The Bonding Ritual (Girls Wearing Black: Book Four)

by Spencer Baum

  “The very strange turn your Rose Ransom game took last semester,” Daciana went on, “with two students being kidnapped rather than one, and clues that were so difficult to solve the contest went down to the very last second, it was all part of Renata’s treachery. Were it not for you clever, clever students, solving the clues you weren’t meant to solve, the Ransom money would have landed in the general fund, where Renata, as chair of the board, could have stolen it. From what I hear, one student in particular played a very large role in figuring out the contest. Let’s give a round of applause to Jill Wentworth, shall we?”

  The spotlight shifted from Daciana to Jill, and because Ryan’s arms were wrapped around her, the light caught him too.

  The applause that broke out in the crowd seemed to be for both of them. More than applause. Thundering, ecstatic ovation was a better description of what happened in the room. Jill handled it like a champ. A big smile on her face, offset by a humble downward nod, Jill was appropriately overwhelmed at the kindness of her peers.

  Daciana let the cheers go on for well over a minute. And with the whole room looking at her, Jill turned to Ryan, who raised her arm in the air like she had just won some world championship.

  While the room was still cheering, Nicky felt a hand on the small of her back, and knew immediately whose it was.

  “Act like you can’t see or hear me,” Sergio said.

  He was right behind her, his breath tickling her ear as he spoke. Nicky clapped her hands with everyone else and kept her eyes on Jill and Ryan.

  “I want you to know that Lena Trang won’t be a problem for you anymore,” Sergio said. “I will leave it to you to explain to Ms. Wentworth the meaning of what she saw tonight.”

  What she saw? What had Jill seen?

  “I want you to have something,” Sergio said. “Hold out your hand.”

  Nicky did as he asked, and felt Sergio’s fingers gently slide across hers. The sensation was extraordinary. She was a violin, and Sergio had just played a single, glorious note.

  His touch ended, leaving her body to echo with the feel of it. He was gone. But he had left something in her hand. Smooth to the touch, warm with his presence—whatever Sergio had placed in Nicky’s palm carried a piece of him with it, and she felt closer to him.

  Like she trusted him.

  Was there any denying what was happening between them now? Sergio had come into the safe house, programmed two Network agents and one of Nicky’s friends, and Nicky had just allowed it to happen. She had said nothing to anyone, even though she knew the mission was compromised.

  The mission. The words sounded like a joke now. There was no mission anymore. Just a crew of people hanging around for their own reasons. Helena, Phillip, and Ryan were still here because suddenly they had an insatiable desire to stay. Jill was still here because she had her own secret mission that, for some reason, had required Nicky to remove a pewter mushroom from the power outlet in the bathroom. Nicky was here because…

  She closed her fingers tightly around whatever object Sergio had placed in her hand. I’m still here for a lot of reasons, she thought.

  The object in her hand was hard and smooth. A rectangular shape with round edges. A stone of some kind. A highly polished stone.

  Daciana held up her hands to quiet the room. The applause ceased and Daciana continued talking.

  “Thank you Jill for leading us in the right direction. You showed us all what it means to be a student at Thorndike Academy. Loyal, clever, and persistent. You have made me very proud.”

  Daciana looked away from Jill and to the larger group. “Yes, my friends, there are two things I must say about this unpleasant incident with Renata Sullivan. The first is that we defeated her together. The second is that she was only a steward of this school, never its master. You may have thought of her as your headmistress but that was a job she was only allowed to hold because my attention was elsewhere. My attention is now back with you, my beautiful students, my friends, my fellow participants in the sacrament of Coronation.”

  Nicky sensed the crowd draw forward at the mention of Coronation. The vampires had trained these students that the very word was sacred. Hearing Daciana say it, the other students seemed to lose a bit of themselves, ceding even more control to the woman who spoke to them.

