Privilege 4 - Sweet Deceit (18 page)

One step down. Many, many more to go.

"Okay. It takes me an hour and many tears to get those things on, but Maria does it like it's putting on a Band-Aid," Lexa joked.

"Seventeen years, a couple dozen ballets. I've gone through thousands of those things," Maria said with a worldly smirk.

Lexa went straight for her purse. She pulled her phone right out and froze as she looked down at the screen. Ariana's heart all but stopped. Had she left Dove's number up on the screen? Could Lexa somehow tell she'd been messing with it?

"Soomie texted. She says everything's ready and to get our butts there ASAP," Lexa said with a laugh.

Ariana let out a sigh of relief.

"So. Are we all ready?" Lexa asked, tucking the phone inside the bag again. "Conrad's bringing the car around in about five minutes."

"Actually, I'm going to have to meet you guys there," Ariana said, glancing at her watch.

"What? Why? I thought we were all going over together," Maria said.

"She has a phone call with her grandmother," Kaitlynn explained, shrugging into her jacket, which looked kind of silly over her shiny nylon outfit.

"She wants an update on how things are going around here," Ariana lied. "I haven't been in touch in a while, so she's freaking out."

"You schedule calls with your grandmother?" Lexa asked flatly, looking up at Ariana through her fake blond bangs.

"You schedule calls with your parents," Ariana shot back.

"She makes a good point," Maria said to Lexa, picking up her white coat. "But doesn't old lady Covington realize it's Halloween?"

"She's in her eighties," Ariana replied. "She doesn't even know it's October."

The others laughed and finished gathering their things.

"But how will you get there?" Lexa asked, lifting the hair of her wig out from under the collar of her black coat.

"Don't worry about me. I'll just take a cab," Ariana said, walking them out and down the hall toward the elevators. She paused in front of the door to her room. "See you there."

The girls air-kissed her and waved as they made their way to the elevators. Ariana slipped into her room and closed the door behind her, her nerves jittery. She needed a few moments to herself to go over the plan. To make sure everything was in place. Her whole future, her very life, all hinged on tonight's events. Everything had to go perfectly.

Tugging her phone out of her bag, she entered in Dove's number and saved it into her contacts under "John Smith." Then she went to her desk and opened the top drawer. Sitting atop her pens and pencils was a long, brown envelope, inside of which was the compromising photo of Palmer. Ariana clenched her teeth as she stared down at it, then plucked it up and shoved it into her bag. She wasn't planning on using it--if all went well tonight, she wouldn't have to--but it was always good to be prepared.

Taking a deep breath, Ariana sat on the edge of her bed, closed her eyes, and took herself through the plan step by step by step, looking for any flaws--any potential hiccups. Finally satisfied, she opened her eyes again and looked around the room in satisfaction.

It was going to work. It had to. Her entire future depended on it. HUSBAND AND WIFE

"Welcome to my haunted row house!" Soomie shouted, opening the door for Ariana. She had a huge smile on her face and some kind of black drink in one hand. Her eyes were unfocused, as if she'd already downed a few of those drinks, even though the party started just a half hour ago. Conversation and laughter gurgled out into the night air as Soomie grabbed Ariana's wrist and tugged her inside. "Where've you been?"

Ariana could smell the alcohol on her breath and tried not to scrunch her nose. Soomie was in a good mood for the first time in weeks. She didn't want to do anything to put a damper on it.

"I had to make a call." Ariana touched the skirt of her frayed dress. "What do you think?"

She struck a pose, tilting her head back so that her extremely tall and heavy gray and white wig almost took her down. She flashed her long black fake nails.

"Appropriately spooky," Soomie said. "What do you think of mine?"

Ariana looked Soomie up and down. She wore a light pink gown with delicate spaghetti straps, and a gorgeous, sparkling tiara. Her makeup was colorful and bright, and there were glittery stars pasted around her eyes.

"I like it. But I thought you were going goth," Ariana said.

Soomie sipped her drink and swallowed. "I changed my mind. This is my homage to Princess Brigit."

She reached down and tugged up the hem of the wide skirt. On her feet she wore a pair of pink sequined flats. The sight of them brought tears to Ariana's eyes. Brigit never wore heels--was never able to walk in them--until the night she died. The night that Kaitlynn and the rest of her friends convinced her it was time to try.

