The Lies That Bind (23 page)

I stepped backward, my butt hitting a locker. It sounds ridiculous, but I was sure Bethany must be a ghost. A ghost who was probably about to kick my ass for messing up everything and getting her killed.

But as she stepped into the light, coming clearly into focus, she looked like the same old Bethany. She didn’t glow. Or float. And there weren’t even dark circles under her eyes. She was holding something, extending her arm, offering it up.

My phone.

I couldn’t form words, because the whole thing was too much to process. As it turns out, talking was completely unnecessary. Another form entered from behind us, around the corner, this time a head shorter and about a million shades lighter. I didn’t have to wait for her to speak; my eyes didn’t have to adjust. I knew who she was.

“Thanks for everything, Kate,” Taylor said, smoothing her already perfectly smooth hair.

I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but again I found no words. I just stared at the two girls in front of me, waiting for one of them to burst into tears, to thank me for all of my hard work, to hug me for not letting it happen again.

Because I honestly couldn’t imagine this ending any other way.

But then I saw my phone again. How had Bethany gotten my phone? Why?

“I mean, I’ve always thought you were sort of useless. But Taylor was right. There’s no way we could have pulled it off without you.” Bethany’s words hung in the hallway for a moment as my brain struggled to remind my mouth how to speak.

“Pull what off?” I found my voice, but just barely. It came out a whisper. A squeak. I hated myself for the way it sounded.

Taylor laughed the kind of laugh that usually made people cry, as though she thought the whole thing was so hilarious she couldn’t contain herself. “Destroying the Brotherhood. Obviously.”

Bethany smiled smugly. “They’re finally done. And you know what that means, right?”

My throat tightened in response, burned like the time in lower school when I’d had strep throat and could barely swallow soup. I knew it didn’t matter if I said anything. I knew they’d tell me.

“The Sisterhood owns Pemberly Brown. Again.” Taylor raised both of her blond eyebrows and cocked her head to the side. I wondered if this whole exchange had been rehearsed. The moonlight spilling into the pitch-black classroom behind them, the play of their lips, the jut of their chins, each smile and every word. The scene was so perfectly delivered that it had to have been choreographed.

Bethany closed the space between us and placed the phone in my hand. I didn’t have to scroll through to know that it had been wiped clean. It was almost as though nothing had ever happened. And it occurred to me that Bradley was probably feeling the same way as he watched the headquarters he’d built get systematically destroyed.

Taylor linked her thin arm through Bethany’s muscled bicep.

“We owe you one, Kate.” They walked down the bright hallway, their shapes darkening more with the distance they put between us. “We have waited forty-eight years to officially take back the school and destroy the boys.” She smiled at me again. “It’s finally happening, and we owe it all to you.”

“But the fortune cookie, the texts, the messages in the hallway. You were bleeding.” My hands shook as all of the events of the past several days flashed before my eyes.

“I know, right? Bethany deserves an Emmy for her performance as the damsel in distress, don’t you think?” Taylor elbowed her friend and laughed.

“No way. Your forgery skills are what really sealed the deal. You never would have gotten involved if it weren’t for that fortune-cookie message Taylor wrote in Grace’s handwriting, right, Kate? I paid off three servers at that dump to plant the cookie.”

“But Alistair? How did you…” There was nothing I could do to keep the shock out of my voice.

The girls just looked at each other and laughed. Bethany got control of herself first. “Alistair thought he was working with us to stop Conventus. I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he finds out what happened to their precious new headquarters.”

I just stared at them blankly, not wanting to really process what they were saying. The Sisterhood had strung me up by pulling strings, throwing voices, and watching while I jerked and danced for their entertainment.

All this time I had thought I was saving another girl from Grace’s fate, but I was no hero. No savior. I was nothing more than the Sisterhood’s puppet.

To: [email protected]

Sent: Sun 1/18 1:42 AM

From: [email protected]

Subject: (no subject)

Grace,

I was just trying to help. To make things right. I figured that since I couldn’t save you, I could save someone else. I thought I was saving them from your fate. No one should have to go through losing a best friend. Not even Taylor and Bethany. But now…Oh God, Grace, what have I done? What the hell have I done?

The only ghost to arrive at school Monday morning was my own. I floated through the hallways completely detached, voices washing over me, no doubt rehashing everything that had gone down in the school over the weekend. Everything that I had contributed to. I felt tricked, used. But at the same time, could I really blame them? They’d finally done it. They managed to destroy the Brotherhood and the people responsible for Grace’s death.

