Tandem

“Thomas has just one flaw.”

“Integrity?”

“Exactly,” Lucas said. “He’s a noble creature. He believes in things. He cares about people. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone. I mean, he’s a soldier, so he will hurt people, but only in the name of the greater good, and his idea of the greater good is a little bit different from the General’s. I, however, don’t have that problem. So when the General needed to get rid of Juliana, he turned to me.”

“You kidnapped Juliana?” I was trying hard to sound incredulous, and he seemed to be buying it. But on this next point I was sincere. “And the General was in on it?”

“Kidnapped is a harsh word. She went of her own free will. Juliana was infuriated by the marriage with the Farnham prince. I told her that I worked for Libertas, and if she gave them what they wanted, they would help her disappear.”

“So you’re a traitor,” I said evenly.

“I guess that depends on how you define traitor,” Lucas said. “I originally infiltrated Libertas on my father’s orders. When he told me he wanted Juliana gone from the Castle, I saw my opportunity to win big with the organization’s leadership and I took it.”

“Why would the General want Juliana gone?”

“Isn’t that obvious? Or do you not know enough about our politics to understand? Juliana’s the heir to the throne, and in two weeks she’ll be the rightful regent. But Juliana hates the General, and she was about to get married, which would only strengthen her position. That meant all the hard work my father put in over the past thirty years, grooming the king to trust and rely on him, was about to go right out the window. He couldn’t have that. He needed someone he could control. Someone like you.”

“He doesn’t control me,” I said through my teeth.

“I beg to differ. Anyway, long story short, Juliana isn’t coming back, and as long as it’s in the General’s best interest, you’re not going home. I don’t know what he has planned for you, but I’m thinking you’re not going to like it.”

“Why are you telling me all this?” I demanded. “What’s in it for you?”

“I’m here to cut you the same deal I cut Juliana,” Lucas told me. “Come with me to Libertas, tell them everything you know about the many-worlds project, and they’ll help you get home.”

“If they don’t know anything about the tandem, how are they going to do that?”

“Think of it as an incentive to tell them as much as possible.”

“Did the General tell you to get rid of me, too? Why doesn’t he just send me back himself?”

“The General is not explicitly aware of the offer I’m making you,” Lucas said, dancing around the fact that he was double-crossing his father, which was clearly what he was doing. “He believes I work only for him, but I prefer to think of myself as a free agent. Serves him right, for putting Thomas over me all these years. So what do you say? Are you in or not?”

“I’m not interested,” I said. “I’ll—”

“What?” He scrunched up his face in a patronizing expression. “You’ll tell my dad on me? It wouldn’t do you any good. It might get me executed in a dark alley, but you’ll still be stuck here. Besides, I highly doubt the General gives a damn about anything you have to say. That’s just a feeling I have.” He put his hand over his heart, as if to mime feeling. “You don’t have to give me an answer right now, but you might want to decide before Saturday.” He strode past me toward the door.

“Think about it,” he said with a little wave as the door slid open. “I’ll be waiting. Tell you one thing, though. You’ll never see my brother again. So I wouldn’t let that affect my decision if I were you.”

With that, he was gone.

She sat up blinking in the sudden glare of the lights. She’d been asleep for hours, that same tormented sleep she’d been experiencing since her father was shot. She shielded her eyes and searched for a face on the dark figure that had entered her room.

“Who’s there?” she called out.

“It’s me.” The Shepherd. She should’ve known. He was the only one who visited her now, except the Farnham country matron. She put her hands up to her hair, which was blond now. She’d looked in the mirror once the matron was finished with her and been astounded by how stark the transformation was. The color brought out completely different features in her face, and she understood why they’d done it. With her hair this color, she was nearly unrecognizable. “Quick, get up and get dressed. We leave at dawn.”

“Leave for where?” she asked.

“Columbia City.”

“What? No!” Why would they bring her back there? They were supposed to give her a new life. She supposed that would mean she’d have to hide out in Farnham forever, a prospect she didn’t relish, but it was far preferable to being dragged back home. “You promised—”

“Don’t worry, we’re not handing you over to the KES, if that’s what you’re imagining.” The Shepherd took his customary seat on the desk chair, turning it around so that his arms rested on the chair back. “We have a different plan. But we’ve had to move up the date. It seems things have not gone exactly as we hoped back at the Citadel.”

“Mind telling me what that plan is, exactly?” she asked.

“Of course,” he said, smiling his inscrutable smile. “Juliana, what do you know about parallel universes?” 

THIRTY-TWO

“Wow, Juli.” Callum whistled. “You look amazing.”

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” I told him, reaching up to straighten his bow tie. I was trying my best to flatter and flirt, but my heart simply wasn’t in it. I was sick of playing Juliana, especially the Juliana Callum wanted me to be. I had far too much weighing on my mind, and on my heart. My thoughts kept careening back and forth between what Lucas had told me and Thomas’s predicament. I had, for a brief moment, actually considered Lucas’s offer, which revolted me, but I would’ve been crazy not to. It would be crazier still, however, to trust Lucas and abandon Thomas to his fate, whatever that was, not to mention leave Callum and the queen and all the people who were counting on me. Well, not me— Juliana. But at this point, what was the difference?

Gloria had chosen my dress, a long draped gown with a dramatic leather sunburst collar covered in silver beaded applique, and a wide leather belt at the waist. Callum was coordinating by wearing a silver bow tie with his tuxedo. His hand rested at the base of my spine as we stood together in the full-length mirror. I took a deep breath and let it out. Gloria insisted I wear a formal tiara for the gala, so I’d picked out the prettiest one I could find, a garland of wild Sweet Briar diamond roses mounted in silver. It was heavier than it looked and was already starting to give me a headache.

“Can we go back to the beach?” Callum whispered in my ear. I smiled at his reflection in the mirror, but it didn’t reach my eyes.

“We’re late,” I said, moving toward the door. He stayed put. “Cal, are you coming?”

He tugged at his collar. “I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to this kind of stuff.”

“You will,” I assured him. The question was: would I?

“You’re late, Juliana,” the queen scolded. She was resplendent in a long purple tulle gown, her hair piled high upon her head.

I could hear the low murmur of a thousand voices coming from inside the ballroom. The guests had arrived and were waiting. On the queen’s signal, two porters swung the doors open. A great, booming voice announced the queen by her title—“Her Majesty Evelyn, Queen Regent of the United Commonwealth of Columbia”—and she stepped over the threshold.