The Fall Read Online Free Page A

power and mystery of that foreseen moment.
    A female voice called out from the crowd. ‘We can’t trust her!’ The voice’s owner pressed forward. A slim, five-foot-four woman with dark hair and a slash of lipstick. Beside Ana, Cole stiffened.
    ‘Hello, Rachel,’ Ana said.
    Cole’s ex ignored her. ‘She’s joined to Jasper Taurell,’ Rachel said, prowling back and forth in front of the platform. ‘Because of her, a group of us working on the outside were forced to close down. She manipulated us, infiltrated us. Her husband claimed to have evidence that proved there was an error with the Pure test. And because we trusted him, one of our contacts went missing. Did anyone ever see this evidence? And now Ariana Barber is here. Does she honestly expect us to believe that she has left her husband of three weeks, after marrying into one of the richest, most highly connected families in London, because she’s fallen for Cole ?’
    Ana’s gut wrenched. She wanted to wipe the condescending smirk off Rachel’s pretty face.
    ‘Touched a nerve have I?’ Rachel smiled.
    ‘Don’t put him down.’
    ‘And that’s supposed to convince me?’
    ‘Ana hasn’t come empty handed,’ Cole interrupted. His fist uncurled, revealing the wooden star pendant she’d given him the night her father caught them. He hadn’t given it to Tobias or the Project council. He’d held onto it. ‘She took this from her father. We believe it’s the recording Peter Reed tried to give me the night he was murdered.’ Cole unhooked the latch at the back of the star and a coin-sized disc dropped into his fingers. ‘Those of you who question Ana’s motives for coming here, should think about what she has already risked to expose the truth about the Pure tests.’ His eyes settled on Rachel with unmasked hostility.
    The tension in the hall mounted. For a moment, nobody moved. Even Tobias looked surprised. But he was the first to break the silence.
    ‘It could be anything. Until we’ve checked it out we have no idea what it is.’
    ‘I suggest we vote,’ Seton said. ‘Those who agree that Ana should be allowed to stay in the Project if she takes the pledge and agrees to uphold our rules for entering and leaving in the future, raise a hand.’
    Ana stared forward and took a steadying breath. If they voted against her, would Cole be permitted to leave too? Would they try to stop him?
    Before her, a couple of hands raised. Her legs began to tremble. Rachel and a group of men in guards’ uniforms glared at her. But slowly the hall filled with lifting arms. Almost all of them were voting for her. The result was a landslide.

Reconciled
    The hall blurred around Ana as she was pulled from the stage. Cole hurried her through the side door. They followed Seton downhill, leaving behind the longhouses and huts, until they crossed a path that ran along the side of the mound. Stretching out to their right, as far as the eye could see, were giant vegetable plots. They turned left and three large ponds shimmered ahead of them in the early evening light.
    ‘Why did they all vote for me?’ she asked. Was it because Cole had told them about the disc? Or was it something to do with the Minister and people’s amazement that she had come over the wall?
    ‘I don’t know. But it’s lucky for us they did.’ Cole’s grip tightened on her hand. He was still on edge.
    ‘If it had gone the other way, could you have come with me? If you wanted to?’
    A smile jerked up the side of his mouth. ‘If I wanted to?’ he said. ‘You think I might have left you out in the City by yourself?’ His eyes were puzzled.
    Lost for an answer, anxiety wormed inside her. She’d said the wrong thing. He might be smiling but he sounded offended. Since they’d been separated, and she had gone with the Minister and he’d been left with Seton and Tobias, something between them had shifted.
    Seton stopped up ahead, waiting for them to catch up. ‘After you’ve taken the