They were sitting where Allie and Sylvain had talked the night before, each holding a steaming mug of tea and an untouched biscuit. Even though there was nobody around, they spoke in whispers.
‘Should I?’ Allie asked. ‘It’s been bothering me. He didn’t say I shouldn’t. But it all seemed kind of … I don’t know. Off the record. Like she didn’t want me to know.’
‘But if you’re actually in danger, why on earth wouldn’t she want you to know?’ Rachel looked worried.
‘I don’t know – the whole thing sounds totally weird. But the look on his face … it seemed to me he was really worried.’ Allie leaned back with a sigh. ‘Something’s wrong.’
‘Let me think about it,’ Rachel said. ‘I’ll come up with something.’
But Allie thought she looked worried too.
With Sylvain’s warning hanging over her, Allie slept poorly on Monday. By Tuesday night, after another day of intense classes and an evening spent finishing her essay in the library, she was exhausted when she climbed the stairs to her room at midnight.
Her teeth had only the most fleeting visit from a toothbrush, and she was half asleep by the time she pulled on her pyjamas.
Leaving the window open to the warm night breeze, she muttered, ‘Night-night, room,’ and fell into a sleep so sound she couldn’t recall a single dream.
When she awoke about two hours later, at first she didn’t know what had disturbed her. Her eyes fluttered open. Still deep in the hazy space between asleep and awake, she saw a figure bent over her bed, watching her. At first she thought she was dreaming.
Then she heard him breathe.
‘Carter?’ she murmured, stirring.
She sensed rather than saw the sudden movement as the figure jumped lithely onto the desk and then slipped out the window with the ease of an acrobat.
That isn’t Carter.
That realisation yanked her from her torpor and she sat bolt upright in bed, staring at the open window for a split second before leaping up to turn on the overhead light.
The room was empty. But somebody had been there, she was certain of it. The books and papers on her desk had been disturbed. A pen that had rested on a notebook when she went to sleep now lay on the floor.
She hadn’t been dreaming.
Forcing herself to keep breathing steadily, she climbed up onto the desk and looked out the window, but all she saw was countryside, bathed in the faint glow of a sliver of moon.
Shivering despite the warm night, Allie closed the window and latched it tightly – testing the strength of the lock before climbing back into bed and wrapping her arms around her knees. She sat awake for a very long time.
TWENTY-EIGHT
‘Maybe you were dreaming,’ Carter suggested, but she could see that his muscles had tensed.
‘I wasn’t,’ Allie insisted. ‘Things were moved. Besides, I saw him.’
They were sitting with Rachel at the summerhouse. Classes had ended for the day a few minutes before. The sky was grey and ominous, but it hadn’t yet begun to rain.
‘You see people in your dreams,’ he pointed out. ‘Everybody does. How can you be sure you weren’t asleep and the wind didn’t blow things around?’
‘Did you pinch yourself, Allie?’ Rachel asked. ‘Or, do something to make sure you were awake? Sometimes dreams seem very real.’
‘I saw him.’ Allie was increasingly frustrated. ‘Why don’t you believe me? I sat up in bed as he went out the window. It wasn’t a dream. He was in my room.’ She shuddered. ‘He was in my room.’
‘Hey, it’s OK.’ Rachel put her arm around her. ‘You’re OK. We believe you. We just want you to be sure. Tell us exactly what you saw. What did he look like?’
Screwing up her face, Allie tried to remember everything. ‘He was shorter than Carter, and more slight. He wore all black, and he was fair. I’m pretty sure his hair was almost blonde.’
For a while they went half-heartedly through a list of all the students who could conceivably match that description, but dismissed them all.
‘Nobody in Night School looks like that, ‘Carter said finally. ‘And only Night School can get up on the roof right now.’
‘Night School and whoever was in my room last night,’ Allie said. ‘Carter, there’s something else I have to tell you …’
Until that moment she hadn’t told him about her conversation with Sylvain, so now she filled him in. As he listened his jaw tightened. When she finished he jumped to his feet without a word and strode out of the summerhouse to the edge of the woods where he stood with his back to them.
