The Gray Institute (The Gray Institute Trilogy Book 1)

by Leanne Pearson

  The two Immortals don't speak as they advance and are too far away for me to smell them. An unknown sense tells me one is male, the other female and as they approach my door, I slide from my bed, casting Jane Eyre to the side, poised to defend.

  They hover outside in silence and I quietly cross to stand beside the door. They're inches from me, separated only by wood and as I breathe in, a strong scent of cloves wafts under the door.

  Without hesitation I pull on the handle, swinging the door open to reveal an almost startled Malachy and a girl I've never met before. They glance at one another briefly before Malachy turns to me, his eyes hard with determination, the girl's expression wary – guilty.

  'Eve.' Malachy greets me in his formal tone, one he's taken to using with me recently.

  'Malachy.' I grit my teeth, responding in an equally hostile tone before eyeing the young girl. Her body age must be at least eighteen but she appears far younger, fifteen, possibly sixteen.

  Her honey blonde hair falls straight down her back, her caramel coloured eyes flit nervously between Malachy and myself. She is very pretty, with tanned skin and long eyelashes and I feel an unwelcome stab of jealousy, for what, I don't know.

  'This is Amber Mayfair.' He acknowledges the young woman, who nods courteously at me. I detect no threat from this seemingly innocent girl, she clearly lacks the green fire in her eyes, but I'm not open to letting them in all the same.

  I stand firmly at the door, opened just far enough that I can see out, and raise a defiant eyebrow at Malachy.

  'Can I help you with something?' I ask, watching as Malachy shifts guiltily from one foot to the other.

  'It would be better if we weren't standing in the corridor.' He states. I shrug, letting a long, awkward pause play out before sighing and reluctantly swinging the door wider.

  He nods his thanks and crosses the threshold, followed quickly by the nervous Amber. I close the door behind them but keep a hand on the knob, ready to flee if this meeting turns sour. I have a bad feeling about it and I've learned to trust my judgement.

  'Have you come with a message from Sir Alec again?' I bite, placing my free hand on my left hip. Malachy sighs quietly, standing in the centre of the room, Amber by his side but slightly behind him. His stance is protective of her and another jealous ripple passes through me.

  'No.' He replies simply, his cerulean blue eyes fixed on mine.

  'What is it then Malachy?' I tap my foot, growing increasingly impatient. He glances at Amber briefly before taking a step forward to engage me.

  'I wanted to ask if you had decided to aid Lorna Gray in escaping the Institute?' His words catch me off-guard and I gasp involuntarily, instantly looking to Amber, whose face tells me that this is not news to her. Malachy senses my outrage and shakes his head.

  'You can trust Amber.' He tells me. I scoff.

  'Trust her? Like I can trust you?' I snap. 'I don't know her from Eve, pardon the expression.'

  'She's not here to gather information for Sir Alec, neither am I. I swear it to you, Eve.' Malachy insists.

  'Like you swore to me you'd never use your freakish powers on me again?' My hostility is irritating even me but I can't seem to stop acting like a five year old. Malachy grows impatient.

  'You know I had no choice in that, Lucrezia was standing right there. I'll ask you again, Eve, are you going to aid Lorna Gray?'

  'No.' I lie firmly, folding my arms across my chest. Malachy pauses, his gaze penetrating.

  'Then why have you been spending so much time with her? Shunning Tia? Shunning everybody?' He asks and I hesitate.

  'I like her, she's a break from all this Immortal stuff and a breather into reality, into a world I know. Why should I explain myself to you?'

  'Because I'm an Auctorita and I'm asking you a question.' He snarls. I instantly back off, my natural instincts kicking in. Malachy takes a breath, composing himself before running a hand through his silky blond hair.

  'Are you lying to me?' He asks calmly.

  'No, I am not.' I insist, feeling a sense of panic build up in my chest.

  He sighs, shaking his head slightly before turning to Amber. He nods at her, his eyes cast downwards.

  'Go on.' He mutters, stepping back to allow her to cross the room.

