Prologue
It was the middle of the night. The kingdom had long since gone to sleep, anticipating the following day’s festivities. It had been planned that they would receive the announcement of the royal family’s new member tomorrow. There would be a feast and a ball to celebrate the new child’s name day, where two names would be announced: one in the case it was a girl and one if it were a boy. Now — unexpectedly — they would also celebrate its arrival, and only one name would be announced.
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That was tomorrow. Tonight held a completely different air about it.
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The Queen had gone into labor hours ago. Protocol called for a team of medics to help the delivery. They had all been sent away. This birth needed to remain secret for the protection of the kingdom. This time the Queen was accompanied only by her head maid and trusted confidante, who had watched when the last two princesses were born. She should be able to replicate the procedure without issue . . .
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“What’s taking so long?” The King grumbled while he paced up and down the corridor outside the Queen’s chambers. He had been doing a lot of that, unable to remain still for too long. Even when his best friend, the General of his army, asked him to sit, the King refused.
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The General said nothing. He had answered the question ten times and he knew no answer would appease his King. He would relax only when the Queen’s maid came to give them the news. Judging from the screams coming from her rooms, it wasn’t going to be any time soon.
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The weather didn’t help any of their moods. When the Queen had appeared in the King’s chambers clutching at her stomach with a look of panic contorting her gentle face, it had started to rain. It was a bad omen presenting itself, the General was sure of it. The storm raging outside the castle walls, pounding on the windows like an angry demon, was a harbinger of the times to come.
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The General had held his position as leader of the army for a long time. He had seen much beside the King’s side, gained his trust, and had been allowed to learn the deepest secrets the Royals kept. He knew that this birth would be different than the last two the Queen had endured. The only two servants close enough to the Royal family knew it. It was why the Queen was so alone now.
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It was why it was taking so long, where previously labor had been easy and quick for the Queen. If they were all lucky, she would lose the child. It was the easiest and least painful way. But the General would never voice this to his friend, even knowing his thoughts were in agreement.
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“It shouldn’t be taking this long,” the King muttered under his breath as he sat down next to the General. The General patted his friend on the back in a feeble attempt to settle his nerves.
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Throughout the hours, the King followed his established pattern. He paced for a few minutes at a time, he asked why it was taking so long, then he sat down for a few more minutes. The General watched patiently but avoided trying to provide much comfort. It would all be futile in the end, anyway. The whole time, the Queen screamed and screamed, driving the men outside her room mad.
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It was almost morning when the Royal family’s wing of the castle finally went quiet. The Queen’s maid poked her head out the door shyly before coming out into the hallway and closing it behind her. The King and his General stood to attention, waiting for the news.
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“I’m sorry,” the maid said in hushed tones and — for one deceivingly mirthful second — the General pictured a stillborn child. The relief lasted only a moment. Only until the maid finished her sentence. "It’s twins.”
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The General fell back against the bench he’d been sitting on as if he’d been struck by the same lightning illuminating the world outside in flashes. This was exactly what he had feared. He knew what had to happen now, but he doubted the King would be strong enough to go through with it.
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“I want to see them,” the King announced and pushed to the door.
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“Your Majesty,” the General called in alarm just as the maid moved away from the King’s path to let him through. “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”
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“They are my children,” the King answered sternly before disappearing into the room.
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The maid followed him inside, leaving the General behind. He knew this was a mistake, maybe the biggest mistake the King had ever made. It would be much harder to convince him to follow what protocol demanded of him now. The General began to devise a plan that would make the King fall in line with the job he had taken on when he accepted the crown.
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Chapter One - Fifteen
“It’s just blackness. Plain blackness. There’s no sound and no light. Like one of those sensory deprivation things. I’m alone with my thoughts except I’m not me. I can’t see who I am but the thoughts I’m thinking are so angry that it can’t be me, you know?”
“What are you thinking?”
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“That it’s just a matter of time before someone makes a mistake and I’m free. That I’m going to get my revenge and eliminate everyone who gets in my way.”
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The two girls were walking toward the cafeteria and against the crowd of teenagers who were all making their way to class. Sophia and Kary were lucky enough to start the day with a free period, which wasn’t normal for freshmen, but the girls had taken courses during the summer and had gotten ahead.
