The Key (25 page)

‘It wasn't, but … Dillon's one of us. It feels wrong. He's going to hate me.'

Like everyone else!

This wayward thought hangs between us, and for a moment I'm confused as to whose head it came out of – mine or Matt's.

Mr Carter urges us to hurry. ‘We're better off having this conversation in the privacy of my office.'

Without taking his eyes off me, Matt's eyebrows lift, pressuring me to agree.

‘All right, I'll do it. But it has to be now, with only Mr Carter as a witness. I don't want to humiliate Dillon in front of the others. OK?'

Matt checks with Mr Carter. ‘That's fine. I'm not expecting the other teachers back for another hour or so. All the same, we'd better hurry.'

Mr Carter's office is a small room with three desks crammed into it and stacks of books lying around. The walls are lined with overflowing bookcases and filing cabinets in haphazard fashion. Dillon is already there, stretched out in Mr Carter's reclining desk chair.

‘What took you's so long?' He sees me and sits up. ‘What's
she
doing here?' He gets it in a second. ‘Oh no, she's not touching
me
without a glove on. You can't do this. I want to see Arkarian.'

Mr Carter sits in another chair, dragging it over to his desk so that his face and Dillon's are less than one centimetre apart. ‘Do you have anything to hide, Dillon?'

‘Nothing!'

‘Thanks to your little display out there, what do you
think everyone's going to think? For starters, the strength you exhibited would have to look suspicious. The Tribunal are going to be furious. They may even demand a trial. The very least they'll demand is for Rochelle to test your loyalty. So you have the choice: do it here in front of me and Matt, or in the Circle with Lorian and all the Tribunal members watching.'

Dillon groans, but it's a sign of resignation that everybody understands. Mr Carter pushes his chair back and pulls down the blind. Matt nods at me to go ahead. I make my way around a briefcase, its contents half spilled out on the floor alongside a garbage bin, and stand directly behind Dillon. For some reason I don't want to be looking at his face when I do this. I feel as if I'm betraying him, and it's a feeling that doesn't sit right. I tug off one of my gloves with my teeth. Sparks sizzle and bright electric charges form a zigzag pattern from my wrist down every one of my fingers.

Dillon hears it, probably even feels it, and jerks his head away. ‘What the hell!'

Mr Carter gives a low whistle.

Matt frowns. ‘Your power is surging. Does it hurt?'

I shrug, trying to make light of my hands, even though they're starting to keep me awake at night with pain. ‘They're just a little stronger since Lorian enhanced my Truthseeing skills.'

A noise in the foyer has Mr Carter glancing at his watch. ‘We really shouldn't be doing this here. We're going to have to hurry and keep our voices down.'

Dillon tentatively shifts his head back. ‘You burn my hair and you'll pay –'

‘Shut up, Dillon,' Matt says.

When everyone is silent I close my eyes and focus my
breathing – steady, slow, in and out. When I feel ready, I place my hand on top of Dillon's head, my fingers resting lightly on his forehead. A vision of a wildly burning flame reveals itself. It surprises me and I jerk backwards, clasping my hands together.

‘What?'
Dillon says in quick defence.

The others look at me with questions in their eyes. I shake my head. ‘Nothing. It's just the vision is stronger this time and I wasn't ready. Lorian thought this might happen.'

Finding my focus, I try again. This time the flame flares wildly and I centre my attention into it, searching for the cause of this intensity. An image of the core soon develops and I see that Dillon's anger is a result of feeling cheated. Cheated by Matt. He believes Matt manipulated Neriah into falling in love with him when Dillon was away becoming a member of the Guard. There's pain and doubt there too, that Neriah might prefer Matt over him, but deeper there's the pain of his childhood, the loneliness of being with parents who thought only of themselves. But this is not what I'm looking for. I wade through all this hostility to the very depth of the flame. Finally I see it.

I open my eyes and lift my hand off Dillon's head. He pushes his chair away and spins around to face me. Now all three of them are staring at me, waiting for my verdict. I open my mouth to explain, when suddenly the door opens. Quickly I throw my hand behind my back and struggle to put my glove back on.

It's Mr Trevale, looking hurried. ‘Just thought I'd pop in and see if everything's all right.' He spots me and a frown creases his brow. ‘What are you doing here, Rochelle?'

