Privilege 3 - Perfect Mistake (7 page)

As she spoke, Lear walked down the line of neophytes, handing each of them a small black envelope. Ariana was breathless with anticipation and already her mind was trying to rank her chances against the other neophytes. Certainly she could prove herself more worthy than Allison and Tahira. And even Brigit, if she was being honest. She was stronger than any of them. Smarter. Quicker. A survivor. Whatever task the secret society had chosen for her, she was going to master it.

But Kaitlynn was a survivor, too. Ariana was certain the girl would be in Stone and Grave by the time this was over. The very thought of this--the thought of being tied to Kaitlynn for life--made Ariana's stomach revolt. She had to swallow back the bile that rose up in her throat.

"Y must complete these tasks by the second Sunday of September to be considered for membership, but merely completing them will not

ou guarantee your acceptance," Lear stated. "The brotherhood will be watching you. If you try to take the easy way out, we will know. If your execution lacks creativity, we will know. It's not just about the end result, it's about the means."

The girl stepped forward again. "We will meet again on that

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Sunday, and your work will be evaluated. If you have not completed your task by then, you will automatically be blackballed. If you have not completed your task in a way that is satisfactory to the brotherhood, you will also be blackballed." The fire waved behind her, casting her body in shadow. "Stone and Grave does not tap seniors, which means this is your final chance to impress the brotherhood," she said, looking right at Brigit and Tahira. Both of them simply stared back, still as stone.

Ariana blinked. She remembered what Lexa had said that day in the library. That it was Brigit's last chance to get into the society, implying that she had been tapped before and had failed. Had the same happened with Tahira?

"Y are not to show these cards to anyone," Lear intoned, stepping back into line with his counterpart. Ariana was certain she heard swishing

ou behind her. Footfalls behind the trees. Snapping branches. The other members were out there watching. She was certain of it. And now they were on the move. "Y are not to share what you've heard here tonight. Y are not to speak of this night to anyone outside your circle of five. Betrayal is

ou ou a sin that is not taken lightly by the brotherhood. If you turn your back on Stone and Grave, if you malign Stone and Grave, if you allow civilians to learn the secrets of Stone and Grave, you will be dealt with. We take these crimes seriously. Dead seriously."

Ariana's throat closed over. She remembered how freaked Lexa had been that day when she'd slipped and told Ariana about the society. What, exactly, did he mean by "dealt with"? Ariana glanced around at

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Kaitlynn, Brigit, Tahira, and Allison, all of whom looked as uncertain as Ariana felt.

"Your time to impress the brotherhood starts now," Miss Temple said.

Then she and Lear snuffed out the fire, pitching the clearing into darkness. The movement in the trees intensified for a moment, and then all was silent. Ariana's breath came short and shallow. She couldn't see a thing.

"We suggest you start walking before the black bears get a whiff of you." Lear's voice carried back to them through the night. "Good luck!"

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TREK

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Allison demanded, her German accent thicker than usual, probably due to panic.

"This is a well--worn path," Kaitlynn pointed out for the tenth time. "And this is definitely the direction we came in from."

"Doesn't seem like much of a path to me. It's too narrow," Tahira said with a sniff. Her high heels kept sinking into the soft earth, so she was lagging behind. "And how do you know which direction we came from? We were all blindfolded."

Ariana and Brigit, who were walking side by side in the dark, occasionally grabbing each others hands when they stumbled or tripped, shot one another an amused look. Tahira was being Tahira. As always.

"If you want to go off on your own, I'm not stopping you," Kaitlynn replied. "Woods, meet Tahira; Tahira, meet the woods. Go ahead."

Tahira crossed her arms over her chest. "You don't have to be such a bitch about it."

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Kaitlynn paused and dropped her arms. "I'm sorry, T, okay? It's just I want to get back to campus and get started on my task just like you do. So let's just work together."

Ariana smirked. She knew that Kaitlynn would have loved to tear into Tahira, but Lillian couldn't turn Tahira into an enemy, just in case she needed her later.

"Fine," Tahira said finally, walking ahead, her ankles wobbling. "What is your task anyway?"

Allison shoved a pine branch aside. "I don't know if we should be sharing tasks."

"She's right. I think I'll keep mine to myself, thanks," Kaitlynn said.

