The Rose Ransom (Girls Wearing Black: Book Three) (23 page)

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Go show her your tray of
appetizers. Make her listen to you talk about each one. Stand right in her way
so she can’t see past you until you’re done speaking. And do not tell her I
sent you. Go now. Hurry!”

Kim watched as Frankie cut his
way through the crowd, holding a tray of appetizers and broken glass above his
head. She waited until he was right in front of Jill, then she grabbed Andrea
by the arm, saying, “Walk with me. Don’t let anyone stop us until I get there.”

“Where are we going?” Andrea
said.

“To do a little eavesdropping.”

*****

Annika was headed towards the
clock. Jill was about to follow her when one of Renata’s servants stepped right
in her path.

“Excuse me, ma’am, would you
like some hors d'oeuvres?” he said, lowering a silver tray of food so Jill
could see it. At the back of the tray, piled onto a cloth napkin, were the
remains of a broken wine glass.

 “I’m fine, thanks,” she said.
She stepped to one side, making a move to go around him. He stepped right in
her path.

Jill wondered if this slave was
malfunctioning. This was very strange behavior for a servant in a vampire’s
mansion.

 “I have a finger sandwich with
prosciutto and aged gouda,” he said, pointing at one section of his tray. “I
also have crostini made with black olive tapenade and feta cheese.”

He was an absolute giant,
standing head and shoulders above everyone else at the party, with a torso so
broad Jill couldn’t see around it.

“I also have a vegetarian
dumpling, made with soy and ginger sauce,” he said.

“Okay, fine,” she said. “I’ll
take a dumpling.”

He stood still for a moment, as
if her request hadn’t processed. She was about to repeat it when his eyebrows
jumped and he said, “Yes, a dumpling. Here you are, Miss.”

He pushed the tray an inch
closer to Jill and she took a dumpling.

“Thank you very much. That will
be all,” she said.

“Yes. Very good. Have a good
night.” As suddenly as he arrived, the servant was gone, lifting his tray high
over his head and walking through the crowd. In the absence his wide shoulders
left behind, Jill could see Annika. She was standing next to the clock.

*****

Kim pushed her back against the
wall. She was in a small library built off the front room of the mansion.
Immediately to her right was a doorway, and on the other side of that doorway,
their backs to her, were Annika and Jill.

“Shannon’s okay,” Annika
whispered. “I met up with her and got her a room at the Praia de Sol hotel.”

Shannon? Did Kim hear that
right?

Kim only knew one Shannon, and
it was a Shannon who was notoriously close to Annika. The two of them were
thick as thieves. That is, until Shannon died.

“I’m glad to hear it,” Jill
said.

“I gave her enough cash for a
few weeks,” Annika said. “When do you think you can have ID’s done?”

“I don’t know,” Jill said.

“Your friends still aren’t
talking to you?”

“Actually, I heard from one of
them, but I don’t know if he can help me with an ID for Shannon or not.”

An ID for Shannon? Kim felt her
mouth watering with possibility at this gossip. Were the two of them hiding a
fugitive?

And if so, was it related somehow
to Nicky Bloom?

Yes, it had to be! Nicky took
Shannon’s spot to get into Thorndike.

This was it! This was the break
Kim was waiting for. All she had to do was get this info in front of one of the
immortals and Nicky Bloom was toast.

“I wish I could give you a
timeframe on an ID,” Jill said. “But I don’t know right now how fast I can make
it happen. Worst case, maybe I could give you the name of someone in Rio who
could do it for you.”

Rio? Was Shannon in Rio de
Janeiro? What was the name of that hotel Annika had said? Prya Desul? Playa Da
Sur? Oh, she should have been recording this!

“I’d really rather get the ID
from you,” Annika said. “The fewer people who know about Shannon, the better,
you know?”

“Yes, I know.”

That’s right you two
, Kim
thought.
The fewer people who know about Shannon, the better. And one more
person knows about her now.

It was a cool, clear night. The
land outside Renata’s mansion was blissfully quiet. So much nicer than the
screeching crickets and frogs at the Farm, or the howling winds of Falkon’s
mountain villa.

