The Bonding Ritual (Girls Wearing Black: Book Four) (35 page)

Frankie finished his final lap and threw the log over his shoulders. It flew a good twenty feet in the air before crashing onto the ground.

“Jill, there comes a time in the life of every agent in the Network when she must decide what she is willing to die for.”

“I know the stakes,” Jill said. “And I was glad to risk my life when I thought we really had a chance to get Ser
gio. I’m not so sure about that anymore.”

Winnie turned to Jill and looked her in the eyes. “If I thought the mission would fail, I’d call it off right now,” she said. “But I’m not just confident it will succeed. I’m one hundred per cent positive. Not only are we training a special vampire hunter to finish the job, but we also have our best agent working on this one, someone who has never let me down, and has a talent for making miracles happen.”

“Who’s that?”

“You, of course.”

Jill left Richmond in the late afternoon, leaving Annika behind to begin her new life with whatever new identity the Network gave her. For the next two hours, Jill drove north on I-95, alone with her thoughts. She spent a lot of that time ruminating on her conversation with Winnie.

The clan’s money is insignificant when compared to the clan’s ability to create a new vampire every year.

Could it be that the others were seeing things clearly all this time, and it was Jill who was confused? She had been so certain the mission was doomed she had allowed herself to forget what was at stake. Now, on the open road, the sun descending to her left, the woodlands on both sides of the freeway bathing her in shadow, Winnie’s words echoed in her mind.

Killing Sergio is everything.

Killing Sergio. Ending Coronation. Taking away the Samarin clan’s ability to make a new vampire every year. If there was even the slightest chance they could still pull it off, did Jill have any business even thinking about skipping town?

She arrived in Maryland shortly after sunset, and drove to the Bloom mansion in Bethesda, where she was wanted for a debriefing session. For the next two hours, she spoke with Nicky, Phillip, and Helena about all that happened at Daciana’s party, including the successful hack of Daciana’s computer.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were going to do this?” Helena asked her.

“I worked with Eve and Alvin, and we kept it need-to-know only,” Jill said.

“But clearly Nicky needed to know,” said Helena. “Had she not been available to go into the bathroom and pull out that broken plug thing, your whole operation would have sunk.”

“I’m not saying I did everything right,” said Jill. “But the hack is done, and now we’re a six digit code away from stealing all the clan’s money.”

“You understand we can’t go stealing their money before the mission is over, don’t you?” said Phillip.

“I don’t know that she does,” said Helena. “She hasn’t been fully bought into the mission since we decided to stay. This computer hack is the only reason you’re still around, isn’t it?”

It was
, Jill thought.

“This is a problem,” Helena continued. “We need to be on the same page if we’re working together.”

“We are on the same page,” said Jill.

“Are we? You just went off and organized your own assignment at Daciana’s party and didn’t tell any of us about it!”

“That won’t happen again.”

“And what about this bank account thing? Are you going to be able to sit on this until the actual mission is over? We can’t have you jeopardizing what we’re trying to do with your own agenda!”

“Relax, Helena. I just got back from Richmond. I had a long talk with one of the strategists. I’m seeing things more clearly now.”

Helena leaned back in her chair. “That’s good,” she said quietly.

“I feel better about our chances of getting Sergio than I did before,” Jill said.

“Of course you do,” said Helena. “This new Coronation game has blown the contest wide open.”

“Yes, I recognize that,” said Jill.

“And you’re committed to helping Nicky win it?” said Helena.

“Yes,” said Jill. “I am.”

They continued their debriefing with conversation about the safe, the numbers, the list Jill would make of every student in school, and every student’s number, and what Jill saw when she was in the back of the mansion.

“He just killed her?” said Helena.

“That’s right,” said Jill. “Sergio killed Lena Trang.”

“I wonder why.”

Jill looked to Nicky, who had been sitting quietly for the whole session. Nicky shrugged her shoulders.

After the debriefing, Jill went to Dillywig’s Coffee and Cakes in North Potomac, where she met up with Karmela, Samantha, Mattie, and Jenny.

“I’ve been thinking about this safe Daciana rolled out last night, and I’m certain it’s more than a guessing game,” Samantha said, acting like this was some brilliant revelation. The others at the table did too. They were already in the habit of treating Samantha like royalty.

“I mean, really, if you think about the odds, there must be a thousand different possible combinations,” Samantha said.

“One hundred to the fourth power,” Jill said.

“What did you say?” Samantha asked.

“The odds of guessing the combination on that safe,” said Jill. “They’re one in a hundred million.”

“See? That’s what I’m talking about!” said Samantha. “We’re not meant to guess the combination.”

“So it’s like the Rose Ransom,” said Mattie. “A game no one is supposed to win.”

“No, I don’t think Daciana would make it impossible,” said Samantha. “Just hard enough for it to be interesting. The combination to the safe is a puzzle for us to figure out. There must be clues for us to find or something.”

Jill sat quietly, even though she knew the rest of the table was already looking to her for input. Should she tell them how the game worked?

She decided to sit quietly for a bit longer and listen.

“It seems to me we’d be better off if no one figured out the combination,” said Mattie. “Then Samantha wins, right?”

The others nodded in agreement.

“You know what I was thinking,” said Jenny. “Isn’t it strange that every time Daciana pulled a number, there was always a single student who knew that number belonged to them?” She turned to Jill. “Can you tell us what are the odds of that?”

“Are you asking if the clan had something to do with the numbers we all have in our heads?” Jill said. “Isn’t it obvious?”

Apparently not.
The rest of the table acted like Jill just told them a marvelous secret.

