Mr Patel walked to the centre of the room with a confident stride and turned in a circle to see them all. ‘As you know, my firm has been maintaining security at Cimmeria throughout the autumn term. You may also know that a meeting of the G8 is scheduled to happen outside London in two weeks, and we will be providing security for that. At the same time, the winter ball will be held here attracting a number of international dignitaries. So our resources are going to be stretched.’
His eyes met Allie’s for a second and she felt a chill of fear.
Something’s wrong.
‘I’m pulling in extra staff for this period but we’ll need your help. We’re putting Night School back on its regular patrols. You’ve been training towards this for months now, and you’re ready. You’ll be working directly with some of my team, who will be staying behind while the rest of us are away. These are skilled, highly trained security experts, and I think you can learn a lot from them.’
A twist of ice had formed in Allie’s chest. All his words about how safe they’d be, and how ready they were, rang hollow as she stared at him.
Lucinda will be here. Raj is going away. And something bad will happen.
TWENTY-SIX
As she walked out of Training Room One, Allie was utterly unaware of the burble of conversation swirling around her. As soon as Mr Patel had stopped speaking the students had erupted in an excited buzz.
‘At last.’ Zoe grinned. ‘We get to go out and do something.’
Across the room she saw Jules clap Carter on the back, and Lucas high-five his training partner. Like Zoe, they were thrilled to be involved at last. But Allie felt like the bottom had dropped out of her world. Whatever Mr Patel might have actually said, all she’d heard was, You will be all alone when Nathaniel comes.
In a stunned daze, she made her way to the stairwell, propelled by the crowd. When she reached the ground floor she stopped, staring into the distance, her mind a whirl of worry. When a hand touched her arm she looked up in surprise to see Sylvain’s blue eyes.
All he said was, ‘Let’s go and see Isabelle.’
It was after midnight and Isabelle had already gone to bed, so Allie waited in the corridor while Sylvain went to fetch her – as a prefect, he could go into the teachers’ residential wing. All other students were forbidden.
When they arrived a few minutes later, Isabelle was casually dressed in leggings and a long cardigan, her hair pulled up loosely. ‘Right, you two. What’s this all about?’
Sylvain looked at Allie and she took the lead, explaining what Mr Patel had told them.
‘I know this already, Allie,’ Isabelle interrupted her, sounding tired and a bit snappish. ‘I wouldn’t let him go if I didn’t think it was safe. He’s leaving us some of his best people – very highly skilled – and he’s sending in some associates of his to help as well.’
‘But …’ Her reaction caught Allie off guard. She’d expected at least some sympathy; a smidgen of concern. ‘What about the ball? And Lucinda?’
‘I think Allie has a point,’ Sylvain interjected. ‘This is not an ideal time for him to go.’
‘Look, both of you,’ Isabelle said in her most soothing tone, ‘as important as we are, we are not as important as the prime minister. So I cannot ask Raj to stay when he’s been called in for something like this. But I promise you we will not have less security while he’s away. We will have more. We’ve planned for this. His people will be everywhere – inside and out. All of them highly trained, very skilled. If I thought it mattered that Raj wasn’t going to be here to oversee this personally I would never have agreed to him going. I genuinely don’t think it does. I think we will be safe.’ She turned her gaze to Allie. ‘You will be safe.’
Her words were comforting, and Allie nodded to show she understood. But every instinct she had told her to be afraid.
After the meeting, Allie walked out with Sylvain into the now silent hallway. In the quiet, their trainers made a sticky sound on the polished floor. Somewhere in the building a door closed too loudly.
The heat was off, and the air felt cold and heavy – as if it were waiting for something to happen.
‘Sylvain …’
‘Allie …’
They both spoke at the same time.
Stopping at the foot of the grand staircase they laughed awkwardly, their voices echoing.
‘You first.’ Shivering, she wrapped her arms around her torso for warmth.
‘I think Isabelle is probably right,’ he said. But something about the way his eyes searched her face told her this wasn’t what he’d wanted to say. ‘Everything will be fine.’
‘Of course,’ she said, not meaning it. ‘I’m sure she’s right.’
‘We can still talk to Raj or Zelazny if you’re worried?’ he continued, and she shook her head.
‘No, it’s fine. Isabelle made sense.’
Dropping her gaze to her feet, she thought about all the things she wanted to tell him. To explain about Truth or Dare. How torn she felt. How she couldn’t bear to hurt Carter and yet …
Against her will, her eyes darted up to meet his.
And yet.
For a long moment they looked at each other; the moment seemed frozen in time. Allie was steeling herself to speak when they heard footsteps. Turning, Allie saw Jerry Cole walking towards them.
‘What are you two still doing out?’ he said, his tone sharp. ‘You know The Rules. Allie, aren’t you in enough trouble already?’