IMPORTANT PLEASE READ
For anyone new reading this story, just know that this is a spinoff series to my other story Royals of New York. You don't need to read that one first, but there are little easter eggs and tidbits in this story from Royals, I highly recommend that story if you like this one. The characters make short appearances in both stories interchangeably, but I always make sure to add something to give a little background information.
Note: Davina's name does appear in this story and for those of you who haven't read Royals, she's has an affinity for technology and hacking, which make sense with the context.
Hi everyone, welcome to Hartford's Elite! It's finally here and I'm so excited for this series. I've decided to include the Necromancer as one of the characters and also Sebastian, but I couldn't figure out how to work them into the dynamic. So decided to merge their characters, using the Necromancer's name and Sebastian as the actor. Also side note, the first part is a repeat of the preview I had in royals, but this is a real chapter and there is more after that.
Hartford was a quite bright and lively place. It was all debutantes and riches, a home for the families who lived for appearances. Despite this fact, the elite teens of this society were much darker than anticipated. So, in light of the sunshine and uniformed children, it was also home to the most underground crime ring in the country. Unlike their Manhattan counterparts where no one bothered to hide behind a façade and they revel in the darkness of the city, Hartford only came out to play when the sun went down.
Tonight was the night of Valerie Tulle's seventeenth birthday, an event for the decade, and no one threw a party better than her adoptive brother Beau. Two main players in the crime ring.
Valerie was the oldest and most beloved, nicknamed by the public as the Hartford Empress. Despite her sweet appearance, she was the girl who knew too much. People went to her for answers to questions they shouldn't be asking, but with enough incentive, Valerie would tell you whatever you desired. She was smart though, smarter than most. She knew how words could affect someone, which made her the master manipulator, letting everyone who ever dared ask her a question become a part of her games.
Beau, who although was mute, was also notorious for throwing the most outrageous and underground parties the world had ever seen. He had a billion dollar underground speakeasy chain catered especially for their own and the business clients with less than stellar records. The only way to get invited to the exclusive society was to be born into it and every event was thrown like it was the last affair of their lives.
Other key players, Elizabeth and Josette Saltzman stood at the top of the balcony looking over the entire party. It was a very gatsby-esque affair, the mansion was decorated head to toe in golden light, exotic dancers standing on podiums, and the whole place moved in a euphoric state.
All of Hartford's teens were scattered around the courtyard and over the house, all dressed in very fifties inspired attire. Jewels were dripping off every neck and every eye was glossed over with a state of ecstasy. Courtesy of the Saltzman twins of course, they had supplied the party with every drug known to man and evidence of it was scattered over every surface. Lizzie and Josie prided themselves on their business, nicknamed the Siphonors Cartel. They lured in the naïve and fed off their euphoria. The air was permeated with the thick scent of drugs, alcohol, and money. The three parts of the Hartford teens most unholy trinity.
Just on the other side of Lizzie and Josie Saltzman through the glass doors was Jinni Blue. The girl who granted every wish, but not without a price. She was standing on the stage, singing a sweet tune. The whole crowd was mesmerized, both by her smooth voice and the various inhibitors flooding their systems. She made her way through the crowd, letting her fingers trail across the cheek of a poor boy who fell too hard, too fast for a girl who wouldn't give him the time of day. Everyone knew that Jinni could get you anything you desired, but her alluring state made you forget about the backstabbing consequences that followed every wish.
On the roof of the mansion that seemed to glow and float on air, stood Nora Hildegarde and Mary Louise Liane. They were a part of Hartford's ruling crime ring, holding their own against the others with their high class escort business. Mary Louise and Nora were quite the pair, both contained volatile tempers, but we're sweet on each other. The business they ran was dark like the night sky, sang like the angels, and smooth like honey.
By now the house was vibrating, almost like the whole appearance was more like a clouded memory than the vivid present. The starry lights made the fog stand out more, swirling around the courtyard, leading us straight to ethereal twins, Oliva and Lucas Parker. In a moment you could be staring at their angelic appearance, and in the next they could disappear from sight. That's what they were good at, helping people change who they were and helping them turn away from everything they knew. People who sought out the twins were the desperate ones, all out of options and nowhere else to go. They helped countless people disappear, but like all angels, they were armed, ready to strike down on those who would do them wrong. So, does that make them angels, or is that the devil in disguise?