  She takes a step forward, her eyes pleadingly guilty, stopping in front of me as I glance from her to Malachy in confusion.

  'I'm sorry, Eve.' She says simply, her voice quiet and timid before she places a soft hand on my wrist. Her touch is like an electric shock and I jolt backwards, shaking my arm free of her grip. She doesn't attempt to hold onto me, she stares quietly into my eyes for a split second, before turning defeated to Malachy.

  'She's lying.' She says sadly, her shoulders slumping before she retreats, putting Malachy between herself and me.

  'Amber here is very gifted,' Malachy snarls, his tone slowly building in rage with every word. His eyes flash, his posture rises until he seems to me to be seven feet tall.

  'She's a lie detector. With just one touch she can determine whether your answer to a question is true or false. Sir Alec uses her a lot, she's very precious to him,' As Malachy speaks I remember my first day at the Institute, during my test with Clayton Nickson. He informed Sir Alec of my gift and Sir Alec had nodded confidently; 'She's a lie detector, like Amber Mayfair.'

  'I brought her here tonight in the hope that she could cast aside my suspicions,' Malachy continues. 'Reassure me that you're not that stupid. That you would never do something so irresponsible as to follow a ridiculous and ludicrous plan to escape the Institute with Sir Alec's prized possession under your arm.

  And yet you are.' He steps closer to me with each word, keeping his voice low but his tone harsh, until he stands less than two inches from me.

  I cast my eyes down at my feet, looking everywhere but into Malachy's eyes. The sense of betrayal I feel at Malachy's deceit is nothing compared to the fear that freezes me to the spot. He looms over me, his stance threatening, mine submissive.

  'I – ' My attempt to explain myself stops with this one word as Malachy explodes, his voice shouting over mine.

  'How could you be so idiotic, Eve? So misguided?' He yells, backing me into a corner, placing one hand either side of me, flat against the wall so that I'm entirely cocooned in the shell of his body.

  'Do you have any idea what will happen to you when you're caught? Lorna Gray will go free, but you, you will be thrown into the Confine immediately. You've condemned yourself, no matter what you do.

  I can not allow you to even attempt an escape, as a duty to my family and inheritance, to Sir Alec and to you, I can not allow it!

  If I were to alert Sir Alec now you'd still be Confined. Do you have any idea what you've done, simply by conspiring to do this?'

  'I'm screwed no matter what I do, Malachy!' To my surprise, I push him back, away from me and towards the centre of the room. He stares at me in both anger and shock as I shriek at him, advancing on him like a predator.

  'I can't convince Lorna to change willingly, she won't! If I stay here, I'll eventually have to admit defeat and Sir Alec will isolate or Confine me, just like he did to Katy Branch. If I leave with Lorna, I will be Confined. My fate was chosen for me the moment he set me that task.'

  'So you choose to do the worst of the two options? I thought you had sense!' Malachy argues back as Amber shrinks against the wall.

  'I do! That's why if I'm to be Confined either way, I'd rather be Confined doing what's right. Letting Sir Alec know that he can't control people's lives, that a quiver of his thumb can't determine whether we live, or melt to nothing as vegetables in the Confine.

  That he can't take an innocent girl from a loving home and family, and place her into a life of solitude and eventual death.

  That the Auctoritas can't force everybody to live in fear of them!'

  'You sound like the Rebels, Eve, and look where they ended up.' Malachy snarls. 'I understand your anger and frustration, the way the Aucto
ritas and Sir Alec run things isn't fair, but it never has been. This is the way it's always been and we learn to survive, to look after ourselves, it's the only way to avoid Confinement...'

  'Is this the way you'll run things, Malachy? When it's your turn to rule?' I ask, stopping him in his tracks. He closes his mouth, eyeing me with suspicion, considering my question.

  'That's irrelevant. My father rules right now and his laws are the same as every Auctorita before him. You can not go against them and remain unpunished. That you would even think of doing it proves to me that you have no idea what you're doing.

