The Festival of the Moon (Girls Wearing Black: Book Two) (42 page)

“Incredible,” she whispered.

The enormity of Falkon Dillinger’s plan was clear to her now. She saw all facets of it. Between the information she had gleaned from the minds of the Evans family, and now this, she understood all that Falkon was up to.

She called Dominic to discuss. Together they came up with a few white lies they would stick to, lies that would allow them to tell the rest of the clan what they knew while casting Melissa in an innocent light. Then she called Lena and Bernadette, two of her sisters in the clan who would side with her in the coming schism. She told them both to come to the Bloom mansion in Bethesda at once, that she had uncovered betrayal of the highest order and the Bloom family was guilty.

Half an hour later, Renata came in the front door. Looking over the carnage spread out all over the floor, she said, “I see you’ve been having fun without me.”

“What are you doing here?” Melissa said.

“Bernadette called me to ask if I was coming to Bethesda,” said Renata. “She just assumed you had invited me to come learn your news. Did you mean to invite me?”

Melissa said nothing. She thought about the ceremonial hunt, about how Renata had been ready to fight to the death but Melissa had backed down. If it came to that again, she would be ready this time.

“I told the others not to come,” said Renata. “As the leaders of the clan, you and I should get on the same page first, don’t you think?”

Melissa sighed. This was so typical. The whole point was for Melissa to get the credit for this discovery, for the clan to unite under her leadership against the forces who wanted to destroy them. Now Renata would ensure that she got equal credit. Or more. By tomorrow night, Renata would be giving out orders as if she had discovered Falkon’s plot, as if she was queen of the clan.

“I’ll tell you,” Melissa said, “but there is something you must understand. This is my discovery. I am the one who worked hard to learn the truth. I am the one who risked my life for the good of the clan, and I will ensure that our sisters and brothers know as much. I am in charge of what we do next.”

Renata laughed. “Feeling a little threatened, are we?”

“I’m only telling you what to expect,” said Melissa. “I will not have you stealing my thunder on this.”

“No one is stealing anyone’s thunder,” said Renata. She came close and put an arm on Melissa’s shoulder. “We’re a family. I know I’ve been tough to be around since my bond and I parted ways, but I haven’t forgotten who my family is. I haven’t forgotten that you’re my sister.”

The words were like the perfect medicine for Melissa’s sickness. All these thoughts about wanting to be queen, about wanting to unite the clan and replace Daciana—they were nothing more than desperation in the face of change. What Melissa really wanted more than anything was to go back to how things were. She missed the days when she and Renata were close.

Could it be that Renata missed those days too? Could it be that Renata didn’t want to fight but Melissa was forcing her to?

“You say these things, but I don’t know if I believe you,” Melissa said. “I remember how you looked at me at the hunt.”

Renata looked down at the ground. “I’m sorry for the way I behaved that night,” she said. “It has been so hard for me. What you and Dominic have—I had it too, once. But then I lost it. Oh, Sister, breaking your bond is a terrible thing, and when you challenged me at the hunt I became incensed with anger. You have everything that I want, so why were you trying to take something more from me? I am so jealous of you and Dominic. The way you two are when you’re together. I want that again for myself. I just don’t know when it’s going to happen.”

Melissa put an arm over her sister’s shoulders. Why had they waited so long to talk about this? Of course Renata felt this way. Everyone knew that Melissa’s bond with Dominic was the strongest in the clan. How could Melissa have been so insensitive? She had been so angry at Renata for changing after her bond broke, she had blamed Renata for everything that had gone sour in the clan, never taking a moment to think about her own behavior. Her sister had lost her love. Renata needed her and Melissa hadn’t been there.

“I’m so sorry this happened to you,” Melissa said. “We’ll get through it. Together. You will find another bond.”

“But when?” Renata said. “How long do I have to wait? Every sundown I wonder if this is the night when the feeling will come back to me, if this is when I will find another one to love, but it doesn’t happen. I just coast through the darkness, alone, barely any different than a freak like Sergio.”

“Don’t say that,” said Melissa. “It will happen again, and until it does, I’m here for you. I haven’t been a good sister. I know that now. But I’m going to change. I need you, Renata. The clan needs you.”

“The clan needs us,” Renata said. “Daciana is gone. Our sisters and brothers are lost. They are looking to us for leadership and we aren’t giving it to them.”

Melissa stepped away and looked her sister in the eyes.

“We’ll make this right, Renata. Let me tell you what I’ve discovered. I became suspicious at the Masquerade. Something about Nicky Bloom rubbed me the wrong way.”

This was the first little lie, completely harmless to the larger story because it was grounded in truth. Melissa had indeed been
suspicious of Nicky at the Masquerade.

Melissa went on to tell a truncated version of the past two weeks.
Paid attention to Nicky’s friends, watched her movements, noticed some suspicious activity…

“I visited Annika Fleming and looked in her head,” Melissa said. “That’s when things started to get interesting. It seems that Annika was very close to Shannon Evans, and the two of them kept up a secret relationship, even after Shannon’s death.”

“A secret relationship?” Renata said. “You mean…”

“Yes, the Evans family was alive!” Melissa said. “Somebody tipped them off that Daciana was coming for them and they escaped. I found them in Rio de Janeiro. I looked in their minds. You won’t believe what I found. They were working for Falkon Dillinger. They were using the Ventigen facilities here in Washington to do a secret project for him, and when they were discovered, they hid in Brazil and continued their research there.”

“What kind of secret project?” Renata asked. She went to inspect the bodies on the floor now, squatting over them one at a time as Melissa talked.

