Chapter 56

“No,” Nicholas said.

Julian, still bowing, shot him a glare. “I wasn’t asking you, brother. In case that wasn’t obvious.”

“She will not dance with you, because she is about to dance with me,” Nicholas said.

Julian straightened upright. “Is that what was happening here? Because, to me, it appeared as if you two were awkwardly standing near each other and only barely talking.”

That description didn’t sound so different from some of the royal dances I knew, but I decided not to point that out.

“Even if we were only talking, you must admit how exceedingly rude it is to interrupt,” Nicholas said.

“Rude, maybe,” Julian said. “But necessary, if I’m to save Piper from an evening of boredom.”

“Perhaps we should ask the lady to choose for herself,” Nicholas said. He looked at me.

Julian did too. “Well, Piper? Which of us will it be?”

My heart leaned for Nicholas and the comfort of his presence. I’d given him quite the shock tonight, I was sure, with revelation after revelation. I wanted to make sure he was okay.

Yet as I glanced out over the room, I felt two pairs of eyes pressing down onto me. One pair belonged to Linda, who downed an entire champagne flute while glaring at me. The other pair was the King’s.

The King watched me from atop his throne. He wore no expression, but a chill struck through me under the intensity of his eyes. He was judgmental and observant. I had no way of knowing if he knew about Linda’s ultimatum.

I couldn’t take the chance either way. So I held out my hand and accepted Julian’s dance.

Immediately he clasped my hand in both of his.

Nicholas just stared a moment, a touch of surprise widening his eyes. “Piper?”

“Don’t be a sore loser, brother.” Julian’s grin sharpened. “Wouldn’t want the whole room to see how jealous you are.”

In an instant, Nicholas schooled his features. “I’m not jealous.”

My heart sunk a bit at the words, even though it had no real reason to. Nicholas and I did not belong to each other anymore. He had no right to be jealous, and I had no right to want him to.

“Could have fooled me.” Julian tugged on my hand, pulling me out onto the dance floor. As he held my hand with one of his, he wrapped his other arm around my back.

The music was a faster song, though the steps were simple. I was able to keep up fairly easily. With Julian twirling me around the dance floor, I noticed Linda and the King had stopped paying me any mind.

Nicholas, however, watched Julian and me with an unreadable expression. His eyes never left us for long, even as other girls approached to speak with him.

“Interesting,” Julian said, and I braced myself for whatever observation he was about to make. “You and Nicholas disappear for a time. Then when you return, he is even more protective than before.”

I swallowed thickly. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“It’s slight, but there’s definitely been a change in him.” Julian tilted his head, looking at me curiously. “There’s a shift in you, too.”

I nearly stumbled over my feet, but Julian, holding me upright, guided me into the next step without missing a beat.

“Can I guess what you two talked about?” he asked.

I would much rather have preferred that he didn’t, but I knew he would anyway.

“He knows the truth now, doesn’t he? About your wolf. About Elva.”

Julian’s power of observation was alarming and unnerving. I didn’t think I’d ever be used to it.

“You don’t have to say anything. I know I’m right.”

“I had to tell him,” I said.

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”

Julian led me into a twirl, then tugged me back into his arms.

“Honestly, I’m surprised it took this long.”

I ignored that comment. “Now that he knows, maybe we can include him in our investigation into the underworld.”

Julian hummed like he was considering it, but his ‘no’ came out very definitive. Like he’d only pretended to think about it for my sake. Had he thought about this before? If so, he’d likely have a good reason.

“Why not?” I asked.

Sighing, Julian gave his head a slight shake. “My perfect older brother is too strict with the rules for the kind of work we need to do. If we followed everything by the book, like he would want to, we’d only continue to chase our own tails around.”

Nicholas had always been an upright citizen. It had been part of the reason I hadn’t wanted him to know I had done something illegal, when I’d traded away my wolf.

“What we’re doing, Piper, will require us to bend some rules, and maybe blatantly disregard others. Could you imagine Nicholas turning a blind eye to all that?”

I couldn’t.

I wished I could say otherwise. If Nicholas were involved in the investigation, I would feel much more secure about it. Julian was effective, but not exactly reliable. Nicholas, meanwhile, was the definition of dependable.

“Even so, I’d like to tell him someday,” I said. “Maybe when we get closer to the end.”

“Maybe.” Julian gave away nothing, as per usual. He might never acquiesce. When the time came, it would likely rest on my shoulders alone if and when to include Nicholas. I would include him though. Eventually.

“Speaking of, I have another lead. We could go on another date to investigate.”

“That didn’t work out so well for us last time.” I had not forgotten the Luna’s lecture toward me, where she had basically accused me of being more irresponsible than Julian simply for not stopping his reckless behavior.

“I learned several valuable lessons last time,” Julian said. “This time will go much smoother.”

“And just how exactly, do you plan on sneaking away from the cameras for a second time, without incurring the wrath of your entire family?”

He shrugged. “Easy. We just don’t tell them.”

His quick, deadpan response startled me into laughing. I quickly recovered when I realized he was dead serious.

“Come on, Piper. Live a little.”

“And where exactly would we be going this time? Hopefully somewhere as nice as an abandoned warehouse?”

I couldn’t believe I was leaning toward actually doing this. But then, I was desperate to feel my wolf again. Plus, it had been nice to be away from the cameras for a while, even with the trouble caused afterwards.

“I’m wounded you would think so low of me.” Julian smiled wide. “Of course I have somewhere much fancier set up for us this time.”

“Fancier? The sewers this time, then?”

He laughed. “Actually, no. We’ve already checked there. We’re were hoping that they meant ‘underground’ in the literal sense. Unfortunately, no such luck.”

I tried to imagine Julian trudging through the muck of the sewers and couldn’t quite manage it. “Surely you yourself didn’t go into the sewers.”

“And why not? If they were there, should I let someone else take the credit?”

Huh. Sometimes I struggled to piece together the puzzle that was Julian. I thought he’d care more for vanity. In a way he did, I supposed, as he was selfish enough to want to take full credit of the potential find.

Yet nothing he ever said to me really felt like the full truth. I wondered if the only person who truly knew the real Julian, was Julian himself.

“So, what do you say? Join me on a secret rendezvous, and we’ll see what we can uncover.”

“I have no desire to join you in the sewers,” I said.

His eyes were alight with mischief.

“Piper, this time I’m taking you to a mansion.”