Finally, Allie understood why she was back.
For months they’d struggled to figure out who was betraying them. Someone among them was feeding Nathaniel a constant stream of damaging information. This person had helped him try to burn the school down. Let in his henchman, Gabe, who’d killed Ruth and Jo. They would all have given anything to identify the spy and destroy him. But for months they’d tried and failed. And it had cost them dearly.
She straightened her spine. ‘What do you need me to do?’
‘First,’ Isabelle held up a cautioning hand, ‘you should know where things stand. While you were away we eliminated all the guards from the list of possibles.’
Stunned, Allie stared at her. ‘How? Are you certain?’
The list of suspects had long included a core group of senior guards and the top Night School instructors. Every time they’d tried to narrow down that list, they’d been stymied. The students had all hoped the spy was a guard – someone they didn’t really know. Because otherwise it meant that one of their mentors had betrayed them. And that thought was unbearable.
‘It was Raj’s plan,’ Isabelle said. ‘He removed all the guards under suspicion from the school while running a thorough background check. At the same time, he planted false information with the senior teachers about your whereabouts. That information made it to Nathaniel, who acted on it, sending a raid party to an empty house in Spain.’
‘So … one of the teachers …’ Allie couldn’t seem to complete the sentence.
‘One of our three most trusted teachers passed the false information to Nathaniel.’ Isabelle’s voice was taut. ‘Yes. Thinking you would be there. Yes. Knowing Nathaniel might kill you.’ She held her gaze. ‘Yes.’
Allie cleared her throat, which had suddenly closed. ‘So … it’s Eloise, Jerry or Zelazny, then.’
‘Yes.’
Allie felt loss. There’d been a time when she would have trusted any of those teachers with her life.
‘What do we do now?’ Her voice was low.
‘Now,’ Isabelle said, ‘we must be very careful. We believe that, with tensions being what they are, your return will mean the spy will need to communicate constantly with Nathaniel. This will make it more likely they make mistakes.’ She leaned back in the shadows; Allie couldn’t see her eyes any more. ‘When they do, we’ll be ready.’
9
Nine
‘I’m back.’ Rachel shoved Allie’s door open without knocking. ‘Did you miss me?’
‘Rach!’ Leaping off the bed, Allie ran to her, nearly knocking her down. It was late Sunday afternoon. All the things that had happened bubbled inside her until she thought she might explode. ‘Never leave me alone again. Swear it.’
‘Can I have loo breaks?’ Rachel laughed.
‘No.’ Allie’s reply was emphatic.
‘Well, that’s going to get awkward.’ Dropping down on Allie’s bed, Rachel looked around the room. ‘Can you believe we’re here? How was it this weekend?’
Allie’s reply was prompt. ‘Horrible. And awesome.’
Rachel grinned. ‘It’s all and nothing with you, Allie. Right. Tell me everything. I’ve been home all weekend eating Mum’s food. I’ve never been fatter or happier so I think I’m strong enough to know it all.’
Sitting in the desk chair, Allie propped her bare feet up on the bed next to Rachel and ticked the weekend’s events off on her fingers. ‘Everyone is totally depressed. The guards are weird. Sylvain gave me cake and we made out. Carter is angry.’
Rachel focused on the big news first.
‘You finally made out with Sylvain? At bloody last.’ She sagged back in mock-relief. ‘I was so tired of you two circling each other like a couple of hungry lions when we were in France. I thought you’d never get on with it.’
Allie threw a pillow at her. ‘You make us sound so obvious.’
‘You were so obvious.’ Rachel grinned, tucking the pillow behind her. ‘Look, I’m really glad for you. I came around to Sylvain, you know, after he saved your life, like, four times. I think he’s a good guy. I also think he’s totally, head-over-heels, crazy in love with you.’
Allie blushed. ‘For my birthday … he gave me this.’ She lifted the pendant up to show her. It caught the light and flashed.
Leaning forward to look at it, Rachel made all the right admiring noises. ‘That is so beautiful. And so you.’
‘I love it.’ Allie ran her thumb gently across the warm metal before letting it drop back against her skin.
‘I can’t believe I wasn’t here for your birthday,’ Rachel said with sudden contrition. ‘Dad dragged me out of bed at stupid o’clock. He wouldn’t let me wake you. You know what he’s like.’
Allie, who did know what Raj Patel was like, thought about telling her how bad the day had been. But she knew it would only make her feel worse.
‘It’s cool.’ She shrugged. ‘I got through it somehow.’
‘With the help of a certain hot French guy.’ Rachel shot her a knowing look. ‘Now, I might not have blue eyes and a sexy accent but I did get you a present. Belated-style.’ She pulled a box wrapped in pink paper from inside her school blazer and held it out.
Allie grinned at her. ‘I love it already,’ she said. ‘As I love all presents.’