Renata met her brothers and
sisters from the clan just outside the gate that separated the house from the
forest.

Bernadette and Mark were there,
of course, as were Lena and Thomas. Laura Heidegger and Peter Groff were first
timers at tonight’s party. Laura was the Coronation winner from the year
before; Peter, her new bond.

Renata kissed Laura on the
cheek, saying, “How are you, Sweetie?” in a motherly tone of voice.

“We’re so excited to be here,”
Laura said. “We brought the biggest, strongest servant from my staff.”

As Laura spoke, Peter grabbed a
stocky boy by the wrist and brought him around for Renata to see.

“This is Oscar,” Peter said,
slapping the boy on the back. “I’ve been training him all week in the fine art
of killing. Hopefully he makes me proud tonight.”

“Good evening, Oscar,” Renata
said to the slave.

“Good evening, Miss,” he said
back.

Unless there was a surprise
behind those eyes, Oscar would be the first one to die this night. He looked
fit enough to fight, but his hands were soft and his eyes, meager. It was smart
of Laura to bring such a creampuff. No need to show off on your very first
scrum. Better to be humble about it and let the older vampires have their fun.

Renata looked past Oscar to the
dark-haired immortal standing behind her.

“Steffy, is that you?” she said.

Steffy Esparza put a big smile
on her face and came to give Renata a hug.

“It’s been so long,” Renata
said. “When is the last time you came to the scrum?”

“Fifteen years at least,” Steffy
said. She gestured in the direction of her bond, saying, “You remember
Zachias.”

“Of course I do, come give me a
squeeze.”

Zachias Brown was a stunning
black man with a bald head and razor sharp eyes. Renata had always had a bit of
a crush on him, and admired Steffy for landing him. While she was certain that
one day she would kill the rest of the vampires here tonight, Steffy and
Zachias might get to live. They might be allowed to join her new clan.

“And let me see your pet,”
Renata said.

Steffy called over a little
blonde girl named Deirdre.

“You brought a woman to the
scrum,” Renata said. “Very interesting choice.”

“She’s quite the scrappy one,”
Steffy said. “Aren’t you Deirdre?”

“I do my best to please you,
Master,” Deirdre said.

Despite the girl’s slight
stature, Renata could tell this one was a fighter. Scars on her cheeks, a nose
that had been broken once or twice, strong, sinewy hands.

“Have you been training her?”
Renata asked Zachias.

“I started in June,” Zachias
said with a smile.

“He’s been obsessed with the
training,” Steffy said. “As soon as we heard we could come this year, Zachias
got to work on this girl.”

An awkward silence passed among
them. Steffy didn’t mean anything by it, but in choosing to say
as soon as
we heard we could come
, she inadvertently reminded everyone of someone who
was not present. Someone who created the guest list for this party many months
before.

“Let’s not dwell on her
tonight,” Renata said. “Maybe Daciana is coming back to us someday, maybe she
isn’t. Whatever the case, I know that the Daciana we all knew when she was
here, the Daciana we loved, would want us to enjoy ourselves tonight. It’s an
honor to get tapped to attend, and my privilege to host you all.”

Some nods of agreement and
nervous smiles--what pushovers they all were. They were so eager for somebody,
anybody to lead them, that they took Renata’s word as gospel.

They knew it was strange that
Melissa was absent. They knew Renata and Melissa had been jockeying for the top
spot in the clan now that Daciana was gone. They could do the math. Every one
of these vampires knew, or at least suspected, that Renata killed Melissa and
Dominic. A violation of the most sacred law of the clan—she had turned on her
own brother and sister--the law of the clan demanded that such a murderer be
brought to justice.

But who determined the law with
Daciana gone? Who carried out the sentence?

These questions made them
uncomfortable, so they were never addressed. Steffy and Lena and Peter and
Bernadette and the whole lot of them just wanted to get through the night so
they could go back to their splendid mansions and continue their splendid
lives. They didn’t want to do anything hard. They didn’t have the stomach for
conflict.

And even if they did, none of
them had the strength to challenge Renata. With Daciana gone, there was only
one vampire in the clan who older than Renata. Only one vampire with the
strength and experience to make a legitimate claim for the throne.

