Chapter 111

“Since our only lead right now is Terry, then I propose this idea,” Julian said. “We need to snoop around his mansion.”

“You want us to walk straight into the lion’s den.” Nicholas crossed his arms over his chest.

“Not walk,” Julian said. “Creep. It’s not snooping if they know you are there. So we move silently and undetected until we find whatever information we need.”

“It’s a big mansion,” I said.

“He has an office,” Julian said. “That’s where we need to look.”

“I don’t like the thought of Piper in there,” Nicholas said. “We know Terry has some kind of attachment to you. You’ll be in the most danger if we go.”

My heart raced for sure. I wasn’t looking forward to crawling through Terry’s lair, just like I’d rather avoid seeing him altogether for the rest of my life. But we needed this information, and I could help. And if worse came to worse, I would have the chance to prove myself.

“Isn’t that what your self-defense lessons are for?” I asked him, cocking my brow.

He glowered at me. “One lesson is not enough.”

“So teach me more then.”

“I’ll have to.” In his eyes, a flash of fire sparked. He remembered as well as I the near kiss we shared when he’d held me during our first lesson. When I struggled in his arms, and we both felt the heat rising between us.

I swallowed thickly, remembering it now. A bit of that fire rekindled inside me now, looking at him, and his wide shoulders, and his kissable lips. If I moved a bit closer –

“I’m sorry to cut in, but we’re doing lessons now?” Julian asked. His smile had taken on a sharp edge.

I forced myself to look away from Nicholas, so that I could recover myself. Then I cleared my throat.

“Nicholas is teaching me some self-defense maneuvers,” I said.

“She wanted to learn,” Nicholas added.

Julian’s brow lowered. “Let me guess. Here’s how to break a hold, and the like.”

My cheeks burned a little. He no doubt saw.

“Well, if Nicholas wants to teach you how to protect your body, then someone else should teach you how to protect your mind,” Julian said. “Fair’s fair. Terry likes his mind games, so to help prepare for them, you should take mental self-defense lessons from me.”

I remembered Terry’s mind games and the off-putting things he liked to say around me. I wouldn’t mind having some preparation against that, and Julian seemed earnest, even if Nicholas was glaring at him.

“Okay,” I said. “That sounds like a good idea.”

Julian nodded. Nicholas continued glaring.

“Maybe we should get back on topic,” Nicholas said.

“Right,” I agreed.

Julian shrugged. “I’ll nudge the producers to push for a competition event at Terry’s mention. At this point, he’s inserted himself into everything anyway. We might as well give him the attention he so desperately craves. It would give us reason to be there in case we are caught.”

“He’ll hide all of his information if there’s an event there,” Nicholas said. “Even if we could get into his office, I wouldn’t expect to find something there. It would be a needless risk. We’d be on his home turf. He could set traps for Piper and make her disappear.”

“You don’t know that,” I said.

Nicholas held my gaze. The gold in his eyes shimmered. “I’m not risking you.”

The words warmed me, but they were misguided. “It’s not up to you.”

Nicholas’s jaw tightened.

Julian glanced between them. “Listen, this might not be the only way. It’s just the most obvious one. We don’t have to rush into things.”

“Piper needs time to prepare,” Nicholas said. “She needs more lessons.”

“I get that,” Julian said. “We can delay this as long as possible to give her that time. It might take me a while to convince the producers anyway.”

“I should have a say in this,” I said.

They both looked at me. Then they looked at each other again, as if I hadn’t said anything.

I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t exactly offended. They both had good points, and I would feel more comfortable if I had more lessons. Still, I wanted to have my voice heard.

“What were you going to say, Piper?” Nicholas asked, after a moment.

I sighed. I wanted to rush things, to find out the truth about my sister. I wanted to save her, sooner rather than later. But what they had said made sense, and when I took a moment to logically think about it, going slow and cautious was the best course.

“I’m ready for my lessons,” I said. “So hurry up and teach me quickly.”

In the late afternoon, as Joyce’s date with his candidates occurred in the gardens, I played dolls with Elva in our room. Two guards were stationed outside my door. Mark was inside with us, but he was distracted. He’d positioned himself near the window, and was continuously glancing out.

After the sixth time I caught his attention wandering, I said, “Susie only thinks of Prince Joyce as a friend. Any kindness she happens to show him will be based in friendship, and not romantic love.”

Mark stiffened. “It’s not her affections I’m worried about.”

Odd. Did he think Prince Joyce would choose Susie as his bride, whether she complied or not? Although loveless marriages seemed to be the custom around here, Prince Joyce didn’t seem the type to be overly concerned about such things.

To be fair, however, I didn’t really know him all that well. Mark had known him for far longer than me, and in his position, he probably also knew many of the brothers’ secrets.

Did he know something about Joyce that would make the prince a danger to Susie?

I honestly couldn’t fathom it. He seemed to care more for his books than people. If anything, Susie was only in danger of getting a paper cut.

Mark glanced out the window again.

I doubted anything more I could say would ease him, so I kept my thoughts on Joyce to myself.

Elva lifted her doll impatiently.

“I’m sorry, honey. Where were we?”

We only played a few minutes more, when there was a commotion at the door. Suddenly Charlotte burst through the door, one of the guards at her side. She looked paler than I’d ever seen her and all but fell into a chair.

I rushed toward her at once. Mark left the window to join us.

“What happened?” he asked, just as I asked, “Are you okay?”

“I saw her. I can’t believe it. She was right there, plain as day.” Charlotte inhaled a shaky breath. Her eyes met mine. “She looked just like you.”

I glanced behind me to where Elva was playing with her toys. She was curious about the sudden situation, but didn’t seem to be paying attention other than a few passing glances.

Still, I lowered my voice. “You saw her? You’re sure?”

Charlotte, following my lead, also lowered her voice. “I went into the kitchens. I knew you were up here, so I was surprised when I saw you snooping through the pantry. You said you were getting snacks for Elva. I might of believed it if it weren’t for the password.”

“She didn’t know it,” I said.

Charlotte shook her head. “She had an entirely blank look on her face. She didn’t know what I was talking about.”

“The password system is effective, then,” Mark said. “Good.” He already had his phone in hand. I could only imagine who he was texting. Prince Nicholas, for one. The head of the guard maybe.

We had an intruder in our midst. One wearing my face.

Who knew what she was doing?

“Mark,” I said. “She’s still inside the palace.”

“I know,” he said. His thumbs moved quickly over the face of his phone.

He didn’t offer any comfort. Maybe there wasn’t anything to say.

My sister was part of the underground organization. Whether by choice or not, she complied with their bidding. And now she was here, using my face for some nefarious purpose.

I felt cold all over.

I had to stop her.