by Kate Jarvik Birch
Release Date: 07/01/14
Entangled Teen
Perfection comes at a price.
As soon as the government passed legislation allowing humans to be genetically engineered and sold as pets, the rich and powerful rushed to own beautiful girls like Ella. Trained from birth to be graceful, demure, and above all, perfect, these “family companions” enter their masters’ homes prepared to live a life of idle luxury.
Ella is happy with her new role as playmate for a congressman’s bubbly young daughter, but she doesn’t expect Penn, the congressman’s handsome and rebellious son. He’s the only person who sees beyond the perfect exterior to the girl within. Falling for him goes against every rule she knows…and the freedom she finds with him is intoxicating.
But when Ella is kidnapped and thrust into the dark underworld lurking beneath her pampered life, she’s faced with an unthinkable choice. Because the only thing more dangerous than staying with Penn’s family is leaving…and if she’s unsuccessful, she’ll face a fate far worse than death.
For fans of Keira Cass’s Selection series and Lauren DeStefano’s Chemical Garden series, Perfected is a chilling look at what it means to be human, and a stunning celebration of the power of love to set us free, wrapped in a glamorous—and dangerous—bow.
Praise for Perfected:
“Compelling, imaginative, and unique. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough!”
— Mary Lindsey, author of Shattered Souls
The party had
already begun by the time I slipped out my double doors and onto the patio.
Rosa had brought my dinner to my room instead of feeding me in the dining room
because the congressman’s wife had been worried it would seem peculiar to the
guests if I were seen eating one of my meals. But even though I’d just eaten,
the smells that drifted over from the long tables by the pool house made my
mouth water. What would I give to be able to try just a nibble of all those
fancy foods? I’d seen them all pass through the house on their way to the
tables: dishes of dainty finger foods arranged like tiny pieces of art on the overflowing
trays.
The patio was
sparkling with the white lights strung from the pool house and along the top of
the new tent. In the pool, glowing orbs floated on top of the water. The night
was warm, but not hot, and the music drifting out of the tent at the bottom of
the hill floated over to me on a light breeze. I stopped to soak it all in. It
was hard to imagine there had ever been a more beautiful evening in the history
of the world, and here I was, able to enjoy it all.
Across the patio
I took in the groups of people buzzing around the tables and talking in clumps
by the edge of the pool. They all seemed so grand, so important, smiling to one
another over fluted glasses full of sparkling drinks.
The congressman
and his wife stood amidst the clump of guests. They looked striking. His wife
was remarkable in her everyday wear, but tonight she seemed like an entirely
different person. The soft light illuminated her honey-colored gown, reflecting
in the tiny gold beads scattered across the bodice, which slowly disappeared as
they neared the ground. It was sleek and elegant, accentuating her broad
shoulders and long, slender body. Next to her, the congressman stood with his
hand around her waist, staring at her unwaveringly while she spoke. It was so
different from the way he looked at me.
I hovered at the
edge of the party near the pool house and watched as the guests orbited one
another.
“They really
went all out, didn’t they?” Penn walked up next to me wearing a crisp black
tuxedo.
I stared. He
looked handsome in this change of clothes, polished and refined. His father
would be happy to see his son blending in so well with his colleagues. But this
new version of him made me nervous. It wasn’t until I looked up at his tousled
hair and warm eyes that I relaxed, grateful that his new clothes couldn’t hide
the real him.
In each of his
hands he carried a long fluted glass. “I guess they don’t really get the
concept of excess,” he said, handing one of the glasses to me.
I cradled the glass in my hand and took
a tiny sip. The drink was utterly foreign. A million bubbles fizzed in my
mouth. “It’s magical,” I said, looking out at the sparkling lights.
Penn smiled and
stared at me before he turned to look out at the crowds of elegant people.
Finally he looked back down into his own drink, where the bubbles climbed up
the side of the glass like tiny strands of lights. “Sorry for being so cynical.
Sometimes my parents bring out the worst in me.”
We stood silent
for a minute, listening to the sounds of the other guests. Their voices were a
soft hum, punctuated every now and again by the sound of laughter and clinking
glasses.
After a minute
Penn turned back to me. “You look different tonight. I’m sorry I didn’t tell
you at first…when I came over. You’re really…beautiful. I guess I’m so used to
seeing your hair down, but it’s really nice up like that.”
