Dark Companion (33 page)

“I thought Companions were selected because we’ve all survived unfortunate situations. I’m not special.”

I didn’t know why he seemed so amused, and he said, “It’s a mystery to me why extraordinary young women insist that they’re normal.” He finished his wine and set down the glass. “I’m rarely contacted in these petty domestic affairs, but the Radcliffes have ambitions for their son and requested my approval.”

“Mr. Radcliffe told me that Lucky will be on the Council’s education committee and inherit Birch Grove.”

“At the very least. The Radcliffes and their Greenwood branch have been petitioning for a new district to be formed and, with it, a new Council Director seat.”

“So Lucky could replace you?”

“I’m irreplaceable, Jane, but he might be a colleague.” Mr. Ducharme leaned toward me. “What would you like me to tell Hyacinth and Tobias?”

“What I want you to say doesn’t matter, does it?”

“Not in the least, but I wondered if you would try to plead your case.” He stood and so I stood, too. “Jane, a word of warning—this branch of the Family does not take betrayal lightly.
I
do not take betrayal lightly.” He locked eyes with me and I felt the prickly rush of fear. “You may go now.”

“Good-bye, Mr. Ducharme.”

“Until we meet again, Jane Williams.”

Mrs. Radcliffe asked me to wait in the family room. I nervously scraped off my nail polish and expected to be told to leave the school. When she returned, she was beaming. “Mr. Ducharme was absolutely satisfied that you’ll be an excellent Companion, Jane! Isn’t that wonderful?”

“Yes,” I said, surprised, and I hadn’t gotten over my surprise an hour later, when Hattie arrived.

“Jane, I heard you passed with flying colors. Congrats!” She gave me a hug. “We’re going to run through your part of the ceremony. Only a week more! Can you believe it?”

“It’s happening awfully fast. Is Lucky coming?”

Mrs. Radcliffe said, “He only has two lines and he already knows them. Jane, I have something for you.” She handed me a small bag that had been on a side table. “A laptop is coming, but you should be able to log on to Birch Grove’s computers with your name and student ID number.”

I opened the bag to find a new phone and accessories. “Thank you!”

“It doesn’t have all the new bells and whistles, but I believe it’s more than adequate for your needs. Your teachers and school numbers have already been entered. Nine-one-one gives you a hotline to
our
emergency services,” Mrs. Radcliffe said. “Please respect our Birch Grove regulations about texting and phoning and, Jane, please don’t contact your old friends.”

She’d paid for the phone, so I nodded, because I could buy my own phone without restrictions later and wouldn’t ever need to use the burner. Then Hattie and I walked down to the amphitheater.

“So what did you think of Ian Ducharme?”

“I liked him even though I get the feeling he’s really dangerous. It’s probably just my imagination.”

“You should trust your instincts more. No one will talk about everything he actually does for the Council, but his nickname is the Dark Lord. The few times I’ve talked to him, I wanted to beg him to ravish me and he’s not even my type!”

“Your type? But I thought he resembled Jack a bit.”

“Oh, I
meant
that I like guys our age, not older guys.”

The marble benches of the amphitheater almost glowed in the dusky light. Hattie pointed to one side. “The local Family members and friends will be standing here when you enter from over there. You walk around the outer circle and then to the center, where an officiate will be waiting. The Council will send someone who knows the ceremonies. You stand in front of him while he says the mumbo-jumbo, which translates into how much we cherish the Companions and the importance of family and duty.”

“How do I know it really means that?”

“Because
all
of our ceremonies are about family and duty, but you can ask Mrs. Radcliffe to let you read the Family’s ceremonies binder for the exact translation.”

Hattie taught me the strange words I’d have to say and rehearsed them with me. I struggled through a sentence several times. “This language is all consonants and no vowels.”

“Nobody can pronounce it except the officiates, and they’re probably guessing,” Hattie told me. “All you have to do is approximate the words, and the adults will be happy. Once you say your lines and Lucky says his lines, there’s a tiny jab on your forefinger, enough to get a few drops of blood for symbolism. The officiate will give you a drink of this awful liquor made with herbs from one of the old recipes. You and Lucky each have to take a drink. Mrs. Radcliffe will make sure it’s watered down and sweetened so you don’t automatically spit it out.”

