Jerry has to pay.
The school felt oddly empty, inhabited only by the dark shapes that slipped out of Isabelle’s office and fanned out across all levels of the rambling building, silent as wraiths.
Movement had calmed Allie’s nerves. The methodical process ahead of them – the ultimate goal – gave her purpose. She breathed normally.
Speed was essential; there was no time to change into Night School gear. The polished wood floor was cool and uneven beneath Allie’s toes. Like Zoe, she was still barefoot. Their group was to search the ground floor of the main building. As they walked, Sylvain explained in a whisper what Allie had missed – the guards had already been through this quadrant so they were simply mopping up. He almost certainly wasn’t down here. The non-Night School students were being kept in the common room, so they headed past it to the nearest room – the dining hall.
By common consent, Sylvain took the lead. Allie and Zoe stood back on either side of the doorway as he turned the handle.
Allie’s heart rate accelerated. All her muscles tensed. She was ready.
The door swung open on silent hinges.
Inside, the vast room was dim, illuminated only by the evening light that filtered through the huge windows on the far wall. The round tables were bare, heavy chairs neatly pushed in.
They branched out, Sylvain heading left, Zoe right.
Cautiously, Allie walked down the middle of the huge room. But there was no place to hide here. No closets or hanging fabric. It was clearly empty.
Crouching, she peered under the tables. Nothing but wooden legs.
She straightened again. The three exchanged glances. Zoe pointed to the double doors at the end of the room leading into the kitchen. Nodding, Sylvain hurried towards her and Allie followed suit.
She tried to imagine what she’d do if she found Jerry – he was the best of all the teachers. Highly trained. Lethal. Muscular.
Her teacher.
How would she fight him?
I’d just do it, she decided with cold determination.
But the idea scared the hell out of her.
This time, Zoe went first – springing through the doors in a clean, athletic leap.
Industrial-sized dishwashers burbled in a corner. Giant refrigerators hummed. But the room was empty.
They searched the low cupboards and looked under the gigantic butcher block. Nothing.
Sylvain cocked an eyebrow and she nodded.
The next room along the corridor was the great hall.
It was Allie’s turn to go first. She waited until the others were in place before reaching for the door knob. The metal felt cold beneath her fingers but it turned easily. The door swung open without a sound.
The long, elegant ballroom could hold several hundred revellers. It was easy to imagine them now, swirling across the polished oak floor, drinking champagne, laughing. Empty, it had a hollow, ghostly feel. There were no windows here – the far end of the room was lost in shadows.
Allie’s chest felt tight.
Again they spread out under heavy, metal light fixtures. They glowed like a thousand candles when lit. Now, they were dark and cool.
The room was virtually devoid of furniture, which made searching easier. They kept pace with each other as they walked down the length of the ballroom. The floor felt clean and smooth beneath Allie’s bare feet, as if it was swept every day, even when it wasn’t used.
At the back of the room, stacks of chairs and a few tables had been pushed to the side, waiting for the next gala event. Moving in near perfect sync they all crouched low to look beneath them.
Nothing. Not even dust.
There were no closets here or cupboards. No places to hide. So when they reached the back wall they turned in unison and headed back out again without a word.
The hallway was still and silent.
The next door along was a utility closet Allie could never remember noticing before. It held mops, buckets and other cleaning supplies, and reminded her uneasily of the place where she’d hidden in Brixton Hill School the night she and Mark were arrested. An event that led her here, to this day. This moment.
A split second in time that changed everything.
What if that never happened? she wondered as they closed the door again. What if I’d never gone out that night to tag the school? Where would I be now?
But there wasn’t time to dwell. They were nearing the last door in the hallway – the library.
By now their routine was set. Allie and Zoe flanked the entrance. When they were in place, Sylvain stepped forward and reached for the handle.
They all heard the noise at the same time. A faint crash. The sound of exertion or struggle muffled by the thick wood of the door.