Surprisingly, he had decided to
come tonight.

Not that he wasn’t
invited—Daciana had made clear that he had an open invitation to any event that
appealed to him.

But he rarely showed up for
anything other than the Masquerade. He had no interest in anything other than
his precious girls wearing black.

Renata saw him lurking in the
shadows at the back of the group. She approached him.

“I’m surprised to see you here
tonight,” she said.

“Yes, I am surprised I came
too,” said Sergio. “I’m not entirely sure why I did.”

“Did you bring a servant for the
scrum?”

Sergio shook his head. “I am
just an observer to tonight’s festivities.”

Renata looked in his eyes,
seeking out a clue to his motives. There was none to be found.

“Would you like to see who I
brought?” she said. “He’s quite an impressive specimen.”

Sergio smiled. “The big one
standing next to the tree, right?”

Renata turned back to look at
Frankie, who was standing at attention under a nearby elm.

“Yes, that’s him,” she said.

“That big guy is yours?” said
Laura. “Oh my…oh wow. I’ve got to go take a look.”

As the rest of the immortals
went to admire Frankie, Renata and Sergio stood together in silence.

I’m going to kill you
,
Renata thought.
I’ve always hated you and I’m growing an army of immortals
so I can finally be done with you.

“Enjoy the scrum,” she said, and
left to join the others, who were gathered around Frankie.

“I’m surprised you’re entering
such a lovely piece of meat in the scrum,” Bernadette said. “He’ll be ripe in
another month or two. If it were me, I would save him for a feast.”

“I’m hoping to have my cake and
eat it too,” Renata said.

“Ah, so you think he’s going to
win,” said Steffy. “We’ll see. Bigger doesn’t mean smarter, and our little
Deirdre here is smart as the Dickens.”

“Words of bluster mean nothing,”
Renata said with a smile. “Prove your confidence with your wager.”

The others laughed. Taunting and
trash talking were part of what made the scrum such a joy. And gambling on the
slaves they brought was a tradition as old as Coronation.

“Alright, alright, I think it’s
time,” said Bernadette. “You all have seen the entrants tonight. I am the
master of ceremonies. I will record your bets.”

One by one, the vampires wagered
their money on the slaves who were about to go into the forest and fight to the
death. Renata bet two million dollars on Frankie.

“Oh my!” Bernadette said with a
laugh. “Someone thinks highly of her servant.”

“Have you ever wagered that much
at the scrum?” Mark said.

“Nope,” said Renata. “Fifty
years I’ve been putting up piddly amounts of money. Tonight we live a little.
What do you say, friends? Put in more money! Let’s have some fun!”

Twenty minutes later, the
betting pot at well over ten million, Bernadette began handing out weapons to
the servants. A sword to the tall boy with long hair. A sledgehammer to the fat
guy with big hands. Oscar got a spear. Deirdre got two knives. Frankie got a
hatchet.

“Alright everyone,” Bernadette
said. “All the slaves have weapons. As your master of ceremonies tonight, I
have a few things to go over with you before we begin. Last slave standing wins
the scrum. In the event of a tie or a close call, I make the final decision.
You are allowed to watch from the trees, but I ask you to please stay off the
field of play. Some of these kids may get jumpy if they see a vampire. The game
moves pretty fast, especially at first, and you’ll be leaping all over the
place. In previous years, we’ve had items fall out of people’s pockets in the
forest as they’ve been jumping around. To prevent any lost items or disruptions
to the game, I’d like you to please hand over everything in your pockets.”

Bernadette took out an antique
wooden box and held it open.

“Bring it all over,” Bernadette
said. “I’ll keep the key to the box. We’ll open it together after the scrum.”

They all approached Bernadette
in turn, dropping their keys, wallets, and cell phones in the box. Bernadette
closed the box, locked it, and handed it to a servant.

“Everyone find a spot where you
can see,” she said. “Some years it goes pretty quick!”

Renata and the other immortals
jumped into the trees to get an overhead view of the contest. Bernadette led
the slaves inside the gate and locked the door behind them.

“On your mark, get set, GO!”

*****