Chapter 127

I was surrounded by a feeling of warmth and safety. I blinked open my eyes, and I found myself pressed into a hard, masculine chest. Beneath my ear, I heard the steady thumping of a strong heart. Lifting my head, I looked up at Nicholas.

He was carrying me through my bedroom toward my bed. I couldn’t remember how I got here. I had been crying. Had I fallen asleep? My eyes were sore and my chest heavy. Maybe my body just gave out.

“Nick –”

He shushed be gently and tilted his head. Following the length of his gaze, I saw Elva resting peacefully on the bed. Her arms were stretched out above her. Her leg was kicked half-out from under the covers. She was snoring softly.

I would have hated to wake her.

Nicholas lowered me down onto the bed. I moved myself under the blankets. He helped lift them over my body. Then he started to pull away.

I reached out and grabbed his wrist before I knew what I was doing.

He glanced at where I held him, then looked at me with a raised brow.

Voice low, I said, “Please stay.”

I was still shaking from what I’d seen and experienced earlier in the evening. I had Elva here, which was a comfort, but what if Jane came through the door again while I slept? What if she brought a knife this time?

What if she pressed it to Elva’s throat instead of mine?

Guards were posted at the door, but they’d failed last time. What if they failed again?

“Just for tonight,” I whispered. “Please.”

In the morning, I could go back to being capable and strong. I could pretend like my life as it was, was good enough and I didn’t need anything or anyone else.

But here in the dark of night, with my trauma fresh, I could only be selfish.

“I need you,” I said.

The question smoothed from his face. He looked almost… sad looking down at me. For a moment, I thought he might turn me down, and my broken heart cracked further still. But then he nudged me over gently. I inched closer to Elva to make room.

Nicholas laid down on top of the blankets near the edge of the bed. He turned toward me. When I turned toward Elva, he slowly inched up behind me and draped his arm around my waist.

The movement transported me to a past three-years prior, when cuddling like this had been the norm. Lost in time, I was able to close my eyes again and find peace, even if only for a few hours.

When I awoke again, my shoulder was resting back against Nicholas’s chest. Elva had curled toward me in the night and snuggled up against my arm.

For a moment, I felt nothing but contentment, surrounded by warmth and the people I loved.

But then, the memories returned. Jane had showed me her resentment last night, and I’d felt her hatred seep down into my bones, scalding me to my core. I felt irrevocably changed, like a piece of myself had shriveled up and died, never to return.

Nicholas brushed his hand up and down my arm in long soothing gestures. He must have been awake too.

I couldn’t see his face, the way I was positioned, half-resting back against him, but I heard the concern in his voice as he whispered, “Do you want to talk about it?”

By now, the dawn was creeping in through the cracks in the curtains. Soon, I’d have to face the world again.

“I don’t know what to do now,” I admitted, keeping my voice soft. Elva continued to sleep beside me. “I still want to bring down the organization, but…”

It hurt to think about. With Jane twisted into the organization so tightly, I couldn’t save her. She didn’t want saving. But without her help, our options were limited, especially with the sealing of the tunnel. We couldn’t exactly sneak over to Terry’s mansion to look for information without it.

Although perhaps Julian’s initial plan to hold a contest event at Terry’s mansion would bear fruit. At this point, I felt so directionless, I wasn’t sure what was even possible anymore.

“Leave it to Julian and me for now,” Nicholas whispered. “We’ll give it more thought.” When I started to say something, he quickly amended, “We won’t keep you out of the loop.”

I nodded. Truthfully, I wanted some distance from it all, if only to catch my breath. But I couldn’t just do nothing.

“I have to do something.”

“Focus on the competition,” Nicholas said. “If you continue to inspire the public, you might have a chance at winning, no matter what the King and Queen say.”

Winning? There was no way.

“You have to stay as long as you can.” Nicholas dropped his voice even lower. “I can only protect you and Elva while you are here.”

His voice was so earnest, his concern so clear, I could only agree.

“I’ll try,” I said, a quiet promise in the dim morning light.

Later that morning, after Nicholas had sneaked out and Elva had awoken, Charlotte walked into the room carrying bolts of a new fabric. It wasn’t the shimmering purple that Elva and I had loved, and Jane had stolen, but was a beautiful glittery gold instead.

“I like this better,” Elva said, nodding seriously in approval. Holding some of the fabric in her hands, she lifted it up and down rabidly to watch it sparkle. “It’s bright and sparkly.”

I considered her words. “Yes, the other one was too dark, wasn’t it? We could use some brightness in our lives.”

“It’s definitely better than the old fabric. Sturdier, too. It will be much easier to work with,” Charlotte said. “In fact, I bet I can have the base of the dress started by this afternoon. After you try it on, we can see what adjournments we want to add.”

True to her word, Charlotte whipped up the dresses in a flash. She moved so quickly and expertly, she barely even needed my help. I mainly stitched hemlines while she molded the fabrics into gowns themselves.

When the dresses were finished, Elva tried hers own first.

“I’m like a Queen!” she giggled, then went to hold court with her stuffed animals and dolls.

Trying on my own dress, I had to agree. By now, Charlotte new my dimensions perfectly, and the dress reflected that. It hugged my curves. The bodice dipped tastefully low, enough to show just a hint of my cleavage. It was sleeveless. With my hair down around my shoulders, I felt absolutely beautiful.

“Perhaps a golden shawl,” Charlotte said, tapping her chin. She lifted the bolt of fabric and brought it closer to my shoulders.

I couldn’t tell what would look best, so I left it to her judgement. The shawl didn’t seem to satisfy her, however.

Suddenly, a knock sounded on the door.

“Who is it?” I called.

“Prince Julian to see you, miss,” Mark replied through the door.

I checked myself again. Perhaps I should spare the sight of my dress. After all, many girls were still looking to copy me. But no, Julian wouldn’t share my secrets.

“Let him in.”

The door opened and Julian swaggered in.

“Piper, I was thinking that we… should…”

His gaze fell onto me, then trailed slowly down from my face to the floor. As he looked, his words totally fell off.

“Julian?”

He didn’t say anything right away. He just looked and looked, and looked some more.

Looking at me, he’d gone totally speechless. A feat I never would have thought possible from him.

I spread my arms and swayed back and forth, showing off how the dress sparkled. He continued to stare so much, I started to feel self-conscious.

“Do you like it?” I asked.

He swallowed hard. “Yeah… uh, you look...”

He trailed off again.

“Julian?”

He cleared his throat and finally looked away. “You look great, Piper.”