The moment seemed to freeze. Allie felt Sylvain’s body tense. Next to him, Zoe frowned and cocked her head, alert but tiny, like a bird poised for flight.
Then Sylvain threw his shoulder against the door, and they all spilled into the room.
At first they could see nothing but the forest of bookshelves that towered above them and sprawled out in all directions beneath the dim, antique lighting. Instinctively, Allie started to move, but Sylvain flung out his arm, stopping her and Zoe. For a split second they stood still. Then they heard it again. The sound of flesh against flesh, of breath forced out, a stifled cry. The thud of something falling.
‘That way.’ Zoe pointed with eager assurance across the room.
They took off at a run, sticking close together this time. They were nearly to the mid-point of the library when they saw Eloise and Jerry. They were just outside the study carrels – in fact, one of the carrels still stood open, light and colour pouring through its small, carefully disguised door.
That’s where he hid, Allie realised numbly.
The two were fighting viciously. Eloise’s long, dark hair had come free of its clip and flowed down her slender back as she swung a kick at Jerry’s neck. Her aim was unerring but Jerry was fast and he dodged her foot with frightening ease, bobbing up with his fist raised.
He said something then that Allie didn’t hear and Eloise whirled, elbows out like pikes. This time she connected, striking him hard in the chest. He winced but still rolled out of reach when she sliced a punch to his face.
That was when he saw them.
Allie saw his gaze skitter across their faces and she thought, for a second, a hint of regret shadowed his eyes.
‘Get him,’ Sylvain said.
The three hurled themselves across the room. Zoe, always the fastest, reached him first, shooting in to aim a sharp, well-placed kick at his lower back, but he dodged her with ease, swatting her away.
As she realised what was happening, Eloise’s eyes widened.
‘Get back!’ she shouted.
Their presence had distracted her, and that gave Jerry a break. Moving fast, he lifted a nearby study table as if it weighed nothing at all then threw it at them with such force it splintered when it hit the ground.
They scattered. A small piece of flying wood hit Allie like shrapnel, slicing the skin on her thigh, but she ignored the sting and spun round, looking for the science teacher. He was nowhere to be seen.
‘This way!’ Eloise called, running towards the back of the room.
Behind her, Allie heard Sylvain speaking urgently.
‘In the library. Now! Now!’ Tension made his accent thicker and it took her a second to realise he was talking into his radio. She’d forgotten she had one.
Her heart hammered against her ribs as she ran through the stacks towards the sound of Eloise’s voice. She’d lost Zoe after the table was thrown, but there was no time to do anything except run.
As she spun out of the stacks to the open space at the back of the library she heard Eloise talking, her voice low and taut.
‘You stole everything I cared about,’ she said. ‘Everything that mattered. If it takes all my life I will make you pay for that.’
They were by the back door. E
loise was blocking Jerry’s escape with her body. Zoe buzzed around them like a fly, looking for a moment of weakness to get a blow in. They both ignored her.
Sylvain stood in the shadows across from Allie, watching intently.
Eloise was their teacher. A Night School instructor. This was her play.
Jerry’s attention was focused on Eloise. He didn’t look angry or bitter. He looked regretful.
‘I’m so sorry, Ellie,’ he said. ‘I never meant for this to happen.’
‘Bollocks.’ Eloise spat the word at him. ‘You chose Nathaniel over me. You never loved me. Every word you ever said was a lie.’
The science teacher shook his head hard, no longer trying to get to the door. ‘No, no, no. I did love you. I do. I meant everything—’
At that moment, seeing him distracted, Zoe launched into a whirling kick, aimed at the back of his head.
But Jerry was the one who taught them that move. And he was also the one who taught them how to defend themselves against it.
Spinning, he knocked her back with a strong counter-kick and, before she could regain her balance, swung a punch at her jaw. The blow made an awful cracking sound.
Zoe’s body flew through the air, crashing into a table, before crumpling to the floor, where she lay horribly still.
