Night School - Endgame (8 page)

C
lasses resumed the next morning
.

Allie, who had longed for any kind of normality, none the less endured the lessons with ill grace. It was hard to stay focused on what the teachers were saying. She wanted to be in Dom’s office, helping to find Carter.

She was also avoiding any situation when she might be alone with Sylvain. She wasn’t ready to deal with their confused relationship.

As soon as classes ended for the day she raced up to Dom’s office, working there until Night School began in the evening.

She hadn’t told anyone about her meeting with the Orion Group. If she told them that, she’d have to tell them she was leaving Cimmeria. And that was a conversation she wasn’t going to have with anyone until Carter was back.

And he would be back.

But she kept thinking about it. Julian had seemed so reasonable. He seemed to have absolute faith that they’d find a way to beat Nathaniel.

She wanted him to be right so badly it hurt.

Night School training resumed that evening. Isabelle suggested Allie should skip it (‘You’ve had a terrible week…’), but she refused.

She had to stay busy or she’d go insane. She wanted to run. To kick things. To knock everyone down.

Now the students were arrayed in Training Room One under the flickering fluorescent light. On one side of the room, Zelazny and two of Raj’s guards were working with the younger students, walking them through basic stretching and strength building.

On the other side of the dim room, senior students were working with Eloise, practising techniques for disarming attackers.

Sylvain was there, too. He looked relaxed, focused. He didn’t seem to have noticed she was avoiding him.

To Allie’s relief, Eloise paired him with Nicole, assigning Allie to practise with Katie.

So, thirty minutes after training began, Allie held a fake handgun in her hand, pointed at Katie’s face.

‘Bang,’ she said.

Katie rolled her eyes. ‘Very funny.’

‘It was the best I could come up with,’ Allie said. ‘I didn’t have much time to prepare…’

Without warning the redhead leapt into the air, directing a perfect flying kick at the weapon.

Before Allie could react, the gun flew out of her fingers, thudding against the wall.

Katie landed weightlessly in front of her. Allie stared at her, open-mouthed.

‘Bang that, girlfriend.’ Katie dusted her hands against her hips. She looked very pleased with herself.

‘Remind me never to get into a fight with a ballerina,’ Allie muttered, as she looked around for the lost weapon. But Katie found it first.

Picking it up, she pointed the barrel at Allie’s heart. ‘Your turn, rock chick.’

Allie’s eyebrows shot up, making her stitches sting. ‘Rock chick?’

‘It’s street talk.’ Katie gave a disinterested shrug. ‘Don’t blame me if you’re not down with the kids.’

‘I’m not down with the kids. I am a kid.’

‘Are you going to kick this gun?’ Katie asked evenly. ‘Or not?’

Allie noticed that her nails were beautifully manicured in pale pink. How did she have time to paint her nails when Carter was a hostage and Lucinda was dead and the world had gone to hell?

For some reason this small detail galled her. Anger, always close to the surface, flared.

‘I’m going to kick that gun.’ She gritted her teeth.

Whirling on the toes of one foot, she performed the same move with less balletic grace, and more violence. The gun flew ten feet, just missing Nicole and Sylvain.

‘Careful,’ Eloise cautioned from where she was training with Zoe. ‘Nobody’s supposed to get hurt tonight.’

Allie waved an unrepentant apology.

Katie examined her wrist. ‘That was unnecessarily brutish.’

‘Thanks,’ Allie said. ‘I tried.’

Katie craned her neck to look to where Rachel was training with Lucas. She was struggling to reach the gun with her foot, even though Lucas kept lowering his hand to make it easier for her.

‘I want to train with Rachel again. She has excellent manners.’

‘You mean she’s not very good at the fighting.’

‘That too.’ Katie picked up a towel to dab her face. ‘Let’s take a break while I plot my revenge.’

Grabbing a bottle of water from the floor, Allie took a swig. She wouldn’t have admitted it to anyone but she liked training with Katie. She was a quick student. Interesting to spar with. And funny.

She took her mind off things. At least five minutes had passed since she’d last worried about Carter.

Katie stretched an arm above her head, bending so far to one side she looked broken. ‘You must be glad to have Sylvain back.’

Allie followed her gaze. At the opposite end of the room, Sylvain and Nicole were practising with smooth, well-matched precision. Sylvain’s movement were as graceful as Katie’s – he had a dancer’s perfect balance. He defied gravity.

His muscles flexed as he whipped the gun from Nicole’s fingers.

So much for taking my mind off things. 

‘I am glad,’ she said, not entirely dishonestly. ‘We need him.’

