Night School: Resistance (Night School 4)

‘Many do.’ Raj shot her a narrow look. ‘Too many to just take a chance with Allie’s life.’


‘It’s my life,’ Allie protested. ‘It should be my decision what to do with it.’



Dom kept her focus on Raj. ‘What are you going to do?’ she asked him quietly. ‘We can fend off more attacks, keep him out for a while – days. Weeks maybe. Not months. No system is unhackable – you taught me that. If he keeps trying, eventually he’ll get in. Then it’s game over. We lose.’

Allie looked at Dom in surprise. She worked for Raj but seemed to feel perfectly comfortable openly disagreeing with him. Most of his guards were of the ‘Yes, sir!’ variety. This one was clearly different.

Raj’s jaw was set. ‘If we bring in extra guards, cover every inch—’

‘You would need a thousand men.’ There was no rancour in Dom’s voice, only calm rationale. ‘Have you got a thousand men?’

‘Enough.’ Raj, who never raised his voice, nearly shouted the word. His face was red with frustration. ‘She can’t go. It’s too dangerous.’

Turning to Allie, Dom scrutinised her, as if she was a car she was considering purchasing. ‘Well, I’d say that’s up to her. She’s not a child. And from what you’ve all told me she’s extremely capable. There’s no reason to assume she’d fail.’

Uncertain, Allie stared back at her. Nobody stood up to Raj like this. Ever. But Dom seemed to see herself as his equal.

How does she know whether I’m capable or not?

Dom’s voice cut through the haze of her thoughts. ‘What do you say, Allie Sheridan?’ The daylight was fading and it was hard to read the American girl’s eyes behind her glasses but Allie could hear the challenge in her voice. ‘Everyone tells me you never back down from a fight. Want to try and save the world?’

Allie’s gaze skated from Raj to Isabelle, waiting for them to argue, but they’d both fallen silent. Isabelle looked unhappy.

Somehow Dom had done it – they were letting her choose.

Now that she had the choice, though … what did she want?

It was a trap, she was certain of it. Although it wasn’t like Nathaniel to be quite so obvious. Still, there was no reason for her to be present unless he had something planned.

Something awful.

But if she didn’t go to him, he’d come to her, and she knew from brutal personal experience that was worse.

Trepidation made her pulse race.

She thought about Jo and Ruth, about Nathaniel with a knife to Rachel’s throat. About how the knife had felt when it parted the skin of her arm, and her visceral fear when Gabe raised a brick over Carter’s head to finish him off.

In the end, though, they’d stood up to Nathaniel – the students and guards together. They made him back down. There had to be a way they could do it again – only this time, permanently. He wasn’t a god, after all. He was just a man. A delusional, obsessed man.

If she could talk to him – find out something she could give him that he wanted – maybe she could stop this. Or even if she couldn’t, maybe she could make it better in some way just by being there.

If she kept hiding and did nothing, how would that do any good? Nathaniel would attack, Raj would parry, more people would get hurt. Maybe even die. And it would happen over and over until finally they were defeated. Then Nathaniel would have what he wanted anyway, and what would have been the point of anything?

Yes, she was just a kid and he was a rich and powerful man. But a tiny twig can stop a clock ticking. A speck of dust can do a lot of damage to a delicate machine. She thought of Sylvain’s voice the other night on the roof.

Jump.

She held Dom’s gaze.

‘I’m in,’ she said.





17





Seventeen





Next to her, Sylvain let out his breath. Carter turned to look at her, concern written on his face.

‘Awesome,’ Zoe muttered.

Instantly, Isabelle and Raj began to argue. Dom appeared composed as the voices swelled around her.

‘We should go, I think,’ Sylvain said quietly.

He was right – there was nothing to be done. The leaders would fight it out now. But Allie’s mind was made up. One way or another, she was going to that parley.

The adults didn’t seem to notice the students leaving the chapel – no one tried to stop them. Outside, the air was cool and smelled clean. Allie took a deep breath. Now that the decision was made, she felt lighter; a bit dizzy from her own bravery. Tilting her head back she let the soft summer rain fall on her face.

The others were still oddly silent; she could sense their disapproval.

They were well into the woods before Nicole broke the silence.

‘We’ll have to prepare.’

She seemed to be avoiding Allie’s gaze. ‘We know how Nathaniel and Gabe fight. How they operate. We will need to be ready to defend Lucinda.’

‘And Allie.’ Sylvain’s face was creased with worry.

‘And ourselves,’ Carter said.