The Conspiracy of Us (The Conspiracy of Us 1)

“And it’s very convenient for us that that’s what the world believes. Avery, listen. I promise, I’ll explain it all. But we have to go before Stellan and Luc—”

This time I was the one holding up a hand. “So you’re actually trying to get me to believe one of the families started both World Wars,” I said. “And the other eleven . . . participated?”

“Of course.” He paced the room again, like a professor lecturing to a class. “The families had to take sides. You know the history of which countries lined up where. You just don’t know that each of those countries had a family of the Circle behind it. Trust me, things would have gotten much worse if we hadn’t. And it’s not only history.” He plunged ahead, seeming to gain steam. “Even now, some of the Middle Eastern families . . . Well, they’re difficult. And you see how the ramifications of that bleed into the world. Or sometimes, certain families use their influence to modify the stock market. Or banking interests.”

“Modify.” Now, that made sense. Rich people manipulating the stock market I understood. “So if strapless dresses aren’t flattering on a Circle member, they can put halters on the cover of Vogue and make them popular instead?” I asked, not sure whether I was joking or not. I glanced accidentally at the bloody gold dress.

“If they cared about that, then yes. Absolutely.” Jack rubbed the back of his neck. I could see his compass tattoo through his sleeve.

“This is all insane, you know,” I said. “You sound like one of those paranoid people on the Internet telling everyone to wear tinfoil hats. Next you’re going to tell me you killed JFK.”

Jack looked up. “Not me personally.”

My mouth fell open.

“I’m sorry. That wasn’t funny. But . . . there were reasons for it.” Jack shot me an almost-sympathetic look. “I’m sure it must seem absolutely mad from the outside, but it’s the reality of our lives. Of everyone’s lives,” he said quietly. “The world doesn’t operate like most people think it does. I’m telling you the truth.”

It did seem absolutely mad. But I couldn’t help thinking about my original suspicions. Mafia, or politicians. Wasn’t that kind of what he was describing? Politician-mafia. On a huge, huge scale. I crossed my arms over my chest, only partially to hide the fact that my hands had begun to tremble again.

“So what you’re saying,” I ventured, “is that Stellan wasn’t exaggerating at the prom when he said the Circle runs the world.”

“Avery!” Luc’s footsteps clomped up the stairs, and I snapped my mouth shut.

Jack started to open the door. “You’re coming with me to the Saxons,” he murmured.

I ducked in front of him. “Sorry, I’m throwing up,” I called down the stairs. “You probably don’t want to come up here.”

The footsteps stopped abruptly. “Oh,” Luc said. “Um. Is Jack still with you?”

I glared at Jack and nodded at the door. He frowned. “I’m sitting outside to make sure she’s all right. She’s a little shaken up,” he called, and I pulled him back inside and slammed the door. We were both right. I was shaken up, and I was thisclose to being sick.

“Let’s pretend for one second this is true,” I said once Luc’s footsteps had retreated. The music came back on and switched from Bach to some kind of French hip-hop. “Why would these Order people care about me? There have to be a ton of Circle members more important than a teenage girl.”

Jack sat on the tiny vanity chair and propped his elbows on his knees. “The Order is an opposition group. They don’t think the Circle should have as much power as they do. They’ve been a thorn in our side for a long time, and they’ve been ramping up their efforts against us recently.”

I made my way to the warped window and stared outside as the afternoon light faded to evening.

Jack took a breath and continued. “Where you come in is with something called the mandate.”

The word hit me like a punch to the gut. I closed my eyes, suddenly feeling like I’d been waiting my whole life to hear this. A thrill of fear flared through me. “What exactly is the mandate?” I finally said.

“The mandate . . .” Jack buttoned and unbuttoned one cuff. “If you don’t believe the rest of it, you’ll find this ridiculous, but the mandate is like a prophecy. Among other things, it gives us a way to subdue the Order.”

I stared at him. “A prophecy? You’re right. I don’t believe you.”

“It has a lot of basis in history, and—”

“How?” Now I was the one pacing. “How is this mandate supposed to work?”

“‘The rightful One and the girl with the violet eyes . . . ,’” Jack said. “That’s the most important line. And the line the Order cares about says, ‘the means to vanquish the greatest enemies.’”

“The greatest enemies are the Order.”

Jack nodded.

“And that’s why they’d want this violet-eyed girl killed, to make that impossible.” I’d already started to assume that my mom’s mandate and the Circle’s mandate were not two different things. That when I’d heard her mention that word on the phone so long ago, she made up that that’s what her work orders were called to keep me in the dark about my father’s family.

But now I couldn’t stop thinking about all the times she got weird. Got nervous. And then we’d move. I’d always attributed her anxiety to work, but hearing this, I had to wonder if she hadn’t just been keeping the Circle from me, but had actually been going to a lot of trouble to keep us from them, and from the Order.

I traced a crack in the tile floor with one foot. “Why would they think I’m the specific purple-eyed girl the mandate is talking about?”

Jack’s jaw tensed. “The thing is, very few females get the gene for the violet eyes. Almost everyone who’s ever had them is male. A girl with the purple-eyes gene is about to be born, to the Dauphins.”

“But . . . ?” I knew a but was coming.

“But, until the Dauphins’ baby is born, you are the only girl with purple eyes in the world.”

I leaned hard against the windowsill. “That’s—” I was about to say that was impossible, but really, compared with the rest of this, was it? “Let me make sure I’m understanding,” I said, feeling shaky again. “What you’re telling me is that, one”—I held up a finger—“you’re part of a world-controlling secret society. Two, there’s an opposing secret society. Three, you need me, because of the color of my eyes, to stop them, and therefore, they want me dead.”