Privilege 3 - Perfect Mistake (6 page)

OMG this class SO boring. Will never make it thru this yr.

R U liking ur first day?

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Ariana smiled, pleased that Lexa was checking in on her. She texted back quickly.

Actually having fun. C U @ lunch!

She sent the text and slipped her phone back into her bag. When she looked up at Conrad again, he smiled adorably.

"Getting texts during class, Miss Covington? For shame," he joked. "Who was it?"

"Lexa Greene. Do you know her?" Ariana asked.

"Lexa? Not well, but yeah. Everyone knows Lexa Greene." And then he blushed slightly, looking down at his notebook. Arianas heart skipped a thousand beats.

That's it.

The easiest way to get over a guy was to find a better one. Why hadn't she thought of this before? Lexa had said it herself in the bathroom last night--"Who's better?" Well, why not Conrad Royce? He was intelligent. Definitely handsome. And a runner, just like Lexa. Plus that voice could melt steel, let alone a broken heart.

"So, Conrad, what did you do this summer?" she asked, leaning her chin on her hand. "Aside from all this reading? Anything interesting?"

As Conrad launched into the story of his summer learning the ins and outs of his family's winery business in Northern California, Ariana smiled to herself. She couldn't wait to tell Maria about the plan. If she had her way, Lexa would have a new boyfriend before the NoBash, and Ariana and Palmer would be free to be together.

54

FEAR

The homework list was brutal, but not half as brutal as the list of goals Ariana constructed for herself after the first day of classes was complete. Throughout the day she had come to realize that she was at a serious disadvantage. The instructors at Atherton--Pryce Hall were far more intense than most of those at Easton. Each of them had launched into lessons with gusto, presuming their students could simply pick up from where they'd left off the year before. Which, Ariana had learned with awe, all of them could. She, however, hadn't been inside a classroom in over two years, and as intelligent as she was, she couldn't remember every little fact she'd learned back at Easton. She had a lot of catching up to do.

Which was why she was the last person to leave the Jonathan Hayes Memorial Library that night. When she'd first arrived after dinner, the place had been humming with activity, computer screens glowing, book pages flipping, soda cans popping open. By the time she left--

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just after ten o'clock--it was as quiet as a tomb, and the middle--aged librarian had been forced to roust her from her study carrel and usher her out through the darkened stacks.

"I'm so sorry," Ariana said as the woman held open the heavy oak door for her. "I had no idea it had gotten so late."

"It's all right, Miss Covington," the woman said with a genuine smile. "It's nice to see such dedication on the first day. I'm going to keep my eye on you. I have a feeling you're going to go far."

From your lips to God's ears, Ariana thought. It was one of her mother's favorite phrases, and her heart panged as she recalled the southern lilt of her mom's voice.

"Thanks," she said. "I'm sure I'll be seeing you tomorrow."

Ariana rushed down the steps to the cobblestone pathway that ran along the inner circle of campus. All the iron street lamps were aglow, and the benches and trees threw oddly shaped shadows across the grass. There wasn't another soul on the otherwise dark circle; the burbling fountain at the center of campus was the only source of sound. A breeze tickled the back of Ariana's neck and she felt an inexplicable finger of fear slide down her spine. She quickened her steps.

"Privilege House may have its perks, but it's definitely not conveniently located," she said aloud, hoping the sound of her own voice would soothe her nerves.

Suddenly, footsteps scuffled on the path behind her. Ariana's heart constricted as she whirled around, ready to face down Kaitlynn or Tahira or whoever else might be stalking her . . . but there was no one there. Another breeze tossed her long auburn hair back from her

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face. Ariana squinted into the relative darkness. Nothing. No moving shadows. Just the merrily bubbling fountain.

Ariana's phone beeped, scaring her heart into her throat. She whipped it out of her bag. There was a text from Lexa.

Where R U? De--stress dance party in our room stat!

Ariana took a breath. Lexa wanted to hang out. This was a good thing. She started walking again, a bit faster this time, telling herself she was simply late for a party. That was all. She wasn't in the least bit freaked by the--

Scuffle. Scuffle.

