The Rose Ransom (Girls Wearing Black: Book Three) (22 page)

“Frankie,” she said. “How are
you tonight?”

“I am good, Master,” he said.
“What may I do for you?”

“Put down your things and walk
with me. I have a job for you.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She led him into the yard behind
the garage, where they walked along a vine-covered fence.

“In an hour, we will be hosting
a party at the mansion,” Renata said.

“Yes, the head of house has
assigned me to the wait staff,” Frankie said.

“That’s fine, Frankie. You can
be on the wait staff for the first twenty minutes or so. But before the
cocktail hour is over, I’m taking you outside with me for a more important job.
We will have a dozen immortals in attendance at tonight’s party, and while the
students sit down for their dinner, we immortals are going to play a game. It’s
a game we play using our servants. Tonight you are going to play the game for
me, okay?”

“If that is your wish.”

“The game will require you to
fight with other servants. Can you do that for me?”

“Yes.”

“Every immortal coming tonight
is bringing their strongest, toughest servant to play the game. In our house,
the strongest servant is you, Frankie. But are you the toughest?”

“I will be tough if that is my
master’s desire.”

“Yes, I really think you will. I
understand you weren’t born on the Farm, but were taken up after being found on
the streets. Isn’t that right, Frankie?”

“I do not know, Master.”

“But you will. That’s going to
be our secret weapon. Later tonight, when all the immortals set their slaves
loose to fight, I’m going to allow you to access some of your memories from
your youth. You’re going to recall what it feels like to be in danger, to be in
a fight. It will give you a huge advantage over the other servants.”

“I will do my best to serve you,
Master.”

“Here’s how it will work,
Frankie. When the students head into the ballroom for the banquet, the
immortals will come outside with their servants. You will all get weapons. Our
master of ceremonies will shout the word, ‘Go,’ and you will fight to the
death. The last servant standing wins the game. Do you understand the rules?”

“I do, Master.”

“Good. Here’s something else to
understand. I really want you to win, Frankie. We immortals place a friendly
wager on this game, and I could use the money. You must kill everyone else
before they kill you. Can you do that for me?”

“I must kill everyone before
they kill me. I will try my hardest.”

“No, Frankie. You will win. You
know why?”

“I do not.”

“You will win because you will
use your instincts.”

“I will use my instincts.”

“Yes. Your body is a brilliant
killing machine. Did you know that, Frankie?”

“I did not.”

“Every human was born to kill.
It’s an instinct buried in the most primitive parts of the mind. But your
competitors tonight won’t be accessing that instinct. They’ll be programmed
instead. Do you understand, Frankie?”

“I was born with the instinct to
kill.”

“Right! And tonight, while the
other slaves will be obeying their programming, you will be obeying your
instincts.”

They had reached the woods
outside of her property. Frankie was so tall he had to duck under the branches
of a nearby tree.

“The master of ceremonies
tonight is an immortal named Bernadette. When Bernadette says go, you are to
forget all your programming. Do you understand, Frankie?”

“When Bernadette says go, I am
to forget my programming.”

“Every command you learned at
the Farm, everything I’ve told you before now, everything any other immortal
has put into your brain--you will drop all of it from your mind when Bernadette
yells go. Do you understand?”

“I understand.”

“With your mind empty of
commands, you will instantly recognize the danger you are in. You will see that
the other servants are trying to kill you. You must kill them before they kill
you.”

“I must kill them before they
kill me.”

“You’ll be full of fear,
confusion, and anger. You will use all of that. You will trust your instincts.
They will make you into a killing machine. You won’t even be aware of what’s
happening. You’ll just be a hunter, staying quiet until it’s time to strike, killing
swiftly when your prey draws close. Do you understand?”

“I understand. I must kill
everyone before they kill me.”

“Good. You should have no
problem winning the contest tonight. When it’s over, I will speak your name.
When you hear me say your name, you will once again be my slave. All the
programming you lost will immediately come back to you. Do you understand?”

“I understand.”

“Good. Let’s go inside, Frankie.
The party’s about to start.”

