When Raj stopped reading, the room fell silent.
Allie, Sylvain, Carter, Nicole and Zoe stood alone. All the other students were on the other side of the room with Zelazny.
‘The rest of you,’ Raj looked across at Allie’s group. ‘With me.’
He walked towards the door. Allie could feel the other students watching them as they crossed the room after him. Like they were celebrities.
‘This is weird,’ Carter whispered under his breath as they walked out the door and she almost smiled.
‘Weird is what we do best.’
They gathered with Isabelle and Raj in one of the small, top-floor classrooms where the chairs had been arranged in a half-circle. Allie sat between Sylvain and Zoe. Nicole and Carter filled out the group. Raj stood near Isabelle, letting her lead.
A row of windows lined one wall. Outside, grey clouds had built up and, as Isabelle stood to speak, a clipboard held in front of her chest like a shield, rain spattered against the windows like nails tapping.
‘The parley will happen Friday night on Hampstead Heath.’ She glanced at Allie. ‘I assume you’re familiar with it.’
Allie, who’d grown up on the other side of the city, had only vague memories of vast green fields, a lavish white mansion with columns, and an orchestra playing in the sun.
‘I went there once a long time ago,’ she said.
The headmistress acknowledged this with a nod. ‘Then let’s start with the basics. Hampstead Heath is a park in the north of London. We’ve agreed to that location because parts of it are quite remote and likely to be empty at night. So there’s less chance of an innocent person being hurt.’
The idea that she so openly anticipated violence was unnerving.
‘He wants to meet on Parliament Hill.’ Isabelle didn’t hide her irritation at this fact. ‘Nathaniel and his symbolism. However, this could work to our advantage. There are many places on that particular ridge where we can station guards. The terrain is not unlike the grounds here – hilly, forested – and we know how to operate in those conditions.’
As the students digested this, she turned. ‘Allie. We will go over the conditions we’ve agreed to in detail later. But for now, you should know Nathaniel insisted you come alone.’ Allie shook her head fiercely at this news but, before she could voice her protest, Isabelle held up her hand. ‘We have refused, of course. After some resistance, he’s agreed you can bring one person with you but it must be a student – he won’t allow Raj or any of his guards. Obviously, we will all be there, one way or another. But only one person can travel with you and be at your side during the meeting.’
Allie shivered. It was all happening exactly as Jerry had told her it would.
Outside, the rain was falling harder now. Running in rivulets down the glass.
The headmistress stepped towards her. ‘Raj and I both believe that, under the circumstances, this decision should be yours alone. Who would you like to be with you?’
Wordlessly, Allie stared back at her. She kept hearing Jerry’s words in her head. ‘Take someone you believe in.’
What did that even mean? She believed in every person in this room. She would throw herself in front of a bullet for each of them. How could she choose one of them above the others?
She forced herself to look around the circle. Zoe gazed at her with hopeful eyes. But that was impossible – she was far too young. The incident in the library had proven she wasn’t ready yet.
Her gaze moved to Nicole. She was both quick and skilled, and Allie knew she could stand her ground. But Gabe would find a way to use her lack of sheer physical strength against her.
That left Sylvain and Carter.
Sylvain watched her with a look of steady confidence but she knew him well enough to see worry darken his blue eyes when she didn’t immediately say his name.
Her eyes moved to the last desk in the circle.
Carter was the only one in the group who didn’t meet her gaze. She could see his tension in the set of his shoulders; the way a muscle worked in his jaw.
Take someone you believe in …
Indecision pinioned her.
The moment stretched on too long. She saw Isabelle frown at Raj when she didn’t speak. She had to choose. She had to do it now.
She took a deep breath. ‘I’ll take Sylvain.’
Carter’s shoulders stiffened as if she’d struck him.
The others reacted as she’d expected. Zoe muttered mutinously to herself, while Nicole seemed unsurprised. Sylvain nodded as if this was precisely what he’d expected.
