The driver and guard climbed out first. Allie followed stiffly. Every muscle ached.
She was limping towards the steps when the front door flew open and a small crowd rushed out to surround her.
‘Allie, thank God.’
Allie caught only a glimpse of Rachel’s familiar heart-shaped face before she was pulled into her arms.
She clung to her, wanting to cry but unable to summon any more tears. The night had used them all.
‘You’re OK,’ Allie kept saying. ‘You’re OK.’
Nicole was right behind Rachel, a small wound neatly sutured on her chin.
‘Allie! Dieu merci.’ Her huge brown eyes flooded with relief. ‘We were so worried.’
As the two clustered around her, Allie stepped into the light. Rachel’s breath caught.
‘You’re hurt!’ Turning, she called up the steps, ‘Allie’s bleeding.’
‘It’s nothing,’ she said but no one was listening.
‘Stand back.’ Pushing the girls aside, Isabelle le Fanult made her way to Allie’s side. Without ceremony the headmistress took Allie’s chin in her hand, tilting her face towards the light from the open door.
Allie had a sudden memory of seeing her, a whirling dervish of power and speed, fighting Nathaniel’s guards in Hampstead Heath.
She’d been almost happy to see her then. Now she stared at her, unblinking, as a tidal wave of blame and anger swelled inside her.
Isabelle’s light, wavy hair was pulled back tightly. A purpling bruise covered one cheekbone. She still wore her black Night School gear.
‘You should see the nurse.’ Isabelle pressed her fingertip lightly against Allie’s head wound.
It stung but Allie didn’t flinch. She had a question for the headmistress and she intended to ask it.
‘Where is Carter?’
The others fell silent.
At first, Isabelle didn’t react. But then, releasing her hold on Allie, she let out a long exhalation. She looked exhausted; Allie thought she saw new lines etched in the delicate planes of her face.
‘I don’t know.’
The softly spoken words hit Allie like a punch in the stomach.
And she didn’t hesitate to punch back.
‘They made me leave him there,’ she said, her voice low and accusing. ‘On the street. Surrounded.’
The headmistress looked away, her lips trembling.
Allie wasn’t sorry. She wanted Isabelle to suffer. This was her fault. Leaving Carter had been her call.
A rush of rage and pain swept into her veins like fire. She walked up to the headmistress and shoved her, hard.
Caught off-guard, Isabelle stumbled back, almost falling. Allie heard someone gasp.
‘You did that, Isabelle.’ Her voice rose. ‘The guards were following your orders. You left him there.’
Isabelle held up her hands in a weak, calming gesture but Allie shoved her again. And again.
‘Why, Isabelle? Why did you make me leave him? How could you do that to him?’
Each time Allie pushed her, the headmistress took another step back. Allie followed her.
‘Where is Carter, Isabelle? Is he dead? Did Nathaniel kill him, too?’
‘I don’t know.’ Isabelle repeated, her voice a whisper now. Her golden brown eyes were bright with unshed tears but Allie hardly noticed as she pushed her one last time.
She thought of Carter, lifting her into the black SUV, slamming the door and pounding his fist against the metal, shouting, ‘Go!’ at the driver. The fervent gleam in his eyes – like he thought he was going to die, and he was willing, even eager, to do it – was burned into her memory like a brand.
‘He’s just a kid. If he dies it’s your fault, Isabelle. Your fault.’
Her voice broke. She crumpled to her knees.
For a split second, no one moved. Then Rachel was next to her, an arm draped across her shoulders.
She lifted her to her feet.
Nicole put her arms around both of them, holding them together.
Allie had never felt more helpless. She didn’t want to hurt anyone anymore.
She just wanted Carter to be alive.
3
The infirmary was in the classroom wing on a mezzanine level where tall windows lined one wall, letting in sun so bright, Allie squinted in the glare. In tired silence, the three girls made their way past ghostly rooms where desks sat in empty rows, waiting for students who might never come back.
Allie ignored it all as she ignored the blood on her face and her own weariness. She wasn’t even thinking about how defeated Isabelle had looked outside. She was compiling a list of the missing in her head.
‘Where’s Zoe?’
‘She’s fine.’ Rachel answered quickly. ‘She volunteered to help the nurses.’ A ghost of a smile flickered across her tired face. ‘She’s decided she likes the sight of blood.’
‘Everyone else? Raj? Dom? Eloise?’
Nicole answered this time. ‘All safe.’
‘Dom, too?’ Allie couldn’t hide her surprise. The last time she’d seen the American girl, she was fighting her way through a crowd of Nathaniel’s guards to get to Carter.
‘Carter…’ Nicole began and then stopped for a second. ‘He got her into the car. Got her out of there. He had her back.’