‘No way.’ Allie looked at Jo with suspicion.
‘And in advanced history, biology and English.’
‘No. Way.’
Jo rolled her eyes. ‘Allie, haven’t you looked at your own timetable?’
‘Advanced my arse,’ Allie muttered scanning the page, but Jo was right – almost all her classes were advanced.
She grinned triumphantly – for two years her marks had been sliding down a steep slope towards failure, but all her hard work over the summer term had paid off.
‘Unfortunately, you’re still in normal baby maths,’ Jo said, with a smug smile. ‘Which is lame.’ She stood up. ‘Well? Are you coming?’
‘Maybe,’ Allie said. ‘Depends where you’re going.’
Jo was already walking away so her reply floated back over her shoulder. ‘Common room. To pee around my favourite sofa so the little ones don’t try to steal it too.’
Grabbing another half-sandwich to eat on the way, Allie followed her out.
After the clamour of the dining room the hallway was a peaceful oasis. Everything was back in its place. Sunlight glimmered off the oak-panelled walls, and the old oil paintings had all been returned to the spots where they’d hung for centuries. Her rubber-soled shoes stuck a little to the recently varnished wood floor.
To Allie it all felt right again. Like the fire never happened. And Cimmeria was safe.
The common room, reached through a door virtually underneath the grand staircase, was filled with bookcases and deep leather sofas and chairs. A glossy, baby grand piano dominated one corner.
After making her way to the middle of the room, Jo plopped on to a sofa with a satisfied sigh. ‘None of those pesky ankle biters are getting my spot.’ She stretched languorously. ‘I can’t believe classes start tomorrow. We just never stopped working this summer.’
‘Oh, stop complaining.’
They glanced up to see Rachel walk in, smiling, with a tall, slim boy whose light brown hair fell forward across his brow.
‘Hey, Rach. Hi, Lucas,’ Allie said.
‘Did you fight your way through the crowds of newbies?’ Jo asked, reaching out to take a magazine from the low coffee table.
‘There were too many.’ Lucas dropped into the chair across from them without ceremony. ‘We retreated.’
‘With honour.’ Rachel sat on the ottoman beside him. ‘They are legion.’
‘It shouldn’t be allowed,’ Jo said, flipping through the magazine without really looking at it.
‘Allie,’ Lucas said, ‘we saw Carter in the hallway outside. He was looking for you.’
Allie climbed to her feet with a yawn, and headed for the door.
On the way out, she passed a group of new students who stood in the common room doorway looking lost.
‘No TVs,’ one of them said. ‘I might die.’
‘No computers,’ another replied in tones of quiet desperation. ‘Seriously. What the hell will we do?’
Allie was nearly out of earshot when she heard the third one sigh. ‘I hate my parents so much right now.’
SEVEN
Carter stood leaning against the door to the great hall reading, one foot propped behind him. Lost in his book, he didn’t notice Allie standing in front of him. His straight dark hair swung forward as he read. When he pushed it back absently with a characteristic gesture she loved, she sighed.
His head shot up and his dark eyes met hers.
‘Hey,’ she said.
His eyes traced the outlines of her face. ‘Hey back.’
He had this way of studying her that made her almost nervous – as if nothing could escape his gaze.
‘What are you reading?’ she asked, to get him to stop.
As he reached out his hand and pulled her closer, he held up the book and she saw the name on the spine. ‘Vonnegut? Who’s he?’ She frowned. ‘Are we assigned that this term?’
His crooked smile made her insides melt; when he shook his head his hair had this way of flopping …
‘No, I just like it. I’m reading everything he ever wrote. He was awesome.’ Tucking the book under his arm, he reached back and turned the doorknob, leaning hard against the door at the same time so that they both tumbled laughing into the great hall.
As they regained their balance, she saw that most of the furniture that had been stored in the vast space had been cleared out. It was just a ballroom again, with tables and stacks of chairs scattered at the back, awaiting the next party.
‘What are we doing here?’
