Nicolas leaned forward again, angling his head to the side, an almost pleading expression on his face. “I’ll protect you, Jade. I have connectionsthat I can use to ensure you don’t come to any harm or lose your position. As long as you’re with me, nothing will happen to you.”
The melody of his voice touched her being, and Jade believed he spoke the truth. If working with him meant she would help bring about the end of this conflict quickly and without violence, she would do it, even if she would have to keep her involvement with him a secret. The Conflict of Succession would end, Prince Reynauld would peacefully take the throne after the king died, and Jade would be the reason why.
“Don’t you trust me?” With his entreaty, his voice became light—a wisp of smoke, barely there one second and gone the next. His forehead wrinkled with concern over his raised brows as he maintained eye contact.
Yes, her mind answered. How could she say anything else to him? She couldn’t explain the sense of peace and security filling her here in his presence, but neither could she deny it. Admitting it to him, though, was an entirely different matter.
His pleading eyes never left her, compelling her to answer him. Finally, she nodded slowly, and Nicolas sat back in the chair once more with a curve to his lips.
“So,” she began, clasping her hands together in her lap and wringing them together. “What do you want me to do first?”
Nicolas rose, walked over to a cabinet, and pulled at a drawer. “You will be attending a dinner party at the Duke of Evenshold’s home this week, correct?”
Jade readjusted her seat on the sofa to turn toward Nicolas and pressed her hands on her thighs, trying to decide whether she should stand. “I’m waiting on a call about the details, but yes, I’m supposed to be.”
Nicolas rifled through some papers in the drawer, his back to her. “Your mission with the military is to scope out anything you can about the contenders in this conflict, specifically if they are behind the deaths that have been happening to people associated with them.”
Howdid he know that?
“Yes.” Now didn’t seem like the time to ask the burning question in her mind.
“As I said, you will still perform the work required of your job, but you will also have objectives from me.” He selected a paper and returned to her, standing in front of her where she sat on the sofa. “Lord Grannam has been in contact with a black-market dealer about purchasing poison.” Nicolas held the paper—a letter, it appeared—out to Jade, and she took it. “I need proof of it, if he has received any.”
Jade scanned the letter, finding its contents as Nicolas said, though neither Grannam’s name nor seal could be found on the letter. It was signed with a single “G.” Her lungs constricted as she read the incriminating evidence. It might be that Arabella wasn’t behind the murders after all. Matherson needed to see this. Even though Grannam tried to remain anonymous, Nicolas was certain the letter was written by him, which meant more evidence existed. And if Jade found the receipts of the transaction at Evenshold Palace, or the poison itself, it would further solidify Grannam’s culpability.
But Nicolas didn’t want her passing any of this along to her commander if he so chose. And she had agreed to it.
Jade pushed the thought away. She would figure that out later. After all, Nicolas had said he wouldn’t want her taking the information to the militarysomeof the time.
If Grannam had purchased poison, he could be using it to supply an assassin. Could he be the one behind the killings? The last victim was an advisor to Arabella, so it made sense that he would want to take out someone working closely with arguably his biggest threat. Perhaps that was what Grannam and Arabella were discussing at the ball. What if she knew he was behind the attack and they were working on a treaty?
“You provide me with the information I seek, and I will continue to share what I know.” Nicolas extended his hand, an unspoken request for Jade to return the letter. She did so, though she was hesitant to relinquishsuch a piece of evidence. The paper slid from her fingers as Nicolas retrieved it, then he folded it back and replaced it in the drawer. “This is a partnership. There has to be give and take. I help you by finding these leads that your leadership in the military is unable to provide, and you help me by going where I cannot and obtaining further information or evidence against these contenders. The arrangement is mutually beneficial.”
He wasn’t wrong. His information had helped her get two promotions, had helped the military at large. All he was asking was something from her in return.
“Here.” He returned to her with his hand out again. “I’ll take you back out.”
Jade extended a tentative hand to take his and allow him to help her off the sofa. The touch of his warm skin sent a jolt through her, but she didn’t waver. She tilted her chin up, and their eyes met. With a deep inhale, she came to her feet inches away from him, their gazes locked.
Nicolas said nothing as he stared at her, his eyes moving away from hers enough to roam her face. A sudden gust from the vent hit Jade, and she suppressed a shiver. He released her hand only to move his to her lower back, gently guiding her toward the door. She didn’t know this man nearly well enough to account for the flutter that overtook her middle. Forcing her feet to move, Jade pulled away from him and moved toward the door, an icy chill left in place of his hand’s warmth.
“We’ll go out the way we came in.” Nicolas took long strides to the table, where he’d deposited both Jade’s blindfold and his gloves. He gave no reaction to her withdrawal, seemingly completely unfazed. In two swift movements, he slid on his gloves, then he picked up the blindfold and approached Jade. Apparently, “out the way we came in” meant with her vision obstructed again.
Jade didn’t resist as he dropped the cloth over her eyes. He gripped her upper arm as he did before, then Jade heard the click of the latch as he opened the door. She took the opportunity of the walk back to test herknowledge of the path through the tunnels, but it was nothing like before. Had Nicolas led her in a different direction? How many tunnels were down there?
Neither spoke until at last, Nicolas said, “We’re at the steps again. Let me help you.” He moved the hand that grasped her arm to her lower back again, ensuring that she didn’t tip backward as she took the steps. Jade’s heart stuttered with the pressure of his touch.
At the top of the stairs, Jade heard something slide into place before Nicolas led her further into the room and removed her blindfold, releasing her. She whirled around, hoping to catch a glimpse of something out of place to find the entrance to the tunnels, but everything appeared untouched.
Nicolas strode past her through the room, clearly expecting her to follow. He stopped on the rickety front porch and turned to face Jade.
The night song of frogs and insects was still alive and well out here, a raucous sound to Jade’s ears now after the deathly quiet of the tunnels and bunker. A bright white moon hung low in the sky, nearly time for it to set. It was later than Jade had realized.
“I’ll expect you back here after the dinner,” Nicolas said. “You will return to share what you learn. Leave a note in the house here, and I’ll know to look for you.”
Jade nodded and moved to pick her way down the precarious porch steps, but Nicolas grabbed hold of her forearm and stopped her, spinning her to face him again. Boards creaked in warning under Jade’s boots, and her heart rate spiked. Nicolas’s gaze had turned severe, his head angled down at her.
“Tell no one of me or our arrangement. I’ll know if you betray me, Jade.” Nicolas’s sharp eyes, once much softer and more comforting, bored into her. “That includes Captain Redman. It would be a shame if something happened to him.”