“The clan!” Samantha squealed. “There were more vampires there last night than just Daciana.”

You think?
Jill wanted to say.

“They can hide in a crowd,” said Karmela. “They have a way of masking themselves.”

Reminding herself that the rest of them hadn’t spent their high school years studying vampires with the intent to kill them, Jill tried to put herself in a place of forgiveness. It wasn’t their fault they were so slow to figure out Daciana’s game. Not only did they view the world with different eyes than Jill did, but they also were drunk out of their minds by the time Daciana rolled out the safe at the party.

“I bet you there were lots of immortals at the party last night,” Jenny said.

“Yes, and they put the numbers in our minds,” said Samantha. “It was all part of the game.”

“Oh, it gives me goosebumps to think about it!” said Mattie. “Isn’t it amazing that we get to be so close to them? Are we the luckiest or what? Here I was, thinking
thirteen had always been my lucky number, but right now, as we’re speaking, it occurs to me that I’ve never had a lucky number before. I’ve been to Vegas lots of times and I’ve never--”

“—focused on just one number,” said Samantha. “We’re onto something here. Something good.”

“I lost my shirt last night betting on number nine,” said Jenny with a nervous laugh. “They really got me, didn’t they? I was so sure I’d have luck. I maxed out my credit card. I went shopping today and had to pay in cash!”

“I did the same thing,” said Karmela, “only I bet on sixty-one.”

Jill smiled. Without her even asking, the others at the table had told her everything she wanted to hear. She committed the numbers they had just confessed to memory, and imagined herself a few steps closer to figuring out the numbers that would open the safe.

“What about you, Jill?” said Jenny. “What was your number?”

“She was fifty-two, remember?” said Samantha.

“Oh yeah, you got called to the stage last night,” Jenny said. “I suppose that means the game is done for you, doesn’t it?”

Jill opened her mouth to answer Jenny, but before she could answer, Samantha was already speaking again.

“Yes, Jill and seven other people took their one and only turn last night,” Samantha said.

And everyone at the party heard what my number was when Daciana called me to the stage
, Jill thought.

She would tell them. Yes, everyone at school was bound to figure it out eventually. If Jill started with this group, she might be able to control how everything went down.

“I know how the game works,” she said, bringing silence to the table.

“What do you mean?” asked Samantha.

“There were posters of the girls wearing black hanging in Daciana’s mansion last night,” Jill said. “Did you see them?”

Nods of agreement across the table.

“Samantha’s poster had a white border,” Jill said, “and the first dial on the safe had a diamond set into the tip. Did you see the way the diamond gleamed white in the spotlight?”

“I did!” Mattie said. The rest of the table remained silent.

“The second dial on the safe had a ruby in the tip,” Jill said, “and the poster of Nicky had a red border. The third dial had an emerald.”

“And the poster of Kim was green!” Karmela said.

“That’s why I asked you for your number last night,” Jill said to Samantha.

“What the hell is your number, Samantha?” said Jenny.

“No, no,” said Jill, raising her hand. “There’s a reason I didn’t turn the diamond dial to Samantha’s number, even though I knew what it was. Samantha’s number is the key to this whole game. She is the only one who has an incentive to keep it entirely secret.”

“Because if nobody opens the safe, I win Cor
onation!” Samantha said. “Good grief, Jill Wentworth. Where do you put all those brains? So I’ve won, right? I just don’t tell anyone my number, and the game is mine!”

“Not exactly,” said Jill. “When the game started last night, there were ninety-nine numbers to choose from on every dial. But now, there are only ninety-one.”

Sensing they weren’t getting it, Jill added, “There were eight people called to the stage,
by their number
. The numbers that will open that safe belong to the girls wearing black. Every time Daciana called a number last night, we learned a number that didn’t belong to one of the Coronation candidates.”

“What?” said
Mattie. “I don’t think I get it.”

“Don’t worry. You will,” said Samantha. “Keep going, Jill.”

“Eight people got called to the stage last night,” Jill said. “Eight more are getting called up to guess every week until the safe gets opened.”

“Every week,” said Samantha, nodding her head slowly. “How many weeks are in the semester?”

“There are twelve weeks before prom,” said Jill.

“But eight people a week for twelve weeks…what’s eight times twelve?” said Jenny.

“It’s ninety-six,” said Jill. “The whole class, minus the four girls wearing black.”

“Will someone please tell me what all these numbers mean?” said Mattie.

“It means that, if we keep track of the numbers that Daciana calls each week, eventually we’ll only be left with the numbers belonging to the girls wearing black,” said Jill.

A look of understanding came over Samantha’s face.

“That’s right,” said Jill. “You’re getting it now, aren’t you? Even if Samantha keeps her number a secret, the others can still figure it out by process of elimination. All they have to do is keep track of the numbers Daciana calls out each week. By the end of the semester, there will only be four numbers left.”

“We need to figure out Kim, Mary, and Nicky’s numbers,” said Samantha.

“Right. But you can bet they’ll be keeping those numbers a secret,” said Jill.

“So what do we do?” said Mattie.

“We make a list of everybody’s number we can get and figure out the missing ones by process of elimination,” said Jill. “Fast as we can, before the others figure out the game, we get our friends in school to start talking.”

“This is brilliant,” said Samantha. “Just brilliant!”

“I’ll keep the master list,” said Jill. “Every time you figure out somebody’s number, text it to me.”

The others nodded their heads in eager agreement, unaware that they were now enlisted to help Jill win the Coronation contest not for Samantha, but for Nicky Bloom.