"What does yours say?" Brigit whispered to Ariana, leaning close.

"It's too dark out here. I can't make it out," Ariana replied.

"Here," Brigit said. "You can use this."

She lifted her wrist and pushed a few rubber bracelets away from her chunky watch. With a click of a button, the face illuminated big and bright. Ariana stopped walking, pulled out her card, and tilted the watch face toward it. There, in silver ink, was her task:

MAKE A SPECTACLE OF YOURSELF

Ariana's heart dove. "What? Are they kidding?"

Brigit snorted a laugh when she read it. "Mine says, 'Embarrass the crown prince of Jordan at the NoBash.'"

"But I thought--" Ariana paused, unsure how many of her theories and how much of her knowledge she should reveal. Then again, Brigit

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had obviously been tapped before. She had to know even more than Ariana did.

"You thought what?" Brigit asked as they speed walked to catch up with the others.

"I kind of thought Lexa was in Stone and Grave," Ariana whispered. Not to mention Palmer, whom she had assumed was president or leader or grand poobah or whatever they called the number one Stone and Graver. She couldn't believe he would set her up to embarrass herself. "Couldn't she have made sure it was something less . . . horrible?"

Brigit pressed her lips together in a knowing way that made Ariana's skin prickle. "Stone and Grave wants what it wants," she said cryptically, lifting her shoulders.

Ariana sighed. She hated when other people knew more than she did. But in this particular case, it might be better for her not to dig too deep. At least not yet. But why make a spectacle of herself, when all Brigit had to do was embarrass someone else? It seemed completely unfair.

"Hey Ana, can you come up here a sec?" Kaitlynn shouted from her place at the head of the group.

Ariana bit her tongue to keep from cursing the girl out.

"I'll be back," she said to Brigit.

She maneuvered her way past Tahira and Allison, who were also whispering to each other, and joined Kaitlynn at the front of the group. The trees were growing thicker, the underbrush encroaching on the dirt path, and Ariana was starting to seriously doubt that this was, in fact, the way they'd come.

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"What do you want?" Ariana asked under her breath. Something tickled her ankle and she told herself it was just a twig or a weed, and not a spider.

"Y eah, listen, I obviously need to be in Stone and Grave so I'm thinking, to make it easier for everyone, you should just drop out of the running," Kaitlynn said quietly, her gaze dead ahead.

Ariana laughed. "Pardon me if I don't dignify that with a response."

"What's so funny?" Tahira asked from a few yards back.

"Nothing!" Kaitlynn sang in reply, upping her speed slightly so that Ariana had to jog in the dark to keep up.

"It's only fair, A," Kaitlynn continued, her tone diplomatic. She lowered her voice so that it was barely audible over the sound of their crunching steps. "Y ou're set. Y ou've got an identity, a trust fund, a future, but me . . . I've got two years to make connections that will take me beyond APH. I'm going to need these guys to help me do that."

"Y really think that once you're in and they figure out that Lillian Oswald has no background whatsoever, they're going to help you create one?"

ou Ariana asked. She struggled to catch her breath. Between the exercise, the nerve--racking darkness, and this conversation, she was starting to perspire. "They'll probably just boot you back to the BrendaT," she said through her teeth.

"Y heard what they said. If you're a member, they protect you. They shelter you. And they're insanely connected," Kaitlynn replied. "So yes, I do

ou think they'll help me."

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Ariana sighed. This should be a platinum night for her. But instead, she was dealing with Kaitlynn's psychosis. Again. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one could hear them. The others were so far behind now that she could barely hear them, let alone see them.

"I'm not dropping out," she said flatly.

"Okay then, plan B. Who should we bump off?" Kaitlynn said, pushing a thick branch aside and letting it snap back in Ariana's face. The pain was sharp but fleeting. Ariana spit a few pine needles off her lips as she rushed to catch up.

"Bump off?" Ariana hissed. "Are you serious?"

Kaitlynn gave a look that told Ariana that she was, in fact, very serious.

"I'm not going to kill anyone," Ariana replied.

"Okay, then maybe I'll just kill you," Kaitlynn said with a shrug. Ariana's heart caught, and she misstepped, tripping forward and almost falling flat on her face. Annoyingly, she had to grab on to Kaitlynn, the very person who'd just threatened her life, to keep from going down.

