‘Yep.’ The girl’s tone was curt. She lifted her head and fixed Allie with a sharp look. ‘If we can go at a less suicidal pace.’
‘Stick with me.’ Rachel answered before Allie could. ‘I’m all about slow and steady.’
They all heard the noise at the same time. The crack of a twig breaking. The rustle of branches. Footsteps.
Rachel’s voice trailed off.
Allie and Nicole exchanged a frozen glance. In silent unison, they grabbed Rachel and Katie and pushed them behind them.
For once in her life, Katie didn’t argue.
Allie crouched down, prepared to spring. She looked around for a weapon – a heavy stick, anything. But there wasn’t time.
The thick shrubs that lined one side of the path shook violently as someone crashed through them.
Allie held her breath.
Two of Raj’s black-clad guards burst out of the shadows. With them was one of the new trainees – a lanky boy, about fourteen years old, dark hair in a tangle, glasses askew. He looked pale and scared. Allie thought she’d seen him somewhere before but she couldn’t place him.
Dropping her fists, Allie drew a deep breath.
As soon as they spotted the girls, the guards’ expressions changed from tension to relief. They murmured something to each other then turned towards them.
‘This one got lost,’ one of the guards explained, pushing the boy towards them. ‘Could you take him back?’
The next morning Allie awoke early. At first, she wasn’t sure what had disturbed her but when she climbed out of bed, yawning, she discovered a square, ivory envelope on the floor of her room near the door.
She eyed it with suspicion.
The envelope paper was thick, creamy. Soft as fabric. No name was written on the back.
It opened easily to reveal luxurious note paper. At the top, the paper was engraved with a simple ‘I’ in deep blue.
Isabelle.
The message was terse. ‘There’s a meeting at 7.30 a.m. in the grand ballroom. Please be there.’
Instantly wide awake, Allie looked at the clock. She had fifteen minutes.
Senior staff meetings were held early in the morning. She knew this because Sylvain and Jules always went when they were prefects. Allie had never been invited before. Isabelle had told her she’d be stepping into Lucinda’s shoes.
Now it was happening.
After showering quickly and throwing on her uniform, she ran downstairs, damp tendrils of hair clinging to the shoulders of her blazer.
The air smelled enticingly of bacon, but there wasn’t time for breakfast.
When she reached the grand ballroom, she skidded to a stop. Took a calming breath. And knocked politely.
The door was opened by a guard, who waited impassively for her to walk in then locked it behind her.
A table had been set up in front of the towering fireplace.
Isabelle sat at the head. Around the sides were Eloise, Zelazny, Dom, Raj, Rachel, and Lucas. Two guards stood by the door, like sentinels.
‘Welcome, Allie,’ Isabelle said.
Allie gave Rachel a ‘You, too?’ look. Rachel mouthed ‘prefect’ at her.
It made sense. And Lucas must be standing in for Sylvain.
She slid into an empty seat.
‘We were just beginning to discuss Dom’s plans,’ Isabelle explained. She turned to the tech. ‘Please continue.’
Neatly turned out as usual in an oversized blazer and perfectly pressed blue button-down shirt, Dom stood to speak, a notebook in one hand.
‘I’m assembling a small group that can work twenty-four hours. They’ll be listening in on Nathaniel’s comms and attempting to hack into his computer system. It’s well protected but I’m convinced we can find a way to crack it.’ She flipped a page in her notebook. ‘I’ve chosen students and guards who’ve demonstrated technical abilities beyond the norm. Rachel is the most obvious one.’
Rachel flushed and looked down at her hands.
‘Also two younger students – Alec Bradby and Zoe Glass. They’ve both shown a natural ability. In addition, Raj, I’d appreciate it if you’d allow me to borrow your guard, Shakir Nasseem. I’ve checked his background files.’ She gave Raj a pointed look. ‘I can’t believe you never told me one of your team was an ace hacker.’
‘I was hoping you wouldn’t steal him.’ Raj’s tone was resigned. ‘But you can borrow him for this purpose. Anyone else?’
‘Katie Gilmore has offered her assistance,’ Dom continued, glancing at her notes. ‘She has no technical skills to speak of, but her personal knowledge of the locations Nathaniel might be likely to use as a base could prove invaluable.’
‘This is all fine with me,’ Isabelle said. ‘When will you start?’
‘I’ve already begun.’
Raj briefed the group on security patrols, how many guards, which areas each covered.
‘No attempted incursions have been noted since the parley,’ he said. ‘But we believe that could be simply because Nathaniel is regrouping.’