balls,’ Allie muttered.
For a few long minutes she waited outside, scuffing the toe of her black Oxford shoe on the polished wood floor. But Isabelle didn’t return.
Allie wasn’t sure what to do. Zelazny had been quite firm that Isabelle would expect her to be here. And the last thing she needed was more trouble.
Biting her lip, she looked around for a place to wait. Across the hall, a heavy ornamental table held a large vase filled with pale pink roses. If she sat on the floor next to it she was out of the way but could still see the headmistress’s door.
Once she was settled, she pulled her history book out of her bag and began looking over her homework. A stream of students and staff ebbed and flowed in the hallway in front of her, but there was no sign of Isabelle.
More than half an hour passed before she heard the faint creak of Isabelle’s office door. When she looked up, someone stood in front of it. Her back was to Allie, but it looked like the headmistress was having trouble with the lock.
At last.
‘Isabelle!’ Leaving her books on the floor, Allie ran across the hall. At the sound of her voice, the woman turned. But it wasn’t Isabelle at all.
It was Eloise. And in her hand she held a small silver key.
Eloise’s eyes widened as Allie skidded to a stop a few feet away, and for a moment the two just stared at each other in surprise.
What was Eloise doing in Isabelle’s office? Was she in there all along? Did she just ignore me when I knocked? And why was she messing with the door just now?
Allie knew she needed to say something but her mind wouldn’t seem to function.