"Okay."
Lexa and Conrad walked the red carpet, looking every bit the movie--star couple. Ariana wished Lexa would fully invest herself in the guy already. She seemed to really like him, so why did it also seem like part of her simply wanted to make Palmer jealous?
Kaitlynn, Allison, and Zuri were piling out of the rear car now. Allison and Zuri made their way up the red carpet, arms linked, posing for the cameras as Kaitlynn ducked her head and moved quickly inside. Smart move, and one Ariana would be making as well. If either of them was caught on camera, it would all be over.
Behind Ariana, Brigit and Adam edged their way toward the door of their car. Ariana leaned over and stopped them.
"Wait."
208
"What's wrong?" Brigit asked.
"Tahira's just about to go through," Ariana said. "You want to be last, right? The big finale? Don't let her steal your spotlight. You know how much she'd enjoy it."
Brigit nodded and smiled. "You're right. Thanks, Ana."
"No problem,"
Tahira got out of the car with Rob, and right away, all lenses were trained on the princess of Dubai. Tahira ate it up, waving, posing, flashing her wide grin, swiveling her hips. She made her way to the top of the red carpet so slowly, Ariana had to take baby steps just to get there when she wanted to--right in front of Tahira.
"Hello, everyone! Well yes, of course! Brigit and I are dear, dear friends!" Tahira shouted, answering reporters questions. Ariana felt like hurling. Or, at the very least, stepping on the girl's glittery gold train so she'd trip and fall on her overly made--up face. But instead she had to c
oncentrate on walking slowly enough to get through the door just ahead of Tahira, and on making sure that none of the cameras could get a clear picture of her face.
"What're you doing, Covington?" Tahira hissed under her breath, keeping her smile on. "Trying to throw me into shadow with your big head?"
"Ah, Tahira. It would have to be bigger than yours to accomplish that," Ariana replied blithely.
Tahira's smile only faltered for a moment, and she went back to working the crowd. By the time they finally reached the door of the embassy, even Rob was checking his watch.
209
"Can we get on with this? I'm starving," he said under his breath.
"Do you think of nothing other than your stomach?" Tahira snapped. "This is practically my job, you know. I have an image to maintain."
"I know. Sorry," Rob said, chagrined. He lifted his hands in surrender as the line edged forward.
"Omigod, Rob, did I tell you? I got the best dirt on a donor," Tahira said out of nowhere. The hairs on the back of Ariana's neck prickled.
"Really?" Rob whispered. Clearly Tahira had broken the rules and told him all about Stone and Grave and her secret task. Ariana wondered if the Stone and Grave members knew about this. Or if there was some way she could let them know.
Of course, after tonight, it wouldn't matter anymore that Tahira had broken the rules.
"What is it?" Rob asked.
"I'll tell you later," Tahira said. Then she leaned toward Ariana's ear from behind. "But somebody's going daaa--own!" she sang under her breath.
It took every ounce of Ariana's willpower to keep from turning around and smacking the girl across the face.
She had to go. It was either her or Ariana. Simple as that. Ariana arrived at the front of the line.
"Please place any metal objects in the container on the belt, then move through," the guard instructed.
Ariana had nothing metal on her person, so she slipped through
210