"That's really sweet, Soomie," Ariana said, her heart heavy.

"Don't look so sad," Soomie said, gripping Ariana's arm. "She's looking down on us right now and smiling. And besides, it's a party!"

She hooked her arm around Ariana's back and led her into the house. The place was small--thin and long, like any historical row house--but poshly decorated. The walls of the living room were painted a deep violet, and the fireplace was tiled in dark reds and ambers. Not that it was easy to take in the details. Soomie had gone all out with the Halloween decorations. Everything was covered with cobwebs, fake spiders, wispy ghosts, and leering monster masks. The bay window at the front of the house held ten expertly carved jack-o'-lanterns, each one more elaborately terrifying than the last.

"Okay, the first floor is for eating, drinking, conversation, and general merriment," Soomie said, sliding sideways to get through the crowd and dragging Ariana with her. "Upstairs, in the dining area, is the dance floor. I had the table and chairs moved to make room," she explained, pointing at the staircase. "On the third floor are the two bedrooms. You can imagine what they're being used for," she said. "But on the roof is the real fun."

"The real fun?" Ariana asked.

"Pumpkin carving, bobbing for apples, crap like that," Soomie said, waving her drink around.

"Really?" Ariana said, amused.

"Brigit lived for that stuff, so I figured, why not?" Soomie said. "And believe it or not, that's where almost everyone is. They think they're sophisticated and above it all, but they're so not."

Ariana laughed. "Okay. I'll go up and check it out."

"I'm right behind you," Soomie said. "I just have to check on the caterers."

"Okay. I'll see you up there," Ariana replied. "Oh, hey. Do you know where Lexa is?" she asked casually. "She hasn't left yet, has she?"

"No," Soomie said. "She's upstairs somewhere."

"Cool," Ariana said.

She made her way slowly up the slim staircase, pressing her back against the wall as a guy dressed as some Star Wars robot tromped down past her. On the second floor the music was pumping and strobe lights lit the dining room, affording flashing glimpses of goblins and ghouls and sports stars and superheroes. Kaitlynn was out there, moving to the music, but there was no sign of Lexa and Conrad. Ariana turned up the next flight of stairs and almost slammed into Marilyn Monroe making out with Shrek.

"Sorry," she said. But they didn't even come up for air. Both bedroom doors were closed, so Ariana quickly took the last flight of stairs and shoved open the door to the roof.

The night air was cool, but not biting. There were three long tables set up for pumpkin carving, and every seat seemed to be taken. Orange globe lights were strung from tall cornstalks all around the periphery of the roof, and overhead a huge full moon hung low over the city. Ariana walked around slowly, her heart pounding, looking out for Lexa, but also searching for her Frankenstein. As she came around to the back of the roof, behind the raised doorway, she spotted Palmer. He was standing with Rob, Christian, and Adam, cheering Landon on as he dove his face into a huge vat of apples and water. Even with a green face, a high forehead, and bolts sticking out of his neck, Palmer was the handsomest guy on the roof.

"Come on, Lan! You can do it!" Palmer shouted. "Where're your teeth, man?"

His friends cracked up laughing. Then Landon whipped his head up, his hair flicking back, spraying all of them in the face with a million droplets of water. They all shouted and raised their arms as Landon bit through the apple in his mouth and smiled.

"Told you I could do it," he said.

Ariana smiled. Her pulse racing, she wove slowly through the mingling crowd, waiting for Palmer to look up and spot her. She waited and waited, but he was too preoccupied with dotting the water from his face without messing up his makeup. Finally, Ariana was able to sneak up behind him and slip her hand into his.

"Hello, husband," she whispered in his ear.

Palmer turned around, took one look at her, and grinned. "You came."

"I did."

Then she stood up on her toes and kissed him. She kissed him until the other guys noticed and started shouting. Until they started clapping. Until they finally got bored and walked away.

"Wow," Palmer said, his eyelids heavy as he pulled away. "And in front of all these people. What if Lexa were here?"

Ariana smiled, looping her arm around her neck. "I'm no longer concerned about Lexa Greene," she said, her voice husky.

"Really?" he said. "What changed?"

"I remembered who I am," Ariana said.

Palmer's green brow knit. "Frankenstein's wife?" Ariana laughed. "Exactly."

