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Dolly waits for me on the mansion’s front steps. Three Fates has beaten the evil out of her, and she finally acts like a sister instead of a monster. I heard that’s because the girls in her dorm are bullies. The ones in mine just leave me alone.
“Ready?” she whispers.
I give her a shaky nod.
As she rings the bell, Kappa reverses down the driveway and disappears through the gates. We’ll rendezvous with her after our mission in the back of the mansion where she’ll be parked.
We’ve practiced this a hundred times with our instructors. The moment our targets take us to a separate room, we need to strike. Failure to take advantage of the element of surprise will lead to an ordeal worse than their nasty punishments.
The door opens, and a gray-haired butler stares down at us with cold eyes. “Karen and Adele?” He doesn’t give us a chance to answer. “Follow me.”
Dolly and I exchange glances. Our instructors gave us these made-up names, but they didn’t tell us there would be a butler. My sister steps over the threshold first. I grab her hand, needing some of her courage.
We trail after him, our shiny shoes echoing through a foyer that seems larger than our entire house. Giant chandeliers hang from the ceiling like they’re about to crash over our heads, and the walls are lined with portraits of men whose eyes I’m sure are following as we pass.
I shoot my sister a frown and flick my head to the shoes. How are we going to escape in such noisy footwear? Her lips tighten as if the answer is obvious. We’ll have to take them off.
The butler stops at a door and slides it open, revealing a large dining room filled with men wearing suits. All the chatter stops, and every head turns to gape at us like we’re circus freaks.
My stomach drops. Our targets were supposed to be alone.
“Take your seats at the ends of the table,” the butler says.
Dolly turns to the right and walks toward a bald man who has risen from his seat. He’s dressed in a black suit with a face shaped like a boiled egg. I’m about to follow her, when the butler grabs my shoulder.
“You’re over there.” He turns me to the left, where a man identical to the first one holds out a hand.
The men around the table chuckle. Our instructors also didn’t tell us our targets would be twins like us. In fact, they didn’t even give us names. Swallowing hard, I walk on trembling legs toward the man, passing his friends, who stare at me like I’m going to be the next course.
Remembering everything I was taught, I take my target’s hand. He squeezes back in a grip so tight that I force myself not to wince.
He drags me onto his lap and murmurs into my ear, “Which one are you, Karen or Adele?”
“Adele.”
“Call me Cass.”
I stare across the table at my sister, who sits on the man’s lap, her eyes mirroring my terror. My fingers tremble, and my palms become slick against the cold fabric of my dress. This isn’t what they told us would happen. We were supposed to go in, take out our targets, and then leave.
The men restart their conversations, their laughter echoing through the room. Cass brings a tumbler to my mouth, fillingmy nostrils with the stench of liquor that smells worse than Mom’s nail polish remover. I let the liquid wet my lips but don’t swallow.
Across the table, Dolly meets my eyes again. She’s also pretending to drink.
“Relax,” Cass says, his arm tightening around my waist. His touch feels like a threat.
I breathe hard, reminding myself this isn’t much different from the private lessons. All I need to do is endure. When servers arrive with dessert, Cass adjusts me on his lap and tries to feed me a spoonful of chocolate mousse. I shake my head, remembering the instructors’ warning about drugged food.
“Worried about your figure?” he asks with a smirk, making the man beside him chuckle.
Shaking my head again, I glance across the table, where Dolly is eating the same dessert. The man feeding her takes a big spoonful for himself before offering her another, so I accept a tiny bite of the mousse. It might as well be whipped dog shit.
“Good girl,” Cass murmurs into my ear. “You and I are going to get along well.”
I force back a shudder. The rest of the dinner carries on with the men discussing finance, cars, and vacations, seeming to forget we exist. Then Cass’s hand slides down to my thigh, making every fine hair on my body stand on end. I block out his touch and focus on Dolly’s every move.
By the time the meal ends and the guests leave, my eyes are drooping from exhaustion. Cass scoops me up in his arms while his twin brother, Paul, does the same with Dolly. As they carry us out of the dining room and up a grand staircase, I fight to stay focused and alert.
Cass’s arm tightens around my waist even more as he and his brother part ways at the top of the stairs. When they walk inopposite directions, I twist around in his hold. Dolly’s eyes meet with mine for a heartbeat before Cass grabs my chin.
