The Bonding Ritual (Girls Wearing Black: Book Four) Read online

  “You’re scared. It’s okay to be scared.”

  “Don’t tell me about being scared! For the past three years, while you were skulking around your house and not talking to anyone, I was risking my life for the Network! You don’t know what it’s like to stare down a vampire who intends to look in your mind and discover the truth. I do! After what Bernadette did to me, I’m lucky to be alive. We all are!”

  Ryan approached her. He put his hands on her arms.

  “I don’t blame you for feeling like this, not after what happened last semester,” he said. “And I don’t pretend to know everything that happened to you while I was locked up in Italy.”

  “The reason you don’t know is you ran out of the house this morning!”

  “What I do know, Jill, is that you’re still alive. You were one step ahead of the immortals the whole time. You solved the Ransom. You saved me and Nicky. When this is over and the clan falls apart and we’re all free again, you will be the hero.”

  “You don’t get to talk to me about any of this,” Jill said. “You’re not in the Network. You weren’t part of the plan.”

  “Really? I thought your big plan last semester was to get me on board so we could use my money to win the contest for Nicky.”

  “Ryan, it’s not…ugh! Why are we even having this conversation! What’s gotten into you! Into all of you!”

  “The others want to stay too, don’t they?”

  “Helena and Phillip do. Nicky did last night, but she seems…I don’t know. I think we should all get out of here tomorrow morning. We can go someplace where we know we’re safe and we can talk this through.”

  “If that’s what--”

  A knock on the door interrupted them.

  “Hello? I’m sorry to bother you,” came Suzette’s voice. Jill wanted to scream at her. That woman was really getting on her nerves.

  “What is it, Mom?” Ryan said.

  “I’m so very sorry,” she said. “We have a guest. You both need to come back downstairs. I’m certain it will be a short visit.”

  “A guest?” Jill whispered. “It’s one in the morning! What the hell is going on?”

  “Hang on a sec,” Ryan said. “I’ll go talk to her.”

  Jill hung back in the bedroom while Ryan went to the door. He only cracked it open, and spoke to his mother so quietly Jill couldn’t hear. When he came back, he said, “We need to go downstairs.”

  “Why? Who’s down there?”

  “This is going to be what we have to do for a while,” Ryan said. “For the next few weeks, my mom will want to show us off to lots of people.”

  “That’s what we’re doing at one in the morning? Letting your mom show us off?”

  “She says it’s someone really important. Come on. We’ll make it quick.”

  Chapter 12

  Jill followed Ryan downstairs, expecting to find some lobbyist or politician waiting in the parlor. A late-night cocktail with some power player from the Hill was a regular occurrence in her own house, and her mind was already preparing her for such a visit based on many memories of her own. Smile, give a firm handshake, laugh at their jokes, excuse yourself after one drink.

  Indeed, Suzette led them into the parlor, but the man they found there was no politician. Long black hair, deep-set eyes, a suave sophistication not just to his movement, but to his very presence—the man waiting for them in the parlor was someone Jill hadn’t seen since the Homecoming Masquerade. He was someone she hoped she would never see again.

  “Good evening,” Sergio Alonzo said, flashing a smile of brilliant white teeth.

  With the first words from his mouth, Jill knew all was lost. Sergio had a way about him that was hypnotic even when he wasn’t trying to be. He was like a magnet that drew all the attention in the room his way. With two words, he established that he controlled everything and everyone in this house. There would be no fighting him. There would be no running away.

  This wasn’t the first time Jill had entered a room and found a vampire waiting for her. When Bernadette did the same thing to her three months back, Jill managed to key in the emergency code on her phone before it was too late. That code, which broadcast a distress signal to the Network, and recorded all that happened in the room that night, was the only reason she was still alive.

  While Sergio reached out to shake Ryan’s hand, Jill slipped her own hand into her pocket and grabbed her phone. Her fingers danced across the screen, and even though she knew Sergio was aware of what she was doing, even though she could sense him spying her out of the corner of his eye, she keyed in the emergency code. When she was done, and her hand had let the phone loose in her pocket again, Sergio turned her way.

