Resistance (5 page)

‘It’s Isabelle,’ she said, glancing down to where Allie sat straightening her flower crown. ‘I’ll go see what she wants.’

‘You have my permission,’ Allie said, still playing queen. ‘Sally forth and report back.’

As Nicole hurried off, though, she called after her: ‘Tell Isabelle I need to talk to her.’

But neither Nicole nor Isabelle seemed to hear her.

The two disappeared inside the school building. The door closed, and the guard resumed his place outside it, staring out over the grounds intently.

Why didn’t Isabelle want to see me? Is she too busy to talk about guns? And Nathaniel?

She leaned back on the grass, considering her options. She could run after them and insist that Isabelle explain what the hell was going on. She really could.

But she didn’t move. There had to be a reason why Isabelle was making her wait.

Something must be going on.

The exhaustion of the last twenty-four hours caught up with her and, in the warm sun, her eyelids felt heavy. The soft grass tickled her bare legs. In the distance she could hear Lucas and Zoe shouting and kicking the ball. The faint buzzing of bees in the nearby flower beds formed a soothing backdrop.

Maybe she fell asleep for a while or perhaps no time passed but, suddenly, something blocked the sun. Allie blinked her eyes open to find Carter towering over her.

‘
C
arter
…? What?’ She was instantly wide awake.

‘I can’t believe you,’ he said. ‘You bloody idiot. How could you be so stupid? Why the hell did you come back?’

‘Hey!’ Allie protested. ‘I mean … what?’ She scrambled to her feet.

‘You got away,’ he said. ‘You were free. And you
came back
? Why would you do that?’

He sounded both angry and genuinely baffled, as if she’d done something unbelievably stupid.

Allie bristled. ‘You don’t know what happened out there, Carter. I didn’t have any choice. And whatever happened to hello and welcome back, anyway?’

He ignored that. ‘Oh really?’ His tone turned sardonic. ‘Couldn’t you have run away? I mean, that’s your thing, right? Running away. Why don’t you do it when it
matters
?’

That one stung.

Blood rose to Allie’s cheeks. ‘I came back because it wasn’t safe out there,’ she said. ‘That’s all. Not because I wanted …’
to see you
‘… to be here.’

This didn’t placate him.

‘Look around you, Allie.’ He flung out his arm and the sweeping gesture took in the quiet grounds, the mostly empty school building, the muscular guards prowling the edges of the lawns. ‘Do you feel safe now? Because you’re not. Out there, at least you could run. Here, you’re in a cage.’

Allie wanted to argue with him – to tell him how wrong he was. But hadn’t she felt it all morning? And in that meeting? The insecurity. The futility of their resistance against Nathaniel. The guards watching their every move.

The fight went out of her.

‘Look, Carter, all I’ve done for months is run.’ She ran her fingers across her forehead, which was beginning to throb. ‘And it wasn’t any safer out there. Nathaniel found me. It was … bad.’

A flicker of surprise and concern lightened his eyes. So he didn’t know what had happened.

And he cared.

‘I don’t know if I’m safe here or not,’ she continued. ‘I doubt it. I’m not safe anywhere. But neither are you. So maybe you should worry less about me and more about yourself. Seriously, Carter …’ Her glance slid across his sharp cheekbones, and the tired circles under his eyes. ‘What’s the matter with you? You look like crap.’

Instantly, his expression hardened. He took a step back. ‘What’s the matter with me? Nothing. I’m just the only honest person you know. You’ve got grass in your hair.’

And with that baffling combination of statements he turned and walked away at a rapid pace, kicking at the ground.

As she watched him go, Allie reached up cautiously to touch her hair. Her fingers found the wilted daisy chain Nicole made for her earlier.

‘It’s not grass,’ she said, although he was too far away to hear. ‘It’s a crown.’

B
y dinnertime
, Allie had given up putting a bright face on things and was in full-on mope mood. Maybe she’d been away too long to just … come back. It was as if, when she’d gone, life at Cimmeria had closed in behind her, filling whatever gap she might have left.

She walked into the dining room with hesitant steps. At first glance, everything was as it had always been – the room glowed with candles. The tables were set in the traditional way, with crystal glasses, heavy silver cutlery and white linen. But it was mostly empty now. The students easily fit at five round tables. The teachers and guards occupied four more.