Drugs, secrets, money, power. All things the Hartford's elite thrived on, and Asmodeus Necromancer was no exception, the Monarch of Death. He is the last player in the games of the elite with his world class gambling business, where the rich fled to bet everything but money. Asmodeus held the title of monarch, not only because he was the most ruthless, but because he was the one that understood the importance of the ring. Not only was it business, but it was personal, he understood that they take care of their own.
The party was nearing the early hours of the morning and the sun was starting to peak over the horizon. Gone was the euphoric state, replaced with withdrawals and cravings. It was farewells to the sweet tunes, now filled with silence. The night was gone and it was the time to say goodbye to the darkness that kissed their skin. The ten elite teenagers all raised their glasses to one another, mischief and corruption dancing in their eyes.
Welcome to Hartford.
Augustine Academy, conveniently the boarding school that housed Hartford's elite. The school, once a series of buildings owned by a rich man during the prohibition, was the only place where the Hartford families saw fit to send their children for a quality education.
The school was not only home to the elite, but it was the birthplace where the notorious Hartford crime ring was born. Which is how the ten teenagers found themselves returning from their thanksgiving break and Valerie's lavish birthday party.
The halls of Augustine were slowly filling with students and that meant business was returning as usual. To the untrained eye, all the Hartford teens looked like the epitome of perfection, big smiles, sweet words. But with a closer inspection, the appearance was incredibly deceiving. Their school being no exception.
The heart of the crime ring was born just beneath the school in a series of tunnels built during the prohibition to store, move, and make alcohol. Which had now been renovated to accommodate the blossoming businesses. Beau's Speakeasy was just in the center, the place where all the elite spent their nights, doing whatever they pleased. Then it split into a series of complicated hallways and doors, some leading to the outside while the rest of the extra rooms had been turned into offices and playrooms.
That's where Josie Saltzman was now, sitting in her lavish office. The walls were painted white, various pieces of art decorating the area, her and Lizzie's shared desk sat in the middle, and a bookshelf sat on a wall that was really a secret entrance to where all the addictive inhibitors were made. She was looking at an agreement, running over the details before she signed it.
"Knock, knock. Can I come in?" Josie looked up at the noise and came face to face with Nora. The brunette was dressed in her school uniform, a white button up, a plaid skirt that she rolled a little too far up her thighs, a navy blue blazer, and thigh high socks paired with black heels. She was leaning up against the door frame, fiddling with her cross that was always present around her neck. To the public eye it was just a necklace to show her devotion, but the others knew she stashed cocaine inside. It was a thick silver cross with a large purple gem in the center where the top and bottom could be unscrewed to reveal the additive white powder.
"I've been waiting for you for almost an hour." Josie responded, going back to looking at her files. She wasn't actually mad and Nora didn't seem apologetic.
"Well, I'm sorry that I've inconvenienced you." Nora said with a snarky tone, hopping onto Josie's desk and crossing her legs delicately. She always knew how to do that, have the perfect balance between snark and poise. "Did you get a name?"
"Shush." Josie warned her and got up to close the door, making sure no one was around outside. "Everyone's always eavesdropping around here."
"Well?" Nora demanded impatiently. She drummed her long nails against the desk, letting the noise fill the short silence.
Josie gave her a look and reached into the desk to pull out a thick manila folder and handed it off to Nora. She'd flown to Monaco to see Davina Claire, all of Hartford's grace and savior since Davina was known to have quite the talent in hacking. She often helped the Hartford teens erase a nasty record here and there, while also doing business with the crime ring. "Lizzie and I flew to Monaco on Sunday to talk to Davina and she got me all the information she could find."
"You didn't tell Lizzie or Davina anything, did you?" Nora demanded in a defensive tone. Josie crossed her arms and shook her head. She was smart, she knew Nora didn't want anyone else in on the secret just yet.
"Of course not." Josie snapped. "I told them both it was a bad business deal, that's it." Josie reassured her, she moved to sit next to Nora and offered her a drink. "I didn't look in the file, Nora, but why not ask Valerie? Or tell Mary Louise?"
"Because they can't keep this a secret." Nora responded indignantly, by now she was staring at the folder with glossy eyes and her hands were shaking slightly.
"Why are you keeping it a secret?" Josie asked softly, looking at a girl who wasn't so easily shaken. Maybe she understood it, maybe she never would.
"Some things are better left in the dark." Nora whispered. "You should know that better than anyone, Josie."
