Carter’s shoulders stiffened as if she’d struck him.
The others reacted as she’d expected. Zoe muttered mutinously to herself, while Nicole seemed unsurprised. Sylvain nodded as if this was precisely what he’d expected.
But Carter kept his eyes on the ground; his face expressionless.
‘Fine.’ Isabelle’s clipped tone gave no clues to her feelings about Allie’s decision. ‘The two of you will work with Raj and Dom on the details of the journey and the meeting. Otherwise, we will all work together on overall preparedness and planning.’
She set the clipboard down. As she looked around the circle, her golden brown eyes were shadowed.
‘I must be honest with you. As we said downstairs, this is going to be dangerous. But Lucinda believes if we don’t go to Nathaniel now he will come to us later, and that could be worse. You must be ready for anything. My one goal is to get every single one of you back here safely. Nothing else matters.’
31
Thirty-one
When the meeting ended, the group walked out in a hushed cluster, stunned by the speed with which it was all happening. Only a few days to prepare.
From beneath her lashes, Allie kept her eyes on Carter. He’d been subdued throughout the meeting, avoiding her gaze.
As soon as they reached the first-floor landing, she saw him drop back and peel away from the others. She hurried to follow but he was moving fast. When he reached the foot of a narrow staircase that led to the boys’ dorm, she called out to him.
‘Hey!’.
He froze. .
‘Can we talk?’ she asked.
‘Sure.’ His voice was even. But still he didn’t turn around.
She reached for his arm. His white shirt was cool beneath her fingers but she could feel the warmth of his skin through the fabric.
Slowly, he turned to look at her. His face was carefully blank.
‘Look …’ She hesitated. Now that she was here she didn’t know what to say. ‘I … I wanted to talk to you about why I chose—’
‘It’s fine.’ He cut her off before she could finish. ‘I know why you picked Sylvain. And I don’t blame you. I would have made the same decision.’
Allie blinked. ‘You would?’
‘Of course. He’s gone up against Gabe more than once. And Nathaniel. And won.’ He dropped his gaze. ‘I’ve never done that. Probably couldn’t. So Sylvain’s the right choice. You need someone who can keep you safe.’
Despite his obvious attempt to sound neutral, his voice dripped with self-loathing.
Allie was horrified by how he was interpreting her choice.
‘Carter, I didn’t choose Sylvain because he’s better than you,’ she said, willing him to believe her. ‘That’s not the reason.’
‘It should have been,’ he said roughly, colour rising in his cheeks. ‘All that matters now is choosing the best person to fight with you. Nothing else. And that’s Sylvain.’
‘That’s not true,’ she said, tightening her grip on his arm. Carter’s gaze locked on hers with such intensity it was hard for her to breathe.
‘If that’s not the reason then … why, Allie? Why did you choose him?’
She stared at him, seeing the hurt in his eyes. But she didn’t know how to answer his question. Because he’s my boyfriend? Because he loves me?
Those were both stupid reasons to choose a fighter.
She had the horrible feeling she’d made a mistake.
Dropping her hand she looked up at him hopelessly. ‘Don’t you see? I had to. What I want doesn’t matter.’ Surprise flared in his eyes. But before he could ask any questions, she stumbled away, running hard into a marble statue she’d forgotten was behind her. Flustered, she grabbed on to the plinth to right herself. ‘Sorry … I should … I’ve got to go.’
Then she ran down the stairs as if someone was chasing her.
The next few days were a blur of preparation. Isabelle insisted they continue with their coursework, even as their physical training extended later and later into the night. By Wednesday, they were already exhausted, and there were still two days to go.
But Allie was glad of the hard work and the pressure – it kept her from worrying all day. Made her tired enough to sleep at night. Kept her mind from spinning through all the ways it could go wrong.
She and Sylvain met every day after class with Isabelle, Raj and Dom for updates on their plans for the parley.
The work was relentless. Every element of the route they would take to the park, and how they would make their way to Parliament Hill, was scrutinised and analysed over and over again until Allie knew Hampstead as well as she knew Cimmeria.
On Wednesday afternoon they gathered in a small basement office across from Training Room One and crowded around Dom’s laptop, looking at a map of Hampstead Heath and the surrounding tangle of city streets. The park was a mass of dark green, the streets around it white lines that curved and angled.
Night School: Resistance (Night School 4)
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