How to Lead a Life of Crime (22 page)

“Before we get started, I have an announcement,” I tell the Wolves. “It’s a new semester, which means it’s time to let bygones be bygones. You’re all welcome back to the tower lounge. In fact, your presence there will be mandatory every evening from this point forward.”

If Joi won’t let me get close enough to protect her, I’ll just have to keep Mandel’s assassins locked up whenever I can.

“And do you concur?” Caleb asks my co-Dux.

“Whatever.” Gwendolyn’s eager to move on. “So who won the pageant?”

“Max,” Caleb announces. No surprise there.

“And who lost?”

Caleb takes a leisurely bite of his sandwich before he answers. “Violet.”

“What about June?” Gwendolyn demands.

“She came in third,” Caleb says. “Seems Flick’s vote canceled yours out.”

“Flick doesn’t really think she’ll win,” Gwendolyn sneers. I wonder if she’s angry enough to do something stupid. “He voted for her because she used to be his girlfriend.”

The Wolves all freeze as if the scene has been paused. Then Julian laughs.

“Is that right?” Caleb marvels. I can almost hear his mind whirring away.

That’s when we see Joi. She’s standing at the entrance to the cafeteria, surveying the room. Twelve Wolves stare back at her. I can only imagine what she must think of us. Joi takes her place in the lunch line and strikes up a conversation with one of the lowliest Androids.

“Friendly, ain’t she?” Austin drawls with a mouthful of hamburger.

Leila’s whole body vibrates when she snickers.

“Maybe she’s campaigning for class president,” Gwendolyn smirks. “I can’t believe anyone actually voted for that loser to win the pageant. Who else besides her boyfriend thinks June’s going to make it past ranking day?”

No one says a word.

“Did any of these morons vote for June?” Gwendolyn asks Caleb.

“Votes are confidential,” Caleb says.

“No, they’re not!”

“They are now,” Caleb replies. “I run the pageant. I make the rules.”

When Gwendolyn slaps him, he responds with a single, lizard-like blink and returns to eating his sandwich.

• • •

The Wolves’ Den is packed. Gwendolyn and I are stationed at opposite ends of a long couch. There’s an empty space between us, but no one dares occupy it. The bad vibes are so strong that they would probably prove fatal. Then Caleb arrives and plops himself right down.

“Well! Looks like the semester is off to an interesting start,” he announces to no one in particular. But suddenly everyone is listening.

“Skip the theatrics, Caleb,” Gwendolyn growls. “Just tell us what you want to say.”

“Flick’s girlfriend, June. Turns out, she’s a human resources major.”

“Ex-girlfriend,” I correct him.

“Yes, I’ve noticed you two aren’t on speaking terms. . . .”

“Get to the point, Caleb,” Gwendolyn butts in.

“The point is that Mr. Mandel has put June in some very advanced classes. In fact, she and I have three together. I was surprised when I kept seeing her. I thought maybe she was being set up to fail. You know how our headmaster likes to throw a patsy into every Incubation Group.”

No, Violet is the one who’s been brought here to feed the Wolves. Just like Aubrey. I would have thought that much was obvious.

“Well? What’s your take?” asks Gwendolyn.

“June’s remarkable,” Caleb says. “Quite possibly the finest human resources student aside from yours truly.”

There’s a bruise on Caleb’s cheek where Gwendolyn slapped him at lunch. And yet he’s determined to keep taunting her. Which means he’s settled on a plan of action. Gwendolyn kills Joi. Flick kills Gwendolyn. Mandel kills Flick. Caleb is king. Seems like a long shot, but I guess it could work.

“Perhaps Flick could tell us a bit about his old love?” Caleb inquires.

I just grin and give him a wink. “F— off.”

“I should have known you weren’t the sort to kiss and tell. Does anyone here have any classes with June?” Caleb asks, addressing the other Wolves.

“I watched her spar in kickboxing,” Austin offers reluctantly. “She’s not bad.”

“Not bad?” Caleb scoffs. “I hear she could have kicked the other girl’s ass.”

