Jade’s blood turned to ice in her veins, freezing her from the inside out. Nicolas knew about Theo. He knew enough about Theo and Jade to keepJade’s mouth shut by threatening harm to Theo. The mask Nicolas had worn in the bunker with Jade to earn her trust cracked, and slivers of a monster bled through.
Just as the thought passed through Jade’s mind, the mask settled back into place. Nicolas released the grip on her arm and leaned back, his hand sliding down past her wrist to gently clasp her own. His eyes softened once more, and his lips relaxed from a hard line into a curve. “We’re a team, Jade, you and I. We’re on the same side. The two of us alone can bring about change.”
The warmth of his palm against hers and the shift in his demeanor melted some of the ice that still coursed through her. Jade pressed her lips into something resembling a smile and gave Nicolas a small nod in reply. He exhaled as if in relief and moved his hand to hold her fingers, then angled his head and brought her hand up to meet his lips.
A tiny shockwave traveled straight to Jade’s heart at the contact, sending it into a fluttering frenzy. She sucked a deep breath through her nose, but it did nothing to steady her heartbeat.
Nicolas released Jade’s hand, and she turned from him, taking the steps down quicker and clunkier than she had intended. Her feet landed on solid ground on the remnants of the walk up to the house, the stone peeking through grass and weeds. Jade threw a glance back over her shoulder at the spot where she had stood with Nicolas seconds before, but he was gone.
Jade started down the path, her feet carrying her quickly and quietly in the direction of Ivanelli base. As she put distance between herself and the farmhouse, the world came into sharper focus and her thoughts began to reorganize from the jumble she hadn’t realized they’d gotten into. Her mind cleared, like she was coming out of a fog she didn’t notice before, and she didn’t understand why.
She replayed the whole encounter with Nicolas, with her informant whom she’d finally met, on the hour-long walk back to base. His proposal for her to work for him—which sounded more like a demand than a requestnow that she was out of the bunker and back in her world—was impossible. What was she thinking agreeing to bring him information? Her initial instincts were correct: it was treason. It was idiotic to think she could get away with working for him alongside her duties in the military.
And if they were on the same side, why did he want her to keep this from Matherson and the military so badly? What was he hiding? A sourness swirled in Jade’s stomach, unsettling her nerves. She’d been close to refusing Nicolas in the bunker, but something had gotten into her down there. Working for him hadn’t seemed like the horrible idea that it actually was.
She wouldn’t work for Nicolas after all. She couldn’t.
But Theo . . .
His threat against Theo changed things. How much did he know about Theo, about Jade’s relationship to him? This man had a plethora of knowledge he shouldn’t have. Jade wasn’t sure how it was possible for Nicolas to know so much, but he’d proven he knew plenty.
Jade would have to find a way around him, a way out of this. She wasn’t going to do his bidding, not if he was going to hold her hostage like this. She would tell Commander Matherson about him. She’d tell Theo.
In the quiet dark of the warm summer night, all alone on the empty road back to base, it was easy for Jade to promise these things to herself. But, the truth was, she was getting in over her head, and if she wasn’t careful, she would end up trapped.
Fifteen
The summons to Commander Matherson’soffice the following morning shook Jade to her core. Had he discovered she sneaked out? Did he want an explanation as to where she went and why? Her stomach sank all the way to her feet as she pounded on the path toward Command. Leaving base without authorization would absolutely result in disciplinary action. Maybe her confession and freely giving Matherson all the information she knew about Nicolas would lessen her punishment.
She’d seen Theo across the dining hall earlier at breakfast, and he’d smiled at her as if nothing was wrong. He must not have known. Perhaps someone spotted Jade scaling the wall and reported it directly to Matherson. Regardless, nausea swirled in Jade’s stomach as she passed through the lobby of Command and hung a left down the first hallway toward Matherson’s office.
Jade stopped at the door to his office and inhaled through her nose before she knocked. Her commander’s voice beckoned her inside, and she braced herself as she twisted the knob and crossed the threshold.
Matherson stood behind the desk at a bookshelf, his head bent over an open book in his palms. “Have a seat,” he said without looking up, and Jade complied, her pulse racing. Matherson finished what he was reading, marking his place with a small piece of paper, and returned the book to the shelf before sitting in his chair and facing Jade.
“Featherly has received a call from Lady Marguerite, and she asked to speak with you. The trooper who took the call told her you were out, so we’ll need you to return that call. If she gives you details for the upcoming dinner, we’ll start to make arrangements for you and Captain Redman.”
Jade’s breath rushed out of her lungs. Was that all? Just an update on her current assignment? Perhaps she was letting the secretiveness of the night before get the better of her. She’d taken all necessary precautions before slipping over the wall and out of base. And, not to mention, she was Captain Jade Ni’ihm. She’d snuck into Lesseine, Evenshold Palace, and more without attracting attention. She could sneak out of her own military base without being caught.
“That sounds excellent, sir,” she said, finally able to take a full breath for the first time since she had received Matherson’s summons.
“I’m afraid that wasn’t the only reason I called you in to this meeting, however.”
Jade’s heart constricted, and a lump lodged in her throat. The anxiety came crashing back down over her, and she immediately forgot everything she had just considered to reassure herself. She gripped her hands so tightly in her lap that her knuckles turned white, conveniently hidden behind the desk where Matherson couldn’t see.
“I received a call from Grand General Devereaux this morning. The king has taken a sudden turn for the worse. It is unlikely he will live much longer now, which means two things for us. We’re that much closer to seeingPrince Reynauld take his rightful place as king, which would bring this conflict to an end, but it also means that everyone else is more likely to take drastic measures now. The clock is ticking, and anyone vying for the throne is going to give their best last-ditch effort.”
Again, the anxiety about Jade’s own secrets fled, but it was replaced with a different kind of tension. What might this mean for the person who’d hired the assassin to take people out? How far would they go to ensure they took the throne instead of Reynauld? How many more people would lose their lives before the king died? Jade needed to find out who was behind the killings as quickly as possible.
“This information has to stay between us. I’ll bring Redman in on it when we know a little more, but for now, it can’t get out that the king is on his deathbed.”
Jade nodded. “Understood, Commander. Do you have specific orders for me for the dinner party?”
Commander Matherson tapped his index finger on the shiny wood of the desk. “We need something concrete on any one of the contenders for the throne, and since this dinner is at Evenshold Palace, I’m making Lord Grannam our top priority at the moment.”
Fortunately for her, she had a brand new lead on Grannam. A debate raged in Jade’s mind. She had decided against working for Nicolas and the implications that came with it, but if she followed this lead he’d given her, she might find evidence against Grannam and help bring him down. But working for Nicolas had a caveat. She had to give him the information she found to get more leads and potentially withhold that information from Matherson.
Matherson propped his elbow on the desk and rested his head against his fingertips, then rubbed the wrinkles along his forehead. “I’ve hit a wall with the grand general, and I’m not sure why. When we spoke this morning, she told me the guard at the castle is being cut in half, but she won’t go into details. I questioned her about the murders, about any information thatothers under her command may have gathered, and she said nothing more than the investigation was underway.” Matherson paused, raising his head and dropping his fingers to his chin. “She’s never been so cryptic before. I’m not sure what’s changed, but something has. I don’t think it’s just the king’s condition.”