“Thank you,” I
said, reaching up to touch the thick braid that wrapped around the top of my
head. It was the same way I’d worn my hair for years in the training center,
but it did feel different tonight.
“Do you want to
go see the dance floor?”
“I promised your
mother that I would stay toward the edge of things. She asked me not to draw
too much attention to myself.”
Penn shook his
head, as if he should have expected this from his mother. “It’s impossible for
you not to draw attention.”
He grabbed my
hand and pulled me onto the grass. In front of us, the tent was alive with
light and noise. A wide wooden dance floor had been laid over the grass at the
other end of the tent, and past it, the band stood on top of a small stage
pouring music out into the night.
“I really wanted
to dance with you,” Penn said, frowning as he looked out over the crowded floor
where his father stood talking with a large group of men.
The ceiling inside was covered with
large lanterns, which reflected off of the glossy wood, and as much as I wanted
to stand beneath them, I didn’t want to disobey the congressman’s wife.
I shook my head.
“I’m sorry, Penn. I can’t.”
Watching the
sweet way his face fell in disappointment made me laugh.
“Oh, you think
hurting my feelings is funny?” he asked.
“No.” I smiled,
covering my face with my hands.
Penn turned his
head away from me, but his smile was impossible to disguise. “Good thing I
don’t give up easily,” he said. He pulled me around the corner of the tent and
down the dark hill into the shadows. “We’ll just have to dance out here.”
With a quick
flick of the wrist, he grabbed me again by the hand and drew me into his chest.
My breath caught in my throat. After all the Dance lessons we’d been given at
the training center, this was my first time dancing with a man.
A wild tingling
spread through my chest, as if all those tiny bubbles in my drink had begun
exploding inside me the moment he began to move me across the grass in a slow
waltz. He wasn’t a great dancer, but his arms were firm, his hand warm and
strong against my back. I leaned my head on his chest, letting myself breathe
in the clean smell of his starched shirt and the lingering fragrance of the
bubbly drink on his breath.
“Ella?”
“Yes?”
“I…I’m sorry if
I’ve been an ass. It’s just… I can’t figure out what to think of you. I didn’t
want to like you,” he said, pulling me ever so slightly closer to him. “When my
dad said he was getting another pet from Greenwich… God, I was so pissed. Not
just because of what happened before, but because I don’t want us to be one of
those showpiece families my dad wants us to be. And I guess I thought you’d be
another plastic girl, one more plaything for my midlife-crisis dad, or something,
and it made me sick. But then I met you…” He paused, looking down at me. “You
aren’t anything like that other one. I mean, when I heard you playing the piano
the other day… You can’t teach a pet to play that way, you know? With so much
heart. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a person play like that.”
I wasn’t sure if the heat in my face was
the exhilaration of dancing, or modesty from hearing someone compliment my
piano playing. But was it really a compliment to tell me that I didn’t play the
piano like a pet from Greenwich? Because that’s what I was. And even if he
hadn’t liked the other girl, I couldn’t imagine how we could be that different.
“Thank you,” I
said, trying to keep some decorum in my voice the way Miss Gellner had taught
us to do when someone gave us a compliment, even though I still wasn’t sure if
it was a compliment, an apology, or a confession.
The only thing I
did know was how good it felt to be held by his strong arms as we moved in
small circles across the grass.
“It’s a perfect
night,” I finally said.
“Yeah.” He
grinned. “What did I tell you? My parents don’t really hold anything back.”
“I didn’t mean
the party,” I said, only realizing the words were too bold once they’d already
left my mouth. But it was too late to take them back.
I looked back up
at the gleaming tent. The congressman and two other men emerged, each holding a
drink in their hands. He squinted up toward the house and then out across the
lawn, obviously scanning the party for someone. My stomach flipped, knowing
that someone was me.
Penn followed my
gaze and the smile on his face disappeared. He grabbed me by the waist and
pulled me farther down the hill where a stand of lilac bushes bordered the
grass. My heels sank into the dirt, and branches smacked my arms as he dragged
me in behind him. Cool green leaves enveloped us.
“Shh,” Penn
whispered, pulling me closer to his side.
I held
completely still. My heart hammered in my throat, drowning out the sound of the
music drifting down to us.
“He didn’t see
us, did he?” I whispered after a minute had passed.