‘We need him?’ Katie’s gaze sharpened. ‘That’s an odd way of putting it.’ She turned to look at her more closely. ‘Now that I think of it, you two have hardly spoken all day. You used to be so lovey-dovey. What’s going on?’

‘Nothing,’ Allie lied. ‘It’s just been a rubbish few days.’ She looked down at her feet, as if something interesting had just appeared there.

‘Hmm.’ Katie didn’t sound convinced. ‘Try harder. I was watching the two of you even before that thing happened with his dad and he had to leave. I saw signs of strain. Something’s definitely up. You might as well tell me.’

She didn’t sound happy or unhappy about this fact. Just intrigued.

‘You were watching me? That’s so creepy.’ Allie tried to appear bored. But the conversation was making her increasingly uncomfortable. ‘Whatever it is, it’s none of your business.’

‘I’m right, then.’ Katie pounced. ‘I knew it. There is trouble in paradise. What’s going on? Did you argue? Did you lie? Did he cheat on you? Did you cheat on him?’

Allie’s cheeks flamed. Hurriedly, she turned away, pretending she was just collecting the gun from where it had fallen.

By the time she returned, she’d smoothed all the guilt from her expression.

She pointed the gun at Katie.

‘Fight me,’ she said darkly. ‘Or something that rhymes with that.’

Katie rolled her eyes. ‘Nice try. I’m not giving up. Tell me what happened.’

‘Whatever. Bang.’ Allie twitched the gun. ‘You just keep getting killed, Katie.’

But the redhead was relentless. ‘Tell me the truth. Did you and Sylvain fight? Did something happen in France? What did he do?’

‘Nothing happened.’ Allie had begun to sweat. ‘We did not fight.’

She glanced over her shoulder to ensure the subject of this conversation couldn’t overhear them. But Sylvain and Nicole were laughing about something. Well out of earshot.

‘Fine. Then something must have happened in London with you and Carter,’ Katie persisted. ‘You professed your undying affection. Something like that.’

Allie dropped the gun.

She didn’t know how it happened. Her fingers just went nerveless.

The gun hit the blue rubber mat on the floor without a sound.

Katie’s green eyes widened. Wordlessly, she picked up the gun and pointed it at her.

Allie held up her hands; to a casual observer it would have looked like a hold-up.

‘Please,’ she whispered. ‘Stop this.’

‘Never.’ Katie’s cat-like eyes had gone cool. ‘That’s it, then. Something happened in London, that night. With Carter. And you. You fought. You kissed. He was cruel. You’re in love.’

There was too much truth in her litany of guesses.

Allie dropped her hands. Her shoulders slumped.

She thought of Carter, kneeling above her on the bed in the Kilburn safe house. Pulling her into his arms, pressing her body against his hard chest. Their whispered promises whirled through her memory, tainted by the guilt and loss she’d felt ever since.

She hadn’t told anyone about it. Not even Rachel. And it was killing her.

She couldn’t keep it a secret. Couldn’t lie anymore.

It was time to be honest with someone. Time to come clean.

Besides, if there was one thing Katie knew about aside from money, it was boys.

‘We didn’t fight, OK?’ Allie’s voice was barely above a whisper.

‘What did you do, Allie?’ Katie challenged her.

Allie took a long breath.

‘We had sex.’

‘You didn’t.’ Katie stared.

Her condemning gaze made Allie’s insides curdle.

Suddenly telling her the truth seemed like a really stupid idea. But it was too late to change her mind now.

‘We didn’t mean to,’ she said, defensively. ‘It just… happened.’

Katie had gone so blank Allie could project anything onto her. Contempt. Disbelief. Ridicule.

When she finally did speak, her voice was low and angry.

‘Did you think once about Sylvain? About how he’d feel? With everything that just happened to his dad…’ She looked away, her jaw tight. ‘Bloody hell, Allie. You’re much more ruthless than you let on.’

The familiar bite of guilt cut deep into Allie’s heart.

She dropped her gaze, unable to take the disapproval she saw in the other girl’s gaze.

‘I just don’t understand you.’ Katie lowered her voice. ‘What were you thinking?’

Allie thought of Carter’s dark eyes. His voice saying, ‘Oh God, Allie. I love you, too.’

How could she explain that to Katie? How could she describe the relief of listening to her heart at last? Or how it felt to have – if only for a few minutes – the one thing she wanted in the world?

She didn’t have words for that.

‘We weren’t thinking,’ she whispered. ‘It just happened.’

‘It just happened?’ Katie’s stare was incredulous. ‘Jesus Christ, Allie. That’s even worse. At least tell me you were safe.’

