Night School: Resistance (Night School 4)

Carter turned the handle – the door swung open silently.

Inside the familiar office, Isabelle sat at her desk – the room was otherwise empty. Her desk was topped with neat stacks of papers and an open laptop.

‘You wanted to see us?’ Allie said.

Isabelle motioned for them to sit in the leather chairs arranged so they faced her imposing mahogany desk.

As Allie took a seat, she studied Isabelle’s face for clues. She didn’t appear panicked or distraught, but there was a new sadness in her eyes, and the set of her mouth.

Only when they were settled did the headmistress speak again. ‘Lucinda, are you still there?’

‘I am.’ Her grandmother’s voice emerged from the computer on the headmistress’s desk, clear and strong. Relentless.

Allie’s heart jumped. So it was that kind of meeting.

Carter swung round to look at her in surprise. Allie held up her hands in a ‘sometimes this just happens’ gesture.

‘We’re all here, as you asked.’ Isabelle leaned back in her chair. ‘Allie and Carter are both present.’

‘No one else?’ Lucinda said.

Isabelle gave her head a slight shake. ‘No one.’

‘Good,’ Lucinda said.

Fleetingly, Allie wondered what it must be like for her. She stood to lose the most. Her position in the Orion Group and all the power that came with that were on the line. Already she’d lost her place at government meetings; her respected position as a senior advisor.

What would she do if she lost all the rest?

‘I asked Isabelle to bring you both here so we could go over The Rules for tomorrow night,’ Lucinda said.

The Rules? Allie thought, instantly suspicious. What the hell is she talking about?

‘Allie, when I offered to let you go to the parley, it was on the condition that you follow the plan I set for you. I presume you recall that conversation?’

Put on the spot, Allie hesitated. She had only vague memories of Lucinda’s voice projected through Isabelle’s tinny phone, her own anger about Christopher. She wasn’t really certain what she’d agreed to that night, but she would have said yes to almost anything if it meant she got to go to the parley and take on Nathaniel herself.

‘Yes … I think so,’ she said after a moment.

‘Excellent.’ Lucinda’s tone was crisp. ‘Then I’ll expect you to hold to your agreement. Carter West.’

Carter straightened. ‘Yes … ma’am …?’ His gaze shifted uncertainly from Isabelle to the blank, dark plastic of the computer.

‘I must have the same commitment from you that I’ve received from my granddaughter. I require you to swear that you will do precisely as you are told today. That you will follow The Rules Isabelle and I set out for you, above and beyond anything you are told by anyone else. Up to, and including, Raj Patel and his guards.’

Allie stared at the computer in shock. Is that what I agreed to that night?

She could see her own doubts reflected on Carter’s face. What Lucinda was asking for wasn’t small. It was like a gigantic ‘just trust me’ to both of them.

But this was her party.

After a short, tell-tale pause, Carter gave a helpless shrug. ‘Fine … I mean – yes. I agree to your Rules.’

They both looked at Isabelle as if she could give them some explanation but her expression was inscrutable. Clearly, Lucinda was in charge here.

‘Then we are ready to proceed,’ Lucinda said. ‘The Rules are as follows. I will meet you on Parliament Hill in the park at midnight. I will have Jerry Cole with me. You are not to interact with him even if he provokes you. ‘

Allie tensed.

Lucinda was going to be in charge of Jerry?

She thought of the way the muscles in his arms bulged that night in the basement cell when he yanked at the chains holding him. She’d believed for a moment he might rip them from the wall. He was strong. Far too strong for a woman of Lucinda’s age to control him. What was she thinking?

Her grandmother continued: ‘Once we are all there, I will do the talking. Nathaniel will speak to you, I have no doubt. If he addresses you directly, I will indicate whether or not you should reply. The indication will be a nod. One nod means yes. Anything other than that means you must let me handle it. This is not up for discussion.’

She added the last line sternly, as if she expected them to argue, but neither of them really wanted to be Nathaniel’s go-to guy, so they both sat in silence.

Taking their lack of response for compliance, Lucinda kept talking. ‘You will be given the name and address of a safe house in London. You are both to memorise it. If anything happens and we are separated, you are forbidden to search for me, or for Raj or his guards. Do not trust anyone who claims to represent us. Do not attempt to find anyone from Cimmeria. Go directly to the safe house and wait. As soon as possible, someone will come for you. Is that understood?’

Allie’s chest felt hollow. This was a plan for failure.