Night School: Resistance (Night School 4)

‘You should stay and listen to me, Allie. If you won’t listen to anyone else. At least listen to me.’ She struggled in his grip, not wanting to hear any more. ‘Please, Allie. This is important.’


‘I know that.’ Tearing her arm free from his grasp, she stared at him reproachfully, her chest heaving.

How dare he imply that she didn’t know this was dangerous? How dare he talk to her like she didn’t know what dying meant?

Did anyone know better than her?

She knew if she said half the things in her mind right now he’d never forgive her and she’d never forgive him. She had to get away, before more damage was done.

Hands clenched into fists, she raised her chin and forced herself to keep her voice low.

‘I’m sorry you’re angry at me, Sylvain, but I can’t do this.’

Then she spun on her heel and fled.



After that, Sylvain kept his distance.

He wasn’t alone.

Nicole avoided Allie in the hallways, which meant Rachel avoided her, too, as they were so often together. Isabelle and Raj were similarly cool and distant, and the issue of the parley had not been brought up again. It was as if they’d decided not to discuss it with her.

Carter seemed to disapprove of the entire situation, and Allie rarely saw him. She got the feeling he was avoiding everyone.

As the days passed, she went through the paces of classes and training, but she did it mostly on her own. She felt cut off and isolated, but she wouldn’t back down. The meeting between Lucinda and Nathaniel had to happen. It was their only chance. And she had to be there, whether the others liked it or not.

Only Zoe seemed immune to the disharmony in the group, and she stuck resolutely by Allie’s side.

One night during Night School training, Allie found an excuse to ask her what she knew about Dom.

‘She’s cool,’ Zoe enthused, aiming a kick at the side of Allie’s head. ‘She invented some new software for computer monitoring – Raj says the Secret Service use it.’

Ducking the blow, Allie feinted in a zigzag pattern, coming up, arm raised, poised to attack. Zoe blocked the blow with vicious quickness.

Jerry, who’d been watching them spar from a distance, walked up to them. ‘Beautifully executed, both of you. I’ve never seen it done better.’

Relieved that at least one adult wasn’t angry at her, Allie smiled at him gratefully. ‘Thanks.’

‘Keep it up.’ Patting Zoe on the shoulder, he walked on to the next pair of students.

Zoe accepted the praise without hesitation. ‘He’s right. We’re freaking awesome.’

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she picked up a bottle of water from the mat.

Allie looked across the room to where Rachel and Nicole were practising the same move. Nicole’s moves were fluid and easy. By contrast, Rachel looked awkward and jerky, recoiling as if afraid when Nicole practised her kick. Raj was watching them, too, and Allie saw him shake his head in exasperation. But Nicole just rested a hand lightly on Rachel’s arm and said something that made her laugh, then demonstrated the move again.

It was the right way to work with Rachel – the way Allie would have done it herself.

Again, she felt a knife stab of jealousy.



‘She dropped out of Harvard after one year.’ Zoe was still talking about Dom as she took a swig of water. ‘She was already minted from the software so she didn’t see the point in staying there.’

Around them, Night School students kicked and punched each other in complex, violent manoeuvres.

‘Isabelle said Raj brought her in. How do they know each other?’ Allie asked.

‘Dom went to school here. She was an exchange student.’

‘Seriously?’ Allie couldn’t hide her surprise. Nobody had ever mentioned Dom was legacy.

‘Raj was her Night School instructor and mentor,’ Zoe explained. ‘But when they took all the computers away she went back to America. Or at least, that’s what everyone says.’

Allie knew that would have taken guts. Nobody just walked away from Cimmeria.

If Dom was the kind of person who trusted her instincts like that, it made sense that she would want Allie to do the same.

Jump.

As she thought it through, her gaze fell to where Carter and Sylvain were practising together – they made the complex series of moves look more violent and potentially deadly than anyone else in the room. They swung at each other so hard she winced, but each pulled back at the last second, just before a foot could hit a neck, or an elbow cut deep into an eye socket.

The force they were using made it hard to believe they weren’t genuinely angry, but between rounds she saw Carter make a joke and Sylvain crease up with laughter.

It struck her they were at ease with each other in a way they were never at ease with her.

There was always something between her and each of them – a kind of force field of sex and love.

They didn’t have that with each other. So they could just be friends.

And there’s that jealousy again.