Resistance (6 page)

W
hen Allie reached
the back door, a dark-haired female guard with a torch attached to her utility belt like a handgun opened it for her before she asked.

‘Uh … thanks,’ she said, trying not to sound as weirded out by all of this new security as she was.

The guard gave an officious nod and closed the door.

Outside, the sky was cobalt, just beginning to blacken at the edges. A cool breeze lifted her hair.

A few feet away, his hands shoved in his pockets, Sylvain paced the stone walkway. As soon as he saw her, he brightened.

‘There you are. Let’s go. We have to hurry.’

Allie squinted at him suspiciously. ‘Why? Where are we going?’

His lips quirked up.

‘I knew you’d hate this part.’ He held out his hand. ‘Come on. I promise it’s OK. It’s just a surprise. A
good
surprise.’

She’d never seen him more excited. He was practically hopping up and down with it.

His mood was contagious. Putting thoughts of unfixable Carter and miserable Cimmeria from her mind, Allie took his hand.

‘
T
his way
,’ he said, pointing to the right.

The footpath curved away from the terraced gardens behind the school to the edge of the forest. If you followed it far enough, Allie knew it would bring you to the walled garden. From there you could follow it up the hill to the castle ruins. But Sylvain turned off the path early, into the trees.

‘I thought we couldn’t go into the woods?’ she said.

He gave a mysterious smile. ‘I have permission.’

It was darker now – the last of the light had disappeared from the sky. As they moved further into the forest he laced his fingers through hers.

Allie could not figure out where he was taking her. She knew there was nothing ahead of them but forest. The whole thing didn’t make any sense.

‘Seriously, Sylvain. This is crazy. Where are we going?’

Her impatience seemed to amuse him; he stifled a grin. ‘Trust me.’

Just when she was about to demand information, a ghostly glow appeared ahead of them, and suddenly she knew where they were going: The folly.

But why?

Then they stepped through the trees into a clearing and the night lit up.

Allie stopped in her tracks.

Dropping her hand, Sylvain stepped back to watch her reaction.

The folly was a fanciful little structure that served no real purpose – nothing more than a gazebo made of marble with a domed roof, it was intended only to be pretty. A pleasant surprise for Victorians out for a stroll. Inside was a statue of a woman, caught in the middle of a dance.

Tonight it had all been draped in fairy lights. Every piece of marble was enrobed in their sparkling glow. Even the dancing girl held strands of lights in her raised hand like an illuminated veil.

Four steps led up to the statue. And something had been left at the top of the stairs.

Allie turned to Sylvain. In the glow of the lights she could see the anticipation in his eyes.

‘Go ahead,’ he urged her.

Hesitantly, she walked closer to the folly until she could see what it was.

A cake sat at the dancer’s feet, surrounded by candles that flickered in the breeze.

‘Oh …’ Allie pressed her fingers against her lips.

‘There are seventeen candles.’ Sylvain had joined her at the foot of the steps. She blinked up at him in stunned amazement. ‘Happy birthday.’

Allie was struck speechless. In all the chaos, she’d completely forgotten today was her birthday.

But Sylvain remembered.

Tears burned her eyes, blurring the scene.

It had been so long since anyone gave her a birthday cake. It had to be before Christopher ran away. Last year she’d spent her birthday night out with Mark and Harry in London tagging buildings along a train line.

Mark had painted ‘Happy Bloody Birthday, Allie!’ on a wall. And that was that.

‘I …’ Her voice was unsteady, so she stopped talking.

It would have taken Sylvain ages to string all those lights. And the candles. They were the kind they had on the tables in the dining hall – he must have gone back after dinner and sneaked them out.

She turned to him to say something –
anything
– that could convey how much this meant to her, but there weren’t words for that. Not any that she knew. So she reached up and pulled his mouth down to hers.

His lips were gentle against hers, questioning. Teasing the corners of her mouth until her lips parted and she could taste him.

She stood on her toes, stretching up to twine her wrists behind his neck, deepening the kiss, demanding more.

She’d wanted to do this ever since she saw him standing on the steps of the house that first day in France with the sky in his eyes.

This had to be right, she told herself. There was no way she couldn’t choose Sylvain now. Not after this. It felt right.

Tangling her fingers in the soft curls of his hair, she leaned into him, letting him bear her weight.

Instantly, his arms tightened around her. Supporting her.

For the first time in a long while, Allie thought maybe she was making the right decision.

‘
I
t’s my dream cake
. Chocolate with extra chocolate, sprinkled with chocolate.’ Licking icing from her fingers, Allie looked up at Sylvain in the twinkling light. ‘Amazing.’

They sat together at the foot of the dancing statue. His arm was draped lightly around her waist and she was snug in the warmth of his body.

‘I’m sorry I forgot to bring forks. We have to eat like savages.’

His curious phrasing made her giggle.

