To his credit, Henry waited until the town car pulled out onto the main road before he turned in his seat to yell his indignation. “What was that? This is how you’ve been living? This is what you’ve been keeping from me?”
Ella didn’t respond. She wasn’t sure how to handle Henry’s raised voice. Shouting at her usually ended in a backhand, but she didn’t think Henry would resort to hitting her.
“No secret in the world is worth living with that woman. Her daughters are disgusting! One of them licked my ear! Licked my ear, El!” He scrubbed the side of his face, looking to Ella like a little boy who was trying to wipe his grandmother’s lipstick off in a petulant rage.
Ella tried not to laugh, and managed to muffle any sound down to a quiet snigger.
“You think this is funny? You have a black eye! How many days were we texting, and you didn’t tell me something that important?”
Again, Ella didn’t respond. She knew that even doing something as innocent as answering a direct question could result in kindling a fury she couldn’t put out. She wanted to live in a world where Henry never hit her, and cherished the hope that her wishes might come true.
Remus let out a heavy sigh from the driver’s seat in front of Ella. “Are you quite finished, Henry? Clearly she’s got her reasons, though what they must be, I can’t begin to imagine. I barely made it through the hour-long stay. A little tip on women from me to you: yelling will rarely get you what you want.”
Henry’s lips pursed, and then he deflated in his seat, rubbing his temples as if that might rid himself of the drama of the day. “I’m sorry, Ella. I don’t understand. Tell me why.”
Remus stepped in again when Ella remained silent. His voice was steady and calm, offering Ella something nonconfrontational to latch onto. “Wrong again. I seriously can’t believe the papers still call you ‘Prince Charming.’ The ‘why’ doesn’t matter right now. First things first. Start with, ‘Love bug, you have a black eye. That must’ve hurt.’”
Henry shot his mentor the middle finger, but hung his head, penitent when he turned back to Ella. “I should’ve started with that. Forgive me. I’m all turned around. I wasn’t expecting… I don’t know why I thought you were being secretive for other reasons. This morning I thought my worst problem would be that I would get to your employer’s home and find out that you were really married. I’ve been preparing myself for heartbreak all day. Seeing you bruised like this?” He shook his head and leaned forward, distraught. “It’s an altogether different kind of heartbreak I wasn’t prepared for.”
Ella didn’t speak, but offered him a sympathetic incline of her head.
Henry reached over to place his hand atop hers, but she shirked away, glancing toward the front seat to warn him that there were witnesses. Henry frowned. “You don’t have to worry about Remus. He already knows how taken I am with you.”
“We even sneaked away from Henry’s guard because he knew you preferred privacy. Would you like some water?” Remus handed back a sealed bottle.
Ella was thirsty, but she couldn’t get a proper read on Remus. He’d charmed Lady Tremaine easily enough; she didn’t want to fall prey to any sort of scheme. She shook her head, keeping her mouth shut.
Remus’s eyes tightened, but he didn’t take offense. He set the bottle back down on the passenger’s seat, and Ella could tell by his careful study of the barely-there traffic that he was trying to think up another way to bond with her. When they turned onto the freeway, he said with a lightness to his tone, “I’m sure this is all very confusing. We didn’t know what we would find when we got here. You probably have lots of questions.”
Ella kept her lips pressed together, but held his gaze in the rearview mirror.
Henry cast his mentor an apologetic chin dip, and pressed the button on the back of the passenger’s seat to raise the partition. “Sorry, Remus. She’s scared, and she won’t talk because she doesn’t know you enough to trust you.”
Remus fanned his fingers out in surrender, keeping his palms pressed to the steering wheel. “Fair enough. I’ll be here to answer any questions when you’re ready. Music?” He flicked on a classical station to drown out anything he wasn’t meant to hear as the partition sealed him off from the backseat.
Ella exhaled and slumped back against the black leather interior. The car smelled new and looked pristine, which made her feel like she didn’t belong in it—much less with a prince. “Thank you,” she finally offered, relieved that she didn’t have to try and decode Remus’ motives.
In the next breath, Henry had her gathered in his arms, her knees looped over his while he kissed her face frantically. “You worried me!” he accused, his fretting coming out as anger. “I don’t like being worried. Do you think I got to be this handsome by staying up half the night, staring at my phone?”
“I’m sorry! I couldn’t text you like this. I wanted to see you too badly. It hurt every time I looked at your number.”
The partition rolled down, and Remus’ frantic voice filled the car. “Whatever it is you’re doing to make her excitable, stop! The computer system in here is going mad.”
Ella slinked off to her side of the backseat. “I’m sorry, sir.” Then she shot Henry a wounded look. “You told him?”
Henry slid closer and lifted her hand, pressing it to his chest. “You can trust Remus. He’s like family to me—the big brother Adam, Rory and I never had. I had to tell him, Ella. It scared me when you almost brought the roof down on our heads! I wanted to kiss you so badly, but I need to get to the bottom of what we’re dealing with first, so we don’t crumble a building by accident. Remus knows more about magic than anyone. My father even consults him on occasion. Remus studied under Malaura, and even countered her curse on Rory. If anyone can help us, it’s him.”
“I can be discreet,” Remus promised. “Though, you don’t have to believe me yet. You don’t know me, and your first interaction with me was a front row seat to me deceiving your employer. In time, though, you’ll see that no one else will discover your secret. Then you can start trusting me.”
Henry and Remus waited for Ella to ask questions, but she’d gone back to silent mode, afraid to say the wrong thing.
Henry sighed and pressed the partition button again. “Another moment, Remus. I promise to behave myself.”
“Sure, sure. I’ve never fallen for that one before.”
The second they were alone again, Henry kissed the center of her palm, drawing out her blush. “I had to tell him. He can keep things quiet, and maybe he can even help us.”
Ella kept her gaze on Henry’s firm chest as he placed her hand back over his heart. “Help us how? It’s already done. I’m stuck like this. He can’t undo a person’s basic makeup.”
“He’s worked with people who’ve had trouble getting a handle on their magic before. Rory had a terrible time controlling hers when it finally came about in her. He also works with a Lethal.”
Ella’s eyes climbed up to meet Henry’s, unable to hold back her sadness. “It wasn’t your secret to tell.”
“I don’t even understand what I told him! I still don’t get it. All I know is that I want to be with you, and collapsing buildings seems problematic.” He closed his eyes, pained as the memory of his visit tugged at his heart. “Why, Ella? Why do you work for such a horrible woman?”
Ella lowered her chin. “Because she knows my secrets, and she’ll tell the authorities if I don’t let her treat me as she pleases.”
“What secrets are worth this?” He motioned to her black eye with a palpable ache. “Tell me, and we’ll find a way around it all.”
Ella couldn’t bring herself to tell him, but instead leaned forward, resting her head on the firm harbor of his shoulder, trusting that the shelter he offered wouldn’t crumble at the first sign of a threat. She wrapped her arms around his middle, loving the feel of his body. “I can’t tell if you’ve made things far worse, or if they’re about to get better.” She burrowed into his warmth. “Either way, it’s time. If I end up with you, or locked in a facility somewhere, I can’t live with Lady Tremaine any longer. Something had to give at some point. Might as well be