Tonight.
It was the only word written on the note Jade left in the farmhouse. She placed the folded paper on the mantel and left, hoping Nicolas would be around to see it before nightfall. Since she had been blindfolded the other times he’d led her into some secret passage and through the underground tunnels to the bunker, Jade didn’t have the first clue of how to find him in the labyrinth below.
Everything about the farmhouse and surrounding property felt different in the daylight, almost like she had never been here before. The overgrown plants and grasses rustled in the summer breeze, and sunlight glimmered off the glass panes still present in the windows. Tall trees surrounded the house, the ever-present guardians who had witnessed times past, when the house was a home instead of a crumbling ruin.
Dust kicked around Jade’s heels as she left the border of the farmland and stepped onto the road. She’d be back on base in plenty of time. Commander Matherson had been unexpectedly absent, called to Kingdom Command near the castle for a meeting before Jade and Theo had had the chance to debrief. He’d passed along to his lieutenant commander that the two could take a personal day. After Theo chose to take a solid nap that morning, Jade decided to go off base. She’d told the troopers at the gate that she was going into town and would be back within a few hours.
And go to town she would—with a fairly significant detour to the abandoned farmhouse in the country where she convened with Nicolas.
She’d purchased a new notebook in town—nothing that she needed, but good enough for proof that she had actually gone where she had claimed to go.
Matherson was supposed to return tomorrow, so she’d sneak out to the farmhouse tonight. With any luck, Nicolas would have found her note and be waiting for her.
“Nowthisis a pleasant surprise.”
Nicolas filled the doorway, a smile teasing his lips as Jade tiptoed across the porch to him.
“Are you going to move?” she asked, toe-to-toe with him as the deteriorating boards groaned under her weight.
Nicolas’s smile grew. “Did you miss me?”
Jade didn’t attempt to hide her scowl. “So you’d rather me risk breaking an ankle when the part of the porch I’m standing on inevitably collapses?”
Nicolas lowered his face to hers, mere inches separating them, sucking the air from Jade’s lungs. His mouth hovered near her ear as he whispered, “I missed you too.”
The hairs around her ear fluttered and tickled her cheek. Jade reminded herself to breathe. Nicolas pulled back enough to meet her eyes, locking her feet in place. Something swirled in her middle, a warmth that filled her extremities with each pump of her heart. He was entirely too close. Too close and too...captivating.
Jade recovered, clearing her throat and pushing on Nicolas’s chest to move him out of her way. He stepped back without a fight, but not before Jade had pressed her hands against the hard, formed muscles of his chest. Her stomach jolted.
“I suppose you’re going to blindfold me again.”
Nicolas lifted the cloth that he had just pulled from his pocket into the air.
Jade tipped up her chin. “You must not trust me.”
His hand fell as he angled his head, his brow crinkling. “Do you trustme?”
If she wasn’t lying to herself, the answer was yes. But the way he asked made Jade wonder if he assumed she would say no.
“I trust very few people,” she said instead, standing still beside him to allow him to wrap the blindfold around her eyes. Her willingness to comply answered for her.
He raised the fabric again and covered her eyes, tying it at the back of her head as he said, “Then we understand each other.”
Nicolas guided her down once more through the tunnels and into the bunker. Each time he led her through the winding path seemed different from before somehow, but at least she was getting her bearings a little more.
“You asked for me this time,” he said as they walked, his hand gently circling her upper arm. “You must have something.”
“I do.”
“So you didn’t go to your commander first with this one?”
With a subtle shake of her head, Jade replied, “No. No one else knows.”
They stopped, and Jade heard the creak of the door as Nicolas opened it. He ushered her inside, then shut the door and removed her blindfold.
She blinked, taking in the familiar space before her. Very little about it ever seemed to change. Did Nicolas spend time down here, or was this just where he chose to meet with her? For some reason, her inclination was to believe that he was living in this bunker, hidden away from everyone. Realistically, he probably had his own home somewhere and used the bunkers and farmhouse as a base of operations.
“Whatdoeshe know?” The question from Nicolas was almost accusatory, and he strode past Jade down the length of the table with his arms crossed, coming to a halt at the table’s end and turning to face her.