26
Twenty-six
As she watched Zoe fall, Allie couldn’t seem to move. Her legs felt heavy. The world turned hazy. Around her, everything blurred together. Eloise turning to Zoe. Jerry fumbling with the door. Sylvain shooting past in pursuit of him.
Then she was running to Zoe’s side, her steps heavy and slow. Eloise was already there, fingers pressed against Zoe’s neck, whispering to herself as she searched for a pulse.
‘Come on, Eloise. Find it. Find it…’
Behind them, footsteps pounded the floor. Guards stormed into the room shouting orders and commands.
‘Where is he?’ one of them shouted.
A cool evening breeze blew through the open door leading out on to the grounds.
Jerry was gone and Allie couldn’t seem to care.
‘Zoe,’ she whispered, stroking her face with tentative fingers. Her skin was cool and pale as marble. Her eyelashes lay on her cheeks like dark feathers.
Unconscious, she looked like a little girl.
‘Zoe,’ she whispered again, her voice breaking. ‘You have to wake up.’
But she didn’t move.
All Allie could think was: Dead like Jo. She kept hearing the sound Jerry’s fist had made against Zoe’s chin. Seeing the way the blow had twisted her head to one side. And she felt herself dragged again towards the pit of despair, which it had taken her so long to escape last winter. It was some time before she understood what Eloise was saying to her.
‘She’s alive, Allie.’ The librarian gripped her by the shoulders and Allie wondered how long she’d been saying it. ‘She’s alive.’
But Zoe was so still, so pale, Allie couldn’t believe it. Jerking free of Eloise’s hands, she shook her head stubbornly, biting back a sob.
‘Her neck,’ she said. ‘It could be broken.’
Eloise’s lips were tight. ‘Stay with her. I’ll be back.’
After the librarian left, Allie became more aware of the activity around her. Guards ran in and out of the door, their booted feet like muffled thunder on the thick, Persian rugs.
She clung to the younger girl’s hand, shielding her body with her own. Numb, she watched as the nurse returned with Eloise to place a protector carefully around Zoe’s neck. Then she walked alongside as the guards lifted her on to a stretcher and wheeled her up to the infirmary.
After that, she waited for her to wake up. The other students came and went. First Nicole, and Rachel, later Sylvain and Carter. Even Katie came for a while and fussed about, pouring glasses of water Zoe wasn’t awake to drink and that Allie refused to touch.
By ten o’clock, they were all gathered in the infirmary, ignoring the nurse’s muttered complaints (‘Give the child some space …’) and talking quietly as they waited.
The room contained four old-fashioned white iron beds. Zoe lay in the one closest to the window, which had been cracked open just enough to let in a light breeze. Allie sat next to her, still holding her hand.
She was only thirteen. She looked so small beneath the white covers.
The faint smell of antiseptic in the air reminded Allie sickeningly of the two weeks she’d spent up here last Christmas after Nathaniel tried to have her kidnapped.
She wouldn’t leave Zoe alone up here. She knew what that was like.
As time ticked away and Zoe remained unconscious, the others arrayed themselves on the empty beds and talked about the evening’s events. It was then that Allie learned what happened in the minutes after Zoe was hurt.
Sylvain had run out after Jerry but lost him almost immediately. ‘It was as if he disappeared,’ he said bitterly. ‘I was right behind him. I don’t know how he did it.’
‘He had a plan.’ Nicole gave a discouraged shrug. ‘Maybe he planned this long ago.’
The guards launched a search of the grounds before abruptly calling it off. A short while after that, the students heard cars roaring down the school’s long drive.
No one had seen Isabelle, Raj or the other senior Night School instructors since then, and rumours were swirling about where they were and what had happened.
The students had been released from the common room – a sign that the threat was believed to have passed. But everyone was still baffled as to what, exactly, was going on.
Allie absorbed all of this information without releasing her hold on Zoe’s small hand.
The doctor had told her Zoe was fine. Told her it was a concussion and trauma but that her neck and skull were fine. Her reflexes good. Pupils normal. Breathing regular. That she would wake up when she was ready. But Allie didn’t believe it.
