'Why should I listen to you?' She nearly screamed the words. 'You abandoned me. Isn't that betrayal? Then you just show up here, siding with some arsehole who kills people and ... what? I'm supposed to go with you? I'm supposed to trust you?'

His expression changed, and he held out placating hands. 'I know you're angry at me. I'm sorry for what I did to you. But don't trust Isabelle, Al, she's a liar. She's cheating you out of your inheritance and you don't even realise it. She's cheating you out of your whole family. She doesn't really care about you. But I do.'

Allie crossed her arms across her torso. Her heart felt compressed into a tiny cube, cold in her chest. Every instinct in her body told her to run away. But she couldn't go now. She had to know everything.

'What exactly do you want me to do, Christopher?' Although she felt breathless with anger and pain, her voice held steady. 'Leave Cimmeria and come with you?'

'Not yet.' He seemed pleased by her question, perhaps thinking he was making headway with her. 'But soon.' He glanced over his shoulder; when he turned back he seemed almost apologetic. 'Look, Al, we don't have much time tonight. But we should meet again. I want to tell you about our plans.'

When he smiled, he looked so much like the boy Allie remembered it almost made her cry. The older brother who always made her feel safe. The one who always looked out for her.

'Eventually, you'll see what I mean about all of this. Nathaniel is a good guy.' Her disbelief must have shown in her face because he added quickly, 'I know he's had to do things ... It was hard for him, too. But this is a war, Allie. And he's right about the organisation.'

'What do you mean?' She kept her voice light and conversational. 'At least tell me something, here. What does he want to do?'

'Oh, Al.' His eyes shone with passion. 'He's going to change everything. Fix all the things that have gone wrong in the world because the wrong people are in charge. Put the right people in charge. You know what Cimmeria is, right? I mean, what it's part of? If he ran the organisation, he could really do it, Allie. He could change everything. Fix everything.'

Allie didn't understand what he was talking about. Change everything? Fix everything?

But Christopher was looking over his shoulder again and she got the impression someone was speaking to him, quietly. When he turned back, he looked almost sad.

'God I've missed you, Allie-cat.' From across the water, he studied her face as if he were memorising it. 'Sometimes I thought I'd never see you again but here we both are.'

'Yep.' Allie fought to stay in control as her lower lip trembled. 'Here we are.'

'Hey,' he said with sudden brightness, 'remember that time I taught you to ride your bike and I forgot to show you how to use the brakes before letting you go?'

'I went careening down the pavement in front of the house and crashed into the postman's cart.' For just a second, Allie smiled at the memory. 'Letters flew everywhere.'

'He was furious,' Chris chuckled. 'He went to Mum and Dad and ...'

The mention of their parents seemed to bring him back to reality and his smile evaporated. He took a step back from the water's edge. 'I have to go now, Al. Take the same path back that you took down here and you'll be clear of Patel's guards.'

How can he be so sure of that?

He held up his hand. 'Goodbye, Allie. And don't worry we'll be keeping an eye on you. We've got someone on the inside.'

'Who?' she called after him.

But he was already disappearing into the trees.

As she made her way back up the rocky trail to the churchyard (thirty-three steps) she moved with mechanical efficiency. But while she pushed her way through branches her brain fought to make sense of what had just happened.

'You know what Cimmeria is? What it's part of.' When he'd said that his eyes had fairly glowed with excitement. She needed to talk this over with somebody. But who? Nobody knew she was here. She couldn't tell Rachel or Carter not without word getting back to Isabelle.

And then Sylvain would be in trouble.

She'd almost made it to the main footpath. She was stepping around a large branch half blocking her way when a shape hurtled out of the woods, hitting her so hard she went sprawling, winded. Then, before she could recover, he wrapped her in his arms and dragged her into the forest.

It happened so fast there was no time to react. No time even to scream. No time for a neck lock or a defensive left flip. Just one minute she was walking on the path. And the next she was gone.

NINETEEN.

Allie was half dragged through the trees by someone she couldn't see a muscular arm was tight across her chest, a strong hand held her brutally by the upper arm and hair. Her feet barely skimmed the ground and she was immobilised she could neither move her arms nor grab on to anything. Because he was behind her, she couldn't see her kidnapper but she could feel the hardness of his torso against her back, smell his sweat, hear his harsh breathing.

Rising panic made it hard for her to focus.