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Sophia raised an eyebrow at her. “Don’t ever tell a psychologist about your dreams. They sound like they belong to a serial killer in the making.”
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Kary pulled her skirt down. The friction it made against her backpack kept causing the soft black material to ride up as she walked. It normally wouldn’t have been a problem, but she’d woken up late this morning and she hadn’t had time to find her shorts. She was going to have to stop procrastinating on the cleaning of her room.
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She looked her best friend up and down, openly sizing her up. Sophia was about a head shorter than Kary’s five foot three. She had short black hair and, despite her dressing like she was in a biker gang, had never been in a fight — real or simulated.
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“Well.” Kary smiled sweetly. “If that’s the case, I know who my first victim will be.”
“Please, put me out of my misery,” Sophia said soberly. She stuck her arm out toward Kary.
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“Put your wrist away.” Kary slapped her hand. “I forgot my best friend butchering utensils at home.”
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“Shoot,” Sophia frowned in mock disappointment.
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The second bell rang just as they sat in the uncomfortable plastic chairs of the most remote corner table. A few kids scurried out, propelled by the signal that they were late. They would a hundred percent be getting detention. Private schools were extra strict about punctuality. And uniforms. About everything, really.
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“So, are we on tonight?” Sophia asked.
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Kary drew her binder out of her backpack and slammed it on the table. On the cover of every one of her books and notebooks, she’d stuck a homemade sign. Kary, it read, Car as in the automobile and ee at the end.
She’d started using the sign in grade school, when all the other kids and teachers had mispronounced her name. She detested being called Carey. No, she was not Carey Bradshaw. She hated that joke. Her name was Kary and anyone who said it wrong got the notebook to the face.
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“My dad’s gone,” Kary confirmed. “He left for Shanghai with Lisa last night.”
“He took the girlfriend?” Sophia snickered. “That’s a first. When do they get back?”
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“Monday.” She checked the time on her phone. “Where are the others?”
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“I don’t know,” Sophia answered absently. Her attention was on the counter at the other side of the room and on the girl talking to the lunch lady.
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“Earth to Sophia.”
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“I’m gonna go order a coffee.” She got up awkwardly.
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“Make mine with milk!” Kary called as she watched her friend walk toward the counter mechanically. Why Sophia didn’t just ask May Lin out was a mystery. The worst that could happen was that the other girl said no.
“Oh my God,” shrieked a voice. Before Kary could turn or discern who its owner was, someone crashed against her table.
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Kary jumped. “Are you okay?”
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The girl stumbled into a chair as she rubbed her ribs. “I’ll be fine.”
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It was Jessica. She must have run here because Christina and Kevin were further behind. Kevin was still jingling his keys, reminding Kary that he was the only member of their group who could legally drive, and therefore the only one who could pick their friends up for school.
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“Morning,” Kary greeted them.
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“Okay, so I know we’re late,” Christina said, “but I do want to go to part of my class. Let’s do this quick.”
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Sophia came back with the coffees. She handed one to Kary and sat down as she exchanged hellos. “Jess, do you have the stuff?”
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Jessica nodded. She refused to use a backpack like a normal school-going teenager. Instead, she had a purse on her lap that she was holding on to for dear life.
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“No one’s watching,” Kevin said with a roll of his eyes. “You can take them out.”
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“If we get caught, we can get suspended,” Jessica reminded them, looking each of them in the eye as if trying to convey the gravity of the situation.
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“If we get caught, we could go to jail,” Christina corrected. She wrenched the purse out of Jessica’s hands. “But our parents would never let that happen.”
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“She has a point,” Kary agreed.
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Jessica sighed, defeated.
Christina dug through Jessica’s purse, and pulled out a wad of cards held together by a rubber band. They were the fake IDs that they were going to need tonight.
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Kary didn’t know when her birthday was. She’d been abandoned as a baby on her parents’ doorstep. She hadn’t been a newborn precisely, but no one had been able to find any record of her birth. Her parents had taken to celebrating that day as her birthday.