She didn’t dare hope. All hope does is make everything hurt that much more when it all goes wrong.
Still, she was glad the others were with her. Their familiar voices wrapped around her like a warm blanket.
‘I can’t believe it’s Jerry,’ Rachel said, repeating the sentiment they’d all found themselves saying.
‘I always hoped it was Zelazny.’ Nicole sighed.
‘Well, I’m glad it wasn’t.’ Sylvain’s voice was gruff. Zelazny had been his Night School mentor, and they were close.
Allie thought of Eloise, no longer nervous, fighting Jerry like a tiger.
‘How’s Eloise?’ she asked. The others looked at her in surprise. She had barely spoken this whole time. ‘She fought Jerry hard.’
‘No one knows,’ Rachel said. ‘She’s disappeared along with Isabelle and Raj. But she seemed fine right after everything happened. Just … really pissed off.’
This wasn’t hugely surprising. Eloise and Jerry had been together for a while, only breaking up after the librarian was accused of being the spy, and he didn’t defend her. She had a lot to be angry about.
‘Do you think she knew before?’ Nicole mused.
‘You mean that he was working for Nathaniel?’ Carter seemed surprised by the question. But Nicole nodded.
‘Especially after what happened when she was accused,’ she said. ‘He let everyone think it was her. She must have had some idea that he wasn’t what he said he was.’
‘Maybe she just thought he was a bastard,’ Sylvain suggested.
They all considered this. It seemed feasible, if unlikely. When you really care about someone, it’s hard to believe they’re capable of something truly bad.
Zoe gave a soft groan and Allie spun back round. She had more colour in her cheeks and, after a second, stirred beneath the white blanket.
‘Is she waking up?’ Rachel asked. The others drew closer to see.
‘What hit me?’ Zoe murmured, one hand flying up to touch her jaw.
‘Jerry.’ Allie pulled the covers up to her shoulders before glancing at the o
thers. ‘Someone go tell the nurse she’s waking up.’
Sylvain ran to the door.
Zoe’s eyes fluttered open, taking in the room and the faces around her.
‘Oh bollocks. It wasn’t a dream.’
Her voice was thick. Someone handed her a glass of water and Allie put an arm around her narrow back so she could sit up to take a sip.
Her shoulders felt as fragile as bird wings beneath her arm.
Zoe blinked up at her. ‘Did he get away?’
A sudden urge to cry made it impossible for Allie to speak. All she could do was nod.
‘’Fraid so, Shortie.’ Carter reached out to pat her wrist.
A touch of colour came back to Zoe’s cheeks.
‘Bugger. I can’t believe I forgot to guard my left flank. That’s basic.’ Laying back down on the bed she let go of Allie’s hand. ‘Bloody hell, my head hurts. What did he do to me?’
Rachel grinned at her. ‘You’ve got a pretty bad concussion. It makes you sweary. Who’s the prime minister?’
‘That stupid guy.’ Zoe groaned. ‘With the face.’
‘That’s the one.’ Rachel nodded, satisfied. ‘I don’t think you damaged your brain more than it was damaged already.’
‘It feels like my head is exploding,’ Zoe said, clutching her hair.
The nurse bustled in. ‘I can help with that.’ After taking her pulse and listening to her heart, she handed her two white tablets. ‘Take these.’ As Zoe obediently took the painkillers from her hand, the woman glowered at the others. ‘Now, I’d thank you all to give her some space now, please. She needs quiet.’
But as they filed out of the room, obedient at last, Allie lingered, drinking in one last view of Zoe, alive and complaining.
Zoe cocked her head to one side, astute eyes assessing her expression.
‘Did I scare you?’
Allie exhaled audibly, and smiled.
‘You scared the crap out of me.’
Zoe looked wanly pleased. ‘Awesome.’
When the students reached the foot of the stairs, a trio of guards stood waiting.
A muscular woman in black gear with long blonde hair pulled back in a braid scanned the group as if looking for someone.