Caught off-guard, Isabelle stumbled back, almost falling. Allie heard someone gasp.
‘You did that, Isabelle.’ Her voice rose. ‘The guards were following your orders. You left him there.’
Isabelle held up her hands in a weak, calming gesture but Allie shoved her again. And again.
‘Why, Isabelle? Why did you make me leave him? How could you do that to him?’
Each time Allie pushed her, the headmistress took another step back. Allie followed her.
‘Where is Carter, Isabelle? Is he dead? Did Nathaniel kill him, too?’
‘I don’t know.’ Isabelle repeated, her voice a whisper now. Her golden brown eyes were bright with unshed tears but Allie hardly noticed as she pushed her one last time.
She thought of Carter, lifting her into the black SUV, slamming the door and pounding his fist against the metal, shouting, ‘Go!’ at the driver. The fervent gleam in his eyes – like he thought he was going to die, and he was willing, even eager, to do it – was burned into her memory like a brand.
‘He’s just a kid. If he dies it’s your fault, Isabelle. Your fault.’
Her voice broke. She crumpled to her knees.
For a split second, no one moved. Then Rachel was next to her, an arm draped across her shoulders.
She lifted her to her feet.
Nicole put her arms around both of them, holding them together.
Allie had never felt more helpless. She didn’t want to hurt anyone anymore.
She just wanted Carter to be alive.
3
The infirmary was in the classroom wing on a mezzanine level where tall windows lined one wall, letting in sun so bright, Allie squinted in the glare. In tired silence, the three girls made their way past ghostly rooms where desks sat in empty rows, waiting for students who might never come back.
Allie ignored it all as she ignored the blood on her face and her own weariness. She wasn’t even thinking about how defeated Isabelle had looked outside. She was compiling a list of the missing in her head.
‘Where’s Zoe?’
‘She’s fine.’ Rachel answered quickly. ‘She volunteered to help the nurses.’ A ghost of a smile flickered across her tired face. ‘She’s decided she likes the sight of blood.’
‘Everyone else? Raj? Dom? Eloise?’
Nicole answered this time. ‘All safe.’
‘Dom, too?’ Allie couldn’t hide her surprise. The last time she’d seen the American girl, she was fighting her way through a crowd of Nathaniel’s guards to get to Carter.
‘Carter…’ Nicole began and then stopped for a second. ‘He got her into the car. Got her out of there. He had her back.’
Allie’s heart twisted.
‘That arsehole,’ she whispered, striking a tear away with the back of her hand. ‘He is so freaking stupid.’
But everyone knew she didn’t mean it.
‘Don’t give up hope, Allie,’ Rachel said, squeezing her arm. ‘Nobody saw him get hurt. We have to believe he’s all right and Nathaniel’s just holding him. To get to you.’
Before Allie could reply, they reached the main medical ward. A large room had been turned into a triage area. Medics clustered around a guard in a black uniform, stitching a wound on his arm.
The smell of rubbing alcohol combined with antibacterial cleaning liquid and the rusty tang of blood made Allie’s stomach churn.
‘Snip please.’ The cool, uninflected voice came from a small, plump woman with a stethoscope draped around her neck and narrow glasses perched on the end of her nose.
A nurse leaned where she indicated. A pair of silver scissors flashed in the light.
She bent over to examine her work, then straightened and threw bloodstained bandages into a bin. ‘You’re done, my dear.’
Glancing down at his arm, the man tested the stitches, flexing his hand into a tight fist before loosening it again. His muscles bulged.
Seeing this, the doctor sighed. ‘Do that a few more times and I’ll be stitching you up again. Shall we both attempt to avoid that little reunion? I so hate repeating myself.’
‘Sorry.’ The man’s voice was contrite.
As he stood to leave, Allie saw Zoe. She’d been standing behind the nurses, watching avidly.
Some of the tension left her body.
Spotting her, the younger girl gave an excited bounce. ‘You’re back!’