  It's not even a good plan!'

  'You're right, it's not, but it's the only one I have. I don't want to live a life on edge for the next month, waiting for the day that Sir Alec will realise I've failed. Waiting for the day that he leads me to the west wing. I want to choose my own destiny, choose when I go out, not have all my choices made for me.

  Go and tell Sir Alec if you like, tell him everything, but you'll only be prematurely administering what will eventually happen regardless.' I fold my arms resolutely and watch as Malachy's face falls.

  I realise in that moment that he truly thought he could convince me, make me see sense and turn me against my plan with Lorna. His eyes flash in panic as it quickly dawns on him that I won't change my mind.

  'Eve...' He stammers, his expression changing from rage to despair. My heart tugs, like being pulled by strings, whilst simultaneously a butterfly of hope flits in my stomach.

  I grimace, knowing that these feelings, however real they feel, are not and are simply a product of his feral impression upon me.

  He steps towards me, his blue irises seeming to melt with his gaze, and holds his hands out slightly, reaching for my common sense. 'Please, don't do this.' He begs as I back away.

  An overwhelming and odd sensation floats over me, like being in a warm, fuzzy bubble away from the world, and for the first time in a long time, I feel as though I've taken a hit of heroin. My knees weaken, my arms shake, a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach – a mixture of floating and twisting, like clouds and a knife – threatens to double me over.

  I breathe in and out slowly, attempting to calm myself just as an even stranger feeling convulses in my lower abdomen, spiralling downwards.

  'I have to.' I manage to stammer the words, forcing them out of my mouth as I attempt to control the storm raging within my organs.

  'You don't,' He shakes his head very slightly, the heat of his gaze making me dizzy. 'You don't have to go through with this. You could just stay here... with me.' He reaches his open palm towards me, outstretched and upwards and the urge to take it, to brush my skin against his, almost overpowers me.

  Amber moves ever so slightly in the corner of my eye, edging towards the door. My head snaps to look at her and she freezes, rooted to the spot, her hand outstretched towards the door knob.

  'What are you doing?' I bark, all thoughts of Malachy, all strange feelings and sensations gone in an instant.

  'I was just...' She stutters, her eyes like a rabbit caught in headlights.'I thought you might like to be left alone.'

  'Of course you did. And I'm guessing your next destination was Sir Alec's office, am I right?'

  'Eve,' Malachy's tone warns me. 'Leave her alone. She means you no harm.'

  'No, you're right,' I snap, facing him once more. 'It's you that does. I told you never to use that power on me again and yet here we are, the second time in a week you've broken your promise to me.'

  'What?' He frowns, his gaze narrowing. 'I haven't used it on you. Not once since I walked through that door.'

  'Sure,' I nod sarcastically, beating Amber to the door and opening it for her. 'Both of you can leave. Go run to Sir Alec.'

  Amber sprints for the exit, shooting past me like a bullet, unable to get out of the room fast enough. Malachy hesitates.

  'Out, Mal.' I sigh wearily, grateful as he crosses the room towards the door. He stops before me, his intention not to leave but to close in.

  'Eve,' He attempts to get my attention as I focus my gaze on the floor, refusing to look up at him. 'Eve, I swear I didn't use it on you,' His voice is soft, his tone gentle. 'Please believe me.' He begs and I lose the battle with myself, looking up into his crystal blue eyes.

  'I only used it on you when Lucrezia was there. Her gift is the ability to shroud herself from other Immortals, so they can't sense her presence or hear her coming. I knew you'd be oblivious to her, I did it so that you'd come quietly, for that I'm sorry.

  But I haven't used it on you since.'

  If what Malachy says is truth, then the feelings and sensations I had only moments ago were either a natural instinct towards him, or genuinely my own.

  'Eve, I'm begging you to reconsider your plan to help Lorna Gray. Have you stopped to consider what will happen to Tia? To me?' He asks.

  'Nothing will happen to you, you're an Auctorita. And I've distanced myself from Tia for that precise reason.'