“But she didn’t, did she?” Gwendolyn’s on to him too. “I can see straight through you, Caleb. Which means I always know when you’re full of shit. Someone go get that Max kid who just came up from the Suites. I think it’s time for a second opinion.”

A few minutes later, one of the lesser Wolves arrives with Max in tow. The kid is a born predator, but he’s in the presence of superior beasts. He should be avoiding our eyes and kissing our asses. But the cocky little pup seems to think he could take on all twelve of us. Either we’re not very impressive, or he’s not very bright.

Gwendolyn picks up on the dolt’s lack of deference. “Do you know who I am?” she asks him.

“You’re the Dux,” Max says. Then he gestures toward me. “So’s that guy.”

“You know the word, but do you know what it means?” Gwendolyn demands.

“It means you think you’re in charge.”

I nearly roll off the sofa I’m laughing so hard. Gwendolyn lurches forward, teeth bared, but Caleb sticks out an arm and holds her back. He’s getting bolder by the minute.

“Before Gwendolyn eats you alive, we would like to know what you think of one of the students from your Incubation Group,” Caleb says calmly. “June.”

“I don’t mess with her.” That’s unexpected. I hear genuine respect in Max’s voice. “She’s a witch.”

“A witch?” I ask.

“She has special powers.” I thought he was joking, but I see no trace of a grin.

“Interesting.” Caleb sits back and crosses his legs. “And what form do these powers take?”

“Huh?”

“What sort of stuff does she do?” I interpret.

“You know that chick Flora?”

It takes me a moment to put a face to the name. Flora was in Joi’s Incubation Group. A tall blonde with a Barbie-doll figure.

Even Caleb is struggling to make the connection. “Flora? One of the new students? What does she have to do with any of this?”

“She’s hot, right?” Max responds as if we’re all certain to agree. “So I thought Flora could be my girl for a while. But every time I tried to make my move, something crazy always happened.”

“Like what?” Caleb asks.

“One time a bookcase fell on top of me. A couple days later, I was in the gym and one of those five-pound dumbbells slammed into the back of my head. Knocked me out cold for a few minutes. Stuff like that.”

“And you think June was responsible? Did you actually see her do those things?”

“No. Sometimes she wasn’t even in the room. But she told me she’d put a curse on me. She’s not from here, you know. She’s from someplace where the women are all trained to be witches.” Max looks directly at me. “He knows it’s true. He was watching when I fought June the other day. I almost killed her, right? Then my knee gave out all of a sudden and June got away.”

“Why do you suppose June kept attacking you?” Caleb asks. “Did it have something to do with Flora? Was she protecting the girl for some reason?”

“No. June just said I needed to learn my place,” Max says with a shrug. “She told me she owns this school and everyone in it.”

Someone in the lounge starts laughing. It builds from a giggle into a full-blown howl. We all turn to see Ella, clutching her stomach as if her guts might spill out.

“What’s so funny?” Caleb asks.

“Oh shit! ” she wheezes. “I’ve heard that one before!”

I know where she heard it. It’s almost exactly the same thing I told Ivan the first time I saved Aubrey.

While the Wolves watch Ella, I feel Gwendolyn’s eyes on me. She knows too.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

THE BATTLE FOR THE THRONE

T
he Wolves of the Mandel Academy have hunkered down. A witch has conjured a powerful storm, and we’re all waiting for the tempest to hit. Our instructors have taught us that destruction always brings opportunity. Fortunes were made in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Careers were built on the wreckage of the World Trade Center. And now the Wolves are watching the skies and scheming. If the academy’s current order collapses, every one of the twelve best students intends to survive—and emerge from the rubble on top.