She shoved past the injured man without apology and raced to where Allie stood with Rachel and Nicole and hurled herself at her. It was more a tackle than a hug, but Allie didn’t mind at all.
‘You OK?’ Allie searched her smooth face for signs of injury and found none. ‘All in one piece?’
Zoe nodded, her ponytail bouncing with her enthusiasm. ‘Totally. I hurt a lot of people last night. It was ace.’
‘Zoe…’ Rachel spoke quietly.
The younger girl paused. Allie could see her thinking, figuring out the reasons why what she’d just said was inappropriate, and struggling to correct the oversight.
‘I’m sorry about your grandmother.’ Her tone took on a curious flatness, as if she was reciting something she’d memorised. But then she grew animated. ‘And Carter. I am so pissed off about Carter.’
Someone cleared their throat and Allie looked up to see the doctor watching them.
‘Look what the cat dragged in,’ she said, not without empathy. She patted the seat the guard had vacated. ‘What’ve you done to yourself this time?’
Ordinarily Allie would have smiled at that. The doctors and nurses at the infirmary had treated her on more than one occasion. Today she couldn’t seem to fake it.
‘It’s not as bad as it looks,’ she said as she climbed into the chair, still a bit warm from the prior occupant.
The doctor snorted and snapped on her gloves. ‘I’ll be the judge of that.’
‘It’s good and bloody.’ Zoe sounded approving.
She hadn’t noticed how destroyed Allie was, or how frightened. And Allie was glad of that. Inside, she felt numb and confused and lost. But she had to get it together. No one would listen to her if they thought she was hysterical about Carter. No one would want to follow her if she tried to lead.
If they were going to work together to get Carter back, they had to believe she was fine.
She was fine.
Allie glanced at Zoe, forcing a brighter tone. ‘Rachel says you’re into blood now?’
‘I think I want to be phlebotomist.’
‘What’s that?’ Allie said. ‘It sounds like a kind of caterpillar.’
‘Blood doctor!’ Zoe enthused. ‘All you do, all day long, is play with blood.’
‘Oh good.’ Allie sighed. ‘So, basically a vampire.’
Zoe beamed. ‘Awesome.’
‘There is money,’ the doctor murmured, snipping Allie’s hair away from the wound with a small pair of scissors, ‘in phlebotomy.’
The girls exchanged looks of blank incomprehension.
For a while after that Zoe chattered about fighting and diseases while the medical team cleaned the blood from Allie’s forehead and stitched her scalp back together. Across the room, Rachel rested her head on Nicole’s shoulder.
Everything was horrible. Everything was wrong.
But Cimmeria was home. And this was the closest thing to normal Allie could imagine right now.
A few hours later, Allie hurried down the school’s sweeping main staircase. After a shower and a change of clothes, she felt a little more like herself. Ready to figure out what to do now.
Her head throbbed, and her hand strayed unconsciously towards the stitches in her scalp, now mostly hidden by her thick, golden-brown hair.
She hadn’t taken the pain pills the doctor gave her. She wanted to keep her head clear.
It was time to plan.
When she reached the ground floor, she turned into the wide formal hallway. The polished, oak-panelled walls gleamed. Sunlight danced off the gilded frames of the oil paintings, making them spark
le. The crystal chandelier hanging above the wide staircase glittered like diamonds. The marble statues on the landing could have been carved from snow.
Allie could never remember loving any place as much as she loved this school. But already she felt she was losing her grip on it.
Without Lucinda, how could they stay here? She’d held this place together.
And now she was gone.
As she passed the headmistress’ office, tucked away under the grand central staircase, Allie’s footsteps hesitated. She knew she needed to talk to Isabelle – to explain her actions. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She wasn’t ready to be that grown up yet.
Still, she needed information now. She needed to talk to someone she could trust.
At that moment, a guard walked by, dressed all in black. Allie caught his eye.
‘Where can I find Raj Patel?’
Allie and Raj sat across from each other in the mostly empty common room. Allie perched on the edge of a deep leather sofa. Raj was in a chair, watching her with unreadable dark eyes, almond-shaped, exactly like Rachel’s. He’d come as soon as she’d asked for him, even though he must have been busy. And she saw no judgement in his expression.