‘Uh-oh,’ Allie said, making an abortive move as if to get up and walk to him and then changing her mind and sitting back down again.
‘Give him a minute. He’ll be fine,’ Rachel said. ‘And then I’ll really piss him off with my news.’
‘News?’ Allie raised an eyebrow curiously.
‘Let’s wait,’ Rachel replied, watching Carter. ‘I kind of only want to tell this once.’
Allie saw that he was walking back towards them now. The rush of colour that had flooded his face as he listened to her story had receded and he seemed calmer.
‘I believe him,’ he said. ‘He’s an arse, but if anybody would know, he would. He should have told me. Not you.’ He looked angry. ‘But he has this thing for you so he decided to do it this way. Fine. Now we know.’
Allie looked over at Rachel, who winced before leaning towards Carter. ‘You’re not going to like what I have to say.’
‘What?’ he growled. ‘Are you telling me this day gets better?’
‘I told my father what’s going on.’
‘Oh good. It does get better!’ Carter ran his hands through his hair. ‘I had no idea that was possible. You know, between the two of you everybody’s going to know everything about us before the term ends on Friday. Should we just take out a billboard and put all our secrets on it? Maybe we could set up a website – AllOurSecrets dot com.’
‘There are no computers here,’ Allie reminded him.
‘I am fully aware of the lack of internet technology at Cimmeria,’ he snapped. ‘But thanks for reminding me.’
She ducked behind Rachel.
‘I am truly sorry,’ Rachel said. ‘I realise you don’t know that you can trust my father, but believe me, you can. And I’m scared for Allie. So I borrowed Isabelle’s phone and I told him everything. He knows who Nathaniel is.’
The last sentence seemed to hang in the air.
Allie was the first to gather her wits. ‘Who is he?’ she asked eagerly.
‘Here’s the thing,’ Rachel said, shooting Carter a worried look. ‘He won’t tell me.’
‘Of course not,’ he said sarcastically. ‘But he’s completely trustworthy.’
‘He really is.’ Rachel was fighting to stay calm. ‘He said he couldn’t tell me that. But he did tell me some things about him. He said Nathaniel is for real. That he and Isabelle used to be very close – those are the precise words he used – but they had some sort of falling out and now he is determined to take over Cimmeria and Night School – to sort of be the new her. If that happened, my dad said, it would be a disaster. He loathes Nathaniel. Says he’s ruthless. Possibly insane. And that he’ll stop at nothing to have what he wants.’
‘Oh good,’ Allie said.
‘It gets worse,’ Rachel continued. ‘Some members of the board are on his side. There’s something Isabelle’s doing that they don’t like. It has something to do with the larger organisation. Anyway, some people would like to see Isabelle gone, and they think they could use Nathaniel to do it. Just let him get rid of her, and then they think they’ll get rid of him. But Dad says it won’t work and that it could ruin everything.
‘He’s going to talk to Isabelle about it on Friday when he comes to get me. But he said something else.’
She looked at Allie, her brow furrowed. ‘He said for you to watch your back.’
Images of the night before flashed in Alli
e’s mind and she shuddered. Then she stood up, her eyes resolute. ‘Let’s go and talk to Isabelle.’
‘What …’ Rachel said. ‘Now?’
‘Now.’
‘She’s right.’ Carter stood and walked to Allie’s side. ‘I’m out of ideas. And somebody was in Allie’s room last night. It’s time.’
‘Well,’ Rachel stood up and joined them, ‘maybe she won’t expel all of us.’
‘And you’re certain you weren’t dreaming?’ Isabelle’s eyes were piercing but Allie didn’t falter under her gaze.
‘Positive,’ Allie said, her voice more confident than she felt.
After they’d approached her with their story, Isabelle had invited Matthew and Sylvain to join them, and they were all now crowded into her office. Allie and Carter perched on the top of the cabinets they’d rifled through two weeks before. Rachel sat cross-legged on the floor beneath them. Sylvain, Isabelle and Matthew all sat in the headmistress’ leather chairs.
When Sylvain and Matthew had joined them, Isabelle introduced Matthew as a ‘security expert’, then asked Allie, Rachel and Carter to tell their story again.