‘I’m totally cool with being a savage.’ She broke off another chunk of cake. ‘Tell me again how you got the cake on the plane?’

He bent his head to drop a light kiss on her shoulder. ‘Even though we had to leave, Lourdes was determined you should have your birthday cake. So she packed it in a box, which we hid in a suitcase. I had the guards put it in the luggage hold in a place where nothing could damage it.’

Lourdes was the Cassel family cook. The first time she’d met Allie she’d tutted: ‘
Tu es trop mince.’
(You are too thin.) From then on she was always slipping Allie food – fresh baguettes spread with soft cheese; flaky croissants slathered in jam; vividly coloured macaroons and
langue de chat
biscuits dipped in dark chocolate, which were her favourites.

‘Oh, I miss her.’ Allie sighed, wistfully. ‘I miss France.’

Sylvain’s smile faded; his eyes grew more serious. ‘We will go back.’

‘I hope so.’

The mood had grown sombre and, noticing this, Sylvain cleared his throat and gave a mysterious smile.

‘There’s one more surprise …’

Reaching into the shadows behind the statue, he pulled out a small box tied with silver ribbon.

‘A
present
?’ Allie beamed at him. She wiped the sticky icing off her fingers before holding out her hands. ‘I can’t believe you got me a present.’

He seemed to find her question absurd. ‘
Bien sûr
. It’s your birthday.’

Allie loved it when he spoke French.

The ribbon was made of heavy silk. She pulled at the end and it unfurled, revealing a blue jewellery box.

Her heart fluttered. She was suddenly nervous. No boy had ever given her jewellery before.

The box opened with an expensive creak.

‘Oh, Sylvain …’ she breathed.

Inside, a delicate chain of white gold glittered . The chain held two pendants – one a key, ornately designed with swirls and flourishes, the other, an old-fashioned lock, each no bigger than her thumbprint.

Allie couldn’t seem to move as Sylvain lifted the necklace from the little pins that held it in place on a satin cushion.

‘I had this made for you.’ Gently, he moved her hair out of the way so he could place the necklace around her throat. The metal was cool against her skin. ‘It is how I feel about you. The secrets in your life … I want to give you a key to all of them. Unlock them for you. So you can be free.’

Leaning over, he kissed the bare nape of her neck above the collar of her blouse. She quivered at the touch.

Then she turned round until she sat on his lap, legs on either side of his waist. His hands were firm against the small of her back, holding her steady.

She reached up to cup his face in her hands. In the fairy light, his eyes sparkled like sapphires.

She felt a tear trace a soft path down her cheek. ‘It’s the most beautiful thing anyone has ever given to me. I will love it forever. Thank you.’

‘You deserve to have all the jewellery,’ he whispered. ‘Allie, I want you to have everything.’

Then she pulled his lips down to hers.

W
alking
down to breakfast the next morning, Allie couldn’t stop smiling. The lock and key necklace nestled against the base of her throat, a constant reminder of last night. The memory of the way she’d kissed Sylvain made her cheeks burn.

In the dining hall, the new air of gloom that she’d begun to associate with Cimmeria hung over the room so tangibly she could almost see it. Allie couldn’t face another day like yesterday. Besides, her heart was buoyant. She was filled with joy. Overflowing with love for the universe. So Isabelle had never asked to see her. So she had no idea what was going on, school was depressing and the world was going to hell in a handcart.

Right now she was happy.

The smell of food made her ravenous, and she piled her plate and made a cup of milky tea before going to where Nicole and Zoe were talking quietly with Lucas and Katie.

‘I just want to eat all the food,’ she said, sitting down. ‘Don’t judge me.’

Zoe eyed her with mild interest. ‘You can eat all you want. You’re ectomorphic.’

Her fork already in the air, Allie stopped. ‘Wait, doesn’t that mean I wear my skeleton on the outside?’

Zoe rolled her eyes. ‘That’s
exoskeletal
. Ectomorphic means you have a metabolism that tends not to gain weight.’

‘Watch me,’ Allie said, diving into her eggs. ‘I will prove you wrong.’

Once she’d devoured her breakfast she looked around the group. ‘So what’s on the agenda today? Anything fun?’

The others exchanged blank looks.

‘There’s nothing to do any more,’ Zoe explained slowly, as if Allie was very stupid. ‘I told you that.’

Allie made a face. ‘That doesn’t mean we can’t have fun, Zoe.’

Zoe opened her mouth to argue but at that moment Isabelle walked up, neatly clad in a blue skirt and white blouse, a pale yellow cardigan draped loosely across her shoulders.

‘Hello, Allie. Could you come with me?’

She’d waited so long for this moment; Allie jumped to her feet and rushed after the headmistress without even saying goodbye to the others.

At last,
she thought.

