Chapter 7
Bella
“So that’s the story of my stalker,” I tell Honey later.
We’re in our favorite corner of the cavernous university library, whispering.
The library attendants are all wearing dark robes with a bright yellow stripe that makes them look like bumble bees.
Every so often, one buzzes by and tells us to hush.
We’re ignoring them so I can tell Honey all about my brunch date.
She’s chewing her lip, looking distressed on my behalf. “What if he’s dangerous?”
“Oh, he’s definitely dangerous. But I can handle it.” I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Literally, I’m carrying a vial of a botanical blend made from the extract of hemlock. It’s less bitter, so it can be slipped into a cup of coffee. I could’ve poisoned Blondie at any point in our conversation.
But I haven’t explained to Honey the extent of my venefica studies yet, so I just say, “So far he hasn’t hurt me.
The opposite, in fact. I thought he was hired to be my bodyguard, but he denied it.
” He already knows that I’m trouble. I haven’t tried very hard to hide my supervillain tendencies for some reason. I wanted him to see it. To know me.
Usually, I do my evil deeds in secret, hiding them from everyone, including my father. But that moment in the poison garden, I wanted him to know. We were co-conspirators, and it felt wonderful. “Maybe it’s not smart, but I want to see him again. Maybe he’ll try to hurt me, but maybe not. Yolo!”
“Yolo?” Honey looks amused.
“Yeah. It means ‘You only live once’.”
“I know that. It’s just… people don’t really say that anymore.”
“What do they say then?”
“Ummm, DIFTP. Do it for the plot.”
I repeat what she said, but it doesn’t roll off the tongue as well as YOLO. “The plot?”
“Like, in a book.”
“Like a romance novel?” I love romance novels. I’m about to tell her about Thorbjorn, the muscular blond hero on the cover of Viking Thunder, when she asks, “What did his tattoos look like? Did he have any skulls on his hands?”
“Nope. But he did have a skull ring.”
“Oh! He’s Fraternitas.” She looks a bit more relieved, but then her forehead crinkles, like she’s puzzled.
“What’s Fraternitas?” I ask. The word sounds familiar, but I can’t place it.
“They rule New Rome. Unofficially.”
“I’m from New Rome,” I perk up. “I wonder if my father does business with them.” That would explain where I’ve heard of them.
“Um, they’re not exactly legit.” She still doesn’t know my father’s perfumery business is a front and that he does business with the criminal underworld all the time. “I actually—” She falls silent when someone approaches the polished wooden table and sits down across from us.
“Hey.” The newcomer pulls her earbuds out of her ears.
Her skin tone is a few shades paler than Honey’s, and she’s dressed severely, in a black skirt and sweater.
Under the sweater, her white shirt is buttoned to the collar.
Prim as a librarian, except she’s our age and wearing smoky eye makeup that complements her long, glossy black hair.
Honey lights up. “Hey, Raine. Are you working a shift?”
“Just got off.”
“I’ve been wanting to introduce you to my friend. Bella, this is Raine. She’s studying library sciences here.”
We exchange hellos.
“Bella’s not staying on campus either,” Honey says.
I nod to Raine. “My father doesn’t think I can be trusted in the dorms.”
“My stepbrother said the same thing,” Raine rolls her eyes. “He just loves having me under his thumb.”
“Maybe we can convince him to let you do a sleepover sometime,” Honey says to her. “I could use the company.”
“Or I just do it without asking permission. Anything to piss him off.”
“You’re invited too, Bella.” Honey grabs her notes and starts stacking them. “We can do it before the semester starts.”
A sleepover? I haven’t done that since elementary school, and I’ve been longing to have one with grown-up friends. It’ll be just like season six of Vampire Varsity, when they do a seance and summon the King of Hell the night before prom! “I’m in!”
Raine’s phone starts ringing to the tune of Funeral March. She fumbles to silence it, baring her teeth in annoyance. “Got to go. My stepbrother’s wondering where I am.”
“Me too,” Honey says. “I have a meeting with my advisor.”
With a quick goodbye, Raine takes off. Honey and I pack up and follow. I didn’t get a chance to ask Raine about her stepbrother or tell them both about my supervillain studies. I guess I can do it at the sleepover.
But before we part ways, Honey pulls me into an alcove under a brilliant stained glass window.
Her face is bathed in blue as she looks around to make sure we’re alone, then whispers, “Listen. I know Fraternitas. Before coming here, I worked at one of the clubs they owned. They even… well, let’s just say I know a lot about them.
” She bites her lip. She’s obviously not telling me everything, but this isn’t the place and the time to grill her.
“Why would one of them be following me?”
“I don’t know. I’ll try to get more information for you. In the meantime, be careful. Your stalker got that ring because he killed someone.” She pauses, waiting for her statement to land.
I nod, trying to suppress a smile. The fact that Blondie is a murderer only makes him more intriguing. I bet I know how he killed, too. I bet he put that spiderweb around his victim’s throat and squeezed.
Honey looks worried again, so I pretend to take her warning seriously. “Got it.”
“They have a code they follow. I’ve never heard of them harming an innocent.
But they don’t rule the city because they’re nice guys.
They’re ruthless when they destroy their enemies.
If one is stalking you, you might be in serious trouble.
And if your stalker is who I think he is, you don’t want to mess with him. ”
I’m still pondering Honey’s words as I walk home.
I know my stalker is dangerous. My father is always worried his line of work will bleed into our personal lives. My mother died because of it. After that, Papa tried to shut me away from the world. He always wants to play it safe, but where’s the fun in that?
I’m more fascinated by what Blondie might think of me than what he might do to me. I could call up my dad and ask him about Fraternitas, but I don’t want him to freak out and pull me from school. I’ll find another way to learn more about him. Contain the threat. Or tempt him to do something to me.
YOLO!
I like having a stalker. Especially one so pretty. I walk across campus, feeling a prickle on the back of my neck that tells me someone’s watching. It gives me a little thrill.
Pane P’s is closed, so I swing through a corner store and grab some donuts for dinner. I’ve got a long, lonely night of rewatching Vampire Varsity and reliving every moment of my brunch with Blondie.
But then I see my dad’s Rolls is in the driveway and perk up. He’s home, and that means some company until bedtime. He’ll grill me about what I’ve been up to, and we’ll have Thai or Chinese takeout for dinner.
My me time of fantasies of Blondie will have to wait. I skip up the driveway, never once guessing who lies in wait.
Kaiser
I stand in Bella’s home with St. James and Damien, the leader of the Fraternitas. We’re all in masks, mostly to protect Damien’s identity. Outside the brotherhood, he’s known only as The Devil.
We’re in the Poisoner’s office. Damien sits behind his desk, and Benjiro Bosco, the Poisoner himself, stands before him, like a supplicant.
“Once I sign this,” he motions to the papers on the desk, “it’s done? You will protect my daughter?”
“We will protect both of you,” St. James says.
“You will keep her safe?”
“You have my word,” I say. “She will belong to me. And no one touches what’s mine.”
The Poisoner’s shoulders slump. He knows he’s beaten. We’ve given him a good deal, and he knows it. I sense he’s actually relieved. He can’t defend his daughter against the Vesuvios, and he knows it.
St. James goes over the contract, and the Poisoner signs it. He has no choice.
I add my name. Just my first name because my last name is long forgotten. Damien and St. James sign as witnesses and add a wax seal.
I can’t stop the feeling of triumph from spreading through me. Belladonna Bosco is officially mine.
“I need to tell her,” the Poisoner says.
“She’s on her way now.”
I pick up the contract. Written proof that I now possess her.
She won’t like it. She’ll fight me, but the contract is signed. It’s too late.