Asmodeus Necromancer was the classic case of a rich bad boy who knew he was gorgeous. He carried himself as if the world was simply there to accommodate him. He was the last one to return to school and the first person he spotted walking out of the main building was a certain blond haired, blue eyed, beauty with an attitude, the only person he wanted to see.
"Eliza, my love, my light, my kindred spirit." He called out in his thick British accent, tossing his bag to his driver and dropping a leather clad arm around her shoulders. She was stunning as ever, thick blond hair sitting in waves down her back, she wasn't in her school uniform though, she was clad in a burgundy dress with tights decorated with a black line that ran across the length of her legs and disappeared underneath her dress. It was a silky sort of fabric that moved when she did.
Lizzie scoffed and brushed his arm off. "I see you're back from break, Row."
"Well, I do go to school here, Doll." He murmured, plucking her textbooks from her arms. Lizzie rolled her eyes but didn't make any motion to take them back.
"Stop doing that." Lizzie snapped. She didn't want to stop.
"Doing what?" He asked innocently, flashing her a charming smile.
"Calling me Eliza and Doll." Lizzie hissed. The pair had quite the complicated relationship, and it all began the day they met and he refused to call her anything but Eliza and Doll. Which bothered Lizzie to no end, except that deep down it didn't.
"You can pretend to not like my advances all you want, Eliza." He emphasized, getting close enough for his breath to tickle her skin. "But I seem to remember you enjoying our lovely little encounter after Valerie's birthday party."
"A lapse in judgement." Lizzie retorted easily, not even phased by his innuendos. She pretended like a shiver didn't run down by her spine at the thought back from Valerie's party when the two of them had ended up in the backseat of his car. She was pretty sure her sparkly Stuart Weitzman heels were still in her car.
"And all the other times?" He asked, running a finger on her hip bone. This time Lizzie didn't give him an answer. She simply grabbed him by the collar and pushed her books out of his hands, smashing her lips to his. Classic Lizzie and Row routine. Fighting and not so secret kisses.
He responded just as furiously, pushing her against the side of the old brick building and leaving a trail of open mouth kisses along her collar bone. Lizzie whimpered against him and clutched his leather jacket in her hands, yanking it to signal she wanted it off. They were probably taking a risk with being seen, but like all of Hartford's elite, they lived for pleasure.
He complied with her orders and sucked particularly hard on the spot between her neck and her shoulder, smirking against her skin when she yanked on his hair. He knew her body better than anyone, and somehow that thought made Lizzie uncomfortable and nervous all the same. But that's what they were, guilt, pleasure, and secrets.
"Elizabeth Saltzman, Asmodeus Necromancer!" They both jumped apart at the sharp noise from one of their teachers, but neither looked apologetic or ashamed in the slightest. "What do you think you're doing! This is incredibly inappropriate behavior and you both should know better!" The teacher had her arms raised in a furious manner and her face was a deep red.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Asmodeus murmured. "Save us the lecture, we've heard it all before." Lizzie smacked him, she may not have cared about being in trouble, but she didn't want him to get them more punishment.
Although, it did little to placate the teacher that caught them in the compromising position. "Headmaster's office, now."
Lizzie and Asmodeus shared a look before brushing past their teacher and headed down the familiar path. Asmodeus slipped his hand back around Lizzie and tucked his fingers into the edge of her dress, earning a hiss from their teacher.
"Ms. Saltzman, Mr. Necromancer, please, sit." Their headmaster's voice ran out as soon as they stepped into the office. The pair of them glanced at each other with identical bored expressions before sitting down in the chairs in front of their headmaster's desk.
"I don't know what we've done wrong, Headmaster Augustine." Row said charmingly, leaning on his knees flashing a sweet smile at their headmaster.
He winced at Row's face and pursed his lips. "You and Ms. Saltzman have quite the disappointing record and it's time we've discussed it, not to mention the reason for why you were both just sent here." He said dryly, eyeing them both suspiciously. "Why don't we take a look, shall we?" He then reached into his desk and pulled out a large manila folder, letting it fall heavily onto the desk. "On the first day back from holiday, the pair of you got into a screaming match in the dining hall."
"That was all his fault." Lizzie hissed, sending a pointed glare at Row. He simply blew her a kiss and she scoffed.
"The next week, you were both caught in the fountain, half dressed might I add." Their headmaster interrupted, placing another paper in front of them.