‘I just have to understand what happened,’ Allie said.
Raj didn’t look surprised by this.
‘The plan went smoothly,’ he said, ‘until it didn’t.’
She listened quietly as he went over everything that had gone right. She and Carter had made their way across Hampstead Heath just before midnight, as planned. They’d found Allie’s grandmother right where she was supposed to be, on Parliament Hill. And Nathaniel had joined them only a few minutes later than expected.
The mood had been calm – even jovial at times.
Until Jerry and Gabe appeared, each holding a gun.
‘Lucinda left Jerry shackled in a van near the park,’ Raj explained. ‘He was guarded by two members of her personal security team. We don’t know how Nathaniel discovered the location she’d chosen. But he did. Her guards were overwhelmed. Jerry was freed.’
Allie sagged back in her seat. It was so sickeningly obvious. The best plan foiled by the simplest means.
The most complicated design in the world can be destroyed in seconds by a basic hammer.
‘Where did they get the guns?’ she asked.
‘Gabe, I’d imagine.’ Raj’s voice dripped distaste. ‘He’s the only one insane enough to bring guns to a parley.’
Allie glanced at him. ‘You don’t think it was Nathaniel’s idea?’
He shook his head. ‘I got a good look at Nathaniel when he saw those weapons – he didn’t seem happy.’
This was a surprise. Nathaniel was a control freak. Surely he didn’t encourage off-roading among his minions.
‘As soon as we saw the guns we had to move,’ Raj continued. ‘I threw everything we had at them. And it worked. Eventually. But…’
His voice trailed off and he rubbed his eyes.
‘But Lucinda was shot.’ Allie finished the thought for him. She leaned forward intently. ‘Raj, did anyone see who shot her? Was it Jerry?’
Jerry Cole was the science teacher who had betrayed them all – who’d cost them Jo’s life when he sided with Nathaniel. It would make sense if he’d done this, too.
But Raj shook his head, lips tight. ‘It wasn’t Jerry. Isabelle was close enough to see it all. It was Gabe. And there’s something else you should know.’ He met Allie’s gaze. ‘Isabelle swears Gabe was aiming at Nathaniel.’
Allie took a sharp breath. ‘What?’
‘I didn’t see it myself,’ he said, ‘but Isabelle’s convinced Gabe was aiming at Nathaniel and, at the last minute, Lucinda stepped into the path of the bullet. Isabelle thinks…’ He hesitated as if deciding how much to reveal. ‘Well, it seemed to her Lucinda saw what Gabe was about to do. And she took the bullet. To save Nathaniel.’
Allie’s lips moved but no sound came out. She felt as if she was sinking. She couldn’t breathe.
Lucinda let herself die? She left me on purpose?
She shook her head so hard her stitches stung. ‘No, Raj. Isabelle’s wrong. Lucinda wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t. Not for Nathaniel.’
He didn’t argue with her. ‘I find it hard to believe myself. I’m only offering it as a qualified explanation.’ He paused. ‘Allie, I’m not going to tell you what to do. But Isabelle is heartbroken about this – about everything. I wish you’d talk to her. Get her side of things.’
Allie’s expression hardened, but Raj didn’t back down. He lowered his head to catch her gaze. ‘Leaving Carter wasn’t Isabelle’s call. Carter knew what the drill was going in. He knew everything that could happen – every possible way it could go wrong. He was ready for this.’
She didn’t want to argue with him but cold anger was creeping back into her veins like ice water. She squeezed her hands into fists, waiting to speak until she had her emotions under control.
‘Where is he, Raj?’ she said, letting the earlier conversation drop. ‘Is he alive?’
He didn’t answer right away. When he spoke, his voice was low.
‘I wish I knew.’
4
The rest of the day passed in a haze of exhaustion.
Allie went to the dining hall at lunch time to prove to the others how fine she was.
Completely fine.