‘I’m so sorry I didn’t have a chance to meet with you yesterday,’ Isabelle said as she walked with brisk steps out of the bright dining hall into the dim coolness of the hallway. ‘It was the most hectic day.’

Allie could not imagine what would keep Isabelle so busy she couldn’t debrief her about an attack that had made Lucinda change her entire security plan. But she kept her expression steady. She needed to find information. Not get in an argument.

‘I wanted to find out how you’re settling in,’ Isabelle continued. ‘Merging back into Cimmeria after time away can be difficult, I know.’

This time Allie couldn’t control her sarcasm.

‘Especially during an apocalypse?’

The comment didn’t seem to bother the headmistress, who pulled a key from her pocket and unlocked a door beautifully hidden in the nineteenth-century carved oak panelling.

‘Well,’ she said. ‘Quite.’

She switched on a light, illuminating the small, windowless office.

Allie looked around hungrily. A large, mahogany desk dominated one side of the room. The wall across from it held a fanciful antique tapestry of a maiden and a knight.

Everything seemed to be right where it had been before she left. At least this room had stayed the same – a familiar oasis amid Cimmeria’s chaos..

‘Yeah, well.’ Allie dropped without ceremony into one of the leather chairs facing the desk. ‘Sucks trying to make friends at the end of the world.’

‘You already have friends,’ Isabelle observed mildly. ‘Tea?’

‘No, thank you,’ Allie said. Isabelle switched on the kettle anyway.

Soon the brewing Earl Grey tea filled the room with a flowery bergamot steam.

‘Is Rachel coming back tomorrow?’ Allie asked.

‘Of course. You both have classes in the morning.’

Relieved, Allie sagged back in her chair. She missed Rachel like a lost appendage.

Isabelle sat at her desk, setting a mug down in front of her. ‘Sylvain and the guards have briefed me on everything that happened in France. The attackers work for Nathaniel, of course, although we are still working out some of the details.’

‘Who else?’ Allie said. ‘The question is, how did he find me?’

‘I’ll get to that in a minute.’ Isabelle sipped her tea and studied Allie as if looking for clues. ‘They shot at you.’

‘Yeah,’ Allie held her gaze. ‘It was not good. Sylvain saved our arses.’

‘And since then?’ Isabelle asked.

Allie looked at her doubtfully. ‘Since then … what?’

‘Are you sleeping? Having nightmares? Panic attacks?’

Allie, who had suffered from all of those problems in the past, flushed. This wasn’t what she wanted to talk about. They had, in the past, had very frank conversations about Allie’s life. But it was hard to just plunge back into that kind of thing.

‘I’m fine.’ Allie’s tone was cool. ‘I’ve been through worse. I just want to know what’s going on with Nathaniel. How he found me. Who the spy is. What we do now.’

‘Yes, I’m going to get to that.’ The headmistress sipped her tea, a worry line deepening between her eyes. ‘But I’m also concerned about what all this is doing to you. You’ve been through a great deal.’

Allie thought about last night. Kissing Sylvain. The confusing but good swirl of emotions that had summoned. And how, for just a little while, she’d forgotten all of this.

‘I’m really OK,’ she said honestly. ‘I don’t know why I’m OK. But I’m OK.’

Isabelle studied her face as if looking for clues, then took a sip of her tea. ‘Good. That’s the most important thing. If you’re fine …’

‘I am,’ Allie insisted.

The headmistress inclined her head. ‘Then we can talk about where we are. What would you like to know?’

Allie didn’t hesitate.

‘I want to know how Nathaniel found us in France. And I really want to know how safe I am at Cimmeria. Because when those guys were shooting at me I decided I don’t want to die.’

A normal headmistress might have found this impertinent. But Isabelle wasn’t normal.

‘We think it was a coincidence. Nathaniel must have been watching Sylvain’s house for some time,’ she said. ‘There is no other way. Certainly it didn’t come from inside this school. It couldn’t have. Not one person aside from myself, Lucinda and Raj has known where you were at any point since you left the school in March.’

‘Not even the teachers?’ Allie asked, surprised. Usually Isabelle’s close cadre of senior teachers were told everything.

Isabelle shook her head. ‘Not one person,’ she repeated.

Allie sat back in her chair.

The idea of Nathaniel just hanging around the Cassels’ house, watching Sylvain’s family, was ominous.

‘Why would he watch them if he didn’t know I was there?’ she asked. ‘What was he looking for?’

‘The Cassels support Lucinda. And they are the single most powerful family within the European organisation.’ Isabelle’s face darkened. ‘It appears Nathaniel is broadening his range.’

This was starting to make Allie nervous. ‘But if he’s watching them he must have a purpose. Are they safe?’

‘You’ve seen the Cassels’ security team,’ Isabelle said. ‘They’re extremely well protected.’