“When I saw the harvest ceremony, everyone was wearing robes.”

“You’ll get one, and a pretty white dress to wear underneath for the party afterward.” She smiled. “I picked it out myself when you were trying on clothes at the mall. The seamstress in town will hem them to the right length so you don’t trip.”

“That’s good, because wearing a toga at Latin Skit Night was harder than I thought it would be. MV would say that it’s my tragic fate to wear crazy robes and speak in dead languages.”

Mary Violet might have been wrong about me having a good sense of humor, because Hattie barely smiled. “Anyway, the whole thing only takes fifteen minutes and then Lucky will be able to suck your blood happily ever after.”

“Hattie, are you absolutely sure this is okay with you?”

She pressed her lips together before saying, “I think Lucky’s not ready to have a Companion, but since he’s decided to go through with this now, I’m glad it’s with you because you’ll keep him grounded.”

“I’m going to try, but it’s not going to be easy.”

“Because he’s such a prince, I know.” She made a face and we laughed. “Jane, I’ve never told anyone else this, but…”

“Don’t tell me anything you don’t want to.”

“I
want
to.” Her face lit up. “My plan is to be the first female Council Director. Except for Ian Ducharme, they’re ancient sexist geezers with outdated attitudes. They want us to stay hidden forever and stay the way we are. I have so many ideas on how to improve our lives, from political alliances to gene therapy for us and for Normals.”

“That sounds amazing! But Mr. Ducharme said that the Radcliffes want Lucky to be a director of a new division.”

“He told you that? It’s true, but that may not be what Lucky wants. He’s not interested in being a policy wonk, and I love all that stuff.”

“I don’t even know what a policy wonk is, but you can count on me to help any way I can.”

“A policy wonk is someone who works out details and strategy to get things done. It will be great to have you on my side.” She held her fist toward me. “Grrl power!”

“Grrl power!” I bumped fists with her and thought about the satisfied way Mr. Radcliffe had told me that
he
owned Birch Grove.

“I want you to lead such a life as will make the world respect you. I want you to have a clean name and a fair record. I want you to get rid of the dreadful people you associate with. Don’t shrug your shoulders like that. Don’t be so indifferent. You have a wonderful influence. Let it be for good, not for evil.”

Oscar Wilde,
The Picture of Dorian Gray
(1890)

Chapter 30

The week before the Sunday ceremony was the longest in my life and I remember each day distinctly.

On Monday, I went to Mary Violet’s and, since the sun was out, we studied on the lawn. My friend had raised her skirt and taken off her shoes and socks. “I need to get tan. These are the last rays of the year. I will never give in to the pasty aesthetic like Hattie, although she’s the prettiest pasty girl I know. Pasty sounds ugly. She’s the prettiest
pallid
girl I know.”

“MV, do you ever go to Hattie’s house?”

“I used to go sometimes, but I don’t even want to anymore since Mrs. Tyler is a terrible horrible heinous snob and she said something mean about Mom’s paintings.” Mary Violet’s blue eyes clouded in hurt. “No one’s allowed to say how appalling they are, except us, and that’s because we know they’re actually marvelous. I think Hattie doesn’t get along with her parents.”

“Hattie’s not snobby at all, though. She’s so smart and thoughtful.”

“She is, as Mrs. Radcliffe says, an exceptional girl.” Mary Violet became more serious than I’d ever seen her. “You’ve been spending so much time with her. I think you like her better than you like me. Constance has all her other friends, and I thought you sort of
got
me, because I think I sort of
get
you. I know I’m too silly…” Her voice trailed off.

“MV, you’re
fabulously
silly. I’m spending time with Hattie because Mrs. Radcliffe wants her to make sure I’m doing okay here.” I wished I could have told MV more and then I decided to share something else. “I was lonely a lot in my life and I don’t feel that way here. Please don’t give up trying to funnify me. You’re improving my vocabulary.”

“I noticed!” Mary Violet leaned against me, her golden curls tickling my face. “You can share my family, but you have to agree to share the shame of the paintings.”