"Well then, bride," Palmer said. "Would you like to go downstairs and dance?"

Reluctantly, Ariana pulled away from him. "Maybe later. Right now I have something I need to take care of."

Palmer bit his lip. "Your task?" he whispered. "I heard you hadn't finished it yet."

Ariana's skin warmed. "Y eah. My task. But don't worry. It'll all be over by the end of the night. If I don't see you again here, I'll come by your room later, okay?"

"Works for me," Palmer replied with a grin. "Happy Halloween, my wife," he said, giving her a long, firm kiss.

Ariana couldn't have stopped smiling if she'd tried. "Happy Halloween, my husband." MASTER MANIPULATOR

Ariana waited on the landing of the third floor, standing in the shadows, until she saw Palmer and his friends heading downstairs for some food. Then she quickly made her way up to the roof and toward the front of the house, where she would have a bird's eye view of the street below. As the party swelled and ebbed around her, Ariana patiently watched until she saw a girl in a blond wig and a black coat, carrying a gold clutch, rush out the front door and into a waiting cab. Her pulse raced in excitement.

Game on.

Quickly Ariana returned to the second floor. Kaitlynn was right where Ariana had last seen her, doing her own private dance in the center of the dance floor as if no one else was there, her eyes closed, her arms thrown over her head. Ariana watched her for a moment, letting Kaitlynn have her fun. But then, it was time. Time to put the final phase of the plan in motion. Time to end this, once and for all. Kaitlynn had a job to do, even though she didn't know it yet. A skitter of excitement raced over Ariana's skin but was quickly cooled by an icy cold shell of resolve. She took a deep breath, stormed through the room, and grabbed Kaitlynn's arm.

"Come on. We have to go," she said urgently.

"What? Go where?" Kaitlynn demanded, tripping in her cat-heels as she was dragged from the room.

"Anywhere," Ariana said under her breath as she reached the top of the stairs. She looked around behind her, checking over both her shoulders. "The jig is up, Lily. We're going on the run. Now."

Kaitlynn's eyes widened, an almost comical sight behind the black vinyl mask. "What? Why? What happened?"

Ariana huffed an impatient sigh and pulled Kaitlynn toward the far wall and the window overlooking the tiny, fenced-in backyard. She took in a shaky breath and looked Kaitlynn in the eye. "Lexa is hiring a private investigator to look into Lillian Oswald's past."

"What?" Kaitlynn stepped backward into the wall. "No. She wouldn't. She doesn't have the balls."

"Apparently she does," Ariana replied through her teeth. "And if he finds out the truth about you, he's going to find out the truth about me. We have to get out of here, Kaitlynn. We've had our fun, but it's over. We've gotta bail."

Ariana moved away, going for the stairs, but Kaitlynn's hand shot out and grabbed her arm. "Wait a minute."

"We don't have a minute," Ariana said impatiently.

"You said she's hiring a PI, not that she already hired him," Kaitlynn said, her eyes flat. "Has she met with him yet?"

Ariana blinked, confused. "No. Not yet. They're meeting to night."

Kaitlynn's eyes narrowed. "Where?"

Ariana hesitated for a long moment. "What does it matter? Wait. You're not thinking of--"

"We have worked way too hard to get where we are," Kaitlynn said fiercely, stepping up to Ariana. "And I am not going to let that self-serving bitch ruin it. So tell me. Where the hell are they?"

"I . . . she said . . ." Ariana blinked a few times, tears of uncertainty shining in her eyes. "She said she was going to meet him at her parents' house to avoid suspicion."

"Address, please?" Kaitlynn said stoically.

Ariana fumbled with her purse and extracted her cell. She scrolled to Lexa's name and turned the screen to face Kaitlynn. Her eyes flicked to the address.

"Thanks, A," she said, shoving past Ariana. "I'll see you back at the room."

"Wait. Shouldn't we . . . I don't know . . . think about this?" Ariana said.

Kaitlynn paused at the top of the stairs, her hand clutching the filigree on the banister. She looked at Ariana and laughed derisively. "Being on the outside has softened you, A. Don't worry. I got this. You can thank me later."

Then she barreled down the stairs and was gone. Ariana turned shakily toward the window and looked down at the revelers below. Then she focused on her own reflection in the pane, took a deep breath, and lifted her lips in a smile as cold as ice. FREED