The Bonding Ritual (Girls Wearing Black: Book Four) (41 page)

“Yours is the purple one, in case you didn’t know,” Jill said to him, pointing at one of the lanterns she’d just released.

“And the one I brought for you is pink,” said Ryan.

“I know,” said Jill, looking up at the lantern as it rose into the sky. “What did you get me?”

“You know that’s not how the game works,” Ryan said. “You have to follow the lantern, and be there when it comes down so you can find out.”

*****

As the crowd raced to follow the lanterns, Nicky stayed a few steps behind.

None of the lanterns would be for her anyway.

Even though Daciana’s safe had made it possible for any of the girls wearing black to win Coronation, the students were still marching in lockstep with Samantha. At least half the lanterns in the sky on this night were for her, and when they all came down again, Samantha would have a pile of checks to deposit in her Coronation account.

Kim might have a few checks too. As far as Nicky could tell, Kim had managed to keep her stranglehold on a few of her classmates, despite Samantha’s commanding lead. Rosalyn and Andrea, Kim’s reliable sidekicks, had stayed close to her at school, and tonight, were running alongside her. Vince and Marshall had also remained in Kim’s sphere of influence, both of them tied to Kim because of secrets she held over their families.

What about Dan Stearns?
He too was beholden to the Renwicks. Where was he tonight?

Nicky spotted Dan running just a few paces behind Marshall, very much in Kim’s crowd.

And Art Tremblay? What of him, the boy who found himself the pawn in more than one game of chess last semester? Where was he?

Nicky was far enough behind the others that she had all of them in her field of view, but she hadn’t spotted Art yet. In the darkness, with all this movement…

Over there. Far to Nicky’s left. Hanging back almost as much as she was. Not very close to Kim at all. Not really close to anyone. Art had to bring two lanterns tonight like everyone else. Was one of his lanterns for Kim, or someone else?

Nicky allowed herself to slow down even more, putting space between
herself and Art. The wind was carrying the lanterns towards the middle of campus. The students were jogging to keep up.

Nicky slowed further, and then stopped altogether. She felt so disconnected from the rest of them, almost repelled by the larger crowd. She didn’t want to be a part of the game tonight, not even as an actor playing the role the Network had laid out for her. Really, what act was there left for her to play?
Nicky Bloom, the exciting new girl who took the school by storm? That story was dead. At school, Nicky felt like a ghost of that girl from last semester, floating through the days, sometimes seen by other students who thought back wistfully to when she meant something.

Until Jill and Ryan figured out how to crack the code on that safe and bring Nicky back into the contest, there was no reason for her to pretend she cared. With the others now a good fifty yards ahead of her, Nicky turned around and started walking the other way.

She saw a single lantern floating close to the ground out ahead of her. Whose lantern was that? How had it become so separated from the others?

Whoever’s lantern it was, it was bottom-heavy. While the other lanterns were still flying high, this one was already on its way down. As Nicky moved towards it, the lantern hung in place, just a few feet off the ground.

As she came closer still, she saw a name written on the paper walls of the lantern. Dark letters, backlit in an orange glow. Letters that were so unexpected she almost didn’t believe them, but there they were, calling to her. She started to run to the lantern, and with each step the name on the lantern’s side became more clear.

Nicky
. This lonely lantern, already nearing the ground, had her name on it.

The lantern touched down softly in the grass just before she reached it. She bent down to look at it. It was a small, simple thing. Two thin crossbars made an x at the bottom of a short cylinder. Attached to the crossbars was an aluminum tray, its flammable powder nearly spent.

And underneath the tray was a small package, wrapped in brown paper. Nicky lifted the lamp and removed the package.

She peeled away the paper, revealing a photograph inside. Small, old, and worn, the faded colors and soft backing suggested the photograph was printed at least ten years ago—Nicky held the photo above the lantern, angling it so it caught what was left of the lantern’s light.

It was a photo of her family. Her mother, young and happy, sitting on a bench in front of a tree. Her brother, the boy known only to her through the memories her mother shared with her—he was on the bench too. He was thin with a pale complexion.
He was already sick with the illness that brought my family to Italy,
Nicky thought.

Her father was on the other side of the bench, smiling into the camera. This was a different man than the one Nicky knew when she was young. When Nicky thought of her father, she saw a somber man who drove her and Frankie from one remote location to another.
Always serious. Always on the lookout.

The man in this picture wasn’t burdened like the father Nicky knew. Whatever was happening on the afternoon this picture was taken, it made her father happy.

It made Nicky happy too. Seeing her father like this, knowing that he had experienced joy like this once…

“I found it in the guest house of Falkon’s estate,”
came a voice from behind her. That voice, so familiar to her now, was soothing to her soul. Simply hearing it reminded her how much she had missed him since their last encounter.

Before turning to look at him, she touched the ruby that hung from her neck.

“A lantern for the person I care for most. Those are the rules, correct? A lantern with a gift attached. Of course, the photo is just a prelude. The gift I brought for you tonight cannot be attached to a paper lantern.”

Nicky turned to face him. She had been in his presence so many times now it should have been routine, but it wasn’t. It felt
more fresh than ever. He looked more beautiful than ever.

She gazed in his eyes and lost track of
where she was, as had happened with Sergio many times before. At the Homecoming Masquerade, when a dance with him opened a memory she had sealed shut since childhood. Underneath the Penbrook Theater, when she looked in his eyes and saw the moment Daciana made him immortal. In Falkon’s lab, where she stood over him with a broken steel pipe, intending to kill him, and unable to do so.

