Dom patched the feed through to Raj.
After that… nothing happened. They waited for ages. Occasionally cars arrived and a flurry of excitement arose. But by that afternoon, neither Nathaniel nor any member of his immediate circle had been seen.
Slowly, the faint flame of hope Raj had lit began to dim.
Allie found herself doubting everything. Her thoughts became a tangle of fears.
What if this isn’t the place? We have a day and a half left. So little time! Why are we wasting it on this house?
And finally, inevitably, a suspicion.
What if Christopher lied to us?
That last thought kept nagging her.
And so, late that afternoon, she slipped away and went in search of her brother. She found him sitting alone in the common room, a book open in his lap. The two guards assigned to watch him sat a short distance away.
Somebody had loaned him trousers and a dark blue Cimmeria pullover. He looked comfortable – like he’d always belonged here. And something about that enraged her.
Why should he be sitting warm and safe while Carter was a prisoner?
She was determined to get the truth out of him.
‘You look better,’ Allie said, dropping into the leather chair across from him. ‘Did you sleep?’
‘Yes.’ His eyes searched her face. ‘You look worse. I’m guessing you didn’t?’
‘No time,’ she said. ‘There’s too much going on.’
‘You haven’t found him yet.’ He stated it as fact. And Allie’s suspicions grew.
‘No,’ she admitted. ‘Nathaniel set up a feed for a while, so we could see him in his… prison.’ It was the only word for it. ‘But he cut it last night.’
Christopher’s breath hissed between his teeth.
‘God, Allie. I’m sorry. That’s a classic Nathaniel move. The guy’s such a douche.’ He glanced at her. ‘He’s messing with you, you know that, right? Whatever he’s asking for right now, it’s just a game to him.’
Allie didn’t know what to think. He was completely believable. He looked genuinely frustrated with Nathaniel. Sympathetic, even.
But what if it’s all an act?
‘That’s what Raj says,’ she replied, a little grudgingly. ‘But it’s hard to believe it when Nathaniel’s put a clock up on the screen counting down a day and a half, and says he’s killing Carter at the end of it if we’re still here.’
She searched her brother’s face for clues to what he was thinking. ‘Chris, we’re staking everything on your word that he’s at St John’s Fields. When there’s no sign of him there. At all.’
She leaned forward to meet her brother’s surprised gaze. ‘Please tell me you’re not playing us,’ she said. ‘I’m your sister. If you ever loved me, don’t do that to me now. Because if you are I swear to God, you are not part of my family.’
Despite all her efforts to keep it steady, her voice quivered. For a second she looked away to gather her emotions.
When she turned back, he caught her gaze and held it. ‘I swear on our mother’s life, Allie, I’m not playing you. This is real. I’m done with Nathaniel. I’m here because I don’t want anything to do with him ever again. Please, I’m begging you. Believe me.’
Allie didn’t blink, searching for any sign of duplicity. But there was nothing in his voice but pleading. Nothing in his familiar face but candour.
She sagged back in her chair. ‘I want to believe you, I really do. But I’m just so scared. You’ve been gone so long. You’ve been with him all that time. I can’t trust you now. I want to, but I can’t.’
He looked stung.
‘Come on, Allie,’ he said. ‘That’s not fair. I risked my life to get to you. I risked everything. At least give me a chance to prove I am who I say I am.’
‘I don’t know how to do that.’ Allie’s voice rose, and she forced herself to lower it again. ‘Everything’s so dangerous. Giving you a chance is freaking dangerous. Not giving you a chance?’ She held up her hands. ‘Well that’s dangerous too. So I can’t bloody win.’ He looked like he wanted to speak but she didn’t let him. ‘The thing is, Christopher, if you’re not real anymore – if Nathaniel has messed with your brain so much you aren’t you any longer – Carter could die. And I can’t let that happen.’
Christopher rubbed his eyes hard before replying.