She thought of Julian Bell-Howard asking her to join Orion and continue the fight. There’d been something about him – something trustworthy. He wanted the same thing she wanted, to end this. To make Cimmeria what it was again.
In the back of her mind, an inkling of an idea began to take shape. It seemed impossible but then everything seemed impossible when you first thought about it. Imagine being the person who first thought up the television.
She stood so abruptly her chair squawked against the floor.
‘I’ve got to talk to Isabelle.’
Isabelle was in her office, reading glasses delicately perched at the end of her nose, laptop open and a stack of papers at her elbow.
‘Oh Allie, good,’ she said, glancing up. ‘I was going to send for you.’
‘I have an idea,’ Allie said without preamble. ‘Or kind of an idea. The beginning of an idea, anyway. And I need your help.’
Isabelle arched one eyebrow and gestured at the chairs facing her desk.
Allie sank into the deep leather chair. Isabelle removed her glasses and reached for the cup of tea at her elbow.
Her office was as familiar to Allie as her own bedroom – maybe more so. She loved Isabelle’s big, antique desk, the romantic tapestry on the wall, the creamy Persian rug that covered the floor, the way it always smelled faintly of Earl Grey tea and Isabelle’s lemony perfume.
In fact, she loved this whole school building. She didn’t have a lifelong connection to it, the way Carter did. He’d been born here. But she’d chosen to make it her home. She couldn’t imagine not waking up and seeing the arched window, with the light flooding through it. The green grounds stretching out to the forest.
The idiosyncratic teachers. The students in their dark blue uniforms.
She loved Cimmeria Academy.
It wasn’t worth dying for. But it was worth saving.
‘I don’t want to go to Switzerland,’ Allie said, choosing her words carefully. ‘I thought about it all night, and I don’t want to do it. The thing is… I might have another idea.’
The headmistress set down her cup and waited for her to continue.
‘The thing we wanted in Switzerland was a fresh start, right?’
Isabelle nodded, but her eyes were cautious.
‘That’s what made me think of it. Julian, when he was here, he was talking about the same thing – fighting Nathaniel for Orion so we could start over. What if we could have a fresh start…’ she tapped the arm of her chair, ‘right here.’
Isabelle was watching her narrowly. ‘I don’t understand what you’re getting at.’
‘I think it’s been in my head ever since the Orion Group came to meet me, but I couldn’t, like… see it,’ Allie said, leaning forward eagerly. ‘This morning I was talking to the others about leaving and it came to me. You remember the papers Nathaniel asked me to sign? The ones that said I would never fight him for control of Orion?’
Isabelle inclined her head, a hint of impatience in the gesture.
Allie tried to get to the point. ‘What if I signed those papers,’ she said. ‘And all I asked in return is that we keep Cimmeria Academy?’
Instantly the headmistress shook her head. ‘There’s no way Nathaniel would agree to that. He is obsessed with the school.’
‘I think so, too,’ Allie said. ‘But what if we not only agreed not to fight him for Orion, but we also agreed to leave Orion forever? Not just me, but you. All of Lucinda’s supporters. Julian. Everyone who was in that room after her funeral. We would all leave. He would have power. He wouldn’t have Cimmeria, but this isn’t the only Orion school. He could have the others. Give them to him. Give him everything.’ She held Isabelle’s gaze. ‘All we would ask in return is to keep Cimmeria and be left alone.’
Her fingers pressed to her lips, Isabelle sat very still. Allie knew she was thinking it through. Looking for flaws.
‘Cimmeria would just be a school, in that case.’ Isabelle spoke slowly. ‘It would lose all of the organisation that once gave it purpose.’
For the first time in this conversation, Allie let herself smile. ‘Not exactly,’ she said. ‘Because here’s the part we wouldn’t tell Nathaniel: we’ll start a new organisation.’
Isabelle looked over at her sharply. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I was thinking about it. All this time, we’ve been fighting Nathaniel for power and control we don’t actually want. Look. Between us, we have a ridiculous amount of money. I’m guessing Julian’s loaded?’
Isabelle gave a bemused nod.
Allie gestured at the door behind them. ‘Out in that school, all those kids have families with money. Sylvain’s family are like freaking kings. If we pooled our money…’ She shrugged. ‘We could be the new Orion. Better than the old one. Without Nathaniel.’
This was what seemed to get through to Isabelle.