But Carter kept his eyes on the ground; his face expressionless.
‘Fine.’ Isabelle’s clipped tone gave no clues to her feelings about Allie’s decision. ‘The two of you will work with Raj and Dom on the details of the journey and the meeting. Otherwise, we will all work together on overall preparedness and planning.’
She set the clipboard down. As she looked around the circle, her golden brown eyes were shadowed.
‘I must be honest with you. As we said downstairs, this is going to be dangerous. But Lucinda believes if we don’t go to Nathaniel now he will come to us later, and that could be worse. You must be ready for anything. My one goal is to get every single one of you back here safely. Nothing else matters.’
31
Thirty-one
When the meeting ended, the group walked out in a hushed cluster, stunned by the speed with which it was all happening. Only a few days to prepare.
From beneath her lashes, Allie kept her eyes on Carter. He’d been subdued throughout the meeting, avoiding her gaze.
As soon as they reached the first-floor landing, she saw him drop back and peel away from the others. She hurried to follow but he was moving fast. When he reached the foot of a narrow staircase that led to the boys’ dorm, she called out to him.
‘Hey!’.
He froze. .
‘Can we talk?’ she asked.
‘Sure.’ His voice was even. But still he didn’t turn around.
She reached for his arm. His white shirt was cool beneath her fingers but she could feel the warmth of his skin through the fabric.
Slowly, he turned to look at her. His face was carefully blank.
‘Look …’ She hesitated. Now that she was here she didn’t know what to say. ‘I … I wanted to talk to you about why I chose—’
‘It’s fine.’ He cut her off before she could finish. ‘I know why you picked Sylvain. And I don’t blame you. I would have made the same decision.’
Allie blinked. ‘You would?’
‘Of course. He’s gone up against Gabe more than once. And Nathaniel. And won.’ He dropped his gaze. ‘I’ve never done that. Probably couldn’t. So Sylvain’s the right choice. You need someone who can keep you safe.’
Despite his obvious attempt to sound neutral, his voice dripped with self-loathing.
Allie was horrified by how he was interpreting her choice.
‘Carter, I didn’t choose Sylvain because he’s better than you,’ she said, willing him to believe her. ‘That’s not the reason.’
‘It should have been,’ he said roughly, colour rising in his cheeks. ‘All that matters now is choosing the best person to fight with you. Nothing else. And that’s Sylvain.’
‘That’s not true,’ she said, tightening her grip on his arm. Carter’s gaze locked on hers with such intensity it was hard for her to breathe.
‘If that’s not the reason then … why, Allie? Why did you choose him?’
She stared at him, seeing the hurt in his eyes. But she didn’t know how to answer his question. Because he’s my boyfriend? Because he loves me?
Those were both stupid reasons to choose a fighter.
She had the horrible feeling she’d made a mistake.
Dropping her hand she looked up at him hopelessly. ‘Don’t you see? I had to. What I want doesn’t matter.’ Surprise flared in his eyes. But before he could ask any questions, she stumbled away, running ha
rd into a marble statue she’d forgotten was behind her. Flustered, she grabbed on to the plinth to right herself. ‘Sorry … I should … I’ve got to go.’
Then she ran down the stairs as if someone was chasing her.
The next few days were a blur of preparation. Isabelle insisted they continue with their coursework, even as their physical training extended later and later into the night. By Wednesday, they were already exhausted, and there were still two days to go.
But Allie was glad of the hard work and the pressure – it kept her from worrying all day. Made her tired enough to sleep at night. Kept her mind from spinning through all the ways it could go wrong.
She and Sylvain met every day after class with Isabelle, Raj and Dom for updates on their plans for the parley.
The work was relentless. Every element of the route they would take to the park, and how they would make their way to Parliament Hill, was scrutinised and analysed over and over again until Allie knew Hampstead as well as she knew Cimmeria.
