The Bonding Ritual (Girls Wearing Black: Book Four) (24 page)

Would there still be a clan at all?

For nearly a century he had been doing this for Daciana.
The Homecoming Masquerade, the Coronation contest, the new immortal—a cycle that repeated itself every year forever without end, an always-growing clan and an inexhaustible source of money.

How would they react when they learned that this year’s immortal wasn’t just another of Daciana’s lackeys, but instead, a vampire fully bonded to Sergio? How would they react when they realized he was gone, his bond with Nicky so deep that the two of them had no interest in the domesticated life of the Samarin clan?

He could hardly wait to share his life with Nicky. For them, there would be no shipments from the Farm, no ceremonial hunts. No, he and Nicky would be true creatures of the night, hunting for their food in the wild, roaming the countryside, never staying in one place for long, using humans when they needed to, but mostly ignoring the larger world. They would lose themselves in each other’s presence, their love rendering all other concerns trivial in comparison.

And it all started with the ritual. The Coronation contest
had drawn them together. Now it would seal their love. When the ritual was done, both he and Nicky would abandon their old lives and loyalties, sacrificing everything for each other, both of them doing whatever it took to be together.

He spotted Lena on the outskirts of the gathering. She and her bond, Thomas Byrne, had removed themselves from the others. This was the conversation he wanted to hear.
He wanted to know why Lena was scowling at Nicky before the party.

Moving in total silence, he came close enough to hear them.

“Yes, I’m going to tell her tonight,” Lena said, quietly, “but not until I know what I’m talking about.”

“You do know what you’re talking about,” said Thomas. “Just tell her exactly what happened. You don’t need to know anything more.”

“I need to know what I’m stepping into,” Lena said. “As soon as I tell Daciana about that phone call, I’m involved in this mess.”

“But you haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Neither did Bernadette, but where is she tonight? Where is Mark?”

“Good question,” Thomas said.

“I can think of two people Melissa would have called that night. There were two of us she thought she could trust. Bernadette and me.”

“It is troubling that Bernadette isn’t here.”

“Bernadette and Mark,” Lena corrected. “Melissa and Dominic. Renata too. Everyone who knew something about that phone call is missing. Everyone except us.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to find Nicky Bloom and make her talk to me,” Lena said. “If Nicky knows something, I want to know what it is before I speak with Daciana.”

Sergio closed his eyes and breathed slowly.

It was all he could do not to tear into Lena and Thomas both and spread their guts all over the forest floor. It was only the ritual that stopped him. The ritual required self-control. He would kill Lena and Thomas later, when they were alone, and he had a chance to find out why they were so suspicious of Nicky.

A servant came out from the house and began ringing a bell. All around Sergio, the vampires of the clan tossed aside the corpses they were feeding on and stood up to go back to the house. They moved in a pack, walking towards the back entrance that led to the moon room. Sergio joined the group, taking a place right behind Thomas and Lena.

*****

Jill stood at the door to the kitchen, peering through the circular window. She saw the control panel on the opposite wall, right where the blueprint said it would be. A small screen, countersunk into the drywall, just inches away from the exit.

“You know what you have to do,” she whispered to herself. “Don’t think about it, just do it.”

She flipped through the charms on her bracelet until she found the daisy, then she unhooked it. Positioning it between her finger and thumb, just like Eve had shown her, she squeezed on the base of the charm.

A tiny laser embedded in the head of the daisy turned on.

Twirling the daisy in her fingers, Jill focused her eyes on the red dot the laser shone on the wall. Then she held the daisy up to the window, and pointed the red dot at the control panel screen on the other side of the kitchen.

“Hey Jill, I’m getting a signal from the access panel, but it’s really weak,” came Alvin’s voice in her ear.

“I’m not inside yet,” Jill whispered. “I’m shining the laser through the window in the kitchen door.”

“The signal isn’t strong enough through the glass,” said Alvin. “You need to get closer.”

“I know,” whispered Jill. “I’m just getting ready.”

Carefully holding the daisy in her fingers, Jill pressed her face close to the glass and looked as far as she could down both sides of the kitchen. No one was in there.

She turned and looked behind her. The hallway was empty.

“Now or never,” she whispered.

She pressed her shoulder against the swinging door and pushed her head inside. She knew from the blueprint that the kitchen bent off in an L-shape to her left, and she could hear activity around the corner.

But there was no one on this side of the room. She stepped all the way into the kitchen and let the door swing shut behind her.

Across the kitchen, the screen of the control panel that operated Daciana’s alarm glowed a mint green color. The bright red logo of the manufacturer ran across the top of it. Jill held up the daisy charm and tilted it in her fingers until the laser light touched the center of the screen.

“I’ve got a connection,” said Alvin. “Hold it steady…steady…almost there…okay, we’re in! Mount it on the wall and get out of there.”

“Mounting it now,” Jill whispered.

She stepped backwards, careful to keep the laser light in place. When she was all the way to the far wall, she peeled off a foil backing, exposing a tacky adhesive on one side of the daisy charm.

Maintaining her aim on the control panel, she pressed the daisy into the
opposite wall, where it stayed, a tiny silver charm stuck to the wall of Daciana’s kitchen, shining an invisible laser beam at the control panel that operated the alarm and security cameras in Daciana’s house.

“The daisy is on the wall,” Jill whispered.

“I’ve got full control of the system,” said Alvin. “Get moving.”

Right as Alvin spoke the words, the kitchen door flew open. Still pressed against the wall, Jill stayed perfectly still as a girl with blonde hair walked right past her, oblivious to her presence.

