“Suggest to your commander that you reach out to the royal family in the wake of so much tragedy.” Nicolas continued without missing a beat. “You’ve been building a relationship as your alter ego with Lady Arabella’s sister and Lord Grannam’s daughter, correct? Send a letter to one or both of them offering your support. If they respond and invite you to spend some time with them, you may be able to gather information on Lady Arabella.”
Words failed to form on Jade’s tongue. His sudden shifts in conversation and casual accusation of her closest friend rattled her to her core. At least she managed to move her feet. She crossed back to the table, though she didn’t approach Nicolas.
He caught her gaze. “She still stands in the way, trying to claim the throne prematurely. It will likely be difficult to convince her to give up her claim to the throne, but perhaps you can uncover a weakness to exploit. She may be more malleable after the recent deaths, or Grannam’s imminent removal from contention might steel her resolve and give her greater confidence. This is what I need to know, and it is your job to find out.”
The more Jade got to know Arabella, the more she realized how much Arabella’s and Jade’s goals for magic-wielders aligned. She believed more and more that Arabella would be better for the kingdom than her father. But that wasn’t her job. Jade’s job, as a member of the military and in her own work for Nicolas, was to see the rightful heir seated on the throne: Prince Reynauld.
Ridding her mind of the tumult within her, Jade nodded and finally found her voice. “Of course. Anything to bring an end to this.”
“Anything...” Nicolas repeated, drawing out the word. He seemed to mull over it for a moment, but he said nothing else about it. “You’ve done truly excellent work, Jade. I’m certain you will continue to do so.”
He retrieved the blindfold again, effectively concluding their conversation. Jade still reeled from his sudden back and forth of demeanor and the way she had responded to his tender words and gentle touches, so she let him blindfold her and lead her out of the bunker without argument. They twisted and turned through the tunnels in silence, and Jade replayed his instructions in her mind. Reach out to the royals, gather information about Arabella, avoid Grannam.
They were getting close to the end of this conflict. She could sense it. Lord Grannam—or even Lady Arabella—could become desperate, and Nicolas was right. Desperation made people dangerous.
Once in the farmhouse, Nicolas released Jade and removed the blindfold. He remained where he had let her go, blending into the shadows of the sitting room. Jade stopped at the threshold and looked at him over her shoulder. She waited for him to speak, not expecting him to let her go without another word.
With his dark features and all-black ensemble, Nicolas might as well have been the night itself.
“I’ll be in touch soon. Things will move quickly now.”
In the darkness, Jade barely saw Nicolas’s mouth moving, his voice floating almost without a source. He said nothing else, so she turned to go. But she was pulled back around when his voice came again, this time lower and edged with a hint of bitterness.
“Oh, and do something else for me.” He emerged from the shadows, the moonlight filtering through the window casting eerie light across his face. “Stay away from Redman.”
Twenty-Nine
With Commander Matherson’s return fromKingdom Command the following day came a summons for Jade to meet with him, but this time, the meeting was not to take place in his office. Jade and Theo had been called to a conference room on the second floor of Command.
Theo met up with Jade outside her barracks, and the pair walked to the meeting together. Jade smiled and gave a quick “Good morning” in response to Theo’s greeting, but they kept silent the rest of the way. His presence beside her brought up memories of the night before and Nicolas’s suggestion that Theo might be the assassin.
How exactlydidNicolas know about Theo and her relationship to him? She still hadn’t gotten answers from him about where and how he got his information. Nicolas had a habit of changing the subject whenever Jade broached such topics.
Before, she hadn’t thought much of it. Nicolas didn’t have to tell herhowas long as they were doing good and making progress. But a second mention of Theo, and an unequivocally brazen one at that, unsettled something deep within Jade. Nicolas had subtly threatened Theo before, and now he told Jade to stay away from him. How much did he know about them? What had he seen? Was he watching them right now?
Jade shuddered and balled her hands into fists. In the daylight, with a clear blue sky overhead and Theo at her side, it was plain to see the risks she was taking in trusting a man she hardly knew, in following his orders so blindly.
“Are you okay?” Theo asked, pulling Jade from the deep cascade of her thoughts. He must have noticed the shake of her shoulders.
She had no excuse for it in the comfortable heat of the summer morning. “Yeah,” she lied, offering him the most reassuring smile she could. Gazing at him, she couldn’t begin to consider the idea that he was the assassin she’d been hunting. “I’m just wondering why we’re going to be in the conference room today.”
Theo took hold of Jade’s tightly clasped hand closest to him, rubbing his thumb over her fingers until they relaxed. She glanced wildly around base, determining who was around that might see their handhold. There was nothing for her to fear from people on base. None of the other troopers or officers would care if she and Theo were a couple.
But someone else might.
Jade slid her hand from Theo’s grasp, giving him another closed smile and hoping he didn’t take it too personally. It hardly mattered, because they arrived at Command only minutes later and made their way to the designated conference room on the second floor.
Theo pushed the door open and came to a sudden halt inside. Jade nearly reached out to nudge him forward, about to send a quip his way that she was supposed to be in this meeting too and he couldn’t block the door. When he moved aside, Jade saw the reason why he had stopped.
Grand General Irenn Devereaux stood at the far end of the table, staring them down.
Both Jade’s and Theo’s arms flew across their chests in a salute. As much as she wanted to, Jade did not throw a sideways glance at Theo to gauge his reaction.
The grand general’s departure from her post at the castle was a rarity. For her to be standing before them in this conference room on Ivanelli base, something truly dire must be going on.
“Welcome, Captain Redman, Captain Ni’ihm,” she said, something that must have been her attempt at a smile stretching across her lips. “Please have a seat.”
Jade and Theo broke apart, each choosing a chair on opposite sides of the long, oval table in the center of the room. After a quick salute to Commander Matherson, Jade sat down beside him and turned her attention to Grand General Devereaux. Her smooth black hair, only broken by sparse streaks of gray, had been pulled into a tight bun at her neck, a stark contrast to the milky whiteness of her skin. She scanned her severe green eyes over the new arrivals, making Jade acutely aware of every detail of herself as Devereaux appraised her.