  “Silencing your cell phone, are you, Miss Wentworth?” he said.

  “Yes,” Jill said nervously.

  “How very considerate of you. I wish more people your age were aware of how distracting those infernal devices can be.”

  Suzette let out a nervous laugh, then said, “Jill is from solid Virginia stock. A very well-mannered girl.”

  “I’m sure,” said Sergio.

  At that moment, both of Ryan’s parents pulled phones from their pockets and shut them off. As they did so, Sergio looked right at Jill, and winked.

  “My purpose here tonight is to gather information,” Sergio said. “I will be brief.”

  “You can stay as long as you’d like,” Suzette said. “It’s such an honor to have you in this house.”

  “Yes, well, I assure you I can complete my business in a matter of minutes.”

  Sergio reached into his jacket and pulled out a small notebook and a pen.

  “We are visiting the family of every student who was in attendance at Renata’s year-end party,” Sergio said. “Daciana has divided the chore among several of us in the clan. I have the Jenson family on my list. Since Miss Wentworth is here also, perhaps I will assign my name to her family as well.”

  Jill stood in place, watching as Sergio made a mark in his notebook.

  “As you may have heard,” he said, “there was an accident at Renata’s mansion following the party.”

  “I have heard,” said Suzette with exaggerated concern. “I have friends who said they saw smoke.”

  “Yes, I’m sure they did. There was quite the fire at the house. In fact, the entire mansion has burned to the ground.”

  Suzette’s reaction was horrified enough for all of them. Jill stood in place, aware that this was the end.

  She felt strangely at peace about it. It wasn’t like this was the first time she had faced her own death. So long as that phone kept recording, kept broadcasting, she could be content knowing there was nothing more for her to do.

  “More than the burning of the mansion,” Sergio said, “what has us concerned is that Renata has disappeared, and we have evidence she betrayed the clan.”

  “Oh my,” said Suzette.

  “Because of all this, it is our duty to ask the students who were in attendance at Renata’s party if they saw anything unusual,” Sergio said. “That’s why I’m here. I’ll start with you, Ryan. Did you see anything unusual?”

  Ryan looked directly at Sergio and said, “No, sir.”

  Immediately, Jill became skeptical of her own eyes. She remembered when she stood in front of Bernadette, thinking she was resisting her advances, when in fact she was telling her everything.

  Was it happening again? Was Sergio already modifying her memory? It had to be. Surely Ryan wouldn’t be able to look Sergio in the eye and just lie to him, would he? Surely Sergio wouldn’t accept the word of a student without coaxing the truth out of his mind.

  “Thank you, Ryan,” Sergio said. He turned to Jill. “What about you, Miss Wentworth? Did you see anything…untoward during Renata’s party?”

  He wasn’t in her mind. He was looking in her eyes, but he wasn’t forcing her to tell him the truth.

  It had to be fantasy. At this very moment, Jill was probably spilling her guts and remembering s
omething entirely different.

  “I saw nothing that concerned me,” she said.

  Sergio let Jill’s words hang in the air, and for a second, there was silence in the house. Suzette broke the silence with a nervous giggle.

  “Well then,” Sergio said. “I suppose I will cross your names off my list.”

  As he wrote in his notebook, he said, “Jensons, innocent. Wentworths, innocent. Oh, while I’m here, I have something for you.”

  Sergio stuffed his notebook and pen away in one side of his coat. From the other side, he retrieved an envelope.

  “I’m afraid I only have one of these with me tonight,” he said, “but rest assured, Jill, yours will come in the mail. With Renata now out of the picture, Daciana has decided to take a more active role in the school. She will begin with a party for the senior class at her house, a week from Saturday. This is your invitation.”

  Sergio handed the envelope to Ryan.

  “Perhaps I will see you both there?” he said.

