The Conspiracy of Us (The Conspiracy of Us 1)

On the next partner switch, I fell into a set of arms that held me exactly how they were supposed to, if a little closer than normal. The man’s palm wasn’t even sweaty.

“Looking lovely as usual, kuklachka,” he said in my ear.

My eyes snapped up to Stellan’s, staring down at me through a gold mask. I fought the instinct to pull away, reminding myself I wanted to find him. If I could pull him off the dance floor, I could signal to Jack and we could get this over with.

“How are you enjoying the ball?” he said. The dancing and the nerves had riled up my blood too much. My skin prickled when he moved his hand from my waist to the open back of my dress.

“It’s beautiful,” I said tightly. The crowd formed two lines, and Stellan directed me to the end of one, holding both my hands between us.

When we came together again, hands above our heads, he said, “One more question.” He leaned close to my ear. “What did you hear earlier?”

So he had seen me while he was with Madame Dauphin. He pulled me back into a waltz position. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.

A lock of blond hair fell over his forehead as he stared down at me. “Who are you?”

My heart spiked. He didn’t actually know. Just keep playing dumb and I’d be fine. “What do you mean?”

He tucked a finger under my chin. “I’m going to find out one way or another,” he said. “You may as well tell me now.”

“I’m not—” He stroked my jaw with his thumb. “Nothing.” I gritted my teeth. “I’m no one. I’m not anything. Stop it.” I twisted my face away, suddenly very aware of the music pounding through my feet like a heartbeat.

With a grating scrape of metal, Stellan drew his dagger at waist level.

“I asked you,” he said, in a low, measured voice, “who are you?”

CHAPTER 31

What are you doing?” I couldn’t scream. That would draw more attention I didn’t want. “Is pulling a knife on me your answer to everything?”

He tucked the arm not holding the knife even closer around me and twirled us deftly away from the crowd, making no move to let go when everyone clapped for a partner switch. “Qui êtes-vous, kuklachka?”

“What?” I looked behind me frantically. We were nearly off the dance floor now. Where was Jack?

“Quien es? Ni shi shui? Kto ty? Or do you need it in another language?” The dagger shone in the dim light, scrollwork running down the blade like rivulets of blood.

I pulled away as far as I could. The fabric of my dress strained against his arm, still locked around my waist. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“If you won’t tell me, I’ll guess. I guess that you’re a spy.”

“What?” My eyes snapped back to him. “No!”

The blade touched my skin. I drew in a sharp breath. He wouldn’t hurt me. He couldn’t.

“At first I thought you were a spy for the Order, or even one of their assassins, coming after Luc, but Prada proved me wrong. So, a spy for the Saxons?”

“No!” He thought I was a spy? No wonder he’d been suspicious from the beginning. “I’m just a . . . relative.” It wasn’t exactly a lie.

He pressed the dagger hard enough to make a dent in my skin. It rose and fell with my feverish breaths. “You realize someone sent a professional to kill you?” Stellan drew out the word.

“That was just—”

“I know Prada wasn’t a mistake, and so do you.” He spun me to an abrupt stop, still holding me close. “And then you run out of the club like an insane person after taking advantage of Luc’s inebriation to get him to tell you who knows what.”

“I did not take advantage of Luc,” I snapped. Now I knew why he hadn’t told Madame Dauphin anything. He had no idea who I was, and couldn’t afford to be wrong.

“What would the Circle do if they knew you were threatening a member of another family?” I said, glaring up at him, my fingers digging into the shoulder of his tuxedo jacket. “Let go of me. Now.”

He stared back, eyes flashing, and, after a few more seconds, dropped the knife from my chest.

I peeled his arm from my waist, turned, and nearly ran into Jack, who was hurrying toward us as the music faded to a less rowdy number and the dancers dissipated. He gestured with his head and we made our way into the shadows off the dance floor. “What’s going on?” he said. “Did you tell him?”

I wiped the tiny bead of blood from my chest with shaking fingers. I had entirely forgotten about asking Stellan about Mr. Emerson. “No. He threatened me,” I whispered, and Jack tensed. “It’s okay, I’m fine. I just got sidetracked.”

I let go of Jack and turned to where Stellan was walking away. “Wait,” I called.

We caught up with him at a tall cocktail table. “Changed your mind about telling me the truth?” he said to me. “Or have you two come to show me a slide show of the must-see tourist attractions of Istanbul?”

I stiffened. Jack wasn’t kidding when he said they could track me anywhere. “If you’d given me time to explain before, I would have told you I had a panic attack at the club. I needed some air, but I got lost, and Jack was in Istanbul, so he picked me up.”

I was proud of the lack of waver in my voice.

“Istanbul is what we need to talk to you about,” Jack said. I watched for anyone watching us. We were alone. “It’s Fitz. I was on my way to see him when I caught up with Avery, so I brought her with me. But he wasn’t there—it looks like the Order’s taken him.”

Stellan’s brows inched up.

“He left pictures of the thr—” Jack paused. “Of you and me, saying that we needed to help him.” I gritted my teeth at the near-slip, but Jack went on. “Do you know why he might have said that?”

“Of course not.” Stellan pulled his mask off and tossed it onto a table. “Are you seriously telling me Fitz has been kidnapped? Why in the world would the Order take a tutor?”

“We’re not sure. We were hoping you might have some insight.”

“Well, I don’t.” He looked between Jack and me, and his eyes narrowed. “What does she have to do with this?”