Chapter 165


    When I asked Julian if he wanted to continue the investigation, I had thought he might be a hard sell.


    What I hadn’t expected was for him to put me down t.


    “No.”


    “No?” I said, startled.


    “No, Piper. Nichs is right. It was wrong of me to try to include you. I knowingly ced you in danger.”


    “I’m old enough to make my own choices,” I argued. “I could have said no at any time.”


    “Could you? Really? At the mere mention of your wolf, you were ready to do anything. And when you


    felt it, and you chased after that car, you were practically out of your mind. I should have stopped you


    then. I should have ended the Investigation right at that moment.”


    “Ending it wouldn’t solve anything,” I said. “I wasn’t lyingst night. Whether I find my wolf or not, it


    doesn’t matter. What matters is we put a stop to the people that are doing this. I don’t care how high up


    the conspiracy goes.”


    “Face it, Piper. We flew too close to the sun. We could have lost everything.” He looked at me with


    meaning, in a way I hadn’t seen before from him, or could discern. “We nearly lost you.”


    The words were said with so much genuine emotion that I had to sit back for a moment, surprised.


    Since when did Julian worry about me? And he wasn’t taking it back. He was just leaving it out there in


    the open, for me to see and evaluate however I wanted.


    Except that I didn’t know how to evaluate. I was so used to Julian’s teasing that I didn’t know what to do


    when he was being genuine.


    He must have known that, or at least, been able to figure it out, because he dropped his head. When


    he lifted it again, he wore a charming smile. “You should see your face right now. Priceless.”


    For a line of teasing it was weak, but it gave us both the opening we needed to move past an


    impossible moment. So I grasped onto it and gave him a smile of my own.


    “Bet it’s still better than your face,” I said, teasing.


    Julian ced his hand to his heart. “You wound me.”


    I knew he wasn’t serious this time. Not even a ck eye could detract from the handsome factor of the


    three princes.


    As the moment stretched and silence began once more, I knew I had to make a push. That he cared


    about me was ttering, certainly, and I didn’t want to devalue such a rare emotion from him. But I


    couldn’t just forget my plight because of it.


    I


    “When we were at the ball, the reason I found Terry at all was because I was led there,” I said.


    A hint of something sparked in Julian’s good eye, and I hoped that meant I snagged his curiosity.


    “By whom?”


    “A mysterious woman in a ck dress,” I said. “Not one of the candidates.”


    “Did you recognize her?”


    “Did you recor


    still wasn’t sure. “She did seem… familiar somehow, but I don’t know. I couldn’t ce her. Plus, she


    was wearing a mask.”


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    “Tell me more about the dress,” Julian asked, so I did so, describing the unusual ck feathers. When I


    finished, he asked, “But you didn’t see her in the room with Terry.”


    I shook my head. “It’s like she just disappeared.”


    Julian rubbed a hand along his jaw. “Could have been a secret passage. Those are added all the time


    and my dear uncle would have ess, as well as ability to keep it a secret.”


    I could feel himing around, so I encouraged him excitedly, “So they could be connected.”


    “Yes, probably, especially since she is likely the person we saw leaving Terry’s house.” He nced at


    me, and then straightened, as if remembering himself. “This is a bad idea, Piper.”


    I


    “Bad ideas are the best kind,” I said, and I could see, with the mischievous quirk of his lips, that I had


    finally convinced him.