Chapter 150


    Five minutes after that, I excused myself from the party when Mark called for me.


    As I headed to the door, I nearly tripped over my feet, spotting Nichs waiting there.


    “Prince Nichs,” I said. “What a surprise.”


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    “You wanted to go to the store?” he asked me


    I nced at Mark, but he just stared back brightly, like nothing was


    “I surely can’t ask a prince to run errands with me,” I said.


    wrong.


    Nichs shrugged like it was no big deal. “It would be good to get away for a while.” He turned away


    before I could think to argue. I hurried to slip on my shoes, grab a light jacket, and chase after him into


    the


    hallway.


    He drove us away from the pce in one of the less shy sedans. It was ck with tinted windows.


    “If Julian had any sense, he would use one of these to sneak out properly,” Nichs said.


    I sighed, remembering our great escape of a first date. “Most of the time, he wants to be seen. He lives


    for that bad boy persona, I think.”


    “A pity that he drags you into it,” Nichs said.


    I supposed that was true, Julian had a way of bringing me straight into trouble, but I was also indebted


    to him. Because of him and our outings, I was able to feel my wolf again, even if only briefly.


    “He might not be all bad,” I said.


    Nichs’s face hardened. He said nothing more, just red out the front windshield as we drove closer


    to town.


    To get to the fabric store, we had to pass through a portion of the town with shuttered up buildings and


    run–down cars,


    The car doors had locked automatically when Nichs had started driving, but he clicked lock button


    again now, making sure.


    “I apologize,” Nichs said. “Ady shouldn’t have to witness such an unseemly part of town.”


    “It doesn’t look all that different from what I’m used to,” I said.


    Nichs turned to nce at me. Then a second time. “You’re serious.


    Why would I joke about that? Or had that just been wishful thinking on his part?


    “Honestly, Nichs, much of your kingdom looks like this. Over the past few years, there’s been such


    an


    economic downturn that many people are homeless. I’ve had to work two or three jobs sometimes to


    keep a roof over Elva’s head.”


    “Two or three jobs?” Nichs repeated like he didn’t quite believe it.


    I


    “Yes, and we’d be much worse off if I didn’t find such a good person to room with. Anna has helped me


    with Elva more than I could ever thank her for. I’ll be indebted to her the rest of my life already, for


    these


    past couple of years.”


    Nichs’s knuckles turned white on the steering wheel. “Things have been that dire.” It wasn’t a


    question, not the way he said it, but I still treated it like one.


    “Some points have definitely been better than others. Though the jobs that usually paid well didn’tst


    long before they went out of business. It’s tough all over. During some of the low points, I’d have to skip


    meals to make sure Elva always got hers.”


    I looked out the window, at the burned out streetlights and the tired people trekking down the


    sidewalks.


    Not many had their own cars anymore. Walking and buses were the only way to get anywhere.


    That was if the buses ran on time, or showed up at all.


    “Living at the pce has felt like a dream. I’ve never eaten so well.”


    “You were too skinny when you arrived,” Nichs said. He sounded distant, like he was talking to me


    from somewhere else, and not from the seat beside mine.


    I turned my attention to him. “Nichs?”


    His mouth was a hard line.


    He said, “I have let my people suffer for too long.”