In normal times, dinners at Cimmeria were lively affairs with a high, constant buzz of conversation and laughter. But the mood tonight was distinctly subdued. People did talk but it all lacked life and energy.

Spotting Nicole and Zoe with Lucas and Katie, Allie made her way to them.

‘Hi, Allie.’ Katie smiled at her as if they were old friends. ‘Welcome back.’

‘Hi,’ Allie mumbled without enthusiasm. Katie’s smile faded.

An uncomfortable silence fell. Zoe looked from Katie to Allie, frowning.

‘Katie’s been helping us,’ she announced, in a tone that said Allie was being unreasonable. ‘She’s our friend now.’

Everyone was looking at Allie, waiting for her to say something diplomatic or friendly. She couldn’t do it. She knew she was being childish but she couldn’t seem to stop. It was as if Katie, of all people, had replaced her in the group.

She fixed the redhead with a cold stare. ‘Awesome.’

Colour rising in her cheeks, Katie turned to Lucas and asked a random question about course work in a clear attempt to change the subject.

Lucas shot Allie a disapproving look before answering.

Zoe looked like she wanted to say something else but Nicole rested a hand on her arm and shook her head.

No one talked to Allie after that.

At seven o’clock precisely, Carter and Sylvain walked into the dining room together with Zelazny, who closed the doors behind them.

Sylvain slipped into the empty seat next to Allie, who studiously avoided Carter’s gaze.

Seeing her expression, Sylvain leaned close to her. ‘Are you OK?’

Allie’s lower lip trembled but she just shook her head. She didn’t trust herself to speak.

Because Carter was right: she wanted to run away. Only there was nowhere to go.

A
s soon as dinner ended
, Allie made a beeline for the door. She was half-running down the main hallway when Sylvain caught up with her.

Taking her by the hand, he pulled her with him into the shadows under the swooping curve of the grand staircase near Isabelle’s office.

‘Allie …’ he said as soon as they were out of sight. ‘
Dîtes moi.
What’s the matter? You hardly said a word at dinner. You hardly ate. You seem so sad. Did something happen?’

He searched her face as if looking for clues.

Allie dropped her gaze. She couldn’t really tell him about Carter because there had always been so much tension between the two of them, and if she explained about Katie it would sound petty. In fact, now that she thought about it, it all suddenly seemed ridiculous and overly emotional anyway.

‘I’m sorry.’ She sighed, pushing her hair back out of her face. ‘I’m just feeling sorry for myself. Nothing is the way I expected and everyone …’ She stopped and shook her head
.
‘I’ll be fine. I’m just tired.’

He was standing so close to her she could feel the warmth of his body. It was hard to feel self-pitying when he was looking at her like that.

‘You’re sure?’ he said. ‘No one said anything to hurt you?’

Allie gave a wan smile.

‘No,’ she said. ‘I’m being an idiot. I guess I just miss … France. Your place. The way things were. Everything’s so … I don’t know. Complicated here.’

Sylvain stepped closer; his legs pressed against hers. Now Allie could smell the faint scent of his sandalwood cologne. Feel his breath on her cheeks.

She looked up at him questioningly.

With light fingers, he picked up a loose strand of her hair from the top of her shoulder and let it run through his fingers like silk. Goosebumps sprang up on Allie’s arms and shoulders.

‘
T
here’s
something that will cheer you up,’ he said. His voice, low and accented, made her shiver. ‘It’s a surprise. But there’s something I have to do first. Meet me outside the back door in half an hour?’

Excited curiosity ran through her. At this moment she wanted nothing more than a distraction.

‘I’ll be there.’

A
fter Sylvain left
, Allie didn’t really know what to do with herself. She walked down the grand hallway as far as the library door, then turned and paced back again.

There was no doubt what he had in mind involved kissing. Taking everything to the next step.

And that was fine, right? After all, she was attracted to him. And Carter was obviously not an issue. He’d been a lot of things today, but romantic wasn’t one of them.

Why did that matter so much?

She longed to discuss it all with Rachel. She’d know what to do.