“He is trying to create an immortal! Falkon Dillinger is desperate for his own clan to grow as ours has, and since Sergio is entirely unique, he is trying to do it artificially! And it appears he’s been at it for many years. The Evans family took over the project a decade ago from scientists who had been working on it in Europe.”

“Fascinating,” Renata said as she investigated the woman lying dead on the floor. “What does Nicky Bloom have to do with all of this?”

“She is his slave! Falkon is the reason Nicky is here. He put her in the contest and placed her in this giant house that is custom-built to trap and kill a vampire! Tonight I came here knowing Nicky would be at the auction. I intended to look in the minds of everyone I found to see what I might learn.”

This was another lie, but again it was harmless. Melissa would have looked in the minds of these people had they not died first.

 
“What I found was a house full of people prepared to kill me,” Melissa continued. “These people were highly trained assassins. The men came out from holes in the floor and fired some laser gun at me that burned like the sun. And the woman had a cyanide capsule in her mouth. When I killed the rest of her team and her fate was clear, she killed herself before I could look in her head. All of this is a charade! Nicky Bloom isn’t some new girl from Chicago who wants to be a vampire. Falkon put her here so he could lure Sergio Alonzo into this house and kill him! He intends to grow his clan while at the same time halting the growth of ours. We are under attack and need to respond with violent force.”

Renata stood up and walked to Melissa, stepping over and around the bodies in her path. “This is amazing,” she said. “I’m curious to know more about the Evans family. What did you do with them after you looked in their minds?”

“I killed them,” Melissa said. “They were immensely important to Falkon’s work. Without Hank Evans and his research, Falkon’s project could not continue, and when I looked in Hank’s mind, I saw that he was days away from presenting his latest findings to Falkon. I killed Hank and took the report of his latest findings where Falkon won’t find it.”

“Good thinking,” said Renata. “Where did you put this report?”

“I took it back to the Farm. We can get another scientist to look it over and tell us what it means.”

“So Dominic is protecting it for us?” said Renata.

“That’s right. He will keep it safe until we have need for it.”

“Well, it sounds like you have thought through everything,” said Renata. “But I think there may be one problem.”

“What’s that?” Melissa asked.

“Come over here and look at this woman on the floor,” Renata said. “I was just inspecting her and I found something quite curious.”

Renata led Melissa across the room and to the body of the woman who had poisoned herself.

“Lean down close and pull back her collar,” Renata said.

Wondering what she could have possibly missed when she inspected the body herself, Melissa did as Renata instructed, getting down on her knees and looking close at the woman’s neck.

“I see nothing unusu--”

As she spoke the words Renata attacked her from behind, biting into Melissa’s neck and ripping out her carotid artery. Blood gushing from her neck like a fountain, Melissa fell to her back, unable to speak, a fog coming over her vision. As Melissa landed on the ground, Renata struck again, this time thrusting her fist at Melissa’s chest. Renata punched through flesh and bone and grabbed hold of Melissa’s heart. She pulled it from her chest like a carrot from the ground, and Melissa fell limp, knowing this was an injury that would not heal.

Melissa’s final vision in life was of Renata squeezing the heart in her hand, bursting it like a water balloon.

After taking leave of the bodies on the floor for a few moments so she could wash her hands and face, Renata returned to the front room and stood above Melissa’s corpse.

“Stupid, sentimental fool,” she said.

She reached into her pocket, pulled out her phone, and called Falkon Dillinger.

“Hello Renata,” he answered. “What can I do for you this night?”

“I just had an interesting conversation with my sister Melissa,” Renata said. “It was her. She was the one who went to Rio and killed our scientists.”

“Does she have my report?”

“She took it to the Farm. Her bond is watching over it.”

“I presume you have taken care of her,” Falkon said.

“Yes, but only after she told me everything. She was under the impression that Nicky Bloom came to Thorndike as your slave, and that you intend to use her to kill Sergio.”

“Nicky Bloom? Isn’t that the new girl you were telling me about? Where on earth did Melissa get that idea?”

“It sounds like they had an encounter and Nicky told her as much. And now I’m standing in Nicky Bloom’s house where three assassins who were armed to the teeth tried to kill Melissa tonight. And before I came here I learned that Nicky’s plane has charted a course to Northern Italy for her date. Is there something you aren’t telling me?”

“Northern Italy? The girl is coming here?”

“Right to your neck of the woods. Almost like it was all planned.”

“There is no plan. I swear it. I know nothing about this Nicky Bloom. I have never met her. But I certainly intend to do so now. Where is she landing? I will have her picked up at the airport.”

“You’ll wait for me before you do anything,” said Renata. “I’ll leave for Italy tonight. I don’t want anyone looking in Nicky Bloom’s head before I do.”

“Suit yourself,” Falkon said. “I look forward to seeing you.”

After ending her call with Falkon, Renata dialed a new number on her phone, this one to the head of staff at her mansion.

“Yes, My Lady. How may I be of service?”

“I need you to send a team to a house in Bethesda. I’ve made a bit of a mess that I need to have cleaned up.”

“Of course, My Lady. How many servants should be in this team?”

“Half a dozen should do it. There are dead bodies on the floor. I want all of them gone and I want the entire place made spotless.”

“Spotless. Yes, I understand.”

“One of the bodies is pretty big. We will need somebody strong to lift it. Be sure to send that new boy Melissa left us at the Masquerade. What was his name?”

“His name is Frankie. I will be sure to send him.”

END

Acknowledgements

My wife, Julie Baum, served as alpha reader, beta reader, editor, and consultant on this book. It is my opinion that this book is better than the last one, and Julie’s influence on the manuscript is the reason why.