Penn pushed
aside a few branches and glanced back up to the tent. “I don’t think so,” he
said. He stood up and smiled.
“What?”
He shook his
head, laughing. “It’s just funny,” he said. “Hiding like this from my dad. I
feel like I’m a little kid or something.”
His laughter was
contagious, and I covered my face with my hands.
Penn cocked his
head and studied me. “You know, if you’re really trying to escape the party
tonight, I have a much better place for us to hide.” He reached his hand out
for mine. “If you haven’t seen a secret garden at night, you’ve never truly
lived.”
I took a deep
breath and grabbed his hand, stepping out of our hiding place.
“If you’ll
kindly follow me, madam,” he said, plucking a stray twig from my hair before I
wrapped my hand around his arm.
We wound our way
along the back of the yard until we came to a small gravel path that wove its
way through the orchard. Overhead, the moon shone on the pale stones making the
path seem lit, even in the darkness.
We walked in
silence for a minute, heading into the fruit grove. I’d never been there, even
during the day, but in the moonlight, the garden looked completely foreign, all
the colors compacted and condensed into cool silvers and blues.
Up the hill, the
party was still in full swing. My feet crunched softly on the empty path and I
took a deep breath, grateful to be away from it all.
“It’s right past
the orchard,” Penn said as we traced our way between the trunks of gnarled old
trees. They reached out to us with branches like withered, old arms, reminding
me of the witches from Ruby’s stories, and I held a little tighter to his arm.
Finally we came
to a tall hedge running along the back of the orchard. An archway was cut into
the center of it with a rusted wrought iron door that stood slightly ajar.
“I used to come
here all the time when I was a little kid,” Penn said, gently swinging the door
inward. “Nobody else comes here because it’s so overgrown. And I guess the
gardeners don’t want to bother with it if no one’s going to see it.”
We stepped
inside the courtyard. On all sides the eight-foot-tall hedges acted as walls,
enclosing it perfectly from the rest of the yard. If it hadn’t been for the
bright moon shining down on us, it would have been completely dark inside. We
walked farther in, along the same pale, gravel path that now curved through the
courtyard, and the party all but disappeared. Through the wrought iron gate I
could only catch a glimpse of the white tent flaming up the hill, and the
sounds of the party disappeared, replaced instead by the sound of crickets and
the wind blowing through the leaves.
“I guess it’s
kind of a mess,” Penn said. “Sometimes I wonder who built it. My mom and dad
had the rest of the grounds redone when we moved in, but this stuff has to be
really old.” He ran his foot along the patio in the center of the garden. “You
can tell from how worn the stones are.”
Penn kept
talking, and I turned in a slow circle, taking it all in. Thick weeds sprouted
up through the cracks in the pavers and drowned out the flowerbeds that must
have lined the edges of the garden long ago. In the moonlight, a spattering of
scraggly weeds with tiny blue flowers surrounded a gigantic overgrown rose
bush, which spilled petals across an old stone bench. And next to the bench,
water bugs scooted across a long, rectangular pond. The whole garden was a
messy tangle of vines and leaves, but there was beauty in the chaos, a wild
abandon.
“This is my
favorite part of the whole garden.” Penn took my hand and led me to the far
wall. “You can tell it’s been here for ages. The house was built in the
thirties and I’m guessing it’s probably been here since then.”
He pushed aside
a clump of vines and uncovered a small cavity in the hedge. Standing inside was
a stone statue of a woman. Her face was tilted up to the sky, eyes closed, with
an almost invisible smile on her lips.
“She looks like
she’s waiting for something beautiful to happen,” I whispered, reaching out to
stroke the rough stone.
“I think she
looks a little bit like you.”
I swallowed,
suddenly more aware of my own heartbeat than I’d ever been before. If I raised
my hand to my throat I’d be able to feel it there, fluttering like a thing with
wings trying to escape.
“I found her
when I was ten. I lost one of my toy cars back in the shrubs and when I went to
look for it, she was just standing there waiting for me. I’ve never shown her
to anyone else. I’ve thought about telling my sisters, but I don’t know… I kind
of like keeping her a secret. I guess I kind of like being the only one who
knows about her.” He smiled. “Well now with you, I guess there are two of us.”
“I won’t tell.”
We sat down on a
small bench near one of the walls. “So, what do you think?” he asked.
