She’s going to have to describe it. That’s the only solution. If I don’t hear every last detail, I’m going to torture myself wondering how it went. Imagining where he might have touched her. If she liked it. I tilt the face of my phone away from Elektra and Tinder and swipe out of the personality report for a second. I keep waving my phone left so that they won’t notice I’ve stopped. Slowly, I type her a quick note.
Phoenix: Meet up?
I resume the report as soon as I can.
I SEEK OUT NEW EXPERIENCES. Right. True.
I LIKE BEING THE CENTER OF ATTENTION. Right. True.
My phone buzzes twice. I freeze in a small panic as Elektra and Tinder spin their heads toward me. Elektra grabs my phone out of my hands before I even realize what she’s doing. I know the new message is from Star. Elektra hands the phone to Tinder so that he can see it too. His eyebrows angle up toward each other in an expression of plain and simple pain. He doesn’t look any closer to forgiving me.
“Phoenix, dear,” Elektra says, “listen to me closely.”
“I’m sorry, okay?”
“We are a team,” she says. “When you jeopardize yourself, you jeopardize all of us. We said we were going to help each other, and now you are dangerously on the verge of breaking your word. Tell me that you understand.”
“I understand,” I growl.
“So if you contact her one more time,” she says clinically, “I just may snip the thread of your relationship. Tell me again that you understand.”
“Fine,” I retort. “Now give me back my phone.”
Her thumb dances over the surface of my phone before tossing it toward me. I check it quickly, only to find that Elektra has deleted Star’s reply and her number. I bite my tongue to hold myself back. Sure, I’ll get Star’s number the next time she messages me, but I don’t like being under Elektra’s control. She’s screwing around with my emotions. And with Star. I look to Tinder to take my side, or at least to show some sympathy, but he shakes his head. Goddammit, I should have known trust and loyalty would be so important to him. He’s the one obsessed with honesty. Perfect for Flora, and useless right now.
Elektra resumes waving her phone. I shake mine more aggressively. Left. Right. Left. We pass the rest of the questions in silence, but my mind is howling. I’m going to have to listen to Elektra after all. Goddammit, I’m going to have to be even more careful with Star. Elektra’s guided me through the whole Carnival. I still need her to win.
Left. Right. Left.
The three of us end up sitting in various positions around the kitchen. I sit on the edge of the sink with my bare feet resting on the damp bottom. My head droops. I’m barely reading the questions anymore when the phrase PERSONALITY REPORT COMPLETE flashes across the screen. Suddenly, my phone buzzes once, and I swipe to the newest alert.
SCHEDULE
**ALERT: 15 Minute Warning before Next Event**
12:00 p.m.–02:00 p.m. PARENT PERMISSIONS.
Location: Your suite on floor 33. Description: The prizes’ fathers will issue their permissions to players by phone. Each father will call his favorite player first. Without any permission, the player will be disqualified.
What?
No one told us anything about needing parents’ permission. The Easies didn’t say a word about that. Not one goddamn word.
My heart is racing. I clench my phone so hard it cuts a red line across my fingers. The Easies are always keeping us in the dark. Telling us nothing and then everything at the last minute. Only now do they let me know I’m about to sink or swim. I can’t miss this call. As my nervousness sets in, I curl my toes in a reflex toward the bottoms of my feet. My toenails scratch the silver inside of the sink and make an uncomfortably high-pitched noise. Tinder flinches at the sound, inadvertently tossing his phone into the air. Oh no. I watch in horror as he fumbles to catch it. We both sigh with relief when he holds it again.
“Careful,” I say.
“Careful yourself,” he retorts, his voice shaking. His tone tells me he hasn’t forgiven me yet, and he’s far more scared than I am. He holds his precious phone to his heart and starts to chew anxiously on the knit gray crew neck of his sweater. He’s still in his boxers from last night, and below them, his knees are trembling.
Elektra drops to the floor from her perch on the counter and stretches. Her pink cardigan rises up with her arms as she reaches for the ceiling, revealing two dimples in her lower back. She looks at Tinder and me over her shoulder and smiles effortlessly. There’s not a worried wrinkle in her whole face.