In the past four days, the Wolves have talked about nothing but Joi. And Joi talks to everyone but us. Whenever I see her, she’s always chatting with someone new. Androids in the lunchroom. Ghosts between classes. Joi refuses to respect the boundaries between the academy’s three groups. But every time I try to speak to her, she bolts before I get close. My injured leg is slowly healing, but I’m still not quick enough to catch her. All I can do is watch from a distance as she flouts every unwritten rule. The other students from her Incubation Group are almost as bold. They don’t seem to understand that their lives are at stake. Violet’s already flunking all six of her classes—but she’s still as chipper as the day we met. Flora, like countless pretty newbies before her, has had the misfortune to catch Austin’s eye. Yesterday, she responded to his crude advances with a swift, perfectly aimed kick to the groin. Orson and Hugo were on the scene within seconds. The three newbies never uttered a word, but the warning they delivered was loud and clear. If Austin messed with one of them, he’d have to answer to the rest.

Mandel knew that something strange was going on in the Suites. Whatever happened down there is now happening here. No one taught Joi’s Incubation Group how to behave once they got upstairs. Mandel must be watching, but so far he’s done nothing. I haven’t seen him, and I don’t think Gwendolyn has either. No orders have been issued, but the Wolves are predicting a bloodbath on rankings day.

The big question is what’s going to happen to our resident witch. Joi brought this chaos upon the academy. But there’s no longer any doubt of her gifts. She possesses the mind of a brilliant criminal, and she’s risen to first place in five of her classes. Gwendolyn claims Caleb let Joi take the lead in the three courses they share. I’m not so sure. Joi’s given me a real run for my money in Hidden Treasures. Between the two of us, we’ve made hypothetical billions on freshwater, rain forest lumber, and arctic oil. I never expected to find myself in competition with a girl who used to leave a receipt whenever she shoplifted a can of soup. But I suppose I don’t know much about Joi. In fact, it’s possible that I never really knew her at all.

Every evening in the Wolves’ Den, Caleb feeds the pack a slab of fresh gossip. Some of the rumors beggar belief. Caleb claims Joi was trained as a sniper and once worked as a nurse on an organ farm. But a few of Caleb’s other rumors are harder to ignore. He says she’s the daughter of a man who ran a detention center for women during the Bosnian War—a man whose crimes against humanity would put those of the most accomplished Mandel alumni to shame. There might be some truth to that tale. The academy’s profile said Joi grew up in Bosnia. She’s the right age to have been born during the bloody Yugoslav Wars over there. And Mandel seems to believe that she’s the daughter of a war criminal. So maybe Caleb is right about Joi’s father. But I have a hunch Caleb has been pulling the rest of his “research” right out of his ass.

I’ll give credit where it’s due, though. Caleb has certainly been handling this whole affair with remarkable skill. Gwendolyn knows he’s making a play for the Dux title. But that doesn’t keep her from listening to his stories with as much interest as the rest of us. The “witch” has become a serious threat. Gwendolyn shouldn’t have told the Wolves about my history with Joi. It made her look desperate—and Joi seem more fascinating. And now that Caleb’s gone rogue, everyone can see that Gwendolyn’s in trouble. She’s been Mandel’s favorite girl for two full years, but he hasn’t stepped in to support her this time. No one knows what happens when a Dux falls from grace. No one but Gwendolyn and me. We’re the only ones who’ve had a glimpse of the headmaster’s morgue.

The stress is starting to show. Gwendolyn’s hair has lost its luster and her once porcelain skin looks chalky. The serene facade has crumbled. She barks, snaps, and growls like a rabid animal. I know exactly how she feels. And I know just how dangerous she can be. When the time comes, she’ll go straight for Joi’s jugular. But no blood can be shed before the month-long Immunity Phase is over. There are still three weeks until ranking day. I’m just hoping that’s enough time for my arm and leg to heal properly. Right now, I don’t have the strength to save anyone.

• • •

It’s lunchtime, and I’m enduring another post-coma checkup. The doctor has already lectured me for refusing to wear my arm sling and forbidden me to participate in Brazilian Jujitsu. As if I’m crazy enough to take the mat with only two of my limbs fully functional. Now he’s demonstrating a series of rehab exercises that he must have learned while working at Abu Ghraib. Each one is more excruciating than the last. It’s pretty clear that I’m still in terrible shape. And I find it a bit troubling that the man in charge of fixing me seems to get his jollies from watching me suffer. The appointment was only supposed to last thirty minutes, but he’s kept me here for two hours—straight through lunch and fourth period. When a nurse tells him he’s wanted in the lab, I almost shed tears of relief.

