Perfect Mistake (Privilege 3)

Allison shoved a pine branch aside. "I don't know if we should be sharing tasks."

"She's right. I think I'll keep mine to myself, thanks," Kaitlynn said.

"What does yours say?" Brigit whispered to Ariana, leaning close.

"It's too dark out here. I can't make it out," Ariana replied.

"Here," Brigit said. "You can use this."

She lifted her wrist and pushed a few rubber bracelets away from her chunky watch. With a click of a button, the face illuminated big and bright. Ariana stopped walking, pulled out her card, and tilted the watch face toward it. There, in silver ink, was her task:

MAKE A SPECTACLE OF YOURSELF

Ariana's heart dove. "What? Are they kidding?"

Brigit snorted a laugh when she read it. "Mine says, 'Embarrass the crown prince of Jordan at the NoBash.'"

"But I thought--" Ariana paused, unsure how many of her theories and how much of her knowledge she should reveal. Then again, Brigit

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had obviously been tapped before. She had to know even more than Ariana did.

"You thought what?" Brigit asked as they speed walked to catch up with the others.

"I kind of thought Lexa was in Stone and Grave," Ariana whispered. Not to mention Palmer, whom she had assumed was president or leader or grand poobah or whatever they called the number one Stone and Graver. She couldn't believe he would set her up to embarrass herself. "Couldn't she have made sure it was something less . . . horrible?"

Brigit pressed her lips together in a knowing way that made Ariana's skin prickle. "Stone and Grave wants what it wants," she said cryptically, lifting her shoulders.

Ariana sighed. She hated when other people knew more than she did. But in this particular case, it might be better for her not to dig too deep. At least not yet. But why make a spectacle of herself, when all Brigit had to do was embarrass someone else? It seemed completely unfair.

"Hey Ana, can you come up here a sec?" Kaitlynn shouted from her place at the head of the group.

Ariana bit her tongue to keep from cursing the girl out.

"I'll be back," she said to Brigit.

She maneuvered her way past Tahira and Allison, who were also whispering to each other, and joined Kaitlynn at the front of the group. The trees were growing thicker, the underbrush encroaching on the dirt path, and Ariana was starting to seriously doubt that this was, in fact, the way they'd come.

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"What do you want?" Ariana asked under her breath. Something tickled her ankle and she told herself it was just a twig or a weed, and not a spider.

"Yeah, listen, I obviously need to be in Stone and Grave so I'm thinking, to make it easier for everyone, you should just drop out of the running," Kaitlynn said quietly, her gaze dead ahead.

Ariana laughed. "Pardon me if I don't dignify that with a response."

"What's so funny?" Tahira asked from a few yards back.

"Nothing!" Kaitlynn sang in reply, upping her speed slightly so that Ariana had to jog in the dark to keep up.

"It's only fair, A," Kaitlynn continued, her tone diplomatic. She lowered her voice so that it was barely audible over the sound of their crunching steps. "You're set. You've got an identity, a trust fund, a future, but me . . . I've got two years to make connections that will take me beyond APH. I'm going to need these guys to help me do that."

"You really think that once you're in and they figure out that Lillian Oswald has no background whatsoever, they're going to help you create one?" Ariana asked. She struggled to catch her breath. Between the exercise, the nerve--racking darkness, and this conversation, she was starting to perspire. "They'll probably just boot you back to the BrendaT," she said through her teeth.

"You heard what they said. If you're a member, they protect you. They shelter you. And they're insanely connected," Kaitlynn replied. "So yes, I do think they'll help me."

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