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    Chapter 0292


    The next morning after the event, I went with Nichs to speak with Julian. He was in a sitting room, sipping coffee while reading through a newspaper. Terry''s face was stered all over the front page, under the headline: Traitor.


    It still didn''t seem real. I expected him to pop out from anyer.


    Though perhaps Terry wasn''t the one to be afraid of anymore. After all, Jane was the one who had sent that knife flying for my face. I shuddered to think what might have happened if Nichs hadn''t been there with me.


    "Julian, we need to talk," Nichs said as we approached Julian at his small round table.


    Julian motioned toward the two other chairs at his table. "Coffee?"


    Nichs and I nced at each other, then sat down. A pair of servants immediately delivered two cups of coffee for us. Julian nudged the bowl of sugar closer to us.


    "You''ll feel better after some caffeine," Julian said.


    "Forget coffee," Nichs said. Things were tense between Julian and Nichs. While Nichs red openly at Julian, Julian avoided looking back at him. "How did you know about the tattoo?"


    Nichs, I thought, was being too demanding to properly earn answers from Julian. For knowing Julian his whole life, I wasn''t sure how he couldn''t realize by now that kindness eamed more favors from Julian than spewing orders ever could.


    "Julian," I said, much softer and friendlier than Nichs. "Why didn''t you mention the tattoos before? We could have checked for that much sooner."All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.


    Julian, ignoring Nichs, smiled at me. "I only recently leamed about it. We knew the symbol of the upside-down wolf skull was tied to the underground organization, but I had no idea they branded themselves... until I was told about it."


    "Told by whom?" Nichs demanded.


    I asked, more gently, "Who told you?"


    Julian leaned back on his chair. It creaked with the new weight distribution. "I have a new informant. An ex member of the underground. They''ve been feeding me more information than I ever dreamed."


    "Who?" Nichs asked.


    Looking at me, Julian leaned forward again. He slid his hand across the table toward me.* They worked directly with magic, Piper. They understand the ins and outs of it. They might know some way of returning your wolf."


    My mouth fell open. "Truly?"


    "I believe so," Julian said. "At the very least, they will know where to start."


    I didn''t want to get my hopes up. Having my wolf returned to me felt like such an


    impossibility that in my wildest dreams I could only barely imagine it.


    Yet if Julian''s informant did work with magic, then they would at least know if returning my woll was even possible, or if searching for a way was a waste of time.


    "I want to meet this informant," Nichs said.


    To me, Julian said, "They are skittish, and for good reason. They possess the kind of knowledge that makes them invaluable to our investigation, but dangerous to the


    underground. Though they are well protected, they are frightened."


    *For good reason, it seems," I said. To be hunted by both sides sounded like an exhausting ordeal, "What made her finallye forward to you?"


    "I''m not sure," he said. "You''ll have to ask them."


    I blinked. "You think they would speak with us?"


    "Not all of us," Julian said.


    Julian''s gaze slid to Nichs. Nichs immediately straightened and crossed his arms. Julian shrugged,


    *I''ll have to clear it with them first," Julian said. "I wouldn''t want them to disappear on me now."


    "I understand," I said. "While I hope they will agree to speak with me, I wouldn''t want to risk the investigation either. If necessary, I trust you to ask the right questions."


    Julian''s eyes went wide for a blink or two. "You do?"


    "I know your heart is in the right ce," I said.