  'Being an Auctorita doesn't spare me from breaking the law. Sir Alec knows I helped you in your task, he'll think I helped you with this too. And Tia might be one of Sir Alec's favourites, but she's not higher than his own daughter on his list of priorities. She will suffer the consequences too.'

  My face drops as I realise that he's right. Didn't Sir Alec tell me himself that he was glad Malachy was helping me? He'll think that he helped us escape, and what Malachy says about Tia is more than likely too.

  He says nothing more as he passes me, exiting the room with little more than a glance my way. I close the door behind him, slamming it with full force, it creaks on its hinges as the walls either side of it shake and buckle.

  An image of Malachy rotting in the Confine flits involuntarily across my mind and I sink to my knees, my head in my hands.

  The thought of Tia bearing the consequences of my actions is enough to make me despair, the thought of Malachy doing the same is unbearable. I make a decision, there on the floor, that I will have to suffer in order to prove their innocence, and I know how I'll have to do it.

  It will be one of the hardest things I'll ever have to do, hurt those I love in order to save them.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Aaliyah Fall's office is on route to Theory class, I pass it almost everyday. Outside, a huge silver plaque reads Ms Aaliyah Fall: First Year Head. Despite Ms Fall being our Head of Year, we don't actually see her all that often, so the only impression I have of her is the one I got during that very first meeting when Tomos O'Brien got a telling off. It's because of this that I'm not looking forward to speaking with her today.

  It's a Saturday and Ms Fall should not be in her office, but if I'm as good at reading people as I think I am, Ms Fall is the kind of person who takes her work home with her. I knock lightly on the polished oak door and a stern voice calls from beyond it.

  'Come in.'

  Ms Fall's office is sparse and lacking in decoration. The walls are lined with metal filing cabinets and the mahogany desk in the centre of the room is littered with papers and folders. Ms Fall herself sits at a stone age computer, her dark eyes fixed on me with a look of unwelcome surprise.

  'Close the door,' She orders, tapping at her keyboard, clearly irritated by my intrusion. I wait patiently for her to finish, trying not to further annoy her by fidgeting.

  'Miss Ryder, how can I help you?' She asks, leaning back in her chair and focussing her piercing gaze on me.

  'Morning, Ms Fall,' I begin politely, feigning confidence as my knees threaten to buckle. Ms Fall intimidates me almost as much as Sir Alec. If she were the last Immortal on Earth, I still wouldn't want to be anywhere near her. 'I'd like to discuss with you the possibility of a change of Mentor.'

  Ms Fall looks surprised, but she covers it quickly, rearranging her expression until she looks suspicious.

  'You no longer want Miss Carey to Mentor you?' She frowns deeply, holding my gaze intently.

  'That's correct,' I nod feebly. 'I would like
a different Mentor. And also a room change.'

  'I see,' She replies, though it's clear she doesn't. She narrows her eyes, smoothing her crisp white shirt over her flat stomach. 'May I ask the reason for this sudden change of heart?'

  'Tia – Miss Carey – and I are no longer compatible with each other. We have irreconcilable differences and I feel it will be counter-productive to my education to keep her as my Mentor.' I try to sound educated and firm, but end up sound pathetic and pleading.

  'I see,' Ms Fall repeats, pausing. 'It may have escaped your attention, Miss Ryder, but there are only twenty students in both the first and third years,' She raises an eyebrow. 'There is no-one to swap with Miss Carey as your Mentor.'

  'Ah.' I nod. How could I not have realised that? It's silly mistakes like that which will trip mine and Lorna's plan up. I need to focus more, get my head in the game.

  Ms Fall is still glaring at me intensely.

  'I'll talk to Sir Alec,' she says suddenly. 'See what he makes of it. If you're absolutely sure that this is what you want?' It'll be pretty awkward if I stop sharing a room with Tia, but continue to have her as my Mentor. I'm not sure if my plan will work that way. I'll just have to hope that Sir Alec gives me special privileges again on account of my task.