He rubbed his eyes. ‘Let’s go over this again.’
‘Nathaniel says I must come without you, Isabelle, or any of the guards or instructors,’ Allie explained patiently. ‘But he doesn’t mention students. I will go to the castle. The others will follow through the woods in case I get into trouble. You and your guards will already be there, hidden. Nathaniel will think I’ve followed his rules so Rachel will be –’ she almost couldn’t bring herself to say the word, she so wanted it to be true – ‘safe.’ She took a steadying breath. ‘I’ll go to him alone – the others will stay near me. You wait until Rachel is free then you come in – he won’t be expecting you.’
‘My guards are all over the grounds right now.’ Raj spoke thoughtfully as he studied the sketch they’d made on the dirty floor: a partial circle with space on one side left open, arrows swooping towards it. It was Napoleon’s plan from the Battle of Austerlitz but Allie had thought it best not to mention that part. ‘I could tell them to get into place one at a time. No group movement. They’d be virtually impossible to detect.’ He glanced around the group, and Allie could tell by his expression he’d already made up his mind. ‘It’s a good plan.’
She kept her face blank but her heart leapt with excitement. They could make this work.
‘What about Isabelle?’ Zoe sounded doubtful. ‘She won’t let us do it.’
Standing, Raj wiped the arrows from the floor with the sole of his boot. In an instant the evidence was gone. ‘She won’t know.’
They gaped at him surprise.
‘How —’ Allie started but Raj held up his hand. He looked tense, his jaw squared as if anticipating a blow.
‘I’m in charge of the operation. Isabelle and I have already decided to leave the Night School instructors out of any plan because we don’t know which of them to trust. I have nearly one hundred guards on their way now, and they all report directly to me.’
The others murmured.
‘A hundred?’ Carter looked stunned. ‘Where…?’
‘Lucinda.’ Raj held Allie’s gaze. ‘She sent her own personal security team. I’ve called my guards in. By midnight they’ll be here and ready.’
Allie sent a silent prayer of thanks to her grandmother.
A hundred guards. We can do this.
‘What will you tell Isabelle?’ Sylvain’s practical question brought her back to earth.
‘She asked me to keep you all under guard for your own protection in one of the classrooms.’ He shrugged. ‘I’ll tell her that’s where you are.’
‘But she’ll…’ Allie faltered. ‘She’ll never forgive you.’
Raj’s expression told her he knew that already.
‘Let me worry about that,’ he said. ‘You worry about staying safe.’ With a glance at his watch, he motioned for them all to stand. ‘I need you all in gear and ready to go. Stay in the training room until I come and get you. My men will take you there now.’ His gaze glanced off Allie’s. ‘I’ve got to go and meet Isabelle now.’
After Raj left, the guards led them silently through a series of dark underground corridors. Allie, who thought she knew the school well, had never seen some of them. The school’s cellars were a labyrinth – at times they climbed up one level only to descend again moments later.
She was thoroughly lost by the time a door opened on to the hallway outside the familiar Night School training rooms.
After changing quickly into their dark Night School gear, they gathered in Training Room One. The square chamber felt hollow and empty without the other Night School members.
Zoe was the only one who seemed unaffected by the situation. She limbered up on the thick elastic matting as if this were any other training exercise.
The others exchanged anxious murmurs and tried to stay calm. Allie’s nervousness made her muscles stiff. It was hard to warm up.
She wasn’t alone. Across the room she saw Sylvain exhale through pursed lips as if trying to force himself to relax. But his shoulder muscles bulged from the tension.
After a while, there was nothing to do but wait. Allie leaned back against a wall, her arms wrapped tightly around her legs, and rested her chin on her knees. She tried not to think about how Rachel might be feeling right now. What she might be thinking.
Why was Nathaniel making her wait until midnight? It seemed so long. She wanted Rachel out of there.
When Carter sat down next to her, she welcomed the distraction.
‘You ready for this?’ he asked.
She looked at him soberly. ‘I just want to get it over with.’
‘Me too.’
Allie watched his face as he looked out across the room. She thought about how he must feel after everything that had happened today.