Chapter 26

Lucy and I chatted about our studies as we drove to her house.

She told me she was a sophomore and a painter, studying Fine Art and Philosophy. I told her about my dream of becoming a designer someday, and about the contest I had signed up for that morning.

I didn’t expect her to be so thrilled about that. She gushed, telling me how much she admired my plan to make high-end plus-size designs.

“The world needs you to do that,” she said, seeming awfully confident in my abilities, considering that we had just met less than an hour ago. “There are so many beautiful clothes out there, but not enough of them are available in our sizes.”

“We’ll see,” I said, shrugging.

“No,” Lucy demanded. “You’re going to do this. You’re going to win this competition, and you’re going to get famous, too — I know it.”

She was wide-eyed and super serious.

“You’re really sweet,” I said, “but I do have some stiff competition for the fashion show. There’s a girl named Anna who has won for the past two years in a row. She’s a senior this year, and everyone is expecting her to win again.”

Lucy shook her head. “You shouldn’t worry about those girls,” she said. “I find it hard to believe any of those spoiled were-bitches have even half the skill and artistic vision that you do.”

She pointed to my jacket.

“You,” she said, “are insanely talented.”

I shook my head, No.

Lucy got louder, almost yelling at me.

“You are a freaking princess,” she said, smiling. “And you’re a badass. Come on, you’ve got this!”

It felt really nice to have someone say such positive things to me. Especially after this morning with Susan and the snooty old lady.

“Is there anything I can do,” Lucy asked, “to help you with the fashion show? I owe you big time for this morning. I’m no designer, but I could be like your assistant, or something?”

“You don’t owe me anything,” I said.

“Either way,” she replied. “I would really love to help you show those Noble girls who’s boss. There’s got to be something I can do.”

I looked at Lucy.

She was a really lovely girl, pretty and energetic with a sincere smile, neat brown hair plaited into a perfect braid, and a cheerful sparkle in her eye.

“Think you could be a model?” I asked.

She grinned and said, “Absolutely.”

I sent Susan a text that night.

It was the first time I’d reached out since everything that had happened.

I thought that maybe I could try to smooth things over with her, if Caryn wasn’t around to instigate a fight. That catty, big-toothed bully was definitely enjoying pitting Susan against me. And Susan was the one who was really hurting because of it.

I was hoping we could talk sometime, I wrote. Just the two of us.

Nolan was on the other side of the room, undressing. He saw me on my phone and casually asked what I was doing.

“Nothing,” I said. “Just checking my class schedule for tomorrow.”

I lied on instinct before I even remembered why.

What was it that Nolan had said about Susan at the ball?

Be glad you’re through with her.

She’s a traitor.

I put my phone on the nightstand and pulled the blankets up, snuggling down into the bed.

Nolan nodded and crossed the room, heading for the shower.

“Wait,” I said, just as he was about to strip off his pants and walk into the bathroom. “Can I ask you something?”

He walked back into the room, over to my side of the bed and sat down on the edge. I scooted over to make some room for him.

He was shirtless and sweaty. I got distracted for a moment gazing at his glistening, muscular shoulders, resisting the urge to reach out and stroke them.

But then I caught a whiff of him, and that helped me get back on topic.

He smelled weird. Like rot and mildew.

“When there’s a full moon,” I said, scooting back up into a sitting position, “like there will be later tonight, what happens? This is the first one since I… since, you know…”

He smiled at me.

“If you’re outside,” he said, “and the light of a full moon hits your skin, it can be difficult not to turn. But you’ll be just fine in here tonight.”

“I won’t lose control?” I asked.

He shook his head and said, “You don’t have turn, if you don’t want to.”

I let out a big sigh of relief I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding in.

NOLAN

He stood and kissed Yena on the forehead.

“It feels good, though,” he said, looking her in the eye. “Running under the full moon.”

He ran one finger down her cheek and under her chin, then pushed her chin lightly upward to lift her face to his.

She gave him a long, hard look.

“Will you take me with you sometime?” she asked.

He nodded and gave her a closed-lipped smile. “When you’re ready.”

The princess laid back, relaxing into bed. She pushed his hand away and gave him a curious look.

Nolan had spent the past three hours climbing through damp, dark passageways within the palace walls, and had come out at the end of the ordeal feeling like he had been dipped into a bucket of slime. No doubt Yena smelled it on him. He paced away to the bathroom before she could ask about it.

He ran the water as hot as it would go and stepped under the stream. His skin steamed and flushed bright red.

When they were kids, he and Adan had spent countless hours together exploring the stairwells, corridors, and chambers hidden within the palace walls.

Adan never told him how it was that he had come to find out about the passageways in the first place. But he knew them very well, and he led Nolan through countless routes that terminated in various wings of the palace. The entrances were all so expertly camouflaged that they were completely invisible to an uninformed observer.

The bookcase in his private library was the only one Nolan ever used anymore, though.

And most of the time, he only ever followed the one simple path that he needed… the one that led outside the palace walls. It was the only means he had of getting away from the Gamma warriors, who otherwise followed his every move outside the confines of the palace.

Nolan knew it was not secure, keeping that tunnel open anymore.

Not with Adan nearby and gunning for him. He had not yet figured out, though, how he was going to seal it off.

This night, though, Nolan had a singular agenda. He was trying to a passageway that would let out into his mother’s wing of the palace.

About a week before Adan disappeared with his human girlfriend, he showed his little brother something he stole from Luna’s bedroom. It was a diamond ring.

The smug teenager claimed to have gotten into the queen’s suite from one of the hidden passages. He never told Nolan how to get there, though.

The prince had a feeling that if he could get into his mother’s rooms without being seen, he might find some useful evidence. Something that might connect her to Adan, and help Nolan understand what exactly he was up against.

Their conversation that morning had just been unsettling.

He could tell Luna had a secret. And it had something to do with Adan.