‘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.
7
Seven
When Allie reached the back door, a dark-haired female guard with a torch attached to her utility belt like a handgun opened it for her before she asked.
‘Uh … thanks,’ she said, trying not to sound as weirded out by all of this new security as she was.
The guard gave an officious nod and closed the door.
Outside, the sky was cobalt, just beginning to blacken at the edges. A cool breeze lifted her hair.
A few feet away, his hands shoved in his pockets, Sylvain paced the stone walkway. As soon as he saw her, he brightened.
‘There you are. Let’s go. We have to hurry.’
Allie squinted at him suspiciously. ‘Why? Where are we going?’
His lips quirked up.
‘I knew you’d hate this part.’ He held out his hand. ‘Come on. I promise it’s OK. It’s just a surprise. A good surprise.’
She’d never seen him more excited. He was practically hopping up and down with it.
His mood was contagious. Putting thoughts of unfixable Carter and miserable Cimmeria from her mind, Allie took his hand.
‘This way,’ he said, pointing to the right.
The footpath curved away from the terraced gardens behind the school to the edge of the forest. If you followed it far enough, Allie knew it would bring you to the walled garden. From there you could follow it up the hill to the castle ruins. But Sylvain turned off the path early, into the trees.
‘I thought we couldn’t go into the woods?’ she said.
He gave a mysterious smile. ‘I have permission.’
It was darker now – the last of the light had disappeared from the sky. As they moved further into the forest he laced his fingers through hers.
Allie could not figure out where he was taking her. She knew there was nothing ahead of them but forest. The whole thing didn’t make any sense.
‘Seriously, Sylvain. This is crazy. Where are we going?’
Her impatience seemed to amuse him; he stifled a grin. ‘Trust me.’
Just when she was about to demand information, a ghostly glow appeared ahead of them, and suddenly she knew where they were going: The folly.
But why?
Then they stepped through the trees into a clearing and the night lit up.
Allie stopped in her tracks.
Dropping her hand, Sylvain stepped back to watch her reaction.
The folly was a fanciful little structure that served no real purpose – nothing more than a gazebo made of marble with a domed roof, it was intended only to be pretty. A pleasant surprise for Victorians out for a stroll. Inside was a statue of a woman, caught in the middle of a dance.
Tonight it had all been draped in fairy lights. Every piece of marble was enrobed in their sparkling glow. Even the dancing girl held strands of lights in her raised hand like an illuminated veil.
Four steps led up to the statue. And something had been left at the top of the stairs.
Allie turned to Sylvain. In the glow of the lights she could see the anticipation in his eyes.