Jill stepped through Renata’s
front door a minute before nine o’clock. Mattie Dupree was the first one to
greet her.

“Incredible, Jill! You look
incredible!” Mattie said.

Jill put an excited look on her
face, and allowed Mattie to give her a gentle hug, both of them being careful
not to touch the other’s hair or makeup.

Tradition required both Jill and
Mattie to come to the Rose Ransom ceremony in the same color they wore to the
Homecoming Masquerade. In Jill’s case, that meant dark green; in Mattie’s,
royal blue.

“Can you believe we’re here?”
Mattie said. “Can you believe this place? I don’t know if it’s ever looked this
good!”

“It’s pretty amazing,” said
Jill.

“Look at the lights! The trees!”
said Mattie. “It’s like we’re in a forest. What an incredible night. And I
can’t wait to see the play. I’ve heard it’s absolutely life-changing!”

Mattie was referring to a
performance Renata would put on at the end of the night, a sort of one-woman
show in which she acted out the legend of the Rose Ransom. Jill also was eager
to see the performance—of all the events in the Coronation contest, Renata’s
performance of the Rose Ransom was the most mysterious. No one in the Network
had ever seen it, and the Network knew only the very basics of the plot. It
seemed like students at Thorndike were reluctant to give many details about the
performance, saying only that it was
amazing
and
changed my life
.

But Jill didn’t know if she
would be watching the play with the rest of the class or not. She didn’t know
if she would be there for the banquet, or how much longer she’d hang around at
the cocktail party.

Half-way through the cocktail
hour, when the vampires go outside to play one of their games, you’re going to
slip away from the party.

Tarin’s instructions rang in her
mind. She hoped they were real. A part of her felt like her late night meeting
with Tarin was a dream. It seemed genuine enough, but it was so strange. He
just showed up in her bedroom, dressed as a slave from Renata’s mansion, and
told her about this crazy plan to hack into Renata’s phone.

“The decor really is something,”
Jill said, forcing a smile onto her lips.

“It just makes you wonder,
doesn’t it?” said Mattie. “I mean…to be immortal. To live in a house like this.
To throw this kind of a party.”

Overcome with her own happiness,
Mattie threw her arm around Jill and said, “It’s just a great time to be
alive!”

“Okay, okay, what’s going on
over here,” came a playful voice from behind them. Jill turned to see Annika
approaching with a glass of wine in each hand. She gave one to Jill, then
insisted she and Mattie join her in a toast.

“To good times and good
friends,” Annika said.

“Here, here!” Mattie squealed.

They clinked their glasses and
drank, Jill taking a tiny sip, Annika gulping down half a glass.

“Nicky’s not here yet, is she?”
Annika said.

“Not that I’ve seen,” said
Mattie. “Have you seen her Jill?”

Jill shook her head.

“That crafty little devil,”
Annika said. “Just like the Masquerade. Waiting for the last possible moment to
make her entrance.”

“She knows how to get people
talking,” Mattie added.

Annika put her wine glass to her
lips and downed a big gulp of it. “Mattie, would you be a dear and get me
another one of these?” she said, shaking the empty glass in her hand.

“Yeah, I suppose I could do
that,” Mattie said, clearly disappointed that Annika was dismissing her from
the conversation.

“Jill needs one too,” Annika
said.

“I’m good, actually,” said Jill.

“Nonsense,” said Annika. “The
night is young, and it’s a tradition at the Rose Ransom to get sloshed before
the play starts. Mattie, I saw a bottle of brandy at the bar. Get one of those
for our dear friend Jill. Something sweet to take the edge off.”

“Brandy, sure. And a red wine
for Annika. I’ll be right back.” Mattie was making no effort to hide her
displeasure.

“The cabernet, not the merlot!”
Annika called after her. “I don’t think she heard me, do you?”

“Who cares, Annika? Drink enough
of those and they all taste the same,” said Jill.

Annika put her hand on Jill’s
shoulder. “That’s my girl,” she said, then, in a more conspiratorial tone, “I
saw our mutual friend in Brazil yesterday. I need to talk to you some time.”

