old leather books, nineteenth-century ink and wood polish.
All the bookcases looked identical but she knew that many of those at the front of the room were replicas, made precisely like the original shelves that towered into the dimness above her head. Even the new rolling ladders were identical to the originals.
In fact, every bit of physical damage Nathaniel had done to the building had been repaired; Allie knew she should find that comforting. But right now nothing made her feel any better.
When she noticed a slim, bespectacled man in Eloise’s usual seat, her stomach tightened. It seemed so callous just to replace her as if she was already found guilty. As if she was disposable.
As she walked up to the desk, she recognised him as one of the lower-form English teachers, and she fought to quell her temper. It wasn’t his fault. Probably.
Still, she had to challenge him. She wanted to see if he would lie to her face.
‘Excuse me,’ she said. ‘Do you know where Eloise is?’
He set down the cards he’d been filing – the look on his face told her that, while she might not remember his name, he knew precisely who she was.
‘I’m afraid she’s in meetings,’ he said with impeccable politeness. ‘All weekend.’
The combination of his lies and good manners set her nerves on edge. He must know precisely where Eloise was and what she was going through but he didn’t care at all.
‘Awesome,’ she said coldly. ‘I was afraid something bad might have happened to her.’
Without waiting for his reaction she spun on her heel and hurried to a dim section at the edge of the room. Rachel was right where she’d known she’d be. Glasses on the end of her nose, long hair twisted into a messy knot at the base of her neck and held in place with a pencil, one end of which pointed up like an antenna.
She’d been surprised by the ease with which Nicole accepted her request to include Rachel. Since she wasn’t in Night School, she’d expected some objections.
‘Including her will break most of The Rules,’ Allie had pointed out, but Nicole only shrugged.
‘We’ll be breaking so many of The Rules I don’t think it matters. If we get caught we’ll all be expelled anyway.’
‘Hey,’ Allie said now, sliding into the seat across from Rachel.
‘Oh good!’ Rachel peered up at her. ‘Are you here for your flogging… I mean, science tutoring?’
When Allie didn’t joke back, Rachel narrowed her eyes. ‘What’s up? Something’s happened, I can tell. Your nose is doing that thing.’
Warily, Allie reached up to touch the end of her nose. It didn’t feel like it was doing anything.
‘What thing?’ she asked, before deciding it didn’t matter. ‘Look, something’s happened…’
‘I knew it.’ Rachel sounded smug. ‘The nose never lies.’
Trying to get her to focus, Allie leaned forward. ‘I need your help.’ Nobody was sitting at any of the tables around them but, still, Allie half covered her mouth as she spoke. ‘You’re not going to like any of what I’m about to tell you.’
‘Uh-oh.’ Rachel took off her glasses.
‘Eloise is in trouble and she needs our help.’
All traces of humour left Rachel’s expression. ‘What happened?’
Allie looked around at the other tables. ‘Come with me.’
Leaving Rachel’s books on the table, they headed to a dark corner of the library in the Ancient Greek section – no one was ever back there. Every step of the way Allie worried that Rachel would refuse what she was about to ask of her.
She hated Night School and all of Cimmeria’s darker side. She’d tried to convince Allie not to join. But the library was her favourite place in the world and, to her, Eloise
This was everything Rachel loathed about the school and Allie was taking her right into the middle of it.
Quickly Allie told her what had happened last night – the knife in the wall. Nathaniel. Gabe. When she explained that somebody at the school was helping them, Rachel made a choking sound and half turned away.
‘I was so afraid of that,’ she said after a second. ‘Something my dad said a while ago clued me in that it could be one of us. Who do they think it is?’
Allie held her gaze. ‘Right now? They think it’s Eloise.’
Curling her hands into fists, Rachel swore quietly. Allie couldn’t remember her ever using a couple of those words before.
‘The thing is, we’re pretty sure it’s not her,’ she continued. ‘But we need your help to prove it. Rach, I know how much you hate this stuff but… will you help me?’
For a long moment, Rachel didn’t speak. When she looked up, her almond-shaped eyes were dark with worry.
‘What do you need me to do?’
The rest was easy.
Allie insisted Zoe be included because even though she was young she was also fast and smart. Best of all, she was innocuous – she could slip in and out of a room without anybody noticing. Nobody paid attention to a kid.
Nicole did her part – bringing Carter and Sylvain into the group.
When Jules’ name came up in her discussion with Nicole, Allie shook her head. She just couldn’t deal with the Carter–Jules love-nest right now.
And Nicole, to her surprise, refused Lucas without explanation.
‘I don’t want him in the team,’ she’d said when pressed.
‘Come on, Nicole,’ Allie had said. ‘He’s Rachel’s boyfriend. He’s safe.’
But Nicole just shook her head and Allie had to drop it. No Lucas.
So that was the group: six people to find the spy Cimmeria’s best instructors had failed to locate.
The first step was simple enough. They were to meet at midnight in the crypt beneath the girls’ dorm.
After that things would get harder.
At three minutes to midnight, Allie tapped sharply on the wall separating her room from Rachel’s. After a pause, one faint tap came back.
Her door swung open without a sound. Slipping out, she closed it with an expert flick of her wrist. The click as the latch caught was almost imperceptible.
The long, narrow corridor was empty and dark. Rachel’s door was shut tight.
Clutching her torch in one hand, Allie bounced on her toes impatiently, careful not to make a sound. ‘Come on, Rach…’ she whispered under her breath.
For a few endless seconds nothing happened. Then Rachel’s door opened with a creak.
She emerged slowly, her reluctance clear in every movement. Her eyes were downcast, her shoulders slumped.
Allie knew how much Rachel didn’t want to do this but she willed her to do it anyway – she needed her.
Tilting her head to indicate Rachel should follow her, Allie headed down the hall without a word. The heating had been turned down and the building groaned and clicked around them as it settled into the cold winter night.
The door near the end of the corridor looked like an ordinary utility closet but swung open to reveal one of the old servants’ staircases hidden within Cimmeria’s walls. In Victorian times, this would have been how housemaids slipped around the building to perform their chores unseen. Now they were largely forgotten.
A cool draught blew through the open door, making the hairs on Allie’s arms stand on end. After a glance over her shoulder to make sure Rachel was with her, she switched on her torch and headed down.
Four storeys lower, the narrow, winding, stone staircase deposited them in a large, low-ceilinged space. The limestone floors and walls acted like a refrigerator – it was freezing. It was also empty. And it shouldn’t