Now as they processed the information, the room was quiet.
‘It will be one of Nathaniel’s people,’ Sylvain said, breaking the silence.
Isabelle looked at him incredulously but he didn’t back down.
‘They know already, don’t you Allie?’ he said, looking at her steadily.
Flushing, Allie nodded.
‘How do you know about Nathaniel?’ Isabelle said, her voice taut with anger.
Allie glanced quickly at Carter, then looked back at Isabelle. Her jaw worked as she thought about what to say. ‘Does it really matter?’
Isabelle held her gaze for a long moment and Allie couldn’t read her expression.
‘No. I suppose it doesn’t.’ She took in Carter and Rachel. ‘Do you all know?’
They nodded mutely.
‘Fine then. Matthew?’ She turned to her advisor.
‘Who else could it be?’ Matthew asked.
‘Right. There are two days left in the term,’ Isabelle said to the room as a whole. ‘Already Night School is stretched to capacity trying to ensure the grounds are safe. But there are not enough of us – somebody made it through and we noticed nothing. I don’t know what you think you know about Nathaniel, but I can tell you he is very dangerous and vindictive. He was behind some of what happened the night of the summer ball. So we need to change our strategy. I will speak to the others but in the meantime, Sylvain and Carter, your role from now on will be to stay close to Allie at all times. Night and day. At least one of you will accompany her constantly. Never leave her side. Work in shifts. Agreed?’
Carter glowered at Sylvain, but he nodded.
Sylvain looked beatifically innocent. ‘Agreed.’
‘Allie,’ Isabelle turned towards her. ‘I want you to continue your life as normal. Go to class. Sleep in your own room. But do not go anywhere without Carter or Sylvain.’
Although she was unable to imagine how this was going to work (What about the bathroom?) Allie nodded, mutely.
‘Rachel, I know you’re doing this already, but stay with Allie as much as possible, too. She will need your support.’
‘Of course,’ Rachel said.
Isabelle continued, ‘I will speak with your father to make sure he’s fine with this, but I’m sure he will be.’
‘Now.’ Isabelle’s eyes swept the students. ‘Please leave us. We have work to do.’
In the hallway outside her office, tension was thick in the air. Carter gripped Allie’s hand possessively.
‘Would you like me to take the first shift?’ Sylvain’s voice was pure silk.
A tendon worked in Carter’s jaw.
‘I want you to go f …’ he started, but Allie grabbed his arm.
‘Carter no. Calm down.’ She looked at the two of them. ‘You can both stay with me until one of you has to go somewhere, OK? Then the other will take over. No fighting. With each other, anyway.’
Neither of them responded.
‘I’ll be in the library with Rachel for the rest of the day. We can all study together,’ Allie continued. ‘It will be fine. It’s just two days.’
‘That is fine with me,’ Sylvain purred.
Carter still hadn’t spoken and now Allie looked up into his face, stroking his tense cheek with her fingertips.
‘Come on,’ she whispered.
‘Fine,’ he said through clenched teeth. ‘We’ll both take care of you.’
Allie breathed out. ‘Good.’
‘Anyway … There’s a chemistry book calling my name.’ Rachel said.
Allie shot her a grateful look. ‘And I’ve still got to finish that bloody history paper. I just need to run up to my room to get my notes.’
‘I’ll go with you,’ Carter and Sylvain chorused.
They glared at each other.
‘Oh God,’ Allie muttered wearily. ‘This is just perfect.’
For the rest of the evening, aside from a brief break for dinner, the four of them worked in the library where the no-talking rule meant no fights, something for which Allie was grateful. But whenever she took a coffee break, Sylvain and Carter both stood up to accompany her. Carter would glower at Sylvain, who always innocently shrugged. ‘But I am thirsty.’
‘Bloody cheek,’ Carter would mutter, reaching for Allie’s hand.
Allie turned to Rachel as he pulled her away, mouthing: ‘Help. Me.’
Rachel grimaced sympathetically.
Later, when Rachel suggested a loo break, Allie followed her eagerly. Sylvain and Carter waited outside the door.