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She’d turned fifteen four days ago, and she’d celebrated with her father the way she’d done every year since her mother’s death. It was a tradition she didn’t have the heart to cancel. Her dad loved to spend that day with her and to try to make it as special as possible. This year, he’d pulled her out of school and taken her to Disneyland. They’d had a blast.
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But with his business trip in China, Kary was now free to celebrate with her friends in a way that her father would never approve of. As a matter of fact, all of her friends were breaking rules today. Like a rite of passage now that they were in high school.
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“Jennifer Jones?” Christina asked, reading the name on the first ID. “Seriously?”
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“Look, when my cousin asked if we had any name requests none of you said anything.” Jessica grimaced. “These are the names he picked.”
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“Maybe he should change careers,” Kevin suggested.
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“From sleezy fake document dealer to . . .?” Jessica raised an annoyed eyebrow.
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“To bootleg movie dealer maybe,” someone said from behind Kary. He bent to give her a kiss. “Morning, babe.”
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“Morning,” Kary said as Anthony took a chair. “You’re late.”
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“I had football practice.” He avoided her gaze, keeping his brown eyes on his phone.
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Well, if he was going to ignore her then she would ignore him right back.
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Christina, who still had the first card in her hands, looked at it once more. “Okay, but shouldn’t you be Jennifer Jones?” she asked Jessica. “Considering that your family calls you Jewel and everything?”
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Jessica shrugged, giving them all an affronted look.
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“Whatever,” Sophia sighed. “Just pass them out.”
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Jessica gave Sophia the first ID. In the end, Sophia was now Lucy Wayne. Kevin turned into Barry Turner. Christina became Natasha Black. Anthony remained Anthony but his last name changed to Star. Kary’s fake ID name was Petra Parker.
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Jessica’s cousin couldn’t have made it more obvious that all of those were fake names.
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Kary inspected the document in her hand. She had so much makeup on in the picture she’d taken for it that she barely recognized herself. She’d contoured her cheekbones so much that her face structure looked different. If it weren’t for her green eyes and reddish-brown hair, she would have passed for someone else, someone much older than fifteen.
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“So we all know the plan, right?” Sophia asked.
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“We meet at Nebula,” Kevin said. “Take a lot of money. The entrance fee is pretty high, and we’ll probably have to bribe our way in.”
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“No cards,” Jessica reminded them. “Nothing with our real name on it.”
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“Time?” Anthony inquired. His eyes were still glued to his phone.
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“Nine?” Sophia asked, waiting for Kary’s approval.
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“Nine works.”
“All right.” Christina clapped her hands together. “See you then. We have to get to class.”
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Kary watched them go. Anthony didn’t speak another word to her as he left with Kevin, Christina, and Jessica. He’d changed since starting high school. Where before he’d been sweet, now he was distant and standoffish.
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“What are the chances that he’s cheating on me with a cheerleader?” she contemplated. It’d fit the stereotypical football player image perfectly, and he’d gotten hot over the summer. He could definitely attract the attention of a cheerleader.
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Did Kary care if he were cheating on her? She would have a couple of weeks ago, now she wasn’t so sure. She’d changed since starting high school too. Or rather, she’d felt different for weeks but she couldn’t explain why.
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“I highly doubt it,” Sophia said. “Anyway, I’ll be at your house at five to get ready.”
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“I have practice until six.”
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“You can’t skip?” Sophia groaned.
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“If you asked me to skip school, I would say yes in a heartbeat.” Kary put her cup to her lips, but it came up empty. She’d drunk her coffee without noticing. “MMA is a different story.”
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“Who pays to be punched?” Sophia scorned.
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“Me,” Kary snapped. “And every girl should know how to defend herself anyway.”
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“Okay, Ninja Girl. Your house at six-thirty.”
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“Did you talk to May Lin?”
“I managed to say hello to her today.”
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“That’s great!” Kary said sarcastically. “At this rate you’ll be able to form a complete sentence in her presence by the time we graduate.”
Kary’s martial arts school was close enough to her house that her dad let her drive there even without a license or a licensed driver in the car with her. Just as long as she promised to go there and straight back without giving anyone else a ride.