  “Just because our former headmistress ran the contest a certain way for many years doesn’t mean that is how the contest must be run,” Daciana continued. “Many of you may feel that, with one candidate so far ahead of the others, the contest is already over. Allow me to dispel you of that notion right now. There will be some changes this year. It was Renata’s rules that determined our leader after one semester, but it will be my rules that decide who becomes the next immortal.”

  With these words, Daciana walked down the stairs and into the crowd. The students gave her a wide berth. There was total silence in the room now. Daciana was like a shimmering star that left them mesmerized as she moved across the foyer, towards the stage where the orchestra had been playing earlier.

  There was a small staircase leading to the stage, no more than ten steps. Daciana ascended it slowly, and during those long seconds when Daciana’s back was turned and the crowd gazed at her in wonder, Nicky opened her hand and looked at the gift Sergio had left for her.

  A gemstone. Blood red. Exquisitely cut. Sergio had given her a ruby.

  She stared at it for a second, baffled by what it meant, then she turned her attention to the stage, where Daciana was pulling back the purple curtain

  *****

  Daciana pulled back the curtain to reveal a shiny steel safe, its door slightly ajar. Kim Renwick was thrilled to see it.

  The safe was in the center of the stage, sitting atop a wooden cart. Through the slightly open door, Kim saw hints of what might be inside. Was that the familiar yellow gleam of gold in the safe, or was it just a trick from the spotlight?

  She could hardly wait to see what Daciana had in store for them.

  The sides of the safe were polished to a mirror finish, but it was an old piece of equipment. There was an elegance to this safe, an air of sophistication that only came from an antique. It reminded Kim of something she would see at the auction house. Looking at the safe, she could practically hear the auction barker introducing it. Next on the block we have a perfectly preserved 19th century steel lockbox from the mansion of Daciana Samarin.

  There were four number dials on the door of the safe, a different gemstone affixed to each one. A diamond, a ruby, an emerald, and a sapphire. Giant stones, bezel set right into the tips of the dials. The diamond alone had to be worth a hundred grand or more. What kind of safe had such valuable pieces adorning the outside? It was practically a taunt to potential thieves. Go ahead and steal these gemstones on the dials of the safe. They weren’t valuable enough to get locked inside.

  Daciana approached the safe and pulled the door all the way open.

  “Oooooo…”

  Everyone in the room was cooing at what they saw inside. Everyone except Kim. To her, the contents of this safe were too beautiful to say anything. Gleaming bars of gold, stacked neatly inside the safe, their edges shimmering in the lights.

  What was the current price of gold? Kim would have to ask her father. And how much did a bar weigh? Kim had no idea, but she got the sense that whatever was going on with this safe had the potential to turn the tide of the whole Coronation contest.

  “I found this safe in Italy,” Daciana said. “It belonged to one of my enemies, an immortal who, unfortunately, I had to kill.”

  Whispers passed through the crowd. Kim let her own voice join the murmuring this time, with a simple word she spoke quietly to no one in particular.

  “Wow.”

  There was only one immortal Daciana could be talking about. Western Europe didn’t have a dominant clan like America did, but there was an extremely powerful immortal who had been known to reside there since the height of the Roman Empire.

  Had Daciana killed Fa
lkon Dillinger?

  Kim felt her chest swell with admiration for the immortal onstage. Was there anyone on earth who was cooler than Daciana Samarin?

  “At today’s market, the precious metal in this safe is worth thirty million dollars,” Daciana said. “A nice sum, to be sure, but not enough to change the outcome of a Coronation contest where one girl is ninety million dollars ahead.”

  Kim looked away from the stage and to the other students, who were giddy with energy at what Daciana was saying. She spotted Samantha near the front of the room, close to the stage.

  She looked frightened. Pathetic.

  And what about Nicky Bloom? Kim spotted her about twenty feet away, standing alone. She had the beginnings of a smile on her lips.

  Daciana reached into the safe and removed an envelope from atop the stack of gold.