"It wasn't my idea to get in the fountain." Row defended himself, holding his hands in a surrender motion. Lizzie simply shrugged her shoulders delicately.
"Week three." He snapped, getting tired of their antics, "the two of you managed to get caught off school grounds and were brought back by the police."
"Technically, the police didn't bring us back, they followed us here." Lizzie corrected. Row sent her a look and shook his head, she simply smiled. "I wasn't the one driving the police car either."
"You were driving the police car back!" Their headmaster screeched, clearly not aware of this fact.
"Not an important detail." Row said automatically, reaching out to flip the page over. "Moving on."
"Week six." Headmaster Augustine gritted out, slamming the paper down. "The two of you skipped six days and flew to Singapore."
"To be fair, that's an annual trip and it wasn't just Lizzie and I that went." Row said, pointing out the extra names written on the file.
"Mr. Necromancer, Ms. Saltzman, stop interrupting me or the both of you will have an automatic suspension!" The headmaster snapped angrily, smacking his hand on the table. Lizzie slid her finger across her lip, making a zipping motion and Row made an over dramatic face to close his mouth. "Good." He snapped, looking annoyed. "Week nine, the two of you flooded the ballet studio. Week ten, you publicly humiliated each other by posting lies and slander all over the dorms. Which brings us to this week, when the two of you created an explosion in the chemistry lab. Resulting in the school needing to be evacuated and fumigated."
He placed the whole stack of papers in front of them and clasped his hands over his lap. Lizzie and Row looked at each other for a moment before Lizzie flipped her hair and smiled brightly.
"Headmaster Augustine, I am sincerely sorry for all of our, how should I put this," Lizzie hesitated, before pursuing her lips. "Indiscretions."
"Elizabeth Saltzman, you and Mr. Necromancer have quite the record and frankly, I have expelled children for less. Not to mention this is just your shared record from this year, I can still pull out your individual records." He threatened. Lizzie, shook her head and looked down at her lap, they both knew what kind of things were on there. None of the elite ever got caught for their nightly activities, but pushing the limits of authority was frankly a habit they acquired over the years. "Don't think I've forgotten about the statute you both sunk in the lake last year." Headmaster Augustine began, staring them both down. "Now you're smart kids, I'm not going to pretend that the only reason you haven't been kicked out yet is because of your parents' influence and we are the only school that hasn't banned you from returning."
"So if you're not going to kick us out, then what are we here for?" Asmodeus asked, flashing a devious smile and dropping his arm on the back of Lizzie's chair. She sent him an annoyed, tight lipped smile and crossed her legs, leaning away from him.
"You are here," their headmaster snapped, "because detention and confining you to your houses had done little to tame your behavior. I've decided it's time for a different approach." He then stood up and walked around his desk to sit on the edge, making sure he had the attention of both teenagers. "So, instead of sticking you in a classroom or a dorm room, I've decided to take a very different approach."
Elizabeth Saltzman and Asmodeus Necromancer exchanged very worried looks. It seemed as if their antics had finally reached a breaking point.
Luke Parker walked down the row of many buildings that made up Augustine Academy and found himself walking through the girls' dormitory and knocking on Mary Louise's door. Like the rest of the crime ring, the two of them had an odd relationship. It was never a romantic thing, but there wasn't an explanation for it either.
"Come in!" She called in her thick accent, Luke walked in and saw that she was half dressed and decluttering her closet only to replace it with new clothes she bought over break. Her room had evidence of her escort business everywhere, extra shoes, extra clothes, hidden paperwork all attributed to the girls she had working for her. But to everyone else she just looked like a rich kid who shopped too much and didn't organize her homework.
"Hey, Mary." He said, sitting down on her bed unphased by her blatant disregard for clothing. He'd seen her like this a million times.
"Can I help you with something?" Mary Louise hissed in her snarky tone, she wasn't being mean, that was just the way she was. He didn't really care for her tone either.
"Maybe." Luke replied hesitantly. He sat up and motioned for the blond to sit down next to him. She complied but took two tops with her to decide which one she wanted to get rid of and which one she wanted to keep.
"What is it, Luke?" Mary Louise asked him, not particularly caring about what he had to say. Maybe he needed to borrow a few girls for a job, maybe he had something else to tell her.
"I got a note yesterday." He started, reaching into his pocket to pull it out. It'd been crumpled multiple times and wrung out again. "It's for another job."