"Watch it. There's a bit of a hill here," Kaitlynn said, a laugh in her voice.

Sure enough, the ground was dropping away beneath them, and their steps naturally quickened. If she shoved Kaitlynn as hard as she could right now, no one would see it. But Kaitlynn would have to fall just so in order to break her neck, and if she didn't, she would certainly tell everyone how she'd been pushed.

Why couldn't they just stumble upon a nice, convenient cliff?

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"You do realize that if something happens to me, they're going to find you out," Ariana hissed, her heart pounding.

"Maybe," Kaitlynn replied, glancing back as the footsteps behind them--and Tahira's cursing under her breath--grew closer. "But killing you could get me everything I want. Then again, if I don't kill you and I don't get into Stone and Grave, in two years, I'm out on the street with nothing."

It was amazing to Ariana how cavalierly she spoke about murder. And to the very person whose life she was planning on ending.

"Why does everything come back to murder with you?" Ariana whispered, her feet pounding the ground. Her ankle twisted slightly as she stepped on a rock, but this time she bit her lip and found her own balance, not wanting to rely on Kaitlynn again. "Maybe one of them will screw up their task or not perform it with enough flair. You heard what Miss Temple said. That would mean an automatic blackball."

"Y but I can't count on that," Kaitlynn said. "I'd much rather have the guarantee of an open spot. Then as long as I do what I need to do, I'll get

es, in."

"Okay, then why not just sabotage someone? Screw up their chances. You don't have to kill everyone."

"Look who's talking," Kaitlynn said with a knowing smile. "But you make a good point. Sabotaging someone would work. So get on that, will you?" she said, slapping Ariana on the shoulder.

"What happened to 'we'?" Ariana said, Not that she savored the thought of working side--by--side with Kaitlynn, but this was Kaitlynn's idea.

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"Come on, A. I have so much to deal with right now," Kaitlynn said, holding a thick branch aside. "Making friends, taking placement exams, getting caught up in class, and now I have some crazy task to complete. Help a friend out."

Her tone was so faux--sweet it made Ariana's teeth hurt.

"I'll see what I can do," Ariana said grudgingly.

"Good. And no pressure. I mean, if the sabotage thing doesn't work out, I can always just get rid of you ... or maybe one of your little friends. Then I'll be a shoo--in," Kaitlynn said brightly.

"Leave my friends out of this," Ariana said, her fists clenching defensively. "Besides, you don't know if any of them are in Stone and Grave."

"Oh, I'm sure I'll be able to figure it out," Kaitlynn singsonged. "In case you haven't noticed, Ana, I'm kind of a genius when it comes to people."

She paused as they came to a clearing at the edge of the woods. Before them, the hill dropped down toward the merrily twinkling lights of the campus below.

"Oh, look," Kaitlynn said, lifting a hand. "I got us home."

"Nice work, Lily," Tahira said happily, emerging from the woods and wrapping her arm through Kaitlynn's. Clearly she had forgotten all about her earlier grumblings. "Let's go grab a midnight snack. I'm all about chocolate at this hour--how about you?"

"Definitely," Kaitlynn replied as the two of them traipsed down the hill. "It's going to be so much fun when we're in Stone and Grave together," Kaitlynn said. "You and I are going to just take over."

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Their laughter mingled on the breeze as the gap between them and Ariana widened.

"Wait for me!" Allison shouted, jogging after them.

Brigit finally tripped her way out of the woods and came to stop at Ariana's side. Ariana was frozen in place, stunned by Kaitiynn's total disregard for everything, her own security included. What was she going to do, slit Ariana's throat in the middle of the night? Wouldn't the roommate be the obvious suspect in a crime like that?

But that was the problem. Kaitlynn was insane. There was no telling what she was capable of.

"Everything okay?" Brigit asked.

"Yeah . . . yes," Ariana said, waking herself up from her dark thoughts. "It will be."

Everything was going to be fine, as soon as Ariana arranged some insurance for herself. Something that would make it impossible for Kaitlynn to hurt her without hurting herself.

"Come on." She slung her arm through Brigit's just as Tahira had done with Kaidynn. "I think we deserve a celebratory dessert from the cafe."