Arian's lungs tightened. She turned around again, this time walking even faster. She had taken two steps toward the outer circle of dorm buildings and the hill that towered beyond, when suddenly everything went dark.

Scuffle.

Ariana froze in her tracks. Every single light on campus had been extinguished. The street lamps, the office lights, the emergency lights over the doorways. She was surrounded by unrelenting darkness.

Blackout. It's just a blackout.

Another scuffle. Ariana took in a broken, terrified breath just as a coarse black bag was yanked over her face.

57

NEOPHYTES

"What's going on? Who are you? Where are you taking me?"

Ariana was terrified, but she was not going to let whoever these people were see that. She asked her questions calmly, rationally, even as her heart tried to jackhammer its way through her ribs. There were at least two assailants. They pinned her arms to her sides as they hurried her across campus. Completely blinded by the black bag over her head, Ariana tripped on one of the irregular cobblestones and flew forward. She heard someone, a male someone, curse under his breath as he righted her. Other than that, no one said a word.

They were headed north, in the opposite direction from Wolcott Hall. Ariana was almost sure of it. Were they going toward the chapel? Or the underclassman dorms? The parking lot?

She got her answer a second later when they stopped abruptly and a strong hand pushed down on the top of her head, forcing her to 58

bend. She was shoved awkwardly forward and her head banged into someone else's as her knees hit the back of a leather seat.

"Ow! Watch it!"

Kaitlynn. Ariana's whole body started to shake with fear. Kaitlynn was in the car. Was she a part of this? If she was, Ariana was going to kill her. Screw the consequences.

"What the hell is going on?" Ariana demanded.

Someone shoved her backward so she was sitting on the seat properly.

"A--Ana?" Kaitlynn's voice replied. It was muffled, much like her own. "Is that you?"

Ariana bit down on her tongue. She couldn't decide if Kaitlynn was playing her, or if she seriously couldn't see her.

"What the hell is going on, Lily?" Ariana asked pointedly.

The car door slammed.

"I don't know," Kaitlynn whispered, cuddling close to Ariana's side. "I was just heading upstairs from the gym when someone threw a bag over my head and dragged me here. Whoever it was, I scratched the crap out of his arm, but I couldn't take him blindfolded."

Ariana stopped breathing. Both she and Kaitlynn were being kidnapped by faceless sentries? There was only one explanation.

"Game over," she muttered.

"What? What do you mean?" Kaitlynn whispered.

"It's the FBI, obviously," Ariana replied. "They found out where we were somehow and they're taking us back."

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There was a moment of silence as Kaitlynn took this in. Outside the car, a few male voices spoke in low tones.

"No. Not possible. Why would they do it like this? Why not just come in with handcuffs and guns and all that crap?" Kaitlynn asked.

"Oh, I don't know, probably because this school is full of well--connected international billionaires," Ariana replied. "They probably want to keep it quiet. Cover it up so that all the congressmen and senators and kings and queens won't have to deal with everyone knowing their kids' high-- security school was infiltrated by two escaped criminals," she said sarcastically.

One of the front doors opened and the car bounced as someone got in behind the wheel. Both Ariana and Kaitlynn fell silent, knowing better than to talk about anything until they knew exactly who they were dealing with. The car engine started, and they were off. Before long the car dipped off the paved road and bumped along some kind of rocky terrain. Suddenly, Ariana felt a hot, searing terror go through her. Were they taking her back to Lake Page? To the place where she'd murdered Briana Leigh and she and Kaitlynn had disposed of the body?

The drive couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes long, but it felt like an eternity to Ariana. When the car finally stopped, the driver did not get out. Instead, the doors on both sides of the backseat were flung open and a hand closed around Ariana's arm. It was small and feminine, but strong. The woman dragged Ariana out of the backseat and onto an uneven, pockmarked dirt path. Ariana tripped along, still unable to see, and wondered if the United States government was secretly running firing squads in rural Virginia.

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"Stop."

