Night School: Resistance (Night School 4)

‘Will we all get to go with her, I wonder?’ Zoe asked, looking around the group.

‘We’ll go.’ Nicole’s voice sounded tight and Allie turned to look at her more closely.

Rain clung to her dark hair and ran down her face like tears. The set of her shoulders, the tight line of her jaw, told her she was upset. ‘We don’t have any choice.’

She emphasised the last word.

No one argued with her. Only Zoe didn’t seem to know what she meant.

‘What?’ Allie scanned the closed faces around her. ‘Are you all mad at me for agreeing to go to the parley? What else was I supposed to do?’

‘I’m not mad,’ Zoe said. ‘I’m excited.’

Allie ignored her. ‘Nicole?’ The rain grew heavier. Water ran down her face in rivulets, trickling down the collar of her soaked blouse. ‘Is there something you want to say?’

The French girl kept her eyes on the ground. ‘I think you make these decisions that affect other people’s lives and you don’t think about what it means. It’s dangerous. You’re dangerous.’

Stung, Allie looked around the group for support. Sylvain stared into the distance, his jaw tight. She could see his disapproval in the tense line of his shoulders.

When she met Carter’s gaze, he held out his empty hands in a gesture that said ‘What did you expect?’

Anger flared in her chest. Nicole had basically stolen her best friend and now she was going to take everyone else, too?

No way.

‘Well, maybe you’d just rather hand me over to Nathaniel so you can all be a little safer.’ Allie’s tone was cutting. ‘Or maybe you’d like to just side with him now and get it over with. Cimmeria could always use another spy. I hear the pay is great.’

She heard someone’s breath catch. Nicole looked shocked.

‘Allie,’ Sylvain said. ‘Don’t—’

Allie whirled on him. ‘Don’t tell me what to do. I hate that.’

He flinched away from her.

Without a word, Carter walked away, leaving them to fight it out. Somehow, this bothered Allie most of all.

‘I don’t get it,’ Zoe said, clearly puzzled. ‘Why is everyone pissed off?’

‘Forget it, Zoe,’ Allie snapped. ‘It doesn’t matter.’



The rain finally stopped that evening but the skies stayed grey. The tensions didn’t ease as the hours passed.

At dinner that night the mood at the table was decidedly icy, and Allie couldn’t wait to get away. As soon as the meal ended, she pushed back her chair, but before she could stand up, Sylvain leaned over to whisper in her ear, ‘We should talk.’

His tone was curt, and her heart sank. She didn’t want to fight about this with him. She wanted him to back her up. To understand that she had no choice.

To trust her.

But it was clear there was no getting around it. With reluctant steps, she followed him out into the hallway and up the staircase to the relative privacy of the landing.

At the top, the tall windows had been left open to let in the damp air, cool and fresh from the rain. His expression unreadable, Sylvain led the way into a nook, hidden away behind a tall marble statue.

‘What is it?’ Allie said, eager to get this over with. ‘Is it about what happened today? Because I don’t really want to talk about it.’

He looked at her steadily, blue eyes blank and cool. ‘Don’t you?’

His challenging tone threw her off balance. No matter what she did, Sylvain never got angry with her. She didn’t think she knew how to argue with him.

‘No …?’ she said, her hesitant tone betraying her sudden uncertainty.

His gaze didn’t falter. ‘I would think you would want to defend your position. Tell me why everyone else is wrong,’ he said. ‘And you are right.’

Heat rose to Allie’s cheeks. This was worse than she’d expected. He seemed genuinely upset.

She needed to change tactics.

‘Ok, I’ve obviously upset you. And, like, everyone. So, that can’t be good.’ She tried to look as conciliatory as possible. Noble, even. ‘I’m sorry if you think I made the wrong decision.’

He didn’t wait to hear any more.

‘Allie, you could die.’

His words cut across her faltering logic and she stared, at him, wide-eyed. All her excuses evaporated.

‘If you go to the parley, Nathaniel could kill you. That may be his plan. And if we go with you, to protect you, we could die, too. Nicole could die. I could die. Carter could die. Do you understand that?’ His tone was measured but his words stung. ‘I need to know that you understand what you are committing us all to do, without asking us what we think. What we want. Whether we are ready to die.’

A sudden image of Jo, blood encircling her body, flashed into Allie’s mind.

She breathed in an audible gasp, and jumped to her feet. ‘I have to go.’

But before she could turn away, his hand flashed out and grabbed her wrist.