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It was an easy request to comply with given that she had no friends in MMA. For one, she was the only girl in the class, something she considered incredibly old-fashioned. The times of set boys' and girls' activities were supposed to be over. The class should have been packed with girls wanting to learn to fight. At least in her opinion. Then there was also the fact that all the boys were a lot older than her and tended to ignore her unless they were paired up together to spar.
That was another rule she would be breaking today.
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She pulled into the parking lot without a hitch. Her driving had reached a level of perfection that surpassed that of her father. He drove like a madman and it stressed him out so much that he’d quit driving, preferring to be hailed around by a chauffeur. It had been the chauffeur, Spencer, who’d taught Kary.
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“What are you doing?”
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Kary started. She had been too caught up in her phone to notice the boy approach her. When she did look at him, she put her phone away immediately and smiled. “I was texting a friend about a party.”
The boy was tall and muscular, much more muscular than Kary would have expected for someone his age. He had short black hair and dazzling blue eyes. The prominent half-smile on his face was mesmerizing.
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“What’s your name?" she asked. She was sure she had never seen him here before.
“Aaron,” he answered. “You would be . . .?”
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“Kary.”
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“Interesting name,” he commented. "It doesn't sound American.”
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“It was the name written on the blanket they found me with.” That got her another raised eyebrow. “I was adopted.”
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“Interesting life you have,” he observed.
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Kary shrugged. “Not particularly.”
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The rest of the class’s members had started crowding around. They were beginning their stretches before training officially started. Kary set her belongings on the ground in a corner and bent to touch her toes. Aaron followed her the whole time.
“So,” he said. He once again had that grin on his face. “What party?”
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Kary eyed him, wondering if he would come if she invited him. It would be a great way to avoid Anthony and whatever was going on between them. “My birthday party. We’re going to a club downtown. You can come but you need an ID.”
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His half-smile turned into a full-blown grin and Kary couldn’t help replicating the expression. There was something about this guy that made her think of the Hollywood actors she often saw walking around the streets of LA. He had a different feel about him but Kary couldn’t quite say what it was.
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“Sorry, Princess,” he apologized. “I don’t have a fake ID.”
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Kary grimaced at being called 'princess'. “Kary,” she reminded him just in case he'd forgotten her name.
He said something under his breath. It sounded like he had said “for now” but Kary couldn’t be sure. She didn’t get the chance to confirm it either. Their Kru walked in to start class and the room fell silent, Kary’s conversation with the new guy forgotten.
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MMA was gruesome. She’d been training for four years and she was good at it. She was often paired with men who had more experience than her. Still, it was a demanding sport and there wasn’t a day when she left the class without a new bruise and sore limbs.
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She ended up being paired with the new guy, which didn’t prove easy. He was very well trained, and it was hard for Kary to keep up. He didn’t take it easy either, thankfully. It would have ruined her day to have him go easy on her just because she was a girl. When she left her class, she knew she was going to be purple all over tomorrow.
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Once in the safety of her automobile, she dialed Sophia’s number and waited.
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“Birthday girl!” Sophia answered on the third ring.
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“Are we pretending it’s actually my birthday?”
“Might as well. It might get us free drinks.”
Kary laughed, putting the key in the ignition and starting the car. “I don’t think clubs work like that. Anyway, I’ll pick you up in fifteen.”
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“I’m actually already in your bedroom.”
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“How’d you get in?” She pulled out of the parking lot. The streets were clear. If she went just a little over the speed limit, she’d be home in under fifteen minutes.
“Andrea let me in.”
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Andrea was their housekeeper. She had started working for her family around the same time that they had adopted Kary. The woman had helped raise her but instead of being a second mom, she was like a sister. Andrea was in on the plans for tonight. She’d agreed not to tell on her just as long as Kary kept her phone’s GPS turned on.
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“I’ll be there soon,” Kary informed Sophia. “Hang up. I’m driving.”
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“Hurry up. We only have two hours to get ready.”
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Two hours should have been plenty of time. It should have been, but they usually didn’t wear much makeup. Today was different. They needed to look older if they were going to get into Nebula. Who knew how long that would take.
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“Fifteen,” Kary repeated as the line disconnected.