Allie flushed. Somehow, Katie asking her if she’d used protection was worse than anything else.

‘Of course we were.’ She mumbled the sentence, staring down at the feet.

‘Thank God for that.’

‘Look,’ Allie said. ‘I love Carter. I’m sorry about… everything. But I love him. It’s the most real thing in my life.’ She took a shaky breath. ‘Maybe the only real thing.’

If she’d hoped to move Katie, she was to be disappointed. The redhead squinted at her sceptically.

‘Come on, Allie. You have form on this. You love him today and hate him tomorrow. So ask yourself this. Is it love love? Like, actual love? Not the pretend…’ she waved her hand in an impatient gesture, ‘things are dangerous and you have muscles so let’s just do it’ love. But the messed up, ugly, painful, no-makeup love. Because if it’s not that kind and you break Sylvain’s heart…’ She took a step closer, fixing her fierce gaze on Allie’s. ‘I swear to God I’ll never forgive you.’

‘It’s that kind.’ Allie’s voice was ragged. ‘The ugly kind.’

Maybe Allie was imagining it, but it seemed like Katie’s face softened, just a little. Still, her response was cutting.

‘If it’s real love, I feel sorry for you. Because it’s going to hurt a lot of people. This kind of love leaves scars.’

A tear escaped and slipped down Allie’s cheek, but she didn’t reply.

There was nothing to say.

From the centre of the room, Zelazny’s harsh voice interrupted them. ‘All senior students: a five-mile run begins now. Junior students remain in the room, please.’

Relieved, Allie took a step towards the door, but Katie grabbed her arm, holding her back.

‘Allie…’ Her voice was low and urgent. ‘… be very careful how you handle this.’

The other students streamed past them towards the door. Rachel shot the two of them a curious glance as she passed. Across the room, Allie saw Sylvain turn back, his eyes scanning the crowd. Looking for her. As he always did.

‘Sylvain loves you,’ Katie whispered. ‘Ugly love.’ Her fingers were tight on Allie’s wrist.

‘This will demolish
 
him.’

T
he conversation
with Katie made everything worse. The next day, Allie could hardly look Sylvain in the face. Katie’s condemnation had left her feeling like a criminal.

Every time she passed her in the corridors, the redhead shot her a warning look. Sort this out,
 
the look seemed to say.

But how the hell was she supposed to do that? With Carter missing and Sylvain utterly unaware of everything that had happened while he’d been away, Allie couldn’t see a way to handle this that didn’t end badly.

The only thing she could do was avoid the situation altogether.

As soon as her last lesson ended that afternoon, she tore up the stairs so fast her skirt fluttered around her legs from the breeze she created.

When she walked into Dom’s light-filled office, the faint sound of jazz swirled softly from hidden speakers. The room smelled of fresh coffee and Earl Grey tea.

Shak and another guard were working at the table. Isabelle and Raj were talking quietly in a corner.

‘Hi Allie,’ Dom said, looking up from her laptop. ‘What’s up?’

‘Any news?’ Allie asked, as she always did.

Dom shook her head, as she did every time. ‘Not yet. Hang tight, kiddo.’

Her pragmatic American sayings usually made Allie feel better. Today it made her want to cry. It must have shown on her face, because Dom got up from her desk and followed her across the room.

‘Look, Allie,’ she said, ‘this isn’t going to be fast, no matter what. It’s a big world out there, and we’ve got to find one seventeen-year-old boy in it. The people hiding him are very good at what they do. We will find him. But this could be a long slog. Nothing will happen overnight.’

‘I know,’ Allie said, biting her lip. ‘I just wish… it was faster.’ She glanced over to where Shak’s gaze was glued to his screen. ‘Look… I know my shift doesn’t start until eight. But I don’t have anything else to do right now. Do you want me to help out for a while?’

‘Sure. We can always use more ears.’ Dom waved at the table. ‘Grab some headphones.’

Rachel and Zoe walked in a few minutes later, as Allie was setting up.

‘Hey Allie.’ Rachel stopped beside her. ‘I thought you weren’t working in here until later.’

Ignoring them both, Zoe leaned over to see what Shak was working on.

‘Ooh,’ she said, staring at the incomprehensible code on his screen. ‘Awesome.’

‘I’m impatient,’ Allie said. ‘Overeager.’

There was truth in this explanation, and Rachel accepted it without question, but Allie felt a little bad about not telling her.

She knew it might seem like an odd decision to tell Katie the truth about Carter instead of her best friend. But Rachel would always find reasons to understand, to sympathise. Katie, on the other hand, would tell her the cold, hard truth.

