Night School: Resistance (Night School 4)

The question seemed to throw him. He hesitated before replying.

‘I guess I’m on my own side now. Because I can’t be a part of what Nathaniel’s doing any more. But I can’t be with you either, can I? Because you don’t trust me.’

His gaze challenged her.

‘How could I trust you?’ Her throat was suddenly tight. Her voice wavered, just a little. ‘How? You chose his side. He killed people I love. And you were right there with him.’

‘So here we are.’ He seemed to say this mostly to himself. As if some suspicion had been verified.

Then he straightened. ‘What if I told you who the spy was? Would you trust me then?’

Allie froze. He knows?

She fought to keep her expression neutral.

‘I wouldn’t even believe you,’ she said.

‘But surely you want to know who it is …’ Christopher took a step towards her, but now he was far too close and Allie scrambled back, running into the wall. She raised her fists.

‘Don’t come any closer,’ she warned him.

He stopped instantly. Pain flared in his eyes.

‘God,’ he said. ‘You really hate me, don’t you?’

Allie wasn’t about to apologise for that. ‘What did you expect?’

‘But don’t you see?’ He held her gaze. ‘We’re all we have now, you and me. Our parents don’t care. No one else cares …’

His words hit her with the force of a fist, throwing her off-balance.

Was he right? Was he all she had?

For a split second she remembered the wounded girl who first came to Cimmeria Academy. Abandoned by her family. No friends. Alone in the world.

But she wasn’t that girl any more. She’d worked hard not to be that girl. She thought of Rachel and Zoe, Carter and Sylvain.

When she spoke, she was surprised by how strong her voice sounded. ‘Maybe I’m all you have. But you’re not all I have. I am surrounded by people who care about me.’

‘Are you?’ His eyes were cynical. ‘Or are you just surrounded by people who love your grandmother’s power? Tell me this. If Lucinda Meldrum weren’t your grandmother, would you be here? Would one person at Cimmeria Academy be your friend? Would they even know your name?’

Allie hated that there was a kernel of truth in those awful words. Hated that it made her doubt her friends.

‘Get out.’ She hissed the words.

When her brother didn’t move, she advanced on him, her movements slow and deliberate. With each step she was judging the angle. The trajectory. Where to grab him to throw him off balance.

‘Get the hell out of my room or I’ll throw you out.’

‘Allie …’ He took quick steps away from her. ‘Come on. At least let me tell you who—’

But she didn’t want to listen any more.

‘I swear to God, Christopher, I will throw you out that window. And if you don’t believe I can … just try me.’

Deciding she was serious, he turned and ran to her desk, leaping on it in an easy, athletic move. Now she had to crane her neck to look up at him.

She took a careful step back. They both knew he had the advantage.

But all he did was talk. ‘You know I’m right. In your heart, you know. I wouldn’t ever hurt you. Don’t go to the parley, Allie. Don’t trust anyone. Be careful.’

With that, he jumped on to the ledge outside her window, and disappeared.



‘That was all he said?’ Isabelle leaned back in her chair. Her long, dark blonde hair hung loose over the shoulders of her white dressing gown.

When she crossed her legs, the ankles of her pyjamas peeked out beneath the hem of her robe. Something about that made her seem vulnerable.

Allie nodded. ‘The parley is a trap for Lucinda.’

‘I’m most interested in why he felt inclined to tell you this.’ Lucinda’s tinny voice emerged from the telephone propped up on Isabelle’s desk. ‘If what he said was true about Nathaniel, he risked his life to tell you this. Why the sudden change of heart?’

‘I don’t trust him, Grandmother,’ Allie said, looking at the phone as if it could see her.



‘I trust your instincts,’ Lucinda said. ‘But I want to know more. And also, he’s my grandson. If he has left Nathaniel then he’s alone out there. He could need my help. Isabelle, ask Raj to have someone find and follow Christopher for a while. See where he goes, what he does.’

Isabelle made a note on the pad in her lap. ‘I’ll do it first thing, Lucinda.’

‘What about the spy?’ Allie looked at the headmistress. ‘Do you think he was telling the truth? Does he know?’

‘Perhaps. Or Nathaniel could have intentionally planted information with him. It’s a shame he didn’t tell you a name, at any rate.,’ Lucinda said.

Remembering how angry she’d been, how she wouldn’t even allow Christopher to tell her, Allie winced.