But what about the Sisterhood? They weren’t completely blameless. Not by a long shot.

Eventually I found myself returning to the same spot in front of Bethany’s locker where time seemed to stand still, and I was able to pinpoint the exact moment where everything had gone so terribly wrong. I was frozen.

What the hell had I done?

“Kate!” Liam’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I stared at him blankly. My mind could barely process the past twenty-four hours, let alone the state of our relationship. I was in no way ready to talk, but when I opened my mouth to explain this to him, his mouth crushed down upon mine before I could even utter a word.

His lips were warm and inviting as always, but my mouth was still pressed into a firm line. Detaching my mind from my body did not come nearly as naturally as it had with Bradley the night before. I hated myself for pulling back, but I did it anyway.

“I’m so sorry, Kate. I heard about the Brotherhood. You did it. You finally did it.”

I just stood there staring at him, completely conflicted. Part of me wanted to let him make whatever assumptions he needed to make to forgive me. But the other part of me remembered what he’d said about Grace, the judgment in his eyes.

“Liam…I…” I started to try to explain but lost the words.

“Don’t apologize. I know why you kissed him. I know you had to do it to get into the headquarters, and I know how important it is for you to put a stop to all of this. For Grace. I get it.” He grabbed my hands and laced his fingers through mine. “You did it, Kate. You finally did it.”

“Apologize? You think I’m going to apologize? You’re kidding, right?” All the anger, all the helplessness and regret that had been pent up inside me since Saturday night erupted. I wished I could feel bad about the pain in Liam’s eyes. I wished I could get past what he’d said about Grace, but I wasn’t there yet. I wasn’t sure I ever would be. “I just can’t do this right now, Liam. I need some space.”

We were interrupted by the squeak of new tennis shoes racing down the hallway. I didn’t even need to turn around to know that Seth would be standing there, red-faced and out of breath.

“Guys, we’ve got a problem,” he said.

“A big problem,” a second voice boomed.

Bradley and Alistair looked out of place standing beside little, old Seth. Having all these boys in the same place at the same time felt like a collision of worlds.

“What the hell, Seth?” Liam looked furious.

“You need to hear them out.”

“This is all my fault. I trusted them. They said if we set Bradley up to make it look like he’d abducted Bethany, that we’d be able to put a stop to Conventus.” Alistair coughed, and I was pretty sure he was trying to cover up actual tears.

I had to clench my hands into tight fists to stop from pretending to play a little violin to accompany his sob story. A lovely habit I’d picked up from my father.

“No one cares,” Liam growled.

“Well, you’re about to start caring,” Bradley retorted.

As if on cue, a woman’s voice crackled on the loudspeaker. “Liam Gilmour, Seth Allen, and Alistair Reynolds are to report to the headmaster’s office immediately.”

Seth went completely pale. He’d never done anything except file papers in the headmaster’s office. “What the…”

“It’s starting.” Bradley sighed.

“What are you talking about?” I took a step closer to him. I couldn’t help myself.

“We’re all going down. One by one.” He looked at Seth and Liam. “Good luck in public school.”

“But Seth and Liam weren’t even in the Brotherhood. There’s no way they’ll be kicked out.” My voice was getting increasingly shrill. This couldn’t be happening. It didn’t make any sense.

“Doesn’t matter. They’ve appointed a new headmistress. Some chick who used to be in the Sisterhood. It’s their word against ours now.” Alistair stuffed his hands in his pockets and began the long walk toward the main office. It looked like a death march.

“But what about you?” Seth squeaked. For a second I was sure he was going to lock his arms around one of Bradley’s legs and refuse to go.

“Let’s just say this wing wouldn’t exist if I wasn’t here, so they can’t really do much about me.”

“But they can’t do this. The new rules from the school board—there’s no way the president would let this happen. Not after what happened to Grace.” I moved another step closer to Bradley, and I felt Liam’s eyes digging into my back.

“This is only the beginning. They’re going to destroy this school. Just wait till they start recruiting.”

The bell rang and students flooded the hallway. I was vaguely aware of being jostled back toward the window. I sank down on the window seat and watched the students hustle toward their lockers, talking, laughing, gossiping about the party. Instead of falling into line with the rest of them, I made my way to the office. This was some kind of mistake. It had to be.