“I’ll take my call in the living room,” she says.
Tinder dodges after her. I climb down from my seat and wander after them. I’m not used to sitting this much. Walking helps ease the tension. I roll my neck around as I enter the living room and it cracks nervously.
Tinder and I start to pace. He and I walk at odds back and forth between the couch and the window. Elektra sits in front of the sofa with her legs crossed, leaning back onto her elbows. Her chin reclines to point at the ceiling in a pose of perfect relaxation. It’s 11:59 a.m. Tinder’s hands shake as he paces. I keep glancing at him, but he won’t make eye contact with me. He steps one foot after the other in an anxious weave and accidentally walks into the window. Offering to help would make it worse. He rubs the red spot on his forehead.
12:00 p.m.
12:01 p.m.
12:02 p.m.
I take a seat next to Elektra. Tinder stands with his back to us now, glaring at his phone. Something buzzes, and everyone jumps. Elektra holds her phone up to ear, and I’m let down but not surprised. Of goddamn course.
“Hello?” she asks. “Nice to meet you Mr. Parker. Yes, this is Elektra.”
Elektra giggles softly. Right before my eyes, she’s transformed into a complete sweetheart. Charming, polite, and startlingly kind. The Parkers will love her—but now it hits me. There’s something important that I missed. My jaw drops as I realize, we have no idea what kind of DZs the parents want.
Forget what the prizes said on Prize Night. Forget whether or not we got phone numbers. Parents have their own intentions for their children, and right now those intentions are all that matter. My gut wrenches. What Mr. and Mrs. Smith want for Hazel will determine whether or not I move on in the Carnival. Hazel said she wants a dangerous man, but for all I know, her parents may permit only the safest DZs to play her.
I might not stand a chance.
“Thank you very much, Mr. Parker,” Elektra says. She hangs up her phone. Tinder shoots her an expectant look that says, Tell me everything.
“I got permission.” She shrugs. “Now, everything’s up to Wesley.”
I twist one of my fists into the plush white carpet, tearing into scabs left over from my fight with Bing. My knuckles sting a bit, but that’s nothing compared to the disappointment growing inside of me. I thought I was doing kind of well. I mean, I got Hazel’s phone number. My prefs are solid, growing every day. But no call by now means I’m not the Smith favorite. And I might not get permission at all.
We sit in tense silence. I tuck my phone under my thigh so I won’t be able to check the time. Better not to feed my own dread. I already feel like I’m sinking. I wait and promise myself I won’t pull my phone out again until it buzzes.
It will buzz. It has to.
Minutes pass. Five, ten, I don’t know. I hope Star has gotten a call by now. She must have. Sure, she’s putting on an act for the Carnival, but she’s still Star. People just love her. And I remember the exact moment when I learned that.
In Dark DC, I waited as long as possible to introduce Star to my parents. Aura and Burn always said they would honor whoever I loved, but I wasn’t entirely sure they meant it. They were just so passionate about our family. I figured they’d have impossible standards for any girl I liked. So even when I fell for Star—when I knew she was the one—I waited two whole years to bring her home. I feared that day like a plague.
As Star and I climbed my fr
ont steps for the first time, I was sweating. My whole body was tense with dread—much like the way I feel now, waiting for this goddamn call. As we stepped closer, out of nervousness, I tripped. My chin smacked the icy wooden railing and started to gush red. That was it, I thought. I’d ruined the whole day. Star rushed me inside in a panic, where my parents stood waiting to meet her. She was so frantic that she ran right past them. I practically screamed at her to at least wave to Aura and Burn, but she wasn’t listening. She found a towel and soap in the kitchen. Cleaned my wound.
My parents watched the whole thing, stunned and ignored. Only when I stopped bleeding did Star even realize they were there. She greeted them, and that was fine, but then came the awful waiting for Aura or Burn to say something. Anything. Burn left the room suddenly, and when he returned, he had a hunting knife. Star looked shell-shocked, but I knew what was coming. Very seriously, he offered Star the chance to carve her name on the mantle. Star didn’t know how much that gesture meant, but I did. It meant Aura and Burn would always treat her like family. Because they knew she was the one for me, too.
