The Fall Read Online Free

said, as Cole reached them. Energy flowed off him in crashing waves. It reminded her of the first time she’d seen him in the Acton courtroom.
    ‘Where’s Lila?’ he asked.
    ‘She’s in the nurseries seeding,’ Simone said. ‘She won’t be back till six.’
    Cole looked frustrated. ‘Then you’ll have to persuade Nate to vote for Ana.’
    Simone shook her head. ‘Nothing could persuade him. Sorry,’ she said shrugging.
    Cole moved closer to Ana. His breath warmed her cheek as he spoke. ‘You OK?’
    She nodded.
    ‘We’ve just got to get through this, and then there’ll be time to talk. Alone.’ His eyes met hers and she almost forgot to breathe. ‘You trust me?’ he asked quietly.
    A longing stirred deep inside her, nerves and desire colliding. ‘Of course.’ Did she?
    He watched her for a moment and then withdrew, physically and emotionally. ‘Have you spoken to Rachel?’ he asked Simone.
    Ana felt a little tug of unease. Rachel was Cole’s ex-girlfriend.
    ‘Sorry,’ Simone said. ‘She’s not going to vote your way either.’
    Cole let out a huff of air and frowned.
    Clemence appeared behind him, sparkling with a strange sort of exhilaration. ‘All the representatives are inside,’ she announced. ‘Cole, if you’d like to bring Ana.’
    Ana’s heart began to thump. Cole put his palm gently on the top of her arm and they walked together through the double doors. She wished he’d hold her hand but his face was closed in concentration.
    Inside the brick hall, the table had been pushed aside and the wooden shutters on the high windows were propped up with sticks to let the air circulate. Half an hour ago the room had seemed large and empty, now it heaved with people of various ages. Did they all get to vote?
    ‘How come there are so many of them?’ she whispered.
    ‘There are fifty-eight families in the Project and every family has a representative,’ Cole explained.
    Ana steeled herself and climbed the two steps up to the platform where Seton and Tobias stood facing the crowd. Seton raised his hands for silence.
    ‘We are here to decide whether Ariana Barber, daughter of the renowned geneticist Dr Ashby Barber, will be given permission to stay with us in the Project. Tobias has made a formal Decline, and Clemence has made a formal Acceptance.’
    Tobias slunk forwards. His lips were pursed, his jaw clenched. ‘I don’t think I have to spell it out to everyone here,’ he said. ‘The danger this girl poses is obvious. Her father was in charge of a secret Pure Intelligence unit who murdered a government minister when he tried to give us information concerning the Board and the Pure test.’ He paused, eyes sliding across to Cole.
    Ana tensed. She looked at Cole confused. Had he told Tobias about the minister’s disc she’d stolen from her father’s office? What had Cole done with the recording?
    ‘I have no doubt,’ Tobias continued, ‘that Dr Barber will send a highly trained unit to find his daughter. It won’t take him long to guess she is here. I trust you all to vote with your heads.’
    The Chief of Security stood back, folding his arms. Conversation rose through the representatives. Clemence smiled at them, sweeping across the platform, taking in each face as though it belonged to a close friend.
    ‘You have all heard of the unusual nature of Ana’s appearance among us,’ she said. ‘She is not what we expected. But the path is full of mystery. It is only by walking it that we will gain understanding.’
    She is not what we expected. Ana remained steady, impassively looking forwards. She wondered what Cole made of those words. A part of her felt scornful – surely Clemence, as a Minister guiding these people towards a prophetic destiny, was versed in the art of persuasion. Was that the best she could manage? But a stillness gathered deep in her heart as she remembered Cole’s Glimpse. His fleeting vision of the future had come true. She had been there. She had felt the