“I love your mom’s paintings.”

“Pants on fire!” she said, and started tickling me.

“I love the
birch tree
paintings!” I said before laughter overtook me.

She jumped up. “Do you want to stay for dinner? I can see what we’re having.”

“Okay.”

She went inside, swiping her skirt down and mooing, “Moooom!”

The Holidays chatted and bickered over dinner while I kept thinking that in a few days I would be initiated as Lucky’s Companion. Mary Violet drove me back to campus and I asked her to leave me at the gate. I impulsively kissed her cheek before I got out of the car. “You smell good. What’s that perfume?”

“Marc Jacobs Violet, because—”

“Because violet is your signature. Good night, MV!”

When I got close to my cottage, I saw Lucky standing on the porch. He was wearing a charcoal leather jacket over a black t-shirt and jeans. I admired his long athletic body even as I hurried my footsteps. He had his phone out and kept texting for a minute while I stood in front of him. He finally raised his head. “I was about to send you a message. Where were you?”

“At Mary Violet’s. You could have told me earlier that you wanted to see me, and I would have been here.”

He gave me an icy look. “I already have a mother.”

“Then you
are
lucky, aren’t you?” I snapped.

I could see his expression shift from irritated to regretful. “I’m sorry, Jane. I forgot what it must be like for you.”

“You always do that, Lucky. You’re rude and then apologetic. If you were more careful before speaking, you wouldn’t have to apologize later.”

“Correction noted,” he said. “I have something for you.”

“Come in.” I unlocked the door and we went inside.

After I put down my book bag and turned to him, Lucky pulled a small red velvet box out of his pocket. “This is for you, Jane.” I savored the surprise as I rubbed my fingers over the plush velvet box. Then I opened it and saw a gold ring with three small red stones, similar to the ring Ms. York had worn.

“It’s a Companion ring from the Family. My mother said to tell you that the gold was mined from the Apuseni Mountains and the garnets come from the Banat Mountains in Romania.”

I turned the lovely ring so that I could see the inscription inside. There was an
L
over a
J
in curlicue script. Lucian and Jane. Lucky took my hand and slipped the ring on my right ring finger. It fit perfectly. “Is this why Hattie made me try on rings?”

Lucky nodded. “You’ll need to take it to the initiation and you can wear it after that. All the Companions have them.”

I threw my arms around him. “Thank you, Lucky.”

After a moment, he hugged me, too, and said in a husky voice, “Why don’t you change into something that shows a little skin?”

I felt suddenly shy. “Okay.”

He waited in the living room while I went to the bedroom. On my shopping trip with Hattie, I’d bought rose-pink silk boxers and a matching cami. I put them on and moved my hair forward to cover my scar. I rubbed lotion over my skin and put on lip gloss and mascara. My dresser mirror reflected the same plain Jane I’d always been.

I wanted to be sexy for Lucky, but I felt awkward and nervous. Maybe things would change when he kissed me. I opened the bedroom door and said, “Lucky,” twisting the ring on my finger.

He came to the bedroom and his eyes skimmed over my body. “You look good, Jane. I like seeing your skin.” He touched the lilac and yellow bruise on my inner arm. Then he kicked off his shoes and peeled off his jacket. His hair shone golden against the black t-shirt.

“You’re right and I’m too rude. Maybe I should have paid more attention to Bebe and been nicer and she wouldn’t have left.” He sat on the bed and said softly, “I’m not going to make that mistake again, Jane. Come here.”

I stood in front of him and he pulled me onto his lap. “I want you to enjoy this with me.” He stroked my arms slowly and let his fingers linger on the blue veins at my wrists and elbows. Then he pushed me back down onto the bed and I shivered with nerves.

He took off his own shirt and revealed his sleek chest, toned abs, and flat stomach. He was so gorgeous, but I tensed as he lay beside me and ran his hand up my leg and up along my thigh.

“Lucky…”

“Ssh.” He nuzzled and bit and sucked hard at my neck. One hand went under my cami and I gasped as he began caressing me. His hand edged under the waistband of my silk boxers.