My thigh vibrates, stirring me back into the present. Tinder spins around at the noise and stares at my leg. I reach for my phone so fast that my hands scratch each other. I pore over the ten digits displayed across the screen: 347-555-0108.
Wait. I know this number.
This is the sequence that Dr. Fletcher scrawled on the yellow notepad. The exact same one, I’m sure of it. My mouth feels dry. I don’t know what to do. I sense Tinder and Elektra staring holes into me, watching my every move. My phone buzzes again in my hand, daring me to pick up, but I’m not sure if I can take this call. Whoever waits on the other end might be the one to get me—whatever the hell that means.
“Let me help you,” Elektra says with an edge.
From where she sits right next to me, she wraps her hand around mine and presses my thumb to the screen. I’ve effectively just answered the call. She raises my phone hand to my ear, and her stare gives me one option—start talking.
Sound brave.
“This is Phoenix,” I say sternly.
“Greetings,” a familiar voice says. “This is Mr. Chauncer, Flora’s father.”
“Hello, sir.”
Tinder kneels on the carpet and inches closer to me. He and Elektra lean toward my phone and try to listen. I shoo them both away and head for the window where they can’t hear my conversation. I’m already on thin ice in their eyes, and I don’t want them to hear me say anything strange. Then they’d have a whole new reason to distrust me.
In front of the window, it hits me that the one who might get me is the powerful Easy in America. I clear my throat and look over my shoulder to make sure Elektra and Tinder didn’t follow. They are whispering to each other. Tinder has his eyebrows pulled together in confusion to form a perfect T with his narrow nose.
“How are you, my boy?” Mr. Chauncer asks.
“I’m fine,” I say.
“Then let’s get to it,” Mr. Chauncer says. “I am well aware that my news will take you by surprise, but that is no reason not to proceed. I have called you, Phoenix, to give you my permission to play Flora.”
“You what?” I ask.
“You have my permission to play my daughter, Flora,” he repeats. “You are the Chauncer favorite. I apologize for not calling earlier. Most Carnival duties fall on my shoulders, and I had some business to attend to.”
I nod vacantly.
“As head of the Connecticut Family, I get my pick of the year’s players,” he says. “I am aware that you are committed to Hazel, but I took the liberty of changing that for you. Consider yourself in the running for Flora now.”
“Sir, I don’t understand,” I stammer.
“Naturally,” he says. “I suppose I should explain why I chose you, or else you might not believe that you are the favorite. Besides, I do expect you to join the Chauncers, so you may learn this in time. The Chauncers are a very powerful Family, Phoenix. We know everything that happens in this country, including things that the other Families do not know. And we know that the world is about to change. Things are about to get much more dangerous in the United States, and I want—I need—my Flora to be safe.”
What?
“I chose you because you’re a killer, Phoenix,” he says with a sudden vigor in his voice. “The other DZs see it. That’s why they tried to kill you first. Some Players put on shows for the Carnival, but you are a born fighter. You are the only one here who could keep my daughter safe. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” I manage.
“Flora loves me dearly,” he says. “My opinion will be very persuasive to her. I can’t make any promises on her behalf, but I will do my best to bring you into our Family. Interpret that as you will.”
I am speechless.
Mr. Chauncer hangs up, and I am left in silence. I let the phone drift away from my ear and turn to stare at Elektra and Tinder in utter, unmasked astonishment. Elektra raises an eyebrow, telling me to explain, but there are no words. The truth might turn them against me. They might think I was in on this the whole time.
“Who was that?” Elektra asks.
“The Smiths, Elektra,” Tinder says.
“No, no,” she says. She waves a slender finger. “I’m asking Phoenix.”