"That's not exactly new, what's so different about this one?" Mary Louise asked, reaching out for the note, but Luke yanked out of her reach. She looked oddly at him and he looked helplessly at her.
"Wait," he warned her. "It's from your brother."
Mary Louise paused for a moment and paled. She had three brothers, Oscar, Beau, and Malcolm. Oscar was fourteen, too young to be caught up in any of this, well disregarding that fact that the crime ring was built when Mary Louise was that young herself. Her next brother was Beau, and he was in the crime ring already, which would make him the least plausible choice. And that meant Malcolm had run into trouble and he didn't have and out this time.
Malcolm had never really fit in well with the rich lifestyle, he couldn't pull off the façade as well as everyone else. He acted out, got a little too addicted to the alcohol, the drugs, the darkness. Truth be told, he'd broken away from the family and Mary Louise wasn't actually sure where he was now. If anyone knew it was Beau.
"Let me read it." She whispered. Luke hesitantly handed her the note and she scanned it quickly. It wasn't very long or detailed, but it was definitely Malcolm's handwriting.
I need an out. I'll have half a million dollars to you by Saturday.
-Malcolm
Jinni Blue wasn't like the other kids. She didn't have a trust fund lined up for her when she graduated and a nice house in Hartford. She was placed among the elite based on pure luck.
Every year Augustine opens the school up to a lottery system in order to show that they don't just cater to the rich. They accept one child out of hundreds of applicants every year and Jinni Blue was that lucky girl. Although she may not have been blessed with riches, Jinni spent her life in the underground long before she fell into the Hartford ring. That's what made her special, because no matter how the elite acted or what they did, it would never put them on the same standards as Jinni.
But this was a cut throat society and that meant money really does mean something, no matter how much they tell themselves it doesn't. But if that were really true then the crime ring would be nothing.
Jinni was a smart girl and maybe that's why she fit in so well with the other teens. She knew that the second she stepped into Augustine that she was no longer Jinni Blue, lottery winner. She had to be Jinni Blue, the mysterious heiress with millions of dollars attached to her name.
No one knew the true story behind where Jinni came from, but that's what made her fit in so well. They thrived on mystery and that's what Jinni provided for them. That's what made people so drawn to her.
That was until Valerie Tulle discovered the only piece of information that could destroy her entire life.
"You can't tell anyone, Valerie." Jinni nearly begged, key word being begged. She didn't submit to anyone.
"Well." Valerie murmured, leaning against the wall of Jinni's office. "You know how this works, Jinni. Someone comes looking and I provide the answers."
Jinni knew where this was going. Valerie was purely swayed by money, and that meant Jinni had to give her something she wanted more. "What do you want?"
"I don't want anything from you." Valerie said simply, shrugging her shoulders delicately.
Jinni sighed in an exasperated way, leaning back in her chair. "I know how to play this game too, Valerie." Jinni snapped at her. "What is it gonna take to keep you quiet?"
"How about we make a deal?" Valerie proposed. Jinni flinched, making deals with Valerie Tulle was dangerous. There was a reason most people who came knocking on Valerie's door made sure they paid their debt. The last person who owed Valerie a favor almost landed in jail and needed the Parker twins to disappear.
Jinni was stuck, and she knew Valerie made sure of it. "Alright, Valerie, what do you propose?"
"Don't worry about that right now." Valerie answered, plucking at the white flowers on Jinni's desk. "Just know you owe me a favor."
Although they all had protected each other, because that was their way of life. They all also danced on a fine line between cooperation and destruction. One missed step and you'd go crashing down, maybe someone would save you, or maybe they were the ones who pushed you in the first place.
All Jinni knew was that she was screwed and in a place like Hartford, she didn't know her way out. Maybe after so many years pretending to be one of the elite, she forgot she wasn't born one, and that probably signed her death sentence.
It's goodbye to another day and the sun has gone down. They say Hartford is all about money, debutantes, and reputation. But they never tell you that the appearances of the sweet faced teens turn dark when the moon replaces the sun. They won't tell you that the bright smiles and diamonds attract the deadliest monsters because you'll never even realize you're looking at them till it's too late.
Ahhh, it's finally here! I know I promised I'd have it up earlier but my grandpa was having some health issues and I didn't have the time to get things done since I was taking care of him. But things are better and here's the first chapter!
Let me know what you think!