‘Hey, Allie.’ Katie’s familiar Chelsea accent stopped her outside the common room. Turning, she saw the redhead hurrying towards her, blue pleated skirt flaring around her perfect legs.

Oh good,
Allie thought, despairing.

She braced herself for Katie’s wall of sarcasm. But it didn’t happen.

Instead, the other girl seemed almost nervous. She kept toying with a delicate gold bracelet that dangled from her slim wrist. The light from the chandelier above them glinted off her hair, making it sparkle like fine strands of copper. Her skin was poreless.

‘This is going to sound odd,’ Katie began. ‘But I just wanted to say I’m glad you’re back. And … I know you don’t like me and I don’t blame you. I’ve been a total bitch. I’m sorry … kind of.’ She stopped playing with her bracelet and looked up at Allie with the sharp green eyes of a pedigree cat. ‘You were a bitch to me too, you know.’

Briefly, Allie considered defending herself. But she changed her mind. What Katie was saying was true. She gave as good as she got.

‘Anyway,’ Katie continued, ‘then Nathaniel happened and you were like some kind of superhero. I don’t know if I ever told you that I thought it was amazing what you and the others did. I don’t know how you’re so brave. I just …’ She bit her lip. ‘I just know that I’m not. Brave, I mean.’

Allie was flabbergasted. Whatever she’d expected Katie to say it wasn’t this.

‘And now … the thing is … I don’t want to be your enemy,’ Katie said. ‘I think we have enough of those right now. So, I’d like to declare a truce. With you. For a while, at least.’ She paused before adding, ‘When it’s all over we can go back to despising each other if you’d like.’

‘You want … You … To be … friends?’ Allie found it hard to say words that made any sense.

‘I know, right?’ A rueful half-smile touched Katie’s lips. ‘
Quel
oddity. But you did save the school. And I’m not a complete cretin. Besides, I mostly hated you because of Sylvain anyway. And I’m over him now.’

She smoothed the lines of her skirt with a demure sweep of her hands.

‘Is this for real?’ Allie finally recovered the power of speech. ‘You seriously want a truce?’

‘I seriously do.’ Katie held her gaze. ‘This is not a game. What do you think?’

This was huge. Allie and Katie had hated each other from the first time they met. Katie had been so vicious, so cruel. Allie wondered if it was possible to put that behind her. To try again. But Katie had helped them when Nathaniel came for the students. And everyone else seemed to have forgiven her.

The least she could do was give it a shot.

‘OK,’ she said after a long pause. ‘Truce. But it’s weird.’

‘Isn’t it?’ Katie’s lips curved up. ‘Welcome to the new normal. It’s all messed up.’

‘Katie! Over here.’

They both looked up to see Lucas waving from across the common room.

Most of the remaining students seemed to be in there, but the room still felt wrong. On a normal night in the old days, it would be packed at this hour. The sprawling space with its tall bookshelves stacked with games and books looked the same, but its leather chairs and sofas were mostly empty. The baby grand piano in the corner sat silent.

Katie waved back at him. ‘I should go.’ She tilted her head to one side. ‘I’m really glad we sorted this out. I think I’ll like not fighting with you.’

Without waiting for a reply, she turned and sashayed across the room. From the doorway, Allie watched her walk to where Lucas sat on a sofa. He welcomed her with a jovial insult but Allie didn’t miss the way his eyes skated approvingly across her figure.

A frown creased her brow. Lucas was Rachel’s boyfriend. Katie and Lucas weren’t exactly cuddled up together but they looked awfully cosy.

Something drew her glance to the back of the room. In a dim corner, Carter sat alone in a deep leather chair. A heavy book was open in his lap and he was reading it intently .

A lock of dark hair had fallen forward into his eyes but he didn’t seem aware of it. His long legs were stretched out in front of him. He looked older than she remembered. More grown-up.

She wondered if she looked older now, too.

She wished they could just be friends without all this …
stuff
between them. One of them was always mad at the other one. They were always finding reasons to be upset with each other. While she’d been away she’d missed him more than she’d expected to, and it threw her into confusion. Lying by the pool pretending to study, she’d find herself wondering what he was doing. If he missed her at all.

But Sylvain’s constant, attentive presence had made it hard to know how she felt.

Now, with both of them around, things weren’t getting any clearer.