  “Definitely,” said Ryan.

  “Good night everyone,” Sergio said. “I’ll see myself out.”

  Chapter 13

  “Well, that was interesting,” Ryan said as he closed the door behind Jill.

  They were back in his bedroom, a few minutes removed from Sergio’s exit. Jill pulled out her phone and pressed the pound key followed by the number 22 to stop broadcasting the emergency signal to the Network.

  A second later, a text came from Helena.

  Are you okay?

  Jill called her back.

  “What was that all about?” Helena said.

  “Sergio was here,” said Jill. “At Ryan’s house. Were you able to hear the conversation?”

  “I heard every word,” said Helena. “What incredible luck! A party at Daciana’s house! The Network has dreamed of getting in there for years!”

  “Helena, were you able to hear the entire conversation? Did you hear everything Ryan and I said?”

  “Of course I did. You both were great! A vampire came looking for proof of your guilt, and walked out believing you were innocent! Now do you believe me that we should stay? Now do you agree that maybe it isn’t as dire as you thought?”

  The relief that came over Jill was almost too much to bear, and her first reaction was to doubt it was true. When she tried to speak again, she found herself fumbling with her words.

  “So we didn’t…I mean…the last time I sent an emergency message…I thought I wasn’t saying anything to Bernadette, but actually, I was.”

  “Jill, this was nothing like your encounter with Bernadette,” Helena said. “Sergio didn’t coax anything out of you or Ryan. I heard every word you said. We all did! Do you know what this—oh, hang on. Nicky wants to get on the line.”

  There was some shuffling on the other end, then Nicky came on.

  “Jill, what’s going on with Ryan?” she said. “From what we heard through your phone, he sounded alright. Is he?”

  “Ryan is fine.”

  “So why did he leave the safe house without telling anyone?”

  “Maybe I should let you talk to him,” Jill said. “I think I’m done talking for tonight.”

  She held out the phone for Ryan. “Nicky wants to talk to you,” she said.

  “Oh, okay.” He took the phone. “Hello, Nicky?”

  As Jill watched Ryan walk across the room with the phone against his ear, she realized just how tired she was. More than a week had passed since she had a full night’s sleep. Fear and excitement had kept her lively, but now, as she allowed herself to think that maybe what Helena said was true, that maybe she really did look a vampire in the eye and lie to him, that maybe she was safe, at least for now, her body couldn’t help but beg for the rest it had been denied for days.

  She found her way to a couch in the corner of Ryan’s room and sat down. As she listened to Ryan talk to Nicky, she began to drift.

  “So I had this idea,” Ryan said. “A way we could cover up for my absence since Renata’s party, and explain to everyone at school why Jill gave the Ransom money to Samantha. And, if we do it right, we get my parents and Jill’s to give us each blank checks to take…”

  Jill’s eyes were already closed. She was very curious how Nicky would react to Ryan’s big idea, but she was too tired to stay up and listen.

  The next morning she found herself stretched out on the couch. She was alone in the bedroom. The clock on Ryan’s nightstand said it was nine-thirty in the morning.

  Her phone buzzed. She found it atop the comforter on Ryan’s neatly made bed.

  63 unread messages.

  “What the hell?” she whispered.

  The phone buzzed again with a new text from Jenny Young.

  Mattie just told me the most incredible bit of gossip about you and Ryan. Is it true? When can we talk?

  Jill scrolled down the screen to the text before, from Karmela Sweet.

  Hi Jill. I’ve been wanting to talk to you since Renata’s party. This morning I’m hearing some pretty amazing stuff about you and Ryan. Can you call me today?

  Before Karmela’s text was one from Sam Featherstone.

  Hi Jill. I know we haven’t been that tight, but it’s clear to me you’re the one to know at school. Please accept my apologies for not recognizing that sooner.

  Before that, a text from Mattie.

  Where are you? Will you call me please?

