Sweet Deceit (Privilege 4)

Huh. Ariana wasn’t sure how to answer that. She couldn’t exactly tell him that she had broken out of a minimum security prison, gone on the lam for weeks on end, lied her way into Briana Leigh’s life, and then killed the girl so that she could have a second chance at living.

Kaitlynn shifted next to her, the ragged sleeve of her sack dress scratching the bare skin just above Ariana’s elbow. Suddenly Ariana knew exactly what to say, and Kaitlynn was not going to love it.

“Well, I’m not sure if you’ve all heard, but my father was murdered a few years ago,” Ariana began, putting on a slightly haughty tone. After all, she had a feeling that no one else in this room had suffered through quite the level of tragedy that Briana Leigh Covington had. “By my best friend.”

Ariana felt Kaitlynn stiffen, but she couldn’t stop now. She was telling the truth. And no one but she and Kaitlynn knew that the murderer was standing in this very room.

“My mom had already died of cancer, so after that I was kind of on my own,” Ariana continued, recounting Briana Leigh’s life story. “I had to find a way to get over it and move on. But the whole thing not only made me stronger, it also made me realize that one day everything can be perfectly fine, and the next it can all be taken away like that.” She lifted her right hand and snapped her fingers. “And it doesn’t even have to make sense. It can just happen.”

Ariana took a deep breath and folded her hands together at her waist.

“So now I live each day like it’s my last. I appreciate everything more. My life, my friends, my family . . . what little I have left,” she said in a mournful way. “But above all, I appreciate this opportunity. This brotherhood. And if I am given the honor of being initiated into Stone and Grave, you can be sure that I won’t take the society, or my brothers and sisters, for granted.”

There was a long moment of silence. Ariana could hear Kaitlynn breathing. The heat lamps above her hummed, and somewhere far off a door slammed. The interrogator turned his back on her and faced the membership of Stone and Grave. There was an almost imperceptible shift—Ariana couldn’t even make out what it was—and then he turned around again.

“We deem your answer . . . acceptable,” he said, bowing his head slightly.

And then he moved on to Kaitlynn. Ariana inflated with a rush of pride. It was all she could do to keep from glancing over at Jasper and grinning. He, Tahira, and Landon had already been deemed “acceptable.” Ariana wished they could whip off their itchy robes and celebrate.

“Who are you?” the interrogator asked Kaitlynn.

“Lillian Oswald,” Kaitlynn answered simply.

“That’s it? Nothing to add?” he replied.

“It was a simple question,” Kaitlynn said, lifting her chin.

He tilted his head in a menacing way. “Where do you come from? Who is your family? What do they do?”

Ariana’s heart squeezed. These were simple questions, too, of course. Provided the person answering them had any sort of past to speak of. Ariana took the risk of glancing over at Kaitlynn. Much to her surprise, the girl appeared perfectly calm and collected.

“I’m not at liberty to say,” she replied.

There was a distinct shift in the crowd of Stone and Gravers. They were clearly frustrated by Kaitlynn’s answers. The interrogator’s head tilted in the opposite direction.

“What do you mean, you’re not at liberty to say?” If possible, his voice became even lower and more threatening.

Kaitlynn shrugged. “I’m not at liberty to say.”

“Let me be sure I understand,” the interrogator said, stepping closer to Kaitlynn. He held his hands, covered in black leather gloves, together in front of him. “You ref

use to tell me where you grew up?”

“That is correct,” Kaitlynn replied with a quick nod.

Ariana bit down on her tongue, hard.

“Who is your mother?” the interrogator demanded.

“I can’t say.”

“Your father?”

“I can’t say.”

The interrogator huffed. “Can’t or won’t?”

“Can’t,” Kaitlynn replied coolly.