Ariana froze. She heard a crackle and sensed a warmth on her right side. Was that a fire? The woman turned her so that she was facing the flames, then let her go. For a moment, Ariana couldn't process this information. Should she make a move for the bag over her head? Try to run? But then, out of nowhere, the bag was torn free. Ariana's relieved lungs filled with oxygen and the heady scent of burning wood. To her left, Kaitlynn whirled around, as if ready for a fight, but Ariana didn't move. Before her was a raging fire, lit in the center of a clearing in otherwise dense woods. The tree line was marked off by a ring of thick, well--worn gravestones, each with a name etched into it, though Ariana couldn't make them out in the dim light. The fire pit was circumscribed by dozens of perfectly round, whitish--gray rocks.

No. Not stones, Ariana realized upon second glance. Skulls. Dozens of human skulls.

Standing on one side of the fire was a tall, broad figure dressed in full--on black, his face covered over by a black ski mask, his hands behind his back. On the other side was a smaller, more feminine person, dressed exactly the same. Each of them stood behind a gravestone. The guy's read lear. The girl's, miss temple.

Ariana's terror drained away as she took all of this in, replaced by an overwhelming rush of excitement. It was one of the secret societies. It had to be. She wasn't going to be arrested. She was not going to be shot. She was, in fact, being tapped.

And so was Kaitlynn.

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"Okay, this is freaky. Even for the government," Kaitlynn said.

Ariana shot Kaitlynn a silencing glare and saw that she, Brigit, Tahira, and Allison were all standing in a line next to her.

So Tahira is not in the society. . . yet, Ariana thought. Interesting.

She looked around at the other gravestones nearby, each inscribed with a name from classic literature--Jay Gatsby, Elizabeth Bennett, Captain Ahab, and on and on. Both Lear and Miss Temple stood behind their stones. Did that mean the other members were standing behind theirs as well, in the trees, just out of sight? The very idea that she was surrounded by lurking secret society members, her every move being watched, made Ariana's heart pound.

"We are the Stone and Grave." The two figures spoke suddenly, in unison. "Y have been brought here tonight as a mark of your potential. Now

ou you must prove your worthiness to the brotherhood. Only the courageous of heart and the strong of mind should accept this challenge. Do you accept?"

"I do," Tahira and Brigit said quickly.

Ariana was still too exhilarated to formulate a thought.

"Speak up, neophytes!" one of the figures barked. "Do you accept this challenge?"

"I do!" All five of them answered this time.

"Very well."

Lear walked around his gravestone and took a step forward. He paced before the five girls, looking them up and down. Ariana stared at his eyes, trying to discern whether she had seen them before, but they were entirely unfamiliar. Disappointment welled inside her chest.

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She had believed Palmer was the president of the secret society, had assumed that he would be the one running this game.

"Stone and Grave is a hallowed institution," Lear began, the fire crackling behind him, giving him a menacing air. "We are about loyalty, humanity, bravery, selflessness, brotherhood. Our bonds are unbreakable. We rise as one, and as one we fall. Our membership runs deep in the veins of this country, in every university, every industry, every branch of government. As a member of Stone and Grave, your success in this world is guaranteed."

Ariana glanced over at Brigit, whose attention was trained on Lear. Her entire being hummed with hope and pride. This was exactly what she needed. The Stone and Grave was the final piece of the puzzle. Get in and she would achieve everything she wanted. Get in and her past was erased.

"Pledge your allegiance to Stone and Grave, and Stone and Grave will pledge its allegiance to you," Lear said, pausing in the center of the clearing. The fire hissed and popped as it consumed a tree branch. Lear brought his fists together in front of him, forming a circle with his arms. "Stone and Grave will celebrate you in times of prosperity, protect you in times of trouble, provide for you in times of need. All the brotherhood asks for is your unwavering loyalty."

God, this was perfect. Ariana couldn't have conjured up anything better herself. She wondered if the other girls were as giddy as she was, practically unable to stand still.

"Sister?" he said, glancing over his shoulder.

Miss Temple stepped forward. She cleared her throat before she 63

spoke. "Each of you has been deemed a potential by the brotherhood, but our membership is exclusive and finite." She had a high voice. Unusually high. And nasal. As if she was trying to disguise what she really sounded like. "We have only four open spots for female neophytes. Four spots, five of you. Therefore, you each must complete a task in order to prove your worthiness to the brotherhood. "