Come on, Allie. Think! What would Mr Patel have told her to do?

But fear seemed to have rendered her brain inoperable. Her own breath had shortened to gasps. When she struggled, the arms around her tightened to the point where she thought her ribcage would crack.

'Your body is a weapon,' Mr Patel always said. 'Use it.'

But how could she when she couldn't move? Her arms were held tight, her legs ...

Her breath caught as she realised: her legs were free. And her kidnapper's most vulnerable point was right behind her thighs.

He probably had help somewhere nearby, she needed to act fast.

Saying a silent prayer, she lifted her legs up, forcing her kidnapper to shift as she curled into a ball against his torso. He grunted in surprise but before he could react she'd swung backwards, aiming the soles of her shoes at his crotch.

He cried out and dropped her at the same moment she hit the ground hard, rolling into the brush beside the path. She scrambled to her feet, already running, but strong fingers grabbed her ankle yanking her back to the ground.

She kicked hard at the hand with her free foot but his grip didn't lessen and she couldn't get free. As his hold tightened and she realised she wasn't going to get away, she screamed.

Then she heard a sharp crack and a thud from somewhere in the darkness around her.

The hands let go.

Without waiting to see what had happened, Allie jumped to her feet, poised to run away. But then the moon came out from behind a cloud and she saw everything.

Gabe and Sylvain were on the path, facing off. Blood poured down the side of Gabe's face from a wound to his head. Sylvain held a thick stick in one hand, and circled Gabe like a panther.

Everyone had always told her how good Gabe was at Night School. How he was the best of all of them.

This is my fault. If anything happens to Sylvain ...

At that moment in a move so quick Allie could barely see it, Gabe ducked and spun, grabbing the branch in Sylvain's hand and twisting it sharply in an under-and-over manoeuvre.

Now it was Gabe's club.

For a fleeting second, Sylvain's gaze met hers. 'Run, Allie.'

She shook her head. 'I'm not leaving you.'

Anger flashed in his eyes. 'Run. Now.'

'Yes.' Gabe didn't turn around to look at her; his tone was sardonic. 'Run, Allie. You don't want to see this. I'll come and get you in a minute. And I will pay you back for kicking me in the balls.'

As Allie watched in horror he swung the club at Sylvain's head. At the last second, Sylvain feinted to the right but the branch clipped his shoulder. His cry of pain seared her. But Sylvain stayed on his feet and responded with a vicious elbow to Gabe's gut.

A sob burning her throat, Allie turned and ran into the woods. Behind her she heard Gabe's voice, as confident as ever. 'She's gone now. You can relax. I can't believe you're messing with Carter's girl, Sylvain. That's not like you. Usually you like them all fresh and unsullied.'

A sound like meat being slapped on to a countertop followed. But Allie was searching for something now and she tried to block the sounds from her mind. Seeing Sylvain's makeshift club had reminded her of a Night School class on found weapons. At the time, she'd thought it all a bit ridiculous and fairly simple. But nobody had been trying to kill Sylvain then. Suddenly it wasn't simple at all.

Whispering to herself, she crashed through the undergrowth with her torch, searching. She found what she was looking for at the exact moment Sylvain cried out in pain a tormented sound she felt in her bones.

She switched off the torch.

It took a second for her eyes to readjust then, moving stealthily, she made her way back to the footpath. The sounds of their fight grew as she neared them. Whatever had just happened, Sylvain was still on his feet.

Seeing a hiding spot behind a young oak tree just off the path, she headed towards it. They were too absorbed in their fight to see her. She was almost in position when she skidded on a stone. As if he knew it was her, Sylvain spun towards the sound and in that split second of inattention, Gabe wrapped his forearm across his throat, tightening it with his other hand.

Stricken, Allie stared at them from her hiding place. She knew this move well. With Gabe's greater height and weight there was no way Sylvain could escape. She and Zoe practised it all the time Zoe could never get free.

All Mr Patel ever said was 'Don't get yourself in this position.'

'An amateur's mistake, Sylvain,' Gabe whispered. His arm cut off the air through Sylvain's windpipe his face was already turning purple. His hands grasped feebly at Gabe's arm. Without oxygen he'd be unconscious in seconds.

Dead in minutes.

For a fleeting second the realisation that he could actually die froze her in place. But she had to move. Now.

This isn't real, Allie, she told herself. It's just Night School practice. None of this is real. Just do what you have to do. Raj Patel is watching.