Lost for words, I look to Mr Carter. He says, ‘Well, Bob, it turns out that … ah … Rochelle is involved in this dispute.'

‘What do you mean, Marcus? How seriously?'

‘Well …' Now it seems Mr Carter is lost for words.

Mr Trevale decides to put his own spin on the situation. He looks at both Matt and Dillon. ‘Were you two boys fighting over the attentions of a girl?'

Well, technically they were, except the girl isn't me. They both grunt and nod a kind of acknowledgement.

Mr Trevale makes a scoffing sound. ‘I should have known. Seventeen year olds and their hormones!' He starts backing out of the door. ‘Well, I'll see all three of you in detention this afternoon, shall I?'

As soon as the door closes I spin on Mr Carter. ‘That's not fair, sir! He's got no right making me stay back for detention!'

Mr Carter groans and lifts his shoulders. ‘What do you want to do, Rochelle? Go and argue with the Vice Principal? Draw more attention to yourself and Matt and Dillon?'

I fold my arms across my chest to try and calm down, then mutter under my breath, ‘You could have said something.'

We fall silent. Of course Mr Carter's right. I'm not going to make a fuss over one afternoon's detention, but it's still unfair.

Mr Carter brings me back to the real reason I'm here. ‘Rochelle, before we were interrupted, you were about to say –?'

I wave my hand in the air. ‘Dillon's loyalties are true to the Guard.'

‘I could've told you that,' Dillon mutters.

Mr Carter double-checks. ‘Are you positive? No doubts?'

‘He's clean, so to speak. He has no doubts about his decision to become a Guard.'

Matt's head nods and a smile eases the serious look he's been sporting lately. ‘Now, about Neriah –'

Dillon's whole body tenses. ‘You knew how I felt about her before I went into that safe room.'

Matt's head swings to the side for a moment. ‘I'm only going to say this one more time: Dillon, I'm not interested in Neriah.'

‘It doesn't look that way to me.'

Matt pins Dillon with a sharp look eye-to-eye. ‘I'm not looking for a relationship.'

‘Well, I think she's hung up on you,' Dillon mutters.

‘Honestly, Dillon, I wouldn't know. I have no control over what Neriah thinks or feels. But I've made myself clear to her. OK?'

‘How good is your word, Matt?'

‘How long have we been friends?'

Dillon's head bobs up and down, looking pleased. ‘Then promise me you won't go after her.'

Matt stares off into space as he contemplates the challenge Dillon throws him. Mr Carter says softly, ‘Be careful what you promise, Matt.'

But it doesn't take Matt long to make a decision. ‘Dillon, you have my promise. I won't make a move on Neriah.'

Dillon jumps out of his seat and whacks Matt on his back. ‘You're a real mate. D'you know that?'

Dillon is happy. Well, why wouldn't he be? The way is clear for him to go after Neriah knowing there's going to be no competition from Matt. But Matt's promise leaves
me with an uneasy feeling inside. If there's one thing I know, Matt doesn't make promises easily, nor does he take them lightly. But I reckon this one is going to be the greatest challenge he's ever taken on.

Dillon can hardly keep still. ‘Can we go now, Mr Carter?'

Mr Carter starts to wave us away, when suddenly he calls out, ‘Wait! Be quiet, all of you.' He closes his eyes and keeps them that way for a few moments, making my spine prickle. Mr Carter's not a Truthseer, but obviously he has some sort of communication system worked out with Arkarian.

Finally Mr Carter opens his eyes. ‘There's a mission on tonight.'

‘The sphere?' Matt asks. ‘Has it stopped spinning?'

‘Yes.'

The prickles on my spine are now fully-blown shivers. ‘What year did it stop at?'

Mr Carter looks up, his eyes wide, round and glazed. ‘Nine thousand, five hundred and ninety-six,
BC
.'

‘What?'
Dillon hisses.

Matt frowns deeply. ‘That doesn't make any sense. That's prehistoric. What city could this be?'

Mr Carter's tone is filled with awe. ‘It could only be Atlantis.'

I need to see Arkarian, and quickly. But first I have to finish detention. Detention! Forty whole minutes of ‘silent contemplation', as Mr Trevale puts it, while he sits at the front marking homework sheets. For the first half I put myself into a trance. Since spending time with Dartemis, I've learned just how relaxing and replenishing deep meditation can be. Dillon could sure do with it. He hasn't been able to stop fidgeting since we got here – jerking his arms or tapping his feet. He's drumming his fingers on his desktop right now.

Sitting in front of him, Rochelle spins around. ‘Do you have to do that? It's driving me insane!'

‘But Roh, this is such a waste of time.'

‘We all know that, Dillon, but you don't have to make it a torture session.'

I feel a moment of sympathy for Rochelle. She's stuck here because of me, because I used her power to check Dillon's loyalty. I used her even while she made it clear how uncomfortable it made her feel, and now she's being punished unjustly.
Sorry!
The single thought propels from my head to hers.

For a long moment there's no reaction, and I wonder if
she's heard me. Slowly she turns. She doesn't say anything, or propel any thoughts back, but the look in her eyes tells me that my one spontaneous thought has made an impact. Her eyes are glistening. She quickly looks away.

Mr Trevale gives a dramatic moan from the front of the room and makes a scene out of glancing at his watch. ‘That's it, then. You can go.'

Relieved, we start to get up, scraping chairs and gathering our bags, but he doesn't dismiss us without a final warning. ‘Don't let me catch this behaviour from you boys again. Now get going. I'm sure you have a lot more enjoyable things to get up to than school detention.'

We can't get out fast enough, but once we're out of earshot Dillon just has to ask, ‘Do either of you guys know where Ethan's training Neriah today?' He glances at his watch. ‘D'you think I've missed it?'

Rochelle's head shakes.

‘They're in Arkarian's chambers,' I tell him. ‘But it's a closed session. No visitors. And since they're protected in there, even Rochelle's not needed any more.'

‘Right then,' he mumbles, but there's obviously more he wants to know. ‘So now where does she live? I mean, since her home was destroyed.'

He's not going to like this, but there's no other way to put it really. ‘She's staying with … Isabel.'

‘Yeah?' And then it hits him. ‘But that means she's staying with you!'

‘Yeah, well, Arkarian thinks it's the best place for her right now.'

‘With you? Oh that's convenient!'

‘Jimmy's there too, in case of trouble.'

‘You couldn't have it any better, could you?'

My temper snaps and I grab his shirt front, dragging him forward so that my face is right into his. ‘I made you a promise. That's all you have to remember.'

Rochelle puts her hands between us, shoving us apart. ‘Quit it! Do you want to get us into trouble again?'

We pull apart and she starts backing away. ‘I'm out of here.'

She takes off through the front gates almost at a run. Mr Trevale comes out of the office, making a beeline for the car park. He sees us and frowns. ‘Everything all right, boys?'

It's enough to get us moving – in different directions. Dillon catches up with Rochelle, while I head straight for the back gates. I need to see Arkarian, and I'm late enough as it is. I walk through the deserted school grounds wondering why I got so worked up today. I lost control this morning, and well, I almost lost control again a few moments ago. What's going on with me? It doesn't take long to figure it out – no wonder Lorian thought the only way he could be a fair and impartial ruler was to rid himself of male and female emotions. Well, there's no way I'll go that far! All the same, I see his point. The heart is a strange thing. It's also a significant weakness.

The secret door to Arkarian's chambers disappears the second I've passed through it. There's a sense of urgency inside; I feel it as I walk through the corridor.

‘Good, you're here,' Arkarian says when he sees me. ‘Come and look at this.'

Up close the sphere is an amazing sight. It reveals an ancient city with unusual buildings made of white stone and trimmed in red and gold. They're mostly tall, with round pillars at the front. Nearly all of the buildings are
many storeys high. Arkarian spins the sphere, and I see the city on a broader scale. The streets, cobbled and decorated with colourful glass and crystal chandeliers, shimmer under a brilliant sun. And right down the middle, the city is split by a canal of rippling ocean water. This canal is obviously used for both trade and sport, by the looks of the ships and canoes dotted along it. There are people everywhere, dressed in long tunics and strange turban-like hats. Arkarian spins the sphere again and the magnification centres on one incredible building – taller than all the others but with those white marble pillars out the front.