stomach. Holden was testing him. If Julian told Holden of the underground passage, he may assume that the conversation was overheard. But Julian did not know whether the other locations were under close surveillance. There was no way to know, so he decided to keep it as vague as possible.
“Through one of the south entrances,” Julian said. “Why do you ask?”
“Which south entrance?” Holden probed.
Julian shrugged. “I don’t really know how to tell you that. There are several. What do you want me to say, the one next to the painting of the knight? I don’t know, Holden.” Julian knew he was talking too much for his own good and so he stopped abruptly.
Holden raised an eyebrow. “Just curious,” he said. “Go, get some rest. You’ll need your strength for the night to come.”
Julian hoped there was no double meaning to Holden’s words. With a nod, he walked down the stairs and out of the tower with Nalani, clutching the medallion inside his cloak the entire way to his room.
When they reached the room, Julian walked to the basin and splashed fresh water on his face. Nalani patiently sat on the edge of the bed watching him as he calmed himself. She could tell something was wrong.
Julian grabbed both sides of the basin and looked into the mirror. His tired eyes were sunken in dark circles. Stubble covered his face. He knew he looked rough. “I’m sorry I woke you,” he said not turning from the mirror. “I just felt I needed to see you.”
“I would be up soon anyway,” she said, smiling.
Julian wondered several times on the flight whether he should tell Nalani that Holden had betrayed the Dunarians. He wasn’t sure whether her knowing such information would put her in more danger. He had decided that when it came down to it, the best thing would be to tell her, for her to be on her guard.
He turned and faced her. “Holden’s in league with the Stühocs.”
Nalani stood abruptly, a look of horror etched across her face. “What? How could that be?”
“I saw Holden in a meeting with Spencer and the Stühoc Maroke. They are all working together to get access to the medallions.” He told her what was said in the meeting and how Maroke was told to begin preparing the troops for some sort of battle. He also told her of Kaden’s capture and that Silas’ fate was unknown.
“But if Spencer had the medallion then why would Holden send you on the pointless mission?” she asked.
“To get me killed,” he answered. “I have a feeling that Holden is targeting anyone who isn’t loyal to him, one by one. It’s no secret that Holden and I have never really gotten along. I would be the first to try and take him down. He knows I wouldn’t follow him down the road he’s taking.”
“What about the others?”
“I don’t know,” Julian said. “That’s why it’s important that we keep this between us. We don’t know who is secretly with Holden, so we have to pretend like I saw nothing.”
Nalani sat back down on the bed with a stare of disbelief stuck to her face. “How could he do this?”
“That’s not all,” Julian continued. “Morgan is dead.”
Nalani’s eyes shot to Julian, wide with disbelief.
“It was an accident,” Julian lied. “We fought and he charged me and fell off the balcony.”
He told her that Morgan had been drunk and that hopefully it would be the prevailing notion that Morgan died in an accident.
He failed to mention, with purpose, the letter that Morgan had left with him. He knew Nalani would expect him to read it then and there and Julian wasn’t sure if he wanted to read it at all.
He showed Nalani the medallion and he knew she understood the weight of what was happening. She had been in this as long as he had.
“Something big is coming, isn’t it?”
Julian nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
“What about Garland Ainsley?”
Julian’s eyebrows furrowed. He hadn’t even thought of the old newcomer, much less of how he might play into the situation. “I really don’t know,” Julian admitted. “He is either really convenient or completely inconvenient for Holden’s plans. I guess we’ll soon see which.”
They talked for a while about what might lay ahead and they both agreed that they had to keep on their toes and look over their shoulder every now and then. Nalani rested her arms around Julian’s waist and laid her head on his shoulder blade. He closed his eyes, feeling her