I scrub my face with my hands, suddenly exhausted. I look at Tinder’s innocent expression and can’t find a single word to explain. He might actually love Flora, and he’s going to hate me when he finds out that I’m playing her. Just using her for the electricity. Elektra approaches me with impatient steps. When she’s within an arm’s reach, she shakes my shoulder to as if to wake me up from a stupor.
“I’m so sorry, Tinder,” I burst.
“Why?” he asks fearfully.
“Mr. Chauncer just gave me permission to play Flora.”
Elektra lets me go. Tinder’s jaw drops, but Elektra nods as if she expected me to say that. Tinder looks even more hurt than I expected, and I feel absolutely terrible. All I wanted was the Smiths’ permission. This wasn’t supposed to happen.
“You lied to us,” Tinder accuses.
“What? No!” I say. “I knew nothing about this!”
Tinder’s phone buzzes. He raises it to his ear and turns his back to me and Elektra. Hunching slightly, his shoulder blades poke two small tents in his dull gray sweater, and he rubs the back of his neck with one hand. I haven’t done anything wrong, but I still feel like I’ve betrayed him. Tinder clears his throat with two anxious coughs.
“Mr. Chauncer?” he asks hopefully. “Oh, thank God.”
I’m pulled out of my pity suddenly when Elektra yanks me toward the cream sofa. I fall onto the firm cushions, and she sits me up promptly. An inch away from my face, she glares at me. I can see thin yellow rings of color constrict around her pupils. Last night’s black mascara has smudged, painting eerie black half-moons beneath her eyes. A hint of how she must have looked as a Shadow in the Dark Zone.
“What else are you hiding?” she demands.
“Nothing,” I say.
“Tell me now, Phoenix,” she says.
“I said nothing!” I explode. Tinder waves his hand up and down in our direction, telling us to be quiet. I go on, more quietly, “This is a complete shock to me, too. Goddammit, Elektra, can’t you see it?”
Elektra nods carefully. “Lucky for you, I can,” she says. She pulls my phone out of my pocket, and I don’t even resist. If she wants my phone, she’ll find a way to get it. I peer over the top to watch her update my profile.
PHOENIX:
Just now: bored with hazel. sup flora
“Thank you,” Tinder says, hanging up. As he turns to face us, he puts his hands on his hips to form two sharp triangles. His lips lock into a trembling line, and I can tell he is still hurt. More confident with the permission, but just as wounded.
“Out with it,” Elektra orders.
“Mr. Chauncer said he changed the rules,” Tinder says, loo
king only at me. “This year, more than one player in each suite can play the same prize. That means we can both play Flora, Phoenix. Even though only one of us actually cares about her, both of us can play her.”
Tinder shakes his head tearfully and stalks toward his room. Elektra rises slowly from the sofa and glides in the opposite direction. I’m left alone to let the new reality wash over me, and my back slouches with resignation.
I’ll be playing Flora now, not Hazel. Between Tinder and me, only one of us can win her, and worst of all, Star doesn’t know yet. That prize has gotten under Star’s skin, and God only knows why. Something about Flora just makes her jealous. When Star finds out what’s happened now, this is going to hit her where it hurts.
I stand up in a huff. Pacing in a wide circle, my mind drifts to consider the other things Mr. Chauncer said—that the world was getting more dangerous, Flora needed to be protected—but I’m not sure how much of that I believe. Dr. Fletcher’s note warned me about him. I still don’t know what it means to be like #328, but now that Mr. Chauncer and I will be getting closer, I don’t have much time left to learn.
20
SCHEDULE
**ALERT: 15 Minute Warning before Next Event**
02:00 p.m.–06:00 p.m. PREPARE FOR FAMILY DINNER.
Location: Your suite on floor 33. Description: Browse new reading material on your phone describing the history and current members of the Connecticut Family. Get ready for dinner tonight with the Chauncers in their home.
It’s getting very close to six. I tried reading the provided information, but I kept getting distracted by the pictures. Almost all of the Connecticut Family looks the same: blond, boring, and clean. There wasn’t a physical flaw in the group—no crooked noses, unibrows, or patches of acne—except on one man. Named Flash.
Blackout (Darkness Trilogy) Page 17