And that was what she needed right now. Still, it sucked. And she had to tell Rachel soon.

She slipped the earphones over her head and plugged them into the laptop. The room disappeared, replaced by the harsh male tones of Nathaniel’s world.

The voices of his guards were increasingly familiar. Some had such distinctive personalities, she felt like she was getting to know them.

The guard known as Nine was the most interesting – he seemed grumpy and bitter, but also funny and irreverent. He really didn’t like Nathaniel or Gabe at all.

Six, on the other hand, was whiny and unpleasant. He seemed the type to toady to anyone in power. Sucking up to anyone who could help him get more power himself.

He made her skin crawl.

When, after half an hour of idle chit-chat among minor guards, Nine’s gravelly voice appeared in her headphones, Allie was secretly pleased.

‘What’s the news?’ His question was apparently directed at anyone who happened to be listening.

The others ribbed him. ‘What kind of time do you call this?’ one of them asked him.

Allie recognised the voice as belonging to Five. He sounded younger than the others, and he and Nine often teased each other in a way that indicated they might be friends.

‘I call it early enough,’ Nine growled good-humouredly.

Then Six’s nasal voice interrupted them.

‘Our man is up.’ He sounded smug. ‘Back on his feet. One says he’s his old self.’

Allie straightened, instantly alert.

She typed, Nathaniel is better, into her laptop.

‘Hallelujah,’ Nine replied dryly. ‘Does this mean we’re getting on with things? Are we all through crying?’

‘There’s a meeting at 1700,’ Six said, ignoring his sarcasm. ‘At headquarters. You should be there. Things are happening.’

‘Well, miracles never cease,’ Nine said. ‘Maybe we’ll get to do something useful at last.’

A voice she didn’t recognise spoke up. ‘Hey Six – any idea what’s going on?’

There was a pause.

‘All I can tell you is something’s happening,’ Six said, clearly pleased to be the one in the know. ‘Tonight. We’re making a move.’

Allie took the news straight to Dom. By the time five o’clock arrived that evening, the office was packed.

Isabelle and Raj were there, along with several of Raj’s guards, Zelazny and Eloise. Dom put Nathaniel’s comms through the wall speakers so everyone in the room could hear. Then they waited.

The minutes ticked by slowly. Allie began to doubt herself. Maybe they hadn’t said 1700. Maybe she’d overblown the importance of what she’d heard.

When it reached six o’clock, and still not one guard had spoken, the mood in the room changed from eager curiosity to disappointment.

Raj turned to Allie. ‘You’re certain they said five o’clock?’

Despite her unspoken doubts, Allie nodded. ‘Positive.’

The instructors exchanged dubious looks.

‘Could they still be in the meeting?’ Eloise asked.

No one replied.

An hour was a long time just for Nathaniel to give his guards an assignment. If Allie had been right about the meeting time, something was definitely up.

Sylvain walked up to Raj and murmured something too quietly for her to hear. Raj nodded, looking at his watch.

‘We’ll give it five more minutes,’ he said.

Allie looked away quickly, but she could feel Sylvain looking at her. There was no way he hadn’t noticed she’d been avoiding him by this point.

At that moment, a voice rumbled from the speakers. ‘Well, that was illuminating.’

Allie’s breath caught.

It was Nine. Sarcastic as ever.

‘Wasn’t it just?’ Five sounded amused.

‘Well,’ Nine sighed, ‘I guess that’s me cancelling all my plans for tonight. I had big plans, too, with that hot blonde from the other night…’

‘Copy that.’ The other man snorted a laugh. ‘She’ll have to wait while we go pay the boss’ family a little visit.’

Allie stiffened. The family? Does he mean Nathaniel’s family?

Across the room she saw Raj pull his phone from his pocket.

The only family Nathaniel had left was Isabelle.

The headmistress stood very still, one hand gripping the back of the chair in front of her, listening intently.

‘When are we rolling out?’ Nine’s voice was loud in the frozen silence of the room. ‘Did he say eleven?’

‘That’s affirmative,’ Five replied.

‘Just let me powder my nose,’ Nine said. ‘And I’m good to go.’

The two fell silent.

Isabelle turned to Raj. She looked pale, but when she spoke her voice was steady. ‘Eleven, then.’

He headed for the door at speed, his phone pressed to his ear. His reply was crisp.

‘We’ll be ready.’

Allie was still hunched over the computer an hour later, earphones pressed to her head, when Eloise tapped her on the shoulder.