I limp to the elevator and press the button for the ninth floor. Fifth period is ten minutes away. I thought I’d be free before lunch finished, and I left my Let Them Eat Cake homework upstairs in the Wolves’ Den. There are fat people out there just waiting to be exploited, and I wouldn’t want to let them down, so I hobble as quickly as possible up the stairs to the tower. Halfway to the top, I hear someone behind me. I assume it’s my darling Gwendolyn, so I don’t bother looking back. I won’t give her the satisfaction of seeing the pain on my face.

“Flick!” When I finally turn around, I find Ella slinking up the stairs. She’s wearing tight black pants and a formfitting black sweater. Her close-cropped hair and ballet flats complete a look that’s cat burglar chic.

“Skipping class or practicing for your next jewel heist?” I ask, wiping my forehead with the sleeve of my shirt.

“Why weren’t you at lunch today?” Ella demands tersely.

I don’t know why I answer. “Doctor’s appointment.”

“Did you tell Gwendolyn about it?”

I almost advise Ella to mind her own business, but I’m curious to find out why she’s gone all Nancy Drew on me. “I doubt I mentioned it, but Gwendolyn has other sources. Why?”

“She and Austin were up here in the lounge during lunch. Together.” The significance of the last word is crystal clear. “I heard them.”

“Are you trying to make me jealous?” I ask with a laugh.

Ella opens her ever-present notebook and scribbles a message onto a blank sheet. It was payment.

I grab the pen. Play along.

“So you’re looking for a way to get in good with the Dux?” I announce for the listening devices. “Well, if Gwendolyn’s getting some on the side, I’m happy to have a little too.” I grab Ella by the arm and lead her out to the roof.

Warm air washes over us. Nine stories below, the trees in City Hall Park are blooming, and I catch the faint scent of their fragrance on the breeze. But it’s hard to revel in the glories of spring when the skyscrapers of Manhattan’s financial district are looming over us like an army of Matrix agents in black suits and mirrored shades.

“Wow,” Ella says as she marvels at the view. “Does everyone in the top twelve know about this?”

“No. Just me and Gwendolyn. This is the only part of the academy that isn’t bugged.”

“And who told you that?” she asks with one eyebrow arched. Then she wraps herself around me and whispers in my ear. “You’re more trusting than I am. Make it look like you’re getting some, and I’ll talk.”

I push her back against the brick wall of the tower and take her head in my hands. Anyone watching would think we were kissing. “You said Gwendolyn was paying for something,” I say, keeping my voice low. “What does she want Austin to do?”

“She wants him to take out your girl. They’re going to kill June.”

I don’t even ask how Ella knew that I’d give a damn. “Where? When?”

“Today. After sixth period. Austin has kickboxing with June. They’re going to ambush her in the gym.”

“They can’t! The Immunity Phase isn’t over!”

“Shhh.” Ella shakes her head. “You think that matters to Gwendolyn? Caleb’s convinced her she can’t wait any longer.”

“Yeah, lizard boy’s going for the gold. Which makes me wonder—what’s your angle, Ella? Last I checked, you hated my guts. Why are you so happy to help me all of a sudden?”

Ella leans to one side. Her eyes take another tour of the roof before they return to meet mine. Her voice is so quiet that I have to read her lips. “Remember that catwalk in the Incubation Suites? How you could tell when someone was watching? Well, once you got locked up, no one was all that interested in spying on the rest of us. Aubrey didn’t talk, and Ivan was psycho. But Felix and I got to be friends. For some reason, he thought you were a good guy. I figured he just had a crush. Then Felix ended up dead, and I started hoping he’d been right about you. The day it all happened, I tried to tell you that he hadn’t jumped. But Gwendolyn butted in, and it freaked me out. I got to thinking that she might have had something to do with Felix’s death. Her and that freak Mandel. The guy thinks he knows everything. He doesn’t know shit.”

“What do you mean?”