I breathed in
deeply, savoring the dank and woody smell of the garden. It was so different
than anywhere else on the property. “It’s so beautiful. It’s like the plants
are celebrating.”
Penn raised one
of his eyebrows. “Celebrating?”
“Never mind.” I
shrugged, flustered. “It was a silly thing to say.”
“No, tell me,”
he insisted.
I took a deep
breath. Maybe here in the dark I could say things that would sound strange
anywhere else. “It just seems like they’re happy not to be contained,” I said.
“People might try to force them to be something different for a little while,
but in the end, their true nature still comes through.”
“Yeah.” Penn
smiled. “It’s just like that. Sometimes it’s nice to have a little bit
of imperfection, isn’t it?”
…
Outside Penn’s
garden, the music and the lights brought me back into the real world. At the
top of the hill we both paused and stared at the gleaming tent.
Neither of us noticed his mother, but
all of a sudden there she was, standing next to us.
“I’ve been
looking all over for you.”
Penn’s reaction
was immediate. His hand flew from the spot where it rested at the base of my
spine and he stepped away from me. “Oh, hey Mom. How’s the party going?”
She dismissed
his question with a wave of her hand. “Your father has been looking for both of
you and I’m not sure I can hold him off much longer. I told him you were
introducing Ella to the Dibellas, but there’s not very much longer—” She
stopped talking midsentence and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear,
composing herself. “Hello, dear,” she said, smiling as the congressman walked
up behind us.
He took a long
sip from his glass and let his gaze travel over us. “The Dargers and Mortensons
are here with their kids. I thought you’d be entertaining them,” he said to
Penn. “When I saw them a minute ago, they were actually looking bored.” He
stopped talking, his gaze darting between the three of us. “What are you doing
out here anyway?”
When none of us
responded, he nudged Penn in the direction of the tent. “You certainly don’t
need to be out here keeping Ella company.”
Penn glowered,
but he let his mother lead him toward a group of people his age who were
sipping drinks and laughing near the buffet table.
After they were
gone he turned his attention to me. “I hope you’re enjoying yourself,” he said.
“I’ve got some friends who are dying to meet you.”
He took me by
the elbow, leading me in the direction of the tent, but before we entered, he
pulled me close, leaning down to speak in my ear. “Try not to distract Penn
anymore tonight, all right? There are plenty of other people here who’d enjoy
your company.”
The
congressman’s colleagues were all packed together on the far end of the tent,
laughing loudly and puffing on thick brown cigars. The air was thick with
smoke, but none of them seemed to mind.
“Not to worry. I
found her!” he announced, patting a few of the men on the back as we wove
through the crowd.
There was an
empty seat at a table in the corner and the congressman sank down into it,
smiling.
I stood
uncomfortably at his side.
“So you weren’t
lying,” a tall man with a mustache said. He placed his hand on my shoulder and
twisted me around so that he could get a better look. “And this one’s even
prettier than the last.”
“What did I tell
you?” The congressman grinned and took another sip of his drink. “Come on,
Charlie,” he called across the table to a man with blond hair. “You’ve got to
admit that you’re curious. This doesn’t make you change your mind about the
funding?”
The man gave a
consolatory smile. “You always have to be right, don’t you, John? How do you
expect a man to argue with a face like that? It’s unfair.”
The congressman threw his head back and
laughed, clearly enjoying himself.
“Come here,
love,” he said, pulling me down onto his lap. His breath was hot against my
neck, pungent with the smell of his drink. I wanted to turn my head away, but I
couldn’t. I took shallow breaths and forced a serene smile onto my face. They
didn’t need to know the level of concentration it took to look this way, to
keep myself looking pleasant instead of puckering with disgust.
It was a skill to silent my body. If I
hadn’t been trained by Miss Gellner, I never could have sat perched on the
congressman’s knee without squirming. And oh, how I wanted to. I wanted to peel
his hand from my waist. I wanted to scoot forward so I couldn’t feel the way his
belly pressed against me with each breath that he took.
I’d always been
told that a pet was meant to be a showpiece, but this wasn’t what I’d imagined.
I always assumed that I’d be admired, displayed even, but not handled like an
object, like a toy.
By the time the
congressman was done showing me off, the dewy turquoise sky had turned black,
dotted with an abundance of stars. And still the band played and the people
laughed and ate and drank. I watched Penn from where I sat on the low stonewall
that ran behind the party tent. He didn’t seem to have any trouble entertaining
the large group of friends clustered around him. I would have loved to know
what they were talking about, but even though I could see their lips move and
their heads tip back with laughter, I couldn’t make out their words.