On Wednesday afternoon they gathered in a small basement office across from Training Room One and crowded around Dom’s laptop, looking at a map of Hampstead Heath and the surrounding tangle of city streets. The park was a mass of dark green, the streets around it white lines that curved and angled.
This was high summer, so they knew the park would be packed with picnickers, bikers and tourists during the day. But at night it was virtually empty.
‘The area around the park is very exclusive – some of the most expensive property in London. But it’s also densely populated,’ Raj explained, pointing at white lines just beyond the southern quadrant of the park. ‘We should be able to drop you off without being noticed. The problem is getting you across the park and to the top of the hill safely.’
He gestured for Dom to take over.
With her cursor, she traced a dark, curving line. ‘If we let you off here, you could walk up quite easily, but we believe this path is too exposed. It’s the most popular route for tourists because it’s along a gentle curving slope.’ The cursor moved to a longer footpath, which came into the park from another direction. ‘This one is steeper and travels through wooded terrain. It provides more cover and thus safety. However, it means you’re on foot longer in the park, which increases the risk, if Nathaniel’s guards are where we expect them to be.’ Through the clear lenses of her narrow glasses she glanced up at them. ‘Despite that, we believe the benefits outweigh the dangers, and this is the better path.’
Sylvain frowned. ‘You think we can avoid Nathaniel’s guards?’
‘You’ll have to,’ Dom said.
Raj took over, pointing at a white line at the edge of the green. ‘We’ll drop you off here, on Tanza Road. From there you’ll need to hike five hundred yards due east to meet up with this footpath here.’ He tapped a slim black line on the screen. ‘After that, your journey to the top of the hill should be straightforward. I will station guards in the woods along the way to provide protection but it’s nearly a mile to the meeting point. You will need to be extremely cautious.’
‘What about police? Civilians?’ Sylvain asked.
‘If you see the police you’re just a couple of kids looking for a place to be alone.’ Raj spoke without apparent embarrassment, but his words made Allie go red.
‘Civilians?’ Sylvain prodded him.
‘If you see people, avoid them. That’s the basic rule,’ Raj said.
‘Will Lucinda be with us the whole time?’ Allie asked.
Raj shook his head. ‘She’ll take a different route. Keeping you together would be too dangerous. You’ll meet her at the top of the ridge.’ He tapped his finger on the screen. ‘Now, our guards will be all over that hill but that won’t be enough. Nathaniel’s guards will be there, too. You’ll need to rely on your training and your wits to get through this. Because whatever Nathaniel has planned, it isn’t a parley.’
‘We’ll be ready,’ Sylvain vowed.
Allie couldn’t tear her eyes from the map, glowing green and white on the computer screen. She wished she felt as confident as he sounded.
When they came out of the meeting, Rachel was waiting in the corridor, a huge stack of papers in her arms.
Seeing her, Allie felt a sudden burst of unexpected happiness. A friendly face was just what she needed about now.
She ran up to her. ‘Hi! Looking for me?’ She glanced at the papers. ‘How did you know I’d run out of all the paper in the world?’
Rachel peered over her shoulder. ‘Not exactly,’ she said. ‘I mean, I’m always happy to see you but during this particular Cimmeria apocalypse I’m here for someone else.’
‘Rachel. There you are.’ Dom’s voice came from behind them.
Eagerly, Rachel stepped past Allie, holding up the pages so Dom could see them. ‘I got your message. Here’s the information you asked for.’
She fairly vibrated with excitement.
Allie watched her with interest; it had been a while since she’d seen Rachel so enthused and animated.
‘Great.’ Taking the papers from her, Dom handed her the laptop case. Without a second’s hesitation, Rachel draped it across her shoulder and followed the tech down the narrow corridor, skipping a little to keep up.
‘We need to plot some walking routes,’ Allie heard Dom explain in a brisk tone. ‘We’ll need to take the Ordnance Survey maps and then recalculate time and pace …’
Her voice faded as they walked down the hallway, absorbed in their plans.