He was here with her now, and they communicated without speaking.

You understand why you couldn’t kill me,
he said.

Yes, I do.

You understand that what is happening between us is greater than the trifling concerns of your human life.

Yes, I do.

You feel the pull of immortality on your heart, and want to complete the ritual and seal our bond.

Yes, I do.

And then they were transported somewhere else entirely. Inside Sergio’s mind—Nicky was there with him—they were looking at a memory.

“Where is this?” Nicky said. “Where have you taken me?”

They were standing side by side in the main hall of a stone castle. In the center of the hall, sitting on a wooden stand, was the same safe that now resided in the chapel. A shiny metal lockbox with four dials on the door, each dial bejeweled with a different gem.

“Tonight we are supposed to give a gift to the one we care for most,” Sergio said. “This memory is my gift to you.”

There were four people standing in front of the safe, two men, a teenage boy, and a young girl. They were dressed in clothes from a different era. Long coats and tight pants on the men, a large, unwieldy dress on the girl.

“Where are we?” Nicky said.

“Nineteenth century England,” said Sergio. “You are in Hastings Castle, home to one of the richest families in Europe. The Hastings family made their fortune in banking, and as such, they had close relationships with the master locksmiths in England. The matriarch of the family commissioned the construction of that safe for the very scene you are about to witness. Take note of the people here.”

He pointed at one of the men, the oldest of the group. The man wore a long purple coat, and had an overlarge diamond ring on his left hand.

“That is the eldest of the Hastings children,” Sergio said. “When the matriarch of the family died, she left him that diamond ring in her will. She also left him a number.”

The man in the purple coat walked up to the safe and began spinning the knob with the diamond on it. He stopped at number ninety-eight.

“Ninety-eight is Samantha’s number,” Nicky said. “Is the combination the same?”

“Indeed it is,” Sergio said. “This safe is not designed to have its combination modified. The numbers that would have opened it two hundred years ago are the same numbers that will open it today.”

The man in the purple coat stepped back, and looked to a younger man, who wore a gold medallion around his neck.

A gold medallion housing an enormous ruby.
Nicky touched the ruby on her own neck.

“Is it the same?” she whispered. “Am I wearing his ruby?”

Sergio nodded. “He didn’t need it after today,” he said.

The man with the ruby around his neck approached the safe and began turning the second dial. He stopped at number fourteen.

“That’s not correct,” Nicky said. “The second dial is my number. Seventy-seven.”

“Fascinating, isn’t it?” Sergio said. “Madam Hastings feared just such an outcome. That man, who has purposely entered the wrong number on the safe, is James Hastings, second eldest in the family. He intends to deceive his siblings today. Turning the dial to the wrong number is just one of his lies. All the children of Madam Hastings were supposed to come here alone, but if you look carefully, you may see a companion of James who is hiding elsewhere in the room.”

Nicky looked beyond the four people standing round the safe. Widening her gaze, she saw a vampire standing in the corner, hiding in a shadow.

“Daciana. What’s she doing here?”

“Daciana and I both were here mostly for our own amusement,” Sergio said. “You see, we were friends with the Hastings family. We knew all about this fascinating game their mother was making them play.”

“What game?” said
Nicky. “What’s going on here?”

“Madam Hastings feared her children would fight over their inheritance after she died, so in her will, she devised a game to force them to work together. She put the lion’s share of her fortune in that safe, and gave each child a single number of the combination. That way, the wealth was inaccessible to all of them until they agreed to the terms of its distribution.”

“But James is cheating,” said Nicky. “He entered the wrong number. What’s he planning to do?”

“James is playing at a larger game,” Sergio said. “In a twist of fate that ultimately served him poorly, James became an object of interest for Daciana.”

“What do you mean?”

“She felt a bond growing between them. She created a ritual for James to follow. I was there when she explained the rules for him. Do whatever must be done to take all the wealth in that safe for us. That’s what she told him. Once the entire contents
of the safe belonged to James, Daciana would bond with him. She is waiting there in hopes that he will make it happen. If he does, she will make him immortal.”

The third brother approached the safe. This one, only a teen, was wearing a blue coat with white ruffles running down the center. As he reached for the safe, Nicky saw a pair of emerald cufflinks on his wrists.

“This is the important part,” Sergio said. “This is my gift to you.”

The boy reached for the third dial and began turning it. He stopped at number nineteen.

“Is that the correct number?” Nicky said.

Sergio nodded his head. “Young
Richard had no reason to lie. He was dirt poor at this point and desperately wanted his share of the wealth.”

Nicky looked at the emerald dial on the safe, which was pointed at number nineteen as
Richard walked away. She now knew three of the four numbers of the combination.

As
Richard stepped back, the girl approached the safe.

“Sweet little Anna,” Sergio said. “She was eleven years old when this happened. Such a shame.”

Anna, whose long dress swooshed along the floor as she walked, wore a silver tiara with a sapphire set in the center. She reached for the fourth dial on the safe, and turned it to number eighty-four.

“Is that it?” said Nicky. “Do I know the combination to the safe?”

“Sadly, no,” said Sergio. “Little Anna is more clever than she looks.”

As Anna stepped back into place, the eldest son approached the safe again.

“And now, the moment of truth,” he said, reaching for the handle on the door.

What happened to him was no surprise to Nicky. She had seen it happen thirty-two times already, in groups of eight, first at Daciana’s house, then three times at the chapel at school.