He cast a sideways smile so sexy it made her shiver. ‘I thought we could just, you know … hang out for a while. And I know this room is always empty, so …’ As he spoke he set the book down and then walked backwards, pulling her gently across the room. She followed without resistance, her gaze locked on his. ‘Last night turned into something completely unromantic,’ he continued. ‘And we can’t have that.’
When they’d nearly reached the back wall he stopped, pulling her into his arms, one hand behind her back, the other holding her hand. Instinctively, she placed her free hand against his shoulder. Through the crisp cotton of his button-down shirt, she could feel his muscles move when he spun her in a circle.
‘What … Are we dancing?’ She laughed up into his eyes.
‘Can’t you hear the music?’
She cocked her head to one side. ‘No.’
Pulling her closer, he swirled her in a circle, making her giggle.
‘I don’t think you’re really trying,’ he whispered very quietly in her ear. His teeth brushed her earlobe – her whole body tingled. ‘Try harder.’
She tilted her head to one side to give him free access to her neck, as his lips travelled down as far as the collar of her prim cotton uniform blouse, and then up behind her ear to the downy hair at her temple, then back along the sharp edge of her jaw. It was a long, exquisite torture, and by the end, she was leaning into him; willing him not to stop.
When he reached her lips and whispered. ‘Can you hear it now?’
‘I think …’ Her voice came out hoarse, breathy. But she wasn’t really thinking any more. She was feeling.
Standing on her toes, she tangled her fingers in his silky hair and pulled him harder against her. As her lips parted to his, she felt all his muscles tense, and then his arms tightened around her. He held her so tightly she couldn’t breathe but she didn’t care. She wanted him to touch her everywhere, to kiss her everywhere.
As if he’d heard her thoughts, his arms loosened and his hands slid to the waistband of her skirt. Without lifting his mouth from hers, he began pulling her shirt loose.
Trembling, she slid her hands down to his chest. She felt his heart race when his fingers made their way under her shirt to the warm skin of her back.
‘You’re shaking,’ he whispered, his eyes dark as smoke. ‘Are you OK?’
Not trusting her voice, she nodded against his neck, breathing in his scent of sandalwood and fresh air.
‘Your skin is so soft.’ His voice sounded wondering as his hands stroked her back, sending shocks of sensation through her. ‘I want to kiss you there.’
‘I want that too.’ Her voice sounded so faint she wondered if she’d said the words out loud.
But she must have, because he groaned deep in his throat and pulled her down to the floor until they knelt, facing each other, still kissing.
‘I don’t want …’ He pulled her tightly against him – so close that she could feel the heat radiating from his body. ‘I don’t want to hurt you.’
A frown flitted across her face. ‘You wouldn’t ever do that.’
With one finger he traced a line from her forehead, down her nose, along her cheekbones and then back to her lips, which he lightly circled.
‘I just … care about you, Allie Sheridan,’ he whispered, looking at her lips. ‘A lot.’
Her breath caught. ‘I care about you, too, Carter West. A lot.’
With her right hand still resting agains
t his chest, she lifted his hand with her left and placed it against her heart so he could feel it pounding.
‘See?’ she said. ‘We both feel the same thing.’
His eyes darkening, he kissed her so hard she fell backwards, and they both tumbled to the polished wood floor. They rolled over until she was on her back, looking up at him. His fingers came to rest on the first button of her shirt. His eyes held hers.
Asking.
Wordless, she nodded, and he carefully unbuttoned it, kissing the skin until goosebumps rose beneath his lips. Her breath came in short gasps, as his fingers rested on the next button.
She was breathless to the point of dizziness. Are we really going to do this?
At that moment, someone opened the door.
Allie thought her heart might have stopped. Carter’s eyes warned her to stay still, not that she needed more incentive. Lying half stretched across her body, he was like a reclining statue – his breathing so shallow she could hardly feel his chest move.
She couldn’t see who it was – her view was blocked by a table and a stack of chairs. Then she heard Jerry’s voice – he was talking so quietly she could only make out snippets. Hearing no one else, she realised he must be on the phone.
