Chapter 123

A guard was seated in a chair just inside my bedroom door. He looked nervous, his eyes darting all around. Behind him, Mark was standing tall, arms crossed. His features were stern. In front of him, Nicholas was pacing like a caged animal.

“Let’s go over this again,” Nicholas said. “In the middle of the night, you allowed someone who looked like Piper to enter her rooms.”

The guard bounced his leg nervously. “That’s right, Sir. I’ve been told that she sometimes keeps strange hours, and that I shouldn’t ask too many questions.”

That was true. I had sneaked out a lot to meet with Nicholas and Julian, for our investigation. Or once, to kiss Nicholas in the hallway. Although that hadn’t been my intention when I’d left the room.

Nicholas continued on, undeterred. “And when you saw this person last night, you allowed them into this room without asking the identifying question. Is that right?”

The guard swallowed hard. “That’s correct, Sir.” Above all else, this was the guard’s biggest failure. At the very least, he owned up to it.

“He’s new to the rotation, Sir,” Mark said.

“I know he didn’t mean harm, but the cost could have been…” Nicholas glanced over at me, where I attempted to distract Elva with her toys.

I knew what he was thinking. Jane could have killed me and Elva, or kidnapped one or both of us. We’d been totally exposed, vulnerable, lying here asleep all night. Neither of us had been roused by my sister’s silent footsteps.

Fortunately, after careful review of the room, the only thing that seemed to have been disturbed was the missing fabric.

“I deeply apologize, sir,” the guard said. “Whatever punishment you deem necessary, I will accept without question.”

“Punishment is not the issue. The issue is what could have been lost if…” Nicholas sighed. “No. Head back to the barracks while I decide what to do with you.”

The guard jumped to his feet and nearly tripped in his eagerness to follow his prince’s command. When he was out the door, Mark slowly closed it again.

Nicholas leaves where he was to come to my side. He sits down beside us.

“Here, Nick-lass.” Elva hands him the doll she’s holding. “I have another in the closet!” She springs to her feet and heads off to find it.

Nicholas looks at the doll, then lowers it. Instead, he holds one arm open for me, and I easily move closer, slotting in at his side. He drops his forehead to my shoulder and for a moment, we just hold each other.

I exhaled a shaky breath as some of the tension I hadn’t realized I’d held escaped my body. In Nicholas’s arms I felt safe in a way that I hadn’t all morning.

But I was angry too. My sister and my wolf had been so close, and I just slept straight through it.

“I let her get away,” I whispered.

“This isn’t on you, Piper. She never should have been allowed to get this close.”

“But she did. And I didn’t even wake up.”

“Piper…” He said it in warning, a warning based in concern. He must have known what I was going to say even before I did.

“We have to find Jane, even if that means using the tunnels again.”

“She didn’t come through the tunnels. I asked for confirmation from my men.”

“It doesn’t matter. That’s our only lead. We know she’s connected to Terry.”

“We should wait,” Nicholas said. When I opened my mouth to argue, he quickly continued. “I’m not saying never, but we should think about this first.”

“We have to act. Who knows what she’s planning? She was in here with Elva.” My voice breaks. “What if she is planning something with her? Nicholas…”

“Okay.” He squeezed my shoulder. “We’ll go. But not until tonight.”

I nodded, just as Elva returned with her third doll.

Nicholas stayed to play until late in the morning, when his duties finally pulled him away. He hugged Elva extra tightly before he left. He squeezed me too, though I pretended not to notice.

After lunch, Tiffany stopped me just outside in the hallway. She pulled me to the side so that we could speak privately for a minute.

“What did you want to talk about?” I asked when we were far enough away from the door that the other girls couldn’t overhear.

“Listen, Piper, Veronica and I have been noticing some strange behavior from you lately. It’s kind of freaking everyone out.”

She seemed earnestly concerned, her brow bunched up.

Lilliana had accused me of things too, but this didn’t feel like that. Lilliana was a master manipulator. I’d only known Tiffany to speak her mind.

“Tiffany, I really don’t know what you are talking about,” I said. I placed my hand on my heart, hoping she could see the sincerity I was trying to convey.

She must of, because her brow scrunched further. “Veronica and some of the other girls too have noticed you walking around alone in odd places of the palace at strange hours. Jessica said she saw you going in and out of rooms!”

Now, I could be accused of wandering around in the night, though usually I had Nicholas or Julian on my arm. It could even be said that I had been in odd places, since I’d been down into the cellar. But never, ever, had I gone into anyone’s room but my own.

The person Jessica and the other girls had seen must have been my sister Jane. But I couldn’t just tell that to Tiffany without exposing that I had a twin.

“I swear that whoever that is, it isn’t me,” I said. “Maybe there’s someone who looks like me and has been doing all that. But it’s not me.”

Tiffany frowned at me some. I could tell that she didn’t fully believe me. I couldn’t exactly blame her since I wasn’t telling the full truth of what I knew.

“But if this isn’t you, and just someone who looks like you, why haven’t we seen her around during the day? Like, surely if you had a twin somewhere around, someone would have noticed her.”

I didn’t flinch, but only because I was holding every muscle in my body extremely tightly.

“Listen, if that’s you, if that isn’t you, you better figure it out.” Tiffany pointed at me. “Because Lilliana has talked to the guards and they’re all starting to keep an eye out for you. You’re going to want to clear this up before it’s too late.”

I had every intention of clearing it up, though not necessarily in the way she thought.

No, instead, I was going to track down my sister and find out just what she was up to, and why, and make her stop before she hurt someone or herself.

That Jane had been able to get so close to Elva still gave me shudders. She could have done anything while I was fast asleep.

No number of assurances from Nicholas would help me feel safe again. I wasn’t sure I would be able to sleep even if Nicholas himself camped outside my door to protect me.

No. I’d only rest peacefully once more when Jane was caught, and the underground organization dismantled.

At the very least, when they no longer had Elva in their sights.

“Thank you, Tiffany,” I said. “I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

Tiffany nodded and left me. As I watched her go, I couldn’t wait for nightfall.

Jane had come to see me.

Soon it would be my turn to return the favor.