‘Look, Isabelle,’ she said hesitantly. ‘Maybe I should just go —’
Isabelle raised her head, fixing her with a steely, incriminating gaze. ‘You do not get any say in what happens right now, Allie. You have broken every Rule Cimmeria has. You betrayed my trust. You stole from me.’
Her hurt and anger cut through Allie’s battered defences – her lower lip trembled. There was truth in what the headmistress said. Isabelle had taken care of her, looked out for her – maybe even loved her. And she’d betrayed her.
My reasons were good, she told herself for the thousandth time.
But somehow that wasn’t comforting any more.
As if she could read her thoughts, Isabelle spoke quietly. ‘I don’t know how we will ever trust each other again. Maybe Jerry’s right. Maybe things have gone so far you don’t belong here any longer. Perhaps I should give you what you want.’ Reaching into her pocket she pulled out her phone – Somebody must have found it in the woods, Allie thought – and scrolled through her contacts. Pressing the dial button she said, ‘But that is not my decision to make.’
A voice answered.
‘Would you like to speak with her now?’ Isabelle asked. After a second, the headmistress crossed the small room and held out the phone. Suspicious, Allie made no move to reach for it but Isabelle didn’t back down.
‘Take it,’ she said, her voice icy.
Swallowing hard, Allie took the device, still warm from Isabelle’s hand.
‘Hello…?’ she said hesitantly.
‘Allie,’ a brisk voice replied. ‘This is your grandmother. I understand we need to talk.’
SIX
‘I
understand why you don’t feel safe at Cimmeria any more, but you will most certainly not be safe if you leave the school.’ Lucinda spoke in a curiously monotone manner, as if they were in a business meeting and she was listing the facts about a project. ‘Yes, there is someone working against us at Cimmeria and, yes, that person is dangerous and, no, I don’t know who it is. But while you are at school, you are at least surrounded by people who are trying to protect you.’
Allie made an impatient noise – she knew all this already. Lucinda paused. When she spoke again, her tone was more urgent.
‘Allie, so far we’ve failed to keep you safe. We failed your friend Jo most of all. And I am truly sorry about that. But if I promised you nobody else will be hurt, I’d be lying. This is a dangerous situation.’
Her words rang true. Allie’s heart speeded up and she squeezed the phone tight, as if afraid it might escape.
‘I know exactly what Nathaniel’s thugs did to her and to you. If I were you, I’d want to run as far and fast as I could to put all this behind me. But no matter how fast you run, Nathaniel will find you in the end.’ Lucinda’s tone intensified. ‘So don’t run, Allie. Stay. And fight back with me.’
Allie was stunned. Was her grandmother asking for her help?
‘Fight back?’ she asked. ‘How?’
‘Nathaniel is out of control, Allie, and I want to see him suffer. I want his plans crushed. I want his hired guns in prison. I want to find out which of our friends is helping him, and I want to deal with that person myself.’ Lucinda’s words were as cold and precise as an ice-pick. ‘I want everything Nathaniel cares about destroyed. But to do that, I need your help. If you stay at Cimmeria, I promise you, Gabe will suffer for what he did. And so will the person who opened the gates that night and let him in.’
The venom in her tone left Allie with no doubts about whether Lucinda was serious.
Revenge. The idea grew in her mind until it blocked out everything else. She could avenge Jo’s death. Pay her killers back for what they’d done.
But to do that she’d have to trust Lucinda. And could she do that? On what would she base this trust? A word. A feeling. The delicate, twisting strands of DNA that connected them.
It wasn’t enough. She needed to be certain that Lucinda was trustworthy. She needed to know more.
‘Why can’t we just call the police?’ she asked. ‘If we tell them what’s happened they’d arrest him. Wouldn’t they?’
Lucinda’s hesitation was slight, but Allie noticed it. ‘I’m afraid that at the moment the government minister in charge of policing finds Nathaniel very convincing.’
Puzzled, Allie frowned at the phone. Why would a government minister listen to Nathaniel? He was utterly mad. But then she thought about the way the local police officers had acted this morning and her heart went cold.
Her voice was plaintive. ‘But the police should arrest him. How is this even possible?’
‘It’s all about power,’ Lucinda said. ‘And control. I have it. Nathaniel wants it. It is that simple.’
‘No, it’s not simple,’ Allie said sharply. ‘Because I don’t understand it at all.’