  “When I heard that one girl was so far ahead of the rest,” she said, “I knew that, in your minds, Coronation was already over. And I don’t want it to be over. I want spring semester to be just as fun and competitive as the fall.”

  She stepped to the front of the stage, the envelope hanging casually in her fingertips.

  “In fact, I wouldn’t mind if the Coronation games we play this semester are the most talked about in the history of the contest,” she said. “I want to play a game that will open this contest up again, and get everyone involved. But I also want to be fair to the girls wearing black and their supporters who worked hard to achieve the current standings. We must honor the contest as it has been played so far, while also celebrating the renewal of our school now that we have purged it of Renata’s treachery.”

  Daciana held up the envelope and tore it open.

  “I have created a new game that will allow any of the girls to take the lead if they win, but leaves the current standings intact if there is no winner at all,” she said.

  Kim’s eyes were on the envelope. She had already done the math. She knew what had to be inside. It was all she could do not to drool as she gazed upon it.

  “To play such a game, we need a lot of money, don’t we?” Daciana said. “More even than was at stake in the Rose Ransom.”

  Daciana reached into the envelope.

  “So this week, I went looking for donors,” she said. She pulled a single check out from the envelope. “I found three people willing to make sizable contributions to our contest.”

  The check in Daciana’s hands was small and gray. Just a little piece of paper someone had scribbled on with a ballpoint pen. It was amazing to Kim how these things worked. A little paper rectangle with a few handwritten numbers and words had the power to change the world.

  “Our first donation comes from the Fleming family of Oklahoma,” Daciana said. “Their daughter, Annika, is a member of your class, but many of you may have noticed that she isn’t with us tonight.”

  Kim stayed silent, even though she wanted to jump for joy. She knew what Daciana was about to say. Last semester, Kim had unearthed a paper trail leading Annika Fleming to the traitor Shannon Evans and had even presented proof to Renata that Shannon was still alive.

  Now she knew why Renata hadn’t done anything with the evidence Kim had sent her. Renata was a traitor too.

  “Annika Fleming is in exile, having betrayed the clan,” Daciana said, bringing a gasp from the crowd. “Yes, yes, I know it is hard to believe, but it is true. The betrayal was all around us last semester. Like Renata, Annika Fleming has fled, but it’s only a matter of time before I find them both. I had a lovely visit with Annika’s father this week. He had no knowledge of his daughter’s betrayal, but feels terrible that it happened, and has written a check to us to help make amends.”

  Kim imagined how that meeting between Daciana and Annika’s father must have gone. The life savings of Annika’s parents were on that check in Daciana’s hand, the purchase price for their own lives after their daughter’s betrayal.

  “Fifty million dollars,” Daciana said, reading the amount on the check. “I am putting it in the safe.”

  She placed the check from the Fleming family on top of the stack of gold, then went back to the front of the stage, held up the envelope, and pulled out another check.

  “Our next donation comes from the Minister of Economy in Rome, who is eager to forge a relationship with the clan,” Daciana said. “In years past, the Italian government has been no friend of ours, but they are ready for a fresh start.”

  They are begging for forgiveness after being beholden to Falkon all these years, Kim thought.

  “Twenty million dollars,” Daciana said. “A lovely donation from the government of Italy. May their gesture of goodwill be the start of a long-lasting friendship and more international opportunities for the students of Thorndike Academy. I’m putting this check in the safe.”

  This time, as Daciana slid the paper on top of the gold, the students applauded. Thirty million in precious metal and seventy million in cash by Kim’s count. There was already enough money in that safe to overcome Samantha’s lead.

  Daciana reached into the envelope and pulled out another check.

  “Our third and final donation comes from the Ventigen Corporation,” she said, holding up the check for everyone to see. This one was on a large piece of mint-colored paper with a blue watermark. “The board at Ventigen was unaware of it, but a faction in that once prestigious company had developed a relationship with my enemies. They have assured me they will take necessary action to clean house so we may once again consider them our friends. To show their commitment to a new start, Ventigen has donated one hundred million dollars to Thorndike, a donation I am now putting into the safe.”