Busy taunting Sylvain, Gabe hadn't noticed her. Maybe he hadn't heard the noise that had caused Sylvain to lose focus in the first place.

Gripping the slender, sharp stick she'd found in the woods, Allie steeled herself. When she sprang out from behind the tree a second later she held it like a knife and, without a second's hesitation, she drove it with all the force she could muster into Gabe's shoulder.

She'd thought it would most likely scratch him and bounce off. Or break.

But she'd chosen her weapon and her target well and, instead, horribly, the muscle and flesh gave way.

Gabe screamed and, as he reached for the stake protruding from his skin, Allie grabbed Sylvain's hand, pulling him free. He was bloodied and struggling to breathe, but he was alive.

'You little bitch,' Gabe gasped. 'You stabbed me.' Grasping the stake, he tried to pull it out then screamed again, letting go.

'You little ...'

'Yeah I know, "bitch",' Allie snapped. 'You said that already.'

Adrenaline coursed through her veins like alcohol and she wanted to hit Gabe again and again but Sylvain was pulling her away. He was saying something she couldn't make out his voice was faint.

'What is it?' she asked, leaning closer to him.

Up close she could really see what Gabe had done to him, and her heart ached he was bleeding in so many places she didn't know where a doctor would even start. But then she heard what he'd been trying to say.

'Run.' Limping, his breath rasping, he pulled her with him, and they rushed into the darkness.

Sylvain clung to her hand so fiercely it hurt but she didn't care; she didn't want to let go of him either. He knew these woods well he seemed to know exactly where they were all the time, pausing only to wipe the blood out of his eyes. As the saplings whizzed by inches from her body and twigs tore at her hair and clothes, Allie found herself surrendering to the situation fearless. The further they ran the better she felt. Her muscles were loose and strong she was powerful. She had a strange desire to laugh.

When they broke through the treeline and sped out on to the smooth grassy lawn in front of the school building she did laugh. They'd made it.

But as they crossed the grass, a cluster of shadows broke loose from the trees and ran into their path.

Their footsteps slowed and Allie looked around, bewildered; Sylvain pulled her closer as the shadows approached them and became people Raj's security guards.

They were surrounded.

'You did what?' Raj stared at her in disbelief. 'Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?'

They were crowded into the school's entrance hall; in one corner, one of Raj's men tended to Sylvain's wounds. Others were gathered around openly watching them argue.

'Yes.' Her voice was cold. 'I do.'

He was not mollified; small white lines of rage had appeared beside his mouth. 'This is the most irresponsible thing I can imagine any student doing. You could have died. Sylvain could have died.'

'But we're alive.' An errant sense of pride made her stand taller. 'And I want to say right now, this was all my fault. I made Sylvain come with me. He tried to stop me.'

'Sylvain,' Isabelle's voice rang out from the doorway where she stood like an angel of vengeance in a white dressing gown, her hair flowing loose over her shoulders, 'will take responsibility for his own actions. Raj, Allie, in my office now.' She pointed at the medic helping Sylvain. 'Take him to the infirmary.'

'I'm fine.' Sylvain struggled to his feet with obvious effort. 'I'm coming with you.'

'The infirmary.' Fury crackled in Isabelle's voice.

But he didn't back down. 'I'm coming with Allie,' his words were slurred, as if he spoke through a mouthful of ice, 'Isabelle.'

When he said the headmistress' name it sounded like a threat. Or a reminder. Puzzled, Allie's gaze moved back and forth between them.

Closing her eyes, Isabelle took a calming breath. 'I'd really rather you didn't haemorrhage in my office. Please do me that favour.' She snapped her fingers at the medic. 'Give him a towel. Then you three, with me.'

With Isabelle in the lead they walked down the hall, Sylvain limping beside Allie, and Raj Patel making up the rear guard.

In case we try to flee, Allie thought.

Inside her office, Isabelle handed them bottles of water. Allie poured hers on to the towel and gently dabbed Sylvain's wounds. Most appeared superficial, but his face was swelling alarmingly; she wondered if Gabe had broken his jaw.

All the while he sat still, stoic. As if the pain didn't matter. Then suddenly he looked up and their eyes met. Allie's hand stilled as the enormity of what had happened hit her. He'd nearly died for her tonight. Again.

She searched his eyes as if she could find the answer she sought there.