‘… can’t talk right now … situation is serious … Raj Patel is providing security … I don’t see how anyone … No!’ His voice rose on the last word.
Carter’s eyes widened, but he didn’t move.
Jerry was speaking again. ‘… all we can. The grounds … secure.’ A pause and then he nearly shouted. ‘I’m not going to argue with you. You can take this to Orion …’ As if realising he could be overheard, he lowered his voice to a harsh whisper, and after that they couldn’t make out what he was saying. They remained frozen in place, barely breathing, communicating with their eyes, until he stopped talking.
A few seconds later they heard the creaking sound of the door opening. Then the soft thud as it closed.
Carter lifted himself up to see over the stacked chairs to take in the expanse of the room then he flopped down on his back next to her.
‘He’s gone,’ he said.
Allie could breathe more easily without his weight on her chest. She could think more easily, too, with him further away. Even though she hadn’t wanted Carter to stop, some part of her was glad they were interrupted. She cared for Carter. Maybe loved Carter. But she wasn’t sure she was ready for what might have happened if Jerry hadn’t walked into the room. It all seemed to happen so fast. They’d gone from kissing to something more just like that. And suddenly it had been like a merry-go-round spinning too quickly for her to jump off safely. She’d had her chance to jump when it was going slow at the beginning but she hadn’t done it. So what did all this mean? Could she jump off now, and go back to just kissing? Or was she required to stay on for the entire ride?
A worried frown rumpled her brow. When he noticed, Carter reached over and smoothed a hair from her eyes.
‘He wouldn’t have been too cross,’ he said, with a lazy, unworried smile. He clearly believed she was just fretting about nearly being caught. She let him think that’s all that concerned her. Now wasn’t the time to talk about sex. Was it? ‘But he probably wouldn’t have been very happy either,’ Carter continued. ‘He’d have taken us straight to Isabelle. And she’d have forgiven us after a lecture about safety.’
Imagining Isabelle looking at her with disappointment, Allie flushed and sat up. ‘It’s fine, though,’ she said. ‘He didn’t see us.’ For the first time, she thought about what they’d overheard and turned to look at Carter. ‘What was that all about?’
‘Sounded like another angry parent.’
‘I didn’t know teachers had phones,’ Allie said.
‘Some do.’
Stretched out on the floor he watched her, his eyes serious, as she re-buttoned her shirt. Feeling suddenly shy, she looked down until her hair swung forward to hide her face.
Sitting up, he pulled her against him so her forehead rested against his, and she looked into his eyes.
‘Everything is OK,’ he whispered. ‘I promise.’
‘Where the hell am I?’
It was just before nine o’clock as Allie hurried down a narrow basement corridor. Carter had given her thorough instructions to the gym and training rooms but it all seemed to be taking too long and she had the sinking feeling she was lost.
The basement gave her the creeps. The ceiling was so low it felt like a long coffin; the harsh green-yellow fluorescent lights made everything look like a television crime scene. The corridor was lined with closed doors – most of them unmarked. A thud that seemed to emanate from the wall beside her made her jump.
Just the pipes, she told herself, having no idea at all why pipes would make such a noise.
When something creaked above her head a few seconds later, she refused to look up.
Just someone walking upstairs. But her heart thudded in her ears.
Then a skittering sound from just behind her and a rush of air. Before she could react, someone flew by her at speed, knocking into her hard and stepping on her foot as she passed.
Already jumpy, Allie recoiled, bashing into the wall.
Ahead, a slight girl with a brunette ponytail paused and glanced back at her.
How could something so small cause so much pain? Allie thought, grabbing her foot and hopping in panlace.
‘Hey!’ she snapped. ‘Like … Ouch?’
Bird-like, the girl tilted her head to one side, studying her for a quick second.
‘Sucks to be you.’ Her voice was high-pitched and unsympathetic; Allie gaped as she dashed around a bend in the hallway and disappeared.
‘Bloody, bloody, bloody hell,’ she muttered, limping after her.