After a while I
stood and made my way back up to the lounge chairs by the pool. They were
familiar and comfortable, the place I spent so much time lately, and I settled
down on one. I wrapped my arms tightly around my body. Already, I missed the
heat of Penn’s body so close to mine.
“Do you mind if
I sit?”
I jumped a
little, surprised to see one of the young men Penn had been talking to earlier
standing next to the foot of my chair. He smiled broadly, bringing two deep dimples
to his cheeks. He was dressed in the same sort of black tuxedo Penn was
wearing.
“Please.” I
gestured to the chair next to me.
“Thanks.”
Ignoring my gesture, he brushed my feet to the side and sat down near my legs.
“I’ve been looking at you all night. Have you not noticed?”
I shook my head.
“I’m Collin,” he
said, sticking out his hand for me to shake. I took it lightly, surprised when
he brought it up to his lips.
“I’m Ella.” I
didn’t know how much Penn had told him about me, but I didn’t want to make the
congressman’s wife angry by saying too much.
“It was kind of
rude of Penn not to bring you over to meet us,” he said, resting his hand on
the cushion near my leg.
I was suddenly
very aware of how short this dress was compared to the other gowns I was used
to wearing and I tugged at the bottom of it, trying to get it to cover my
knees.
“But I can see
how he’d like to keep you to himself,” Collin went on, scooting a little
closer. “So, is it true what they say about pets?”
I fumbled to
pick up my drink, which still sat on the small table by my chair, and took a
small sip, but with the bubbles gone it didn’t taste good at all. I swallowed.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Sure you do,”
Collin said, reaching out to put a hand on my thigh. “I’ve always wondered what
they taught you at those kennels. It can’t just be how to sit there and look
pretty.”
“I…well…there’s
etiquette…” I stumbled.
“Not that I have
a problem with you just sitting there looking pretty,” he said. “Has anyone
told you how gorgeous you look?”
“That’s very
kind of you.” I swung my legs over the side of the chaise lounge to give myself
some distance. I needed to get out of here, somewhere where I wouldn’t be such
a distraction. I was afraid this was exactly what the congressman’s wife had
been talking about. “I’m sorry, but if you’ll excuse me.”
“Wait,” he said,
tightening the grip on my leg. “We were just getting to know each other.”
My stomach
knotted and I tried to scoot farther away from his grasp. “It really has been a
pleasure meeting you, but I think Mrs. Kimball is expecting me.”
Collin laughed
softly. “No, she’s not. Come on, we both know she’s trying to hide you. I mean,
look at this dress.” He rubbed the fabric between his fingers. “When has a pet
ever worn anything like this?”
I shook my head,
trying to find my voice. “I don’t…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“It’s all
right,” he said, stretching his hand more fully across my thigh.
I swallowed back
the embarrassment that burned the back of my throat. “I…I shouldn’t be talking
to you. Mrs. Kimball asked me to keep my distance from the guests.”
“How about we
keep our distance from the other guests together?” He nodded his head at the
dark house. “I bet it’s nice and private in there.”
My gaze traveled
up the shadowed brick to Penn’s room on the second floor. My heart stuttered,
imagining how different it would feel if he had been the one to invite me
inside. I remembered the way he’d kissed me. Is that what this boy wanted to
do? I didn’t want to kiss him.
“That sounds
lovely,” I said, pushing down the fear in my voice. “I just need a minute to
freshen up. If you want to head inside, I’ll meet you in the conservatory in
just a few minutes.”
Collin grinned.
“Don’t keep me waiting.” He traced a finger along the collar of my dress. “I’ve
been imagining what’s under here all night. I don’t know how much longer I can
stand it.”
“I won’t,” I
choked out. As soon as he closed the door behind him, I slid out past the pool
house and onto the cool lawn. A swarm of tiny bugs hovered in front of me like
a cloud and I batted them away.
Never. I would
never let him touch me.
My legs wobbled
as I broke into a run. A dark undercurrent surged beneath the congressman’s
picture-perfect world, threatening to pull me down and it frightened me…almost
as much as what waited for me at the kennel if I was to make a mistake.
Book Blitz Organized by:
