Gabriella Poole - Divided Souls (Darke Academy)

killing of Jess? Why, Sir Alric would be greasing palms in the Istanbul police force at this very moment …

Someone appeared behind her and India, leaning forward between them, clasping his hands nervously. Antonio, a fifth-year Few boy.

Not one she knew well, but relatively friendly.

‘Emergency meeting after breakfast, Cassie, India. Can you be there? It’s important.’

‘It certainly is.’ Cassie gave him a wry look, then glanced at India. ‘Of course I’ll be there.’

‘And so will I,’ added India.

‘Good. The common room, ten o’clock. See you there.’ He stood up and headed in the direction of two more Few members.

He seemed antsy and quick. He must have got round them all, because by the time Cassie arrived at the common room they were all

there. No one seemed to be missing – except for Mikhail, of course.

And Yusuf, she thought with a shudder of unease.

And Ranjit …

She felt a friendly presence at her shoulder, and didn’t have to turn to know it was Richard. She sighed. Despite the circumstances, she

couldn’t help feeling a small sense of relief at having him there.

‘Hi,’ she murmured.

‘Cassie.’ His voice was sombre.

‘What happened after I left, Richard?’ She gave him a sidelong glance. ‘Did you see anything?’

‘No.’ He touched her arm, and a quiver ran up it. ‘I left early. It wasn’t any fun without you there.’ He bit his lip, his eyebrow arching ever

so slightly.

Cassie smiled.

The hubbub in the room died as one of the older Few, Vassily, rattled a silver fork against his glass. ‘Is everyone here?’

Ayeesha glanced around the room, counting. ‘Yes.’

‘Right. We can safely say we have two Few missing, and now one dead. It doesn’t look good for us.’

There was a general murmur of worried assent.

‘I think we’re agreed on one thing: we’re vulnerable. And this is not something that we are used to.’ Vassily took a deep breath. ‘This has

to stop.’

‘But how?’ someone interjected from the back of the group.

That question alone was asking for more trouble. Everyone, of course, had their own theories, their own answers, and fear had made

them voluble. The room erupted.

Cassie kept quiet, listening hard to the suggestions and the arguments, letting the shouted questions batter her ears. She kept her mouth

shut partly because they didn’t seem to be getting anywhere, but mostly because one name kept cropping up with alarming frequency.

‘What about Cassie?’ a voice chimed once more.

Ayeesha spoke up. ‘I agree. Cassie, there’s no denying that you handle Darke better than most of us – he has a special, ah … concern

when it comes to you. It could be the in we need, huh?’

Gazes flicked towards Cassie, with nervousness and respect.

‘Mm, and she has a personal interest in … well. You know who,’ someone murmured, to some snickers.

‘Yes. I think she should represent us,’ someone else said.

‘Oh, hold on a minute.’ That was Sara’s sneer. ‘You’re not telling me that psycho Scholarship is going to represent us? Not in my name, I

assure you.’

‘Oh shut up, Sara,’ snapped India.

‘Cassie’s the obvious delegate,’ said Cormac. ‘Sir Alric likes her.’

‘Sir Alric’s losing his marbles.’

‘It’s a bloody no-brainer,’ shouted another student on the other side of the room. ‘With Ranjit gone, she’s the most powerful one of us,

no contest. She’s the best candidate for the job.’

Vassily rapped on the glass again. ‘Does the proposed delegate have anything to say about it herself?’

All eyes turned her way. Cassie took a deep breath.

‘You want me to talk to Sir Alric? Fine, I’ll talk to him. But you’re going to have to tell me what you want me to say.’

‘So you’re willing?’ Vassily raised an eyebrow, and then glanced round the room. ‘Any objections?’ As Sara opened her mouth again he

added, ‘Any rational objections?’

She shut it again, looking venomous. So did a few others around her, but most of the Few were nodding approvingly.

Yes, my dear! We have them all in the palm of our hands now! You are their chosen one!

‘Thank you, Cassie,’ Vassily was saying, as Cassie clenched her jaw. ‘It’s nothing complicated. As we were saying: Mikhail’s dead. Ranjit

and Yusuf are missing. They had nothing in common but their gender – and the fact that they’re all Few. So unless there’s some mad

feminist killer out there, I think it’s pretty obvious what the connection might be.’