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.
6
Six
‘Carter …? 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.’
By 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.