Allie remembered the guards standing on ladders to see over the tall walls that surrounded the Cassels’ compound, binoculars fixed on the surrounding countryside. The cameras atop the tall solid gates. The razor wire and armoured SUVs.

‘Yeah, but …’ Allie left the sentence unfinished.

… Nathaniel still found us.

She may not have said it aloud but Isabelle seemed to know what she was thinking.

‘They are as safe as it is possible to be right now,’ she said gently. ‘That much I can promise you.’

‘And us?’ Allie held her gaze. ‘Are we safe?’

Isabelle didn’t respond immediately. She drummed her fingers very quietly on her desktop as if deciding what to say.

‘I wish I could say yes,’ she said finally. ‘But I’m afraid the answer is no. You’re not. No one here is safe.’

This, Allie hadn’t expected.

‘If I’m not safe, why am I here? Why bring me back?’ Allie couldn’t keep the bewilderment out of her voice.

Isabelle gave her a steady look. ‘You’re here because Lucinda wants you here.’

‘Why, though?’ Allie asked, her voice rising. ‘Why does she want me here?’

Again the headmistress hesitated. ‘You’ll have noticed we are more … security-conscious now. Things are very tense between Lucinda and Nathaniel. Allie …’ She leaned forward, her tawny eyes urgent. ‘We’re nearing endgame on this. She needs you close.’

Allie thought of Nicole’s sombre words. ‘
I think she is not winning.
’

Her stomach tightened.

‘Isabelle,’ she asked quietly, ‘is she losing this thing?’

There was a long pause before the headmistress replied. ‘Perhaps.’

Silence fell. Allie could hear footsteps passing in the hallway outside the door. Someone talking loudly in the distance. A door closing with a hollow thud.

‘What happens if we lose?’ She could hardly bring herself to say the words. Losing was an eventuality she’d only rarely allowed herself to contemplate, much less discuss. ‘What becomes of me and you and’ – she swung out her arm in a gesture that took in the grand gothic building around them – ‘everyone?’

‘That is still to be decided,’ the headmistress said briskly. ‘We have options. There are ways to finesse this situation and we are looking at all of them but, for now, the fight is still under way and we have to keep our focus on that. It is still possible to win.’ She shifted in her seat, leaning forward into the glow of the desk lamp. It highlighted the dark smudges under her eyes. ‘I said you weren’t safe here because that’s the truth, and I never intend to lie to you. You’ve been lied to enough. But it is also true that you would be much less safe out there. Here, at least, we can do more to protect you. And you can help us.’

‘Help with what?’ Allie asked, a hint of suspicion in her tone.

Isabelle held her gaze. ‘We haven’t found the person working for Nathaniel. But we’re close.’ She paused. ‘Very close. We think your presence here could help us … escalate things.’ Her tone was cold. ‘Because we have to find this person. And we have to stop them.’

Finally, Allie understood why she was back.

For months they’d struggled to figure out who was betraying them. Someone among them was feeding Nathaniel a constant stream of damaging information. This person had helped him try to burn the school down. Let in his henchman, Gabe, who’d killed Ruth and Jo. They would all have given anything to identify the spy and destroy him. But for months they’d tried and failed. And it had cost them dearly.

She straightened her spine. ‘What do you need me to do?’

‘First,’ Isabelle held up a cautioning hand, ‘you should know where things stand. While you were away we eliminated all the guards from the list of possibles.’

Stunned, Allie stared at her. ‘How? Are you certain?’

The list of suspects had long included a core group of senior guards and the top Night School instructors. Every time they’d tried to narrow down that list, they’d been stymied. The students had all hoped the spy was a guard – someone they didn’t really know. Because otherwise it meant that one of their mentors had betrayed them. And that thought was unbearable.

‘It was Raj’s plan,’ Isabelle said. ‘He removed all the guards under suspicion from the school while running a thorough background check. At the same time, he planted false information with the senior teachers about your whereabouts. That information made it to Nathaniel, who acted on it, sending a raid party to an empty house in Spain.’

‘So … one of the teachers …’ Allie couldn’t seem to complete the sentence.

‘One of our three most trusted teachers passed the false information to Nathaniel.’ Isabelle’s voice was taut. ‘Yes. Thinking you would be there. Yes. Knowing Nathaniel might kill you.’ She held her gaze. ‘Yes.’

Allie cleared her throat, which had suddenly closed. ‘So … it’s Eloise, Jerry or Zelazny, then.’

‘Yes.’

Allie felt loss. There’d been a time when she would have trusted any of those teachers with her life.

‘What do we do now?’ Her voice was low.

‘Now,’ Isabelle said, ‘we must be very careful. We believe that, with tensions being what they are, your return will mean the spy will need to communicate constantly with Nathaniel. This will make it more likely they make mistakes.’ She leaned back in the shadows; Allie couldn’t see her eyes any more. ‘When they do, we’ll be ready.’