As the servant girl went to the sink, where she rinsed off a silver serving tray, Jill stepped to one side, hiding herself behind a rolling cart of desserts. She couldn’t see what was happening now, but she heard the girl working just a few feet away.

The girl opened and closed wooden cabinets in rapid succession. She shoved something into the sink and turned on the water.

More cabinets opening and closing. The door swung open again. Now there were two of them at the sink.

“Jill?” Alvin said. “Are you on the move?”

A cacophony of pots and pans clanged together where the servants were working. Then one of them closed the cabinet. Two pairs of footsteps, then the servants came into view. Jill watched as they walked down the kitchen and around the corner.

Jill
raced across the galley. She pushed open the door on the other side and stepped into Daciana’s dining room.

“I’m out,” she whispered. Her heart was pounding. She felt like she could barely breath
e.

“Alright, so you’re in the dining hall, correct?” said Alvin.

“Yes, but, help me out here,” Jill said. “I’m not thinking clearly. I can’t--”

“All the way to the other end,” Alvin said. “Look for the exit on the south wall.”

South? Which way was south? Jill felt like she might pass out.

“Your left,” Alvin said. “The way out is on your left.”

“My left,” she whispered. She imagined the blueprint in her mind.
Kitchen, dining hall, parlor, south corridor.

“You’re
going to be fine,” came Eve’s voice. “Now take a minute to listen before you move again, just like we talked about. Look at your exit and listen for footsteps. Do you hear any?”

“No,” Jill whispered. “I think it’s clear.”

“Then get moving,” said Eve.

“Right.”

Jill started to run, imagining herself gliding along the blueprint in her mind. She had just passed through the kitchen. Now she was running across the dining hall and headed towards the south exit.

“Stop at the door to check before you
go through,” Eve reminded.

Jill was already doing it. Pressing herself close to the wall, she came to the entrance to the parlor, and peered around the corner.

“It’s empty,” she said. “I’m going in.”

*****

One of the servants tapped Nicky on the shoulder.

“Hello, Miss,” he said. “Will you please follow me?”

This servant was older than the others. Perhaps he was Daciana’s head of house.

“Alright,” Nicky said.

The servant walked slowly across the floor, leading Nicky on a path between games of craps and roulette. She sensed the din of the room dying down. People were noticing that she was on the move.

And not just her.
Scanning the room, Nicky saw the other girls wearing black walking across the floor, each following one of Daciana’s servants.

Nicky allowed herself to relax. Wherever this servant was taking her, she wasn’t going alone. This wasn’t about her; it was about Coronation.

They gathered at a round table near the center of the room. Each servant pulled back a chair for the girl he was leading. Nicky sat between Samantha and Mary. Kim sat directly across from her.

The room was nearly silent now, with everyone aware that the girls wearing black were all sitting at the same table.

The servant who led Nicky to the table went to the dealer’s space and picked up a deck of cards.

“The master wishes for the four of you to play a game of poker,” he said. “Your chips for this game are provided courtesy of the house.”

A servant reached over Nicky’s shoulder and placed a sleeve of wooden poker chips in front of her, then did the same for Samantha, Kim, and Mary.

“Blue
chips are worth one thousand,” said the servant. “Red chips are ten thousand. White chips are a hundred thousand.”

Nicky did a quick count of the chips in front of her.
One million dollars in her stack. They were about to play poker for a four million dollar pot.

“The game is Texas Holdem,” the servant said. “We begin with a hundred-thousand dollar ante.”

Kim tossed a white chip to the center of the table. Mary and Samantha did the same. Nicky was last to throw one of her chips into the pile.

The servant shuffled the deck and began dealing cards.

*****

The stone tiles on the floor of Daciana’s parlor were cold on Jill’s bare feet. Holding her shoes as she ran, Jill wished she had chosen a different dress. This one might be a nice match for her jewelry, but the skirt didn’t give her legs enough room to run at full speed, and she found herself moving in a ridiculous kind of prance.

The house was so much larger than she had imagined it to be when she studied the blueprint. She couldn’t get through it fast enough. She felt exposed.

She reached the other end of the room and pressed her back against the wall.

“I’m at the south corridor,” she whispered.

“Okay, hang tight where you are,” came Alvin’s voice in her ear. “I’m adjusting the cameras in the corridor now.”

Jill could hear the faint buzzing sound of the cameras moving on their turrets.

“Okay, get in the hallway and stay close to the wall,” Alvin said.

Running on the balls of her feet, Jill pushed halfway down the corridor, coming to a stop underneath the first camera.

She tapped twice on her earring.

“Got it,” Alvin said. “I’m bringing the first camera around.”

Above her head, the security camera made a slow arc, its eye aiming away from the corridor ahead and towards the section Jill had just run.

“Coming up on the ninety degree mark,” Alvin said. “Go!”

Jill ran to the next camera, stopped, and tapped her earring.

“Bringing it around,” Alvin said. “You’re doing great.”

Jill waited for the camera to face forward,
then she took off down the hall. She came to the end of the corridor and veered to the left, heading towards Daciana’s moon room.

She could hear the waterfall as she approached.

“You’re clear to enter,” Alvin said. “No servants in sight.”

Jill tiptoed into the moon room, staying on the brick path that ran through the foliage.
Ponds with huge, colorful fish, a waterfall stretching all the way up the high walls, fully grown elm and mulberry trees casting shadows in the moonlight—it was all Jill could do not to stop and gape at the scenery.