Chapter 103

On the dance floor, Nicholas placed his hand on my hip. I placed mine of his shoulder. The orchestra began to play, and Nicholas led me forward in a dance.

His jaw was clenched and he wasn’t looking at me. Even compared to our previous dances, his movements now were stiff and unnatural.

He was mad at me, unjustly, and knowing that made me equally mad at him.

“You can’t keep me from talking with your brother,” I said. “You can’t dictate who I talk to at all.”

Nicholas huffed a sharp breath, too full of distain to be a laugh. Then he glanced down at me and entirely dropped the façade of humor.

“It’s inappropriate for you to leave in the middle of the celebration to run off and fuck my brother.”

I missed a step and stumbled over my own feet. Nicholas’s firm grip was the only reason I stayed upright.

“What?” I hissed. “Are you out of your mind?”

“Don’t lie to me, Piper,” Nicholas hissed back. “You are always sneaking off with him. And then that night… Why else would you knock on his door so late?”

“I am not having sex with Julian!” I said the words too loud. A few of the dancing couples around us stopped to turn and look. I was so embarrassed I wanted to die.

Nicholas urged me to keep dancing and he led me away from that group.

“Julian would not be a good lover for you, Piper. He’s selfish. He’s going to break your heart.”

“Apparently we’re just fucking,” I snapped. I couldn’t believe he would think me capable of indulging in a carnal relationship with Julian right in the middle of the competition. It hurt me a bit, so I lashed out, wanting to hurt him too. “Who said anything about getting our hearts involved?”

“Piper…”

“Is this why you kissed me that night? You thought I’d jump from one brother to another?”

“No,” he said, firm.

“Then why did you kiss me?”

He looked away from me again. “It was a mistake.”

Ouch. That hurt worst of all. “You can’t mean that.”

“It didn’t mean anything, Piper. Not to me.” The words were clipped. They didn’t sound true. But he still said them. He wanted me to believe them.

“If you believe that, then it shouldn’t matter who I fuck,” I said.

His hand clenched on my hip, bunching my dress into his fist. “He’ll hurt you.”

“No, Nicholas. You’re the only one doing that.”

That seemed to shock him, and he stumbled this time. He caught himself quicker than I did however, and was never in danger of falling.

“Just stay away from him,” Nicholas said. His voice was softer now. “Please.”

I’d heard enough. I pushed away from Nicholas, ending our dance. He hesitated but eventually let me go.

“You’re such an asshole, Nick.” I blinked back tears from my eyes.

I turned from him then, and found Julian where he waited at the side of the dance floor. He smirked at me.

“Trouble in paradise, Piper?”

I was in no mood to humor him. I shook my head, hoping he would take the hint. “I need to speak with you. Now.”

Julian shrugged but took my arm. Together we left the main ballroom. I glanced back at the door and found Nicholas watching, his face dark and brooding.

Julian led me to a sitting room, where we sat at a small table. Brian was already there and poured us each a cup of coffee. I looked at Julian. Of course he would know that I would want to talk to him, and he planned ahead. I bet he even knew I would fight with Nicholas.

“Let me guess,” Julian said, as he added sugar to his coffee. I took a sip of mine. “Nicholas thinks we’re fucking.”

I spit my coffee out back into the cup.

Julian smiled wide. “I guess right?”

I rubbed my forehead. “It doesn’t matter what he thinks.”

“Oh, no?”

I wasn’t telling the truth and we both knew it. Of course I cared what Nicholas thought. Our kiss in the hallway the other night had rekindled in me a fire I hadn’t felt since we had split years ago. I didn’t think my body capable of wanting anyone anymore, yet here I was, wanting Nicholas as strongly as ever.

“Go easy on him, yeah?” Julian said. “For years, the guy thought you left him for another man. Of course his jealous over you burns too hot.”

“If you are so worried about it, why don’t you tell him we aren’t together?”

Julian sipped his coffee. “Mostly because I think it’s funny.”

“You’re terrible.”

Julian shrugged but didn’t deny it.

“This isn’t why I wanted to talk to you,” I said.

“Oh, I know. You missed me so bad when I was gone, huh? You just can’t stay away.”

“Cut the act,” I said with a sigh. I knew Julian well enough by now to know that his rebellious streaks were mostly put on, to hide whatever he was truly up to. He played most people like a magician with an audience, wowing them with forced misdirection while playing tricks right under their nose.

“You disappeared for a reason, and I would like to know what it is.”

“The gig is up, huh?” He leaned his elbow on the table and rested his chin in his hand. “Well, fair’s fair. You’re right. I didn’t just disappear for the fun of it, although it was fun.”

He reached into his pocket and produces the feather I had found when I searched the sitting room where Terry had assaulted me.

“Brian and I spent the past few days visiting several dress and fabric stores to try to find a match to this feather. When we did find a store with feathers that matched, we had to check if those feathers were recently purchased. Then, when we found a store with those criteria, we had to search through hours upon hours of surveillance footage to see if we could find the buyer.”

“And did you?” I asked.

His smile told me he did. He reached into his pocket again and this time retrieved his phone.

“I don’t want to shock you, so I will say this clear. You won’t like what’s on this footage.” His smile dimmed now, as he clicked through his phone.

I couldn’t imagine seeing any footage of the person responsible for stolen my wolf as something I would like, so I didn’t put much thought into the comment.

Instead, I let my excitement grow. With this footage, we finally had a lead. Something we could act on. Someone we could track down and interrogate.

Julian primed the footage. He paused it on a screenshot and then passed his phone to me.

The footage was black and white and grainy, but it was clearly a fabric store with rows and rows of fabrics and ribbons. The camera here was position directly over a collection of embellishments, the feathers among them.

A woman was reaching into the feathers. She had more in the plastic store basket hanging off her arm.

The footage was speckled and a bit blurry, but I still recognized that woman.

I knew her face, because it was my own.

A curse fell from my lips.

No wonder I had thought I recognized her at the party.

This woman at the store, the one buying the feathers, the one at the party, the one with my wolf. They were all the same.

They were all my twin sister.