Chapter 19

The new maid made me so uneasy that I sent both away whenever I could. Where I had appreciated the steady comfort of the quiet maid’s presence and enjoyed the conversations with the talkative one, this new maid seemed to be constantly watching me, even while I dozed.

“Don’t you need help babysitting?” the strange maid asked as I ushered them both to the door. I would have like the quiet one to stay, but couldn’t think of a reason that would only excuse one and not the other.

“I’m perfectly capable,” I said and said goodbye at the door.

I was just about to close it when a voice called out. “Piper!”

I knew that voice. Julian.

Maybe I could pretend I hadn’t heard him?

I started to close the door again, but he caught it. He wedged his way into the partially opened door and smirked at me like he knew exactly what I was doing.

“That’s not very nice, Piper.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

His smile only grew. “May I come in? We have a lot to talk about.”

I wasn’t sure we had all that much to talk about, actually, but I couldn’t tell him that since he was a prince. “Fine.” I pulled back the door all the way, letting him inside. I left it open behind us.

Elva was under her blanket fort, coloring with crayons.

“What did you want to talk about?” I asked.

“You.”

I blinked. He had to be joking, but… it was so hard to tell with him. His grin didn’t waver one way or the other. He always just said things and then watched me react.

“What about me?”

He shrugged and walked to where we’d organized the sewing machines. He glanced through some of the fabric swatches. He stopped on one, part of which I had used to make Nicholas’s wrist guard.

I really hoped he didn’t make the connection.

He peered at it a moment, then moved on. Again, his smile hadn’t shifted. He was insufferably good at being unreadable.

“To boost public support, the royal family has recently been investigating the underground trade of wolves and their gifts,” he said. “I’m part of this investigation.”

The blood drained from my face. My throat suddenly dry, I had trouble swallowing.

“What does that have to do with me?” I asked, my voice small.

He picked up another swatch of fabric, this time satin, and ran in through his fingers.

“Nicholas claims that you left the Academy on your own accord, but we both know that’s not true.”

“I… don’t know what you mean…”

Julian continued like I hadn’t said anything. “You were involved with the underground trade, and left the Academy out of guilt for what you’d done.”

He wasn’t asking any questions. He already knew. I didn’t know how, but he knew.

“The information I’ve gathered shows that you sold your wolf in exchange for a significant sum of money.” He lowered the satin fabric. Turning, he looked at me. “This act carries a heavy punishment, if it’s discovered by the royal family.”

My stomach dropped. Was my secret truly so easy for him to uncover? And if he was so sure about it, why hadn’t I been cast out already, unless –

Wait.

If it’s discovered by the royal family.

He’d said if.

I immediately stepped toward him. “You can’t tell anyone. Please. Elva needs treatment and if we are out on the street –”

“You wouldn’t be on the street, Piper. You’d be in prison. Or worse. Elva, however…”

I fell to my knees. “Please, Julian. Don’t do this to her.”

Julian rolled his eyes. “Get up, Piper. Don’t act like this.”

He walked to me and reaching down, lifted me up onto my feet again. “I would just like to know why. You aren’t the type to do underhanded things. I want to know how this happened.”

I didn’t know what to do. I could lie, but… He already knew the truth about everything else, maybe he knew this too. Maybe this was a test.

The fact was, for whatever the reason, he hadn’t revealed my secret yet. If I played his game, maybe he’d continue to keep it.

I pressed my hand to his elbow and nudged him closer to the door, further from Elva. I didn’t want her to know the truth yet. We’d have our own conversation in time, when she was old enough to understand.

Voice low, just in case, I confessed, “Elva isn’t mine.”

Julian’s perfect veneer finally cracked. His eyes widened for a few solid seconds before he recovered himself. “Really?”

“She’s the daughter of my twin sister,” I said. The memories burned through my brain, painful and hot. “I sold my wolf to pay off Elva’s ransom.”

“She was being held for ransom?”

“My sister owed too much to so many people. They’d taken Elva as payment. They only gave me so many days… I did what I had to do.”

Julian’s smile dimmed marginally, but that made his expression no more readable. I could practically see the cogs turning in his brain as he sorted through this new information, but I hadn’t a clue yet what he was planning to do with it.

“Piper,” he said, when he had reached a conclusion. “Have you ever considered that your departure from school and your wolf being taken weren’t mere coincidences?”

I hadn’t. “What do you mean?”

“What if someone exploited your sister with the implicit purpose of obtaining your abilities?”

He’d surprised me into silence once more. My wolf had been strong, but to purposefully target my sister just to steal my wolf and my power? That seemed so farfetched.

Julian hummed to himself, then nodded. “Alright. I won’t share this information with anyone for now.”

I exhaled in relief.

“But – I can’t guarantee for how long I’ll keep it secret.”

With the next inhale, my anxiety returned. He’d hold this over my head then, for who knew how long. For who knew what purpose.

I was now indebted to Julian, and that knowledge brought me absolutely zero comfort.

“I’d encourage you to investigate for yourself,” Julian said. “You might find there is some truth in my supposition. If you can find out more truth, perhaps it might ease the burden of this secret.”

As I turned the words over in my mind, trying to decide if they were a threat or not, Julian slid his gaze to Elva.

“Since she’s part of your family line, the child’s future abilities would likely be formidable. If they are anything like yours were, she might become the next target.”

He’d said the words so casually, as if he’d been talking about the weather.

But I heard clearly the danger referenced. Weak as I was, I wouldn’t be able to protect Elva if those same people from the underground came for her, as they did for me.

If I could become Luna… maybe I could change her destiny.

I had to protect her, no matter what.

At the very least, I had to stay and find out more. Maybe Julian’s hunch was wrong. Maybe everything that had happened to me was coincidence and not meant to repeat itself.

But with Elva potentially in danger, I couldn’t rest until I was sure.

“Thank you, Julian,” I said. I had no idea his true intentions, but for now, he was protecting my secret and giving me some information to go on.

His smile stretched wide. Lightly, he corrected, “Prince Julian.”

I blanched. I had forgotten again. Julian was so unchanged since I had first known him, that I forgot too easily he wasn’t that boy from the Academy anymore, but a prince.

He laughed, “I’ll let it slide this time.” He leaned in closer to me. “Just for you, Piper.”

His closeness startled me.

He stepped away before I could recover. He walked toward the door, but stopped near another figure standing in the doorway.

Had someone been about to come inside?

“Hello, brother,” Julian said. “Fancy seeing you here.”

Nicholas.