‘Rachel fits well with Dom,’ Sylvain had walked up next to Allie without her noticing.
‘Yeah,’ she said, watching them disappear down the stairs. ‘They’re two clever peas in a super smart pod.’
As she headed down the shadowy top-floor corridor, Sylvain fell into step beside her. It was very quiet.
As they walked, Allie glanced at him. ‘How do you feel about all this? Do you think we’re ready?’
He looked at her, his eyes a flash of turquoise in the dimness. ‘It’s OK, I guess. But we’ll need much more precise knowledge of where to go once we enter the park, how we’ll communicate … everything.’
A shadow crossed his face. In all their training he’d never betrayed anything but steady confidence. Now, as Allie realised how worried he was, nerves tightened their grip on her.
Because he was right. This meeting was taking them out of their comfort zone. Away from Cimmeria, where they knew they had home field advantage, and into London: enemy territory.
‘It’s all happening so fast,’ she said. Sometimes I feel like we’re kind of running into something we don’t totally understand.’
He met her gaze. ‘I suppose we’ll have more information tonight. I think that’s what Rachel and Dom are working on.’
‘Yes, but … there’s no time.’
Hearing the worry in her voice, Sylvain reached for her hand. She let him pull her closer, until she could feel the warmth of his skin through their clothes.
‘We’ll be fine,’ he said. ‘I promise.’
This close to him she could breathe in his familiar scent – he smelled of coffee, spicy sandalwood soap. See how his eyes fractured the light like sapphires.
He was beautiful and kind and brave. Any idiot could see that.
At that moment, footsteps stormed up the stairs towards them. They were moving fast. Urgently. As if someone was panicking.
In sync, they both turned.
Nicole hurtled up towards them, her blue pleated skirt swirling around her legs, dark hair flying.
‘Sylvain,’ she said and her voice sounded strange. She was white as paper. ‘Something’s happened.’
Allie felt Sylvain’s body tighten.
‘What is it?’ His voice had gone cold.
A tear ran down Nicole’s pale cheek and Allie saw that she was trembling. ‘It’s your father.’
32
Thirty-two
Isabelle met them at the foot of the stairs.
‘Is he ali
ve?’ Sylvain kept asking. The colour had drained from his face but his voice was steady. Insistent.
All the headmistress could say was, ‘I hope so. We’re waiting.’ She reached for his arm as if to steady him. ‘But, Sylvain. It’s bad.’
From then, everything took on a nightmarish haze. Allie couldn’t seem to feel anything. She was numb.
The three students followed Isabelle to her office. Nicole and Allie tried to make Sylvain sit but he refused. Instead he stood stiffly by the door, his face drawn.
‘My mother …?’ he asked.
‘She’s fine. She’s on her way to the hospital now to be with your father,’ Isabelle said. ‘Please sit and I’ll tell you everything I know.’
He set his shoulders. ‘I will stand. But … tell me.’
Nobody could bear to sit if he didn’t, so they all stood as Isabelle explained what had happened.
His father had been at his offices in Paris. He had a meeting that afternoon elsewhere in the city with a business associate.
‘It was perfectly routine,’ Isabelle said. ‘Someone he met all the time.’
His chauffeur drove the car to the front door of the office to pick him up.
‘Everything was normal,’ Isabelle said. ‘He and his driver had gone less than a mile when the bomb went off. They believe it was hidden in the engine of the car. A very sophisticated device.’
A bomb.
The world swung beneath Allie’s feet. She gripped the back of the chair in front of her so hard her nails dug deep pits into the leather.
Unflinching, Sylvain fixed the headmistress with a piercing look. ‘How bad is it?’ When the headmistress hesitated, his tone sharpened. ‘Tell me.’
‘The car flipped over on to its top.’ Isabelle’s voice was low. ‘It flew fifty feet. The driver was killed instantly.’
C J Daugherty - [Night School 04] Page 22