“Sure thing,” said Jill. “But
later, okay? Maybe we could get together tomorrow.”

“See that clock over there?”
Annika said, nodding in the direction of a grandfather clock against the far wall.
“Find me there in fifteen minutes.”

“Annika, I don’t know if we
should talk about this tonight.”

“I’ll be quick about it,” Annika
said. “I just wanna give you an update. Fifteen minutes.”

With that, Annika walked away.
Mattie returned a minute later, with a glass of wine in one hand and a snifter
of brandy in the other.

“Where’d she go?” Mattie said.

Jill shook her head. “Off to be
fabulous, I think.”

*****

Kim Renwick stood in a doorway
at the far end of the room, taking stock of the party. Thus far, she had
observed that:

1) Jill looked nervous and out
of place. Her hair, dress, and makeup were stunning—Kim had never seen that
girl look so good—but her body language was that of someone who wished she
could run away and hide.

2) Annika had said something to
Jill about the grandfather clock at the far end of the room. Whatever Annika
said made Jill upset.

3) Nicky and Ryan still weren’t
here.

The third observation was the
most troubling. What was Nicky Bloom up to?

“Maybe they bailed,” said
Rosalyn. “They got in a plane and took off with no intent of ever coming back.”

“That’s impossible,” said
Andrea. “Sergio dances with all the girls wearing black at the Masquerade. He
tells them…er…he..”

She was stumbling with her words
out of fear that she might offend Kim.

“He programs us,” Kim said.
“There’s no shame in saying it. It was one of the best moments of my life. I
can’t even begin to tell you how magical it was to look in Sergio’s eyes and
promise him I would see this through to the end, no matter what. Andrea’s
right. Nicky didn’t bail.”

“But she should be here. The
longer she waits to arrive, the ruder she’s being to our host.”

“She’s already shown a total
lack of respect for decorum,” Kim said. “She does what she wants. That’s why
people admire her.”

“You think that’s what this is
about?”

“I don’t know what to think,”
said Kim. “But I’m done underestimating her. Nicky and Ryan are up to
something. Whatever it is, we need to be ready for it. Jill Wentworth is the
key. We need to watch everything she does tonight. She knows something. She and
Annika were whispering to each other just a minute ago.”

A servant approached with a tray
of hors d'oeuvres. Bowing his head, he held out the tray. Kim grabbed a
crostini with one hand. With the other, she tried placing her empty wine glass
on the tray, but her eyes were on Jill and she missed the tray. The glass fell
to the floor, shattering at their feet.

“What the hell?” Kim said.

“I’m so sorry, Miss,” the
servant said. “I will clean this up immediately.”

He was a huge guy with dark skin
and hair. The muscles in his arms and chest bulged against his polyester shirt.
He had a silver nameplate on his breast pocket that said, ‘Frankie.’

“First day on the job, Frankie?”
Kim said. “Good grief.”

“Sorry, ma’am,” Frankie said as
he squatted down to the floor. He began picking up pieces of broken glass with
his bare hands and putting them on the tray.

Kim turned her attention back to
Jill, who was on the move now.

“Where’s she going?” Kim said.

She widened her view and saw
that Annika was also cutting a path across the room. Annika and Jill were both
headed for the grandfather clock.

“They were whispering earlier,”
Kim said, “and pointing at that clock.”

“What are you talking about?”
Rosalyn said.

“Hey Frankie, get up here and
tell me something,” said Kim.

Frankie, who was still picking
up glass, stood up. She was taken aback at how big this guy was. It was like
standing next to a brick wall.

“There’s a doorway next to that
grandfather clock,” Kim said to him. “What room does that go to?”

“It is a study, ma’am.”

“Excellent,” said Kim. “We need
to distract them. Rosalyn. Go talk to Annika.”

“Annika Fleming? I never talk to
her.”

“Just do it! Get in her face and
find some way to make her stop and talk to you. I only need a minute. And you,”
she pointed at Frankie. “You messed up. You dropped my glass and I’m angry
about it. Now you owe me. Would you agree?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Do you see that girl in the
green dress? The one headed across the room?”