Chapter 147


    “Don’t be coy, now, Your Majesty,” Terry said with an easy smile. “You should tell the girls that I will be


    helping to judge the Second Ball.”


    The King nodded. “It is as he says.


    The candidates began to chatter. If Terry was to be a judge, then it would be beneficial to eam his good


    favor.


    Yet I still


    direction.


    ouldn’t entirely dismiss the creeping feeling that tickled my skin whenever he nced in my


    “Why do you suppose he is staying in the pce when he lives so near?” whispered the girl beside me.


    “He lives nearby?” I asked. That was the first I had heard of it, though I supposed it made sense


    “Yes,” the girl said. “He stays in therge mansion up the road. It’s on the samend as the pce. I


    believe it’s on the other side of the forest.


    Exclusive ? content by N(?)ve/l/Drama.Org.


    My blood ran cold. I had been just outside the mansion on the other side of the forest.


    That was the ce where I had felt my wolf.


    I swiveled in my chair, turning my full attention to Julian.


    He had heard. I knew because his usual smirk was missing. Instead, he met my gaze with a stern one


    of his own. His mouth was a tight line. His eyes looked strained.


    Terry lived in that house?


    Then that would mean…


    Did he know something about the underground organization? Was this why Julian had kept from me


    the owner of the house he didn’t want me to know a royal was so directly involved?


    But then, Julian had always hinted it could be so. He had urged me not even to trust the King. Just how


    deeply did this organization go?


    “He’s dangerous, Julian whispered, for my ears only.


    I snapped upright in my chair, suddenly rigid. He’d been so overly friendly with Elva and me already.


    Did


    he know Julian and I were the ones that had snooped outside of his home? That we had chased the


    car with the person who had stolen my wolf?


    +15 BONUS


    Half of me wanted to shake him and demand answers. The other half wanted to cower in fear.


    If he was royal and in the underground organization, then he was indeed dangerous. He was powerful


    enough to make me disappear if he wanted, and no one would even know where to look.


    “You will need a ce to sit, Terry,” the King said, looking out over the table.


    “If I could choose my own seat,” Terry said.


    “Of course,” said the King.


    My stomach sank down to the floor as Terry walked by many open seats toe toward me. He


    stopped just behind the chair of the girl next to me.


    “I don’t suppose I could convince you to move over one seat, my dear? I promise it will only be for as


    long as I stay.”


    Her smile wavered but she could say no. This would be an additional seat between her and Julian, her


    chosen prince. With obvious reluctance, she stood and moved to the next seat. 1


    “It’s my honor,” she said, an obvious lie.


    Terry’s smile, meanwhile, beamed, like he found personal pleasure in her annoyance. He pulled the


    seat out further and imed it as his own.


    Once he was seated, he turned his pearly–white smile onto me. “Hello, again, Piper. It seems like we


    will be seeing a lot of each other these few days until the Second Ball.”


    Julian immediately leaned forward. “Hello, uncle. Fancy see you here. Typically you choose not to sit


    so


    near me.


    For the first time, I watched Terry’s face tense, ever so slightly. Yet quickly, it had smoothed out again.


    “Julian. A pleasure.”


    His eyes turned back to me, then for an instant, dipped down to peer at my bodice.


    Though not as pleasurable as seeing Piper.”


    This man deserved no second chances. I knew immediately, deep in my bones, that Nichs had been


    right not to trust him.


    I swallowed hard, feeling trapped.