As soon as she walked in the room, though, Katie Gilmore ran to her and wrapped her in an entirely unfamiliar hug.
‘Thank God you’re OK.’
After hating her for years, it felt weird being her friend. Not bad weird. Just… weird weird. And yet, Allie found herself hugging her back, clinging to Katie’s lean shoulders, her face buried in her long, red hair. She smelled of the world’s most expensive perfume.
‘It was awful,’ Allie heard herself whispering. And she wished she would stop.
How was anyone going to believe she was fine if she kept saying she wasn’t?
But Katie seemed to understand. Her beautiful face looked sombre – all of her arrogance stripped away.
‘I’m so sorry about Lucinda. I admired her so much.’ Katie’s voice was low; her words were meant for Allie alone. ‘She was a giant.’
Mention of her grandmother made Allie’s heart lurch.
Unlike Allie, Katie had grown up with Lucinda Meldrum – always head of Orion, always a tangible part of her life.
It would have been wonderful to grow up with Lucinda always there.
‘She was amazing,’ Allie agreed softly, ‘wasn’t she?’
The two exchanged a look of understanding. Then Katie cocked her head to one side and narrowed her gaze. ‘You should eat. You look like crap.’
And just like that the moment was over.
Lessons were cancelled, of course. And Night School. Having nothing to do felt like failure. If Allie hadn’t been so exhausted she would have run back to Raj and shouted at him. Demanded they all get back to work. Find Carter. Fix this.
But she didn’t. What good would it do? The truth was, they had lost. They were defeated. They’d failed.
Besides, the teachers were locked away somewhere having secret strategy meetings. She hadn’t seen any of them since she’d returned to the school. There was no one to shout at.
After lunch, the others succumbed one by one to the lack of sleep, disappearing to their rooms. But Allie refused to follow them.
The last time she’d slept she’d been lying in Carter’s arms in the safe house in London. The memory of that moment haunted her now.
She didn’t want to be in her room. Didn’t want to be alone.
She didn’t want to be safe when Carter wasn’t.
By late afternoon, though, she was punch-drunk with exhaustion. She hadn’t slept properly in two days.
She reeled through the tangle of hallways alone, trying to stay awake.
‘Someone to talk to,’ she muttered to herself as she turned into the common room. But it was empty, save f
or the cleaners, who were silently stacking used cups and plates on trays. The delicate clattering of the china echoed in the stillness.
She walked along the formal hallway as far as the classroom wing, where a cluster of marble statues kept watch. Then she turned and paced back again, fingers tracing the grooves of the carved panelling.
Eventually, she found herself standing outside the library, unable to remember exactly how she’d got there.
The door swung open with a soft sound, like an intake of breath.
This room was as familiar to Allie as her own bedroom. The long rows of tall bookcases with their tilted, rolling ladders. The dim, low light. It felt like refuge.
She walked in slowly – the high-ceilinged space felt hollow and empty. There was no sign of Eloise, the librarian. Or of any students or guards. The big metal light fixtures hanging from chains had been left on, as they always were. Green-shaded lamps glowed on every empty table.
Allie found herself walking slowly across the room. She was so tired her feet felt light. Like she was floating through the fiction section. Thick Persian carpets muffled her footsteps, adding to the sense of unreality.
Maybe she was asleep right now, and dreaming this whole thing.
When she reached the modern history section she turned. Her fingertips lightly brushed the gilded spines of the old books as she looked for one title. When she found what she sought, she slid it off the shelf and clutched it to her chest.
It was a heavy book with a leather cover. The title was Conquering the World.
Allie closed her eyes.
A month ago, she’d stood right here with Carter, bickering about their history assignment.
‘Here’s a good one,’ he’d said, handing her this book.
In science class she’d learned all objects constantly exchange electrons. If you sit in a chair long enough eventually the chair has all your electrons, and you have the chair’s.
Jerry Cole had taught her that.
She put her hands where Carter’s had been, trying to feel him in the book. Yet she could feel nothing beneath her fingertips but the hard, unyielding cover.