‘So, basically, this is my worst nightmare. My current and former would-be boyfriend at my side constantly … together.’ Allie splashed cold water on her face.
‘Carter’s handling this really badly,’ Rachel sighed as Allie dried her face. ‘I wish for his own sake he’d have a big steaming cup of calm the hell down.’
‘He has to. No way can I take this for two whole days,’ Allie said, applying a sweep of pale pink lip gloss. ‘I’ll lose it.’
She stared at herself in the mirror. Her hair had grown while she’d been here, and the henna had faded away. Now it hung in glossy dark waves to her shoulder blades. Her wide-set grey eyes were framed by long lashes, feathery black against her pale skin. She wore only minimal makeup; she didn’t need more. The crisp white blouse and pleated short skirt of her uniform emphasised her curves and made the most of her athletic legs. It struck her that she didn’t look anything like the tomboy she’d always been. For the first time she thought she could see something of what Carter and Sylvain saw when they looked at her.
I’ve changed, she thought, and saw a pleased expression in the mirror. I’m kind of … pretty.
‘Ready?’ Rachel asked, tossing her paper towel in the bin.
Allie tucked her lip gloss into her pocket.
‘Ready.’
‘It’s got to stop, Carter,’ Allie said. ‘It’s just two days. I really want you to do this.’
‘But I can never forget the way he treated you …’ he said, his shoulders tense.
‘I know. But he’s apologised and I’ve forgiven him, so now you have to,’ she said. ‘He’s helping me. Isabelle wants us to work together, so please stop being so macho. It’s not like you.’
It was after midnight and they were sitting on the bed in Allie’s room. The window was closed and locked, and a bar had been affixed across the shutter to secure it more snugly. Isabelle was insisting that one of them should spend the night outside Allie’s room, but they were both insisting on staying. Sylvain was outside the door now.
‘I’m sorry,’ Carter said. ‘I know I’m being jealous.’
‘Ya think?’ Allie laughed.
He smiled back shame-faced. ‘A little, maybe.’
‘You’re the one I want, Carter West.’ She climbed up onto his lap so that her legs straddled him and her face
was inches from his. ‘You have nothing to be jealous about.’
His hands slid down her back as she wrapped her arms around his neck. ‘Only you,’ she whispered, leaning forward to kiss him.
They kissed until all thoughts of Sylvain left their minds and they were entirely focused on each other. Carter’s hands slid down to her hips and pulled her tightly against him and she did not resist. When his hands pulled her blouse out of the waistband of her skirt and ran up and down her bare back her skin tingled. When she nipped at his ear with her teeth she could feel his heart race.
When she pulled back from him, they were both breathless; Carter’s face was flushed.
‘I’ll be the grown-up this time,’ Allie said.
‘Do you have to?’ he whispered. Her skirt had hiked up, and he stroked her bare thighs.
‘Unfortunately.’ She climbed to her feet and, leaning forward, lightly brushed her lips against his, pulling back before he could grab her. ‘Somebody’s got to and I get the feeling it’s not going to be you.’
‘Not this time,’ he said.
Running her hands through her hair to smooth it, she said. ‘So, I’m glad we had this little talk …’
He laughed.
‘Will you try and not be so jealous?’
‘I’ll try,’ he said. Standing up, he reached for her but she was at the door in two seconds and flung it open.
‘Good night then.’ She looked around outside until she saw Sylvain sitting with his back to the wall watching her door, expressionless. ‘Good night Sylvain.’
‘Good night, ma belle Allie.’ She thought she heard regret in his voice.
Carter walked past her out the door, leaning over to kiss her lightly. ‘If you hear or see anything at all, just shout, OK?’
‘I promise.’
As soon as he was gone she changed into clean white pyjamas and climbed into bed. After she turned out the light, she re-ran the evening in her mind, remembering the way his lips felt. How much he’d wanted her.
Not once did she think about Nathaniel, or danger, or needing bodyguards. Instead, suffused in the warm glow of happiness, she floated into sleep.
Later, she would wonder what woke her. Maybe it was footsteps in the corridor. Or voices outside the door. Either way, when her door burst open and the light switched on, she was already sitting up in bed. It was three o’clock.