She followed the girl around the corner, only to find an empty hallway stretching on for what looked like for ever.
‘Where in the name of holy hell is this useless, pointless, stupid gym?’ she muttered.
As if she’d summoned it, a set of double doors appeared on her left, with opaque glass windows with the word ‘Gym’ written above them in faded letters.
‘Oh.’
Carter had said the training room was across from it. Turning in a circle, she saw a door marked only with the word ‘One’. Training Room One.
Taking a deep breath, she turned the handle.
The room was dimly lit, small and crowded. About thirty students stood around on the blue exercise matting.
She was just closing the door behind her when the rumble of conversation diminished, and Zelazny, at the centre, of the room, shouted, ‘Quiet please! Let’s get started.’
Noticing Allie standing in the doorway his expression soured.
‘Nice of you to join us, Sheridan. One second later and you’d have had the shortest Night School career in the school’s history.’
Some of the students turned to stare and laugh. Allie’s cheeks flamed, but she said nothing. Standing with her arms wrapped around her torso, she calmed herself by thinking of ways she’d like to hurt him. Then she noticed Sylvain a few feet away. He was frowning at Zelazny.
‘As I was saying,’ Zelazny resumed, ‘welcome back. I know you are all fully aware of what happened here over the summer. As you can imagine, our work is changing this term because of what occurred, and we will now emphasise self-defence and security over strategy.’
Now Allie’s eyes were adjusting to the gloom and she could make out more faces. She saw most of the people she’d expected. Just beyond Sylvain stood Jules, the girls’ prefect. And she thought she saw Lucas standing at the back. But she couldn’t find Carter.
Zelazny’s tone changed and she tuned back into what he was saying.
‘To help us, we’ve brought in an expert in security who will teach you the principles behind the world’s best security. And I do mean the best – his skills are called upon not just by corporate executives but also by world leaders. The person I’m talking about is your new specialist
instructor, Raj Patel.’
A murmur swept through the group and they clapped respectfully. Rachel’s father stepped out from the shadows to stand beside Zelazny.
Just seeing him there made Allie feel better. She smiled at him and waved, but he didn’t notice her.
Things won’t be so bad with Mr P. here. He’ll look out for me.
‘Thank you very much for that warm welcome,’ Mr Patel said. ‘I’m happy to be back at Cimmeria again, even under such serious circumstances. As Mr Zelazny mentioned, we’re refocusing this year on self-defence tactics. We’re also adding a new element, something we’ve never tried before. Now, I believe you have all been briefed on what happened with Gabe Porthus.’
At the mention of Gabe’s name Allie felt some of the oxygen leave the room. Mr Patel didn’t seem to notice.
‘Because of Gabe’s actions, this term we’ll address the concepts of betrayal and trust. A key question I have is, should you have known that Gabe could not be trusted? After all, many of you counted yourselves among his friends. Were there clues that he had switched allegiances? Clues that we should have seen? And, most importantly, is there somebody in this room we can’t trust?’ He moved like a panther, his footsteps silent, getting close to students and looking right into their eyes as if he could see into their minds. ‘Is there somebody in this room right now who plans to betray us?’
A shocked hiss followed his words, as if everyone let their breath out at once. Looking around, Allie could see they were all as thrown by this as she was. Her head swivelled back to Mr Patel. He seemed cold and distant. Not at all the way he’d been at the Patel family home.
Her heart sank. Maybe Rachel was right. Maybe she didn’t really know him that well after all.
‘Now,’ he continued, ‘my people are screening everybody at the school – every kitchen cleaner, teacher and student. If one of you is lying about who you are or what you’re doing here, rest assured we will find you. But I’ve decided that you should handle one element yourselves. You see, I’d like you to investigate each other.’
Someone gasped but Mr Patel was still talking.
‘You’ll be trained in how to detect signs of deception,’ he continued. ‘And then you will interview each other and report back to me. And, know one thing: lying in your interview is forbidden. If you lie we will find out. And then you will be expelled.’
Night School: Legacy Page 6