‘I want you to take a break,’ the Night School trainer said. ‘It’s dinner time. And you’ve been here too long already.’

‘I’m fine,’ Allie insisted. ‘I’m not hungry.’

Eloise scanned her face. ‘When was the last time you took a break?’

When Allie, who had actually not stopped since eight o’clock that morning, hesitated, Eloise pulled her from her chair.

‘Nothing’s happening for hours,’ she said. ‘There’s plenty of help here. And you look hungry to me.’

Soon the headphones had been handed to one of Raj’s guards and the librarian was shooing her out the door.

‘Don’t come back for at least an hour,’ she said. ‘There are child labour laws, you know.’

Allie, who had no idea what she was talking about, made her way downstairs, grumbling to herself.

She knew in her heart she was unlikely to miss anything – there’d been nothing new for hours. Nine had disappeared, along with Six and several other guards. Raj believed they were preparing for whatever they had planned for later tonight.

But she still wanted to keep listening. Just in case.

When she reached the ground floor, the rumble of conversation from the dining hall let her know most people had already gathered for dinner.

Rich cooking smells floated from the kitchen. Candles glittered on the tables, which were set, as always, with heavy silver cutlery and crystal glasses. Allie couldn’t decide whether she was glad that the staff so determinedly ignored the school’s crises, or found it absurd.

The others had already gathered at their usual table. There was an empty seat next to Sylvain. Allie knew she had to take it. Anything else would be impossible to explain.

Taking a deep breath, she slid into the seat. ‘Hey everyone.’

Sylvain turned to her. His expression was neutral, but Allie thought she sensed a new distance. He didn’t smile.

‘Hey.’ Rachel waved from across the round table where she sat between Zoe and Nicole. ‘Any news?’

Allie shook her head, then glanced at Sylvain again, conscious that he hadn’t spoken.

‘Hey,’ she said. ‘You OK?’

His response was immediate. ‘I’m fine.’

But his tone was cool.

Before Allie could think of what to say, Zoe distracted her with a question. It was a while before she looked back at him. By then, Sylvain was eating silently, stony faced.

Allie felt terrible. She’d effectively ignored him since the moment he arrived. He had no idea what was going on in her head. In her life.

‘I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to talk to you,’ Allie said.

Sylvain stopped eating. When he turned to look at her, she thought she saw a flicker of hurt in his eyes.

‘Things have been crazy,’ she explained, not very convincingly. ‘Maybe we can talk later.’

‘Maybe.’ He studied her for a moment without speaking. ‘Or maybe it’s something else.’

Then he turned away and resumed eating, as if she wasn’t there.

Allie froze. Had he guessed? Had Katie told him?

She didn’t dare ask what he meant – she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

From across the table, Rachel watched their exchange, puzzlement knitting her brow.

Allie turned back to her plate. She had to tell everyone the truth.

Soon.

‘Anything happen while I was gone?’ Allie asked, slipping into the chair next to Shak. She was so glad the stressful dinner was over, she could have hugged her headphones.

‘Radio silence.’ Shak leaned back in the chair and stretched. ‘Nathaniel’s boys suddenly got discipline.’

Allie slid the headphones on anyway. ‘Maybe they’ll start talking.’

But he was right about the silence – not one of Nathaniel’s guards spoke on the comms system for nearly two hours.

During that time the room filled steadily, until it seemed all the senior students and instructors were there. Everyone wanted to know what Nathaniel was up to – whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.

Dom was in constant motion – on the phone, on the comms, coordinating Raj. Rachel sat in a chair at her desk, acting as an assistant. Nicole sat next to Rachel while Zoe and Lucas worked with Shak.

Sylvain stayed away from the other students, with Raj and Isabelle in one corner, talking quietly. He never looked at Allie.

After the long silence, at eleven o’clock precisely, Nine’s voice rumbled from the speakers at last.

‘Roll out, boys.’

‘Copy that,’ someone said.

Allie stared at her laptop, willing them to say more. But the wall of silence descended again.

A sense of unease crept up her spine. This didn’t feel right.

Nathaniel’s guards had been talking non-stop for days. All of a sudden they were far too quiet. It was as if Nathaniel knew they were listening. As if he was taunting them.

Everyone fell silent as they waited for any sound from Nathaniel’s guards. Any clue as to what they were planning.

In the quiet, they all heard the footsteps pounding down the hall, growing steadily closer. The door flew open with such violence, Sylvain had to jump out of the way.

It was Eloise. She looked winded and pale.

‘It’s Nathaniel.’ She looked at Isabelle. ‘He’s here.’