Chapter 10

*A/N – this is my last chapter in this part. :( But, I still have shout outs!

Mixandmingle – hahaha! :) Party Time!

Denim Jeans – I got tired. This one will be longer!

And quick question of the moment: are you wearing green?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

"So what happened?" Hazel asked Ryder.

"All of the branches planned to use me because my dad died," Ryder said. "My dad told me they would right before he died and he told me he trusted the Starling's. He also told me they were back stabbing, pieces of… crap, like all Ekaterina's. I got tired of it when I was seven, so I ran away. I came back here and Jeeves raised me, but I was always going places to sabotage the Starling's during the Clue Hunt. I made them lose."

"Dude," Hazel said, "they must've been mean."

"They treated me like Cinderella – locked me in the attic room while they went out to eat, made me clean like a maid, the triplets blamed stuff on me and I got in trouble – the only difference is I didn't get the ball."

"That's coming," Piper sang.

Ryder gave her a confused look and shut off the Xbox.

"Sa – I mean Leo – likes you," Hazel said.

Ryder's face turned red and Piper jumped up.

"OH MY GODS!" Piper yelled, giving Ryder a hug. "YES!"

Hazel raised an eyebrow at Piper. Ryder smiled.

"Ok, so maybe a little…," she mumbled.

Piper smiled. She began jumping up and down and Ryder and Hazel began laughing their heads off. There was a knock on the door and Leo stuck his head in. The three girls began laughing harder. Leo had started to speak but when they started laughing, he was confused.

"Um…," he said, kind of awkwardly. "Did I miss something?"

"No," Piper laughed, gasping for breath.

"Someone's here for you, Ryder," Leo said, completely confused.

"What?" she said. "No one knows I'm here except Sinead, y'all, and Jeeves."

They all stopped laughing as Ryder let Leo in and looked out the door. Then she closed it.

"What're you doing?" Hazel asked her.

Ryder put her hand on the wall and the sound of scanning was heard. A section of the wall opened up to reveal something that made everyone smile: a slide to downstairs. Leo's mouth dropped. Ryder the bar above and swung down the slide on her back. Hazel was next, except she wanted to come down backwards. Piper went down on her stomach and Leo did the same thing.

The wall opened in the kitchen and all four of them tumbled out in the kitchen floor. They all started laughing as the wall closed. Ian was standing getting him something to drink when they came out. He screamed like a girl and jumped. They all stood up and walked in the dining room. Percy, who was eating a blue donut, jumped.

"How did you guys get there?" he asked with the donut still in his mouth.

"Ryder has a slide in her room!" Hazel said.

The donut fell out of Percy's mouth. "Can I slide?"

Ryder face-palmed and told him he could later. Marshal walked over.

"You're Ryder Sage?" he asked.

"What's it to you?" she said.

"I'm with the Madrigals and I've been sent to protect you."

"I can protect myself just fine; I've been doing it for fifteen years."

"Not my problem. Get in the car."

"Just do it," Nico said, not too thrilled to be here.

Ryder rolled her eyes. "Or what?"

Marshal glared and Ryder finally gave in. "Fine," she snapped.

"Good," Marshal said, smiling. "Now will you four get in the car?"