  Kim joined the other students in cheering and applause which, for her, was entirely genuine. Never before had Kim felt so much admiration for anyone. Daciana’s enemies were dead or on the run, and the people they left behind had paid a fortune to Daciana out of fear for their own lives. Her strength was unmatched, not only in America, but throughout the world.

  Kim wanted nothing more than to be like her.

  Could that be what this was all about? Could it be that Daciana understood that the wrong girl was on track to win Coronation, and was taking steps to remedy it?

  Daciana closed the door of the safe and spun the wheel.

  “Here is the game,” she said. “Tonight I will call eight of you up to this stage. I won’t call you by name, but you will know when it is your turn. When you come to the stage, you will try and guess the combination to this safe. If you guess correctly, the money is yours to donate to one of the girls wearing black.”

  Guess the combination? Kim looked at the four number dials on the safe. Each went from one to ninety-nine. How on earth was someone supposed to guess the combination?

  “If none of the eight students called tonight are able to open the safe, we will put it away for a week,” Daciana said, “and the game will continue throughout the school year. Once a week, eight students will get a chance to guess the combination. If no one gets the safe open by the end of the semester, I will keep the money.”

  Kim nodded her head. Okay, she thought. This isn’t a guessing game. We’re going to have all semester to do this. Daciana wants us to figure out the combination.

  But how?

  Kim scanned the room, her eyes coming to a stop on Jill Wentworth.

  There’s my competition, she thought. If I’m going to become immortal, I have to figure out the secret to this game before Jill.

  *****

  To Nicky, Daciana’s safe was only the second most interesting prop on the stage. While the students gazed at the enormous sum of money now locked inside the steel box, Nicky looked to the back of the stage, where a large plastic globe stood on a wooden cabinet. Inside the globe, a collection of what looked like Ping-Pong balls danced around like leaves in the wind.

  To the rest of the students, the globe was just another part of casino night. They had seen one just like it at the keno table. A random number generator. White balls dancing
around inside, each with a number on its surface, easy for the dealer to remove at random.

  A hundred numbers that could be randomly assigned to a hundred students. The rest of them didn’t know what Nicky knew. They hadn’t seen the vampires roaming the floor, whispering numbers in everyone’s ears. When Daciana walked to the back of the stage and pulled open the hatch atop the globe, where a single plastic ball was waiting, Nicky knew how this game was going to work.

  Daciana had promised to call eight students up to the stage to guess the combination of the safe. How fitting on casino night that she was going to do it by random number.

  “Seventeen!” Daciana announced, reading the number on the ball she had just removed. “One of you, and only one of you, feels a special affinity for number seventeen. If that number speaks to you in a way that no other number does, if you feel like seventeen is your number, come join me on the stage.”

  A few seconds of silence passed, then Brian Kingsbury left the crowd and approached the stairs.

  When he reached the stage, Daciana gave Brian the plastic ball. He took it from her as if it were a magical artifact, holding it carefully in his fingertips as he inspected the black number printed on its face.

  “That ball is yours to keep now,” Daciana said. “May it always be a reminder to you of your lucky number. Now, Mr. Seventeen, walk up to the safe and turn the dials.”

  Brian, who at some point during the night had removed his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, looked lost on the stage next to Daciana.

  “I don’t know the combination,” he said, meekly.

  “You must take a guess,” Daciana said.

  Brian approached the safe and began spinning the first number dial, the one with the diamond set into the tip. When he stopped, Daciana announced the number he had selected.

  “One!”

  He went to the next dial, with the ruby.

  “Seven!” Daciana announced after he turned it.

  He chose seventeen on the third dial, and twenty-seven on the fourth. Then he stepped away from the safe.