Ella looks down at her hands. The acrylic claws and diamond rings may be gone, but I bet she remembers exactly what it feels like to handle a gun. “Mandel told you guys that I killed my uncle so I could take over his drug business. Truth is, I was trying to put the bastard out of business. He had my little cousin selling the stuff at her grade school. You ever seen a twelve-year-old on crack?”

“No,” I admit.

“Lucky you.”

The bell rings in the classrooms downstairs. It feels like a buzzer on a quiz show. The time has come for my final answer. If I make the right choice, Joi gets another day at the Mandel Academy. If I fail, her corpse ends up in Mandel’s collection. I have no reason to trust Ella. But then again, I’ve never heard another Wolf laugh like she did on our first day in the Suites.

“You really want to help?” I whisper.

“I’ve got fifth period with June,” Ella says. “I can warn her. I just wanted to check with you first.”

“Don’t just warn her. Tell her to skip kickboxing. Gwendolyn may look like Little Bo Peep, but she’s as vicious as Lizzie Borden. She’s the one who cut Ivan’s head off. And before she got to the academy, she was locked up in an insane asylum for killing eight men.”

“Excuse me?”

“The cops knew it was her because she bit all the bodies.”

“Damn.” Ella whistles softly. “I better get my ass down to class.”

She hurries out, and I collapse onto a chaise in the Wolves’ Den. I couldn’t make it downstairs right now if I tried. My head’s throbbing. My arm and leg feel like they’re about to drop off. I should never have underestimated Gwendolyn. She knows if she kills Joi now, there’s no way I can retaliate immediately. Especially if Gwendolyn keeps “paying” Austin to be her bodyguard. But there’s one thing no one anticipated. Now I have an ally too. And Ella is strong. She’s one of the best, and she’s on my side. I don’t know why the thought gives me such hope. My last ally ended up donating his organs to Mandel’s research. Maybe Ella is playing me. But if she isn’t, Mandel has made a rare mistake. He’s let a mole burrow into the Wolves’ Den.

• • •

I’m outside Joi and Ella’s classroom when the bell announces the end of fifth period. Joi sails through the door.

“I’ve got it under control,” she says in a singsong manner as she passes by.

Ella is right behind her. “It’s not under control,” she whispers. “June’s just as crazy as Gwendolyn. She’s stirring up some serious trouble.”

“What happened?”

“When I told her what Gwendolyn has planned, June stood up and invited everyone in the class to come to the gym at the end of sixth period. She asked them all to wait outside. She’s going to whistle when there’s something to see.”

“You’re f—ing kidding me! Does she really think they’ll keep Gwendolyn from ripping her apart?” This is exactly what I worried would happen. Joi can pretend to be a bad guy. She can be the top student in all of her classes. But this is real. The kids she invited all know that. They’re not going to get in the way.

Ella shrugs helplessly. “What do you think we should we do?”

“You’ve done enough already,” I tell her. “You better stay off Gwendolyn’s radar if you ever want to get out of here alive. Let me handle this now.”

“Are you sure you can save June on your own?” Ella asks.

“No,” I admit.

• • •

Sixth period ends, and I slip inside the gym. It’s empty. The kickboxing-class students have all disappeared into the locker rooms. I hobble toward the one marked
LADIES
. There are two girls in their underwear and one wearing nothing at all. They cover themselves up, but no one squeals or shouts. The Dux can go wherever he likes.

Joi is sitting on a bench like she’s waiting for the subway to arrive. She hasn’t changed out of her sweats.

“You’ve got to get out of here!”

It’s the first time Joi has really looked at me since the fight in the Incubation Suites. I can tell she knows what I’ve done since I got here. And she’s livid. “You want me to run?” she asks politely. “Is there somewhere you’d like me to go?”

“Goddamn it, listen for once! I know you’re pissed off at me, but I’m trying to help you! You can’t win against Gwendolyn!”

“Why?” Those big amber eyes dare me to answer.

“Because she’ll do whatever it takes to win, Joi. You won’t. She’ll kill you. People die in this place!”