Night School: Resistance (Night School 4)

On the dark landing, looking as unruffled as if she always roused students from guesthouses at four in the morning, Dom stood at the head of a phalanx of guards.

Her glasses glittered in the light from the bedroom as she scanned them for wounds. Finding none, she tilted her head. ‘Let’s get you out of here.’

Before they could move, though, Nicole and Zoe pushed through the others to get to them.

‘Allie!’ Nicole pulled her into a hug. Allie clung to her, relieved to see them both in one piece.

‘Where’s Rachel?’ Allie asked, looking down the dark stairwell.

‘She’s safe,’ Nicole promised her. ‘Outside in the car. Everyone’s OK.’

‘Thank God.’ Allie felt weak with relief.

They were all OK. Everyone was fine.

All but one.

‘Lucinda?’ Allie looked from Nicole to Dom, afraid she already knew the answer.

Nicole just squeezed her hand and shook her head.

‘She didn’t make it,’ Dom said. ‘I’m very sorry.’

Allie shuddered. Those were precisely the same words Isabelle had used about Jo.

She didn’t make it ….

It was an awful way to say someone had died. As if they’d somehow failed to live. Failed to survive a bullet. Or a blade.

She was still processing how she felt when Zoe looked past her and frowned at the rumpled bed. She wrinkled her pert nose. ‘Wait. Did you two sleep together?’

Allie froze. The stairwell went sickeningly silent. Everyone seemed to be looking at her. Or trying not to look at her.

Carter handled it. ‘There’s only one bed,’ he explained. ‘But we didn’t do much sleeping.’ Allie’s gaze shot to his; he didn’t meet her eyes. ‘We were waiting for you guys. What took you so long anyway?’

‘There were lots of people to fight,’ Zoe said chirpily. ‘Then Raj made us wait because you were followed.’

Allie saw Carter’s body tense.

‘Why did he think that?’ he asked, his voice unnaturally even.

‘When you left the park, someone was behind you,’ Nicole said softly. ‘But Raj’s friend – Sharif, I think? – he’s been watching the street all night and he saw no one so we decided it was OK to come get you now.’

Allie thought of Sharif, already tired when they arrived, staying up all night to keep them safe. She could have hugged him.

‘We think it’s safe but we’re not certain,’ Dom said, clarifying Nicole’s assessment. ‘We should go. The cars are out front.’

‘One second.’ Allie ran back to the room to grab her boots, hopping on one foot as she pulled them up. Carter was on the opposite side of the bed, putting on his shoes.

She could feel everyone watching them; speculating about what had happened in this room with just one bed.

Boots on, she straightened and walked to the door with her head held high. Carter was right behind her.

As they closed the door, Allie stole a quick last glance at the room where everything changed. Where she’d finally listened to her heart.

Carter’s fingers brushed against hers as she turned away and she didn’t believe it was an accident.

Her heart ached with love for him.

She’d lost the grandmother she barely knew but she still wasn’t alone. Now she had Carter.



They descended the stairs in a precise order. Two guards in front. Then Nicole and Zoe, Allie and Carter, followed by Dom and two more guards.

Allie was sure they’d already woken everyone in the house but they moved quietly now, hustling down the steep staircase to the ground floor.

The entrance hall was dark and there was no sign of Sharif. She said a silent thanks to him, wherever he was, for looking out for them.

The guards opened the front door.

Allie stood on her toes to see, but all she could make out was darkness.

They left the building in pairs. Allie and Carter were side by side, surrounded by the others.

The street was utterly silent. The drinkers in the pub on the corner must have finally gone home to sleep it off.

It was not yet dawn. The sky was velvety black above the harsh glare of the streetlights. Allie looked up at the dark emptiness above them. Something was missing. It took her a minute to figure out what it was.

There were no stars.

You can never see the stars in London. The city is its own solar system, so bright it blinds you.

When she’d lived here, she’d just accepted that fact. But now the sky seemed empty without them.

The warm night air smelled heavily of exhaust.

A line of four black Land Rovers stood waiting for them, double parked, engines idling. Allie saw Rachel inside one of them, waving at her wildly. She waved back.

Moving as one, careful but fast, they made their way down the concrete front steps to the pavement, then out into the street. Ahead, the car doors opened for them.

Something moved at the edge of Allie’s vision. She snapped around to see a skinny black cat slinking across the road in a pool of lamp light. It stopped in front of the first Land Rover, licked its shoulder then stared at her accusingly with wide, golden eyes.