Faber
est
suae
quisque
fortunae.
Station 3. “Every man is the artisan of his own fortune.”

As I ran my fingers over the Latin, I wondered how the words would apply today. It didn’t feel like I had any control over anything in my life, let alone my fortune.

Behind the glass walls of the office there was a constant stream of motion that could only be described as change. Furniture was being rearranged, some even removed. The paintings that normally hung on the wall were stacked and leaning against the corner. The wall plaque beside Headmaster Sinclair’s office that displayed his name was now blank. I should have been celebrating, overcome with excitement that Headmaster Sinclair was finally gone, but instead I felt an overwhelming sense of uneasiness.

My hand was on the door handle before Mrs. Newbury even noticed I was there.

“Hey, wait. You can’t…”

I tuned her out and threw open the door.

At first I didn’t recognize the woman sitting behind the huge mahogany desk. She had perfectly coiffed silver hair and wore an impeccable black power suit, her face brightened by a strand of milky white pearls at her throat, but I’d recognize the determination in those steely gray eyes anywhere.

It was Ms. D.

“Well, hello, Kate. How nice of you to pay me a visit in my new office. What do you think?” She gestured gracefully at the walls, or maybe the expensive fabric of her suit jacket just made everything look graceful.

“I don’t understand.” Tears welled in my eyes.

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m going to redecorate.” She laughed at her little joke and jerked her head in Seth’s direction. In all of my shock I hadn’t even noticed him sitting in the chair in front of the desk.

“Mr. Allen, you are dismissed. I assume you’ll remember what we spoke about and steer clear of dangerous influences in the future. Please do close the door behind you.

Seth nodded mutely and gave my arm a quick squeeze as he brushed past me. “Be careful.”

“Now, Kate, I know this must be confusing for you…” Ms. D. started talking the second the door clicked shut.

“Confusing? You were supposed to be helping me! I trusted you. Did you know what they were up to this entire time?” My voice shook with anger. Never in my life could I remember feeling this betrayed. This hurt by someone who I thought I could trust.

“Please calm down. You know as well as I do that things could not continue as they were. We needed to do something to control the Brotherhood, and people far more powerful than I decided that this was the best course of action.” Ms. D. stood up, made her way around the desk, and put her hands on my shoulders. She towered over me in blood-red stilettos, which seemed so out of place on Ms. D. In the past I’d always found her size comforting, like a sturdy grandmother. But in her new clothes, her size was intimidating, scary. I couldn’t help but think that if she wanted to, this woman could crush me like a bug.

“I learned a long time ago not to question what I can’t control, Kate. It was a lesson hard won, but I’ll never forget it.” She let her arms drop to her sides and walked over to the window. “Please don’t do anything you’ll regret. I can’t protect you. Not anymore.”

I shook my head, desperate to ask her what had happened to the old security guard that I’d come to love over the past couple of years. But I already knew the answer to that question.

She was gone.

I let myself out of her office and nodded briskly at Alistair on my way out.

Outside the office, students laughed and gossiped, texted and jostled. They had no idea what had really happened. How could they? Most of them didn’t even know that either society existed.

And that’s when I saw them. Bethany and Taylor, arms linked with a first-year. With her long, black hair and her almond eyes, she was a dead ringer for Grace. And that’s when I knew that my fight wasn’t even close to being over.

But this time I knew exactly what I had to do.

I threw my shoulders back and walked straight toward them. Bethany’s mouth turned down at the corners, her eyes narrowed into two slits. But Taylor broke into a huge smile when I linked my arm through hers.

“So what’s next?”

“Oh, we have big things planned, Kate. Huge.”

I pasted a smile on my face and fell into step next to them. Taylor shot me an approving look and I gave her arm a quick squeeze, but the muscles in my stomach tensed. She had no idea, but I was getting ready for the fight of my life. I was done doing battle from the sidelines. I’d played the pawn long enough.

“So is that invitation still good?” I asked.

“You have no idea how long I have been waiting for you to ask that question, Kate.” Taylor kept walking, not missing a beat, but Bethany fell a step behind.

“I can’t wait to finally be one of you.” My teeth ached as the overly sweet words slipped between my lips.

If I’d learned anything over the past week, it was that the rules were constantly changing, shifting so subtly that most people never even noticed. I didn’t like following rules, and I wasn’t about to start now.

But that whole “rules are meant to be broken” thing? Total crap. The real secret is to make your own.