  One after another, starting at six in the morning and continuing every few minutes, the text messages had come rolling in. Most were requests for her to call or get together later. Some mentioned Ryan and wanted Jill’s confirmation that she and Ryan had indeed pulled a fast one on everybody at school. Others were long-winded bits of excited nonsense that Jill could only skim.

  She left the bedroom and went downstairs. Ryan was waiting for her in the living room.

  “Let’s go to the kitchen,” he said. “Shamus can get you some breakfast.”

  At the breakfast table, Jill showed Ryan her phone, which was still buzzing three or four times a minute.

  “When my mom wants to spread some gossip, she knows exactly who to call,” Ryan said.

  By the time Jill was finished with the eggs, bacon, and toast Shamus had made for her, the message count on her phone was at eighty-six. She didn’t bother counting individual names on the messages (some people, like Mattie, had messaged her dozens of times), but she estimated that well over half the class had tried to get in touch with her.

  “The plan’s going to work,” Ryan said. “People are excited at what you’ve done.”

  “At what they think I’ve done,” said Jill.

  “And now that Sergio has cleared us all of suspicion, there’s really nothing standing in our way.”

  “He hasn’t cleared all of us,” Jill said. “Nicky might be able to look at a vampire and lie, but Phillip and Helena can’t.”

  “Sergio was at their house last night,” Ryan said. “He saw them before he saw us. The Bloom family has been checked off his list too.”

  “Sergio was at the Bloom mansion?”

  “That’s what Nicky told me.”

  Seeing the puzzled look on Jill’s face, Ryan added, “Last night, on the phone. You handed me the phone, remember?”

  “Yes I remember, but…what the hell is going on? Why was everyone at the mansion? I thought that place was a mess.” Visions of horrible security camera footage flashed in Jill’s mind, Gia, Kendall, and Dante fighting a vampire and losing.

  “Helena said they got it cleaned up enough that Sergio never noticed anything.”

  “You talked to Helena too?”

  “Yeah, Nicky wasn’t really in the mood for a long conversation. She liked the story though.”

  “What story?”

  “Our cover story! I told her all about it, and how my parents bought it. She thought it sounded good.”

  “Really? Nicky was okay with this plan where you and I pretend to be a couple all semester?”

 
“She said it was brilliant.”

  Jill set her fork down on her plate. “Is everyone going crazy?” she muttered.

  “What’s that?”

  “I just don’t believe this. I don’t believe any of it. Sergio was in the Bloom house last night?”

  “Apparently so,” Ryan said. “I think he came here after he finished there.”

  “I mean, if we had known he was coming, but the house wasn’t ready, was it? No, all the weaponry got used on Melissa and no one had gone in to prep it again. Not to mention all the hunters. We wanted to have at least half a dozen vampire hunters in the house to greet Sergio when he arrived. Everything we’ve done—we did it all to get Sergio Alonzo into that house and he just shows up and we’re not ready!”

  “Well, yeah, it’s not like anybody tried to kill him last night,” Ryan said. Then he let out a little laugh, as if the idea was the silliest thing he’d ever heard. As if the whole point of the mission was ridiculous.

  Jill had to remind herself that Ryan was new to all this, and it wasn’t fair to be angry at him.

  “I just wish we had known,” she said. “We could have done something.”

  “Right, right,” said Ryan in a dismissive tone.

  Jill wanted to stand up and smack him. Where did he get off acting like none of this was a big deal? Where did any of them? Nicky and Helena and Phillip, and now Ryan—they had Sergio in the house and just let him walk away! All the work, all the money, all the time, years of time, and four Network agents already dead—it was all about luring Sergio into that house.

  It made her sick to think about.

  “Whatever,” Jill said. “Just…whatever! Remind me about when Sergio was here, in your house. Before he left, did Sergio say something to us about a party at Daciana’s?”

  “He did.”

  “Maybe we could make a go for him there,” Jill said. “A last ditch effort to finish this job before we bolt.”

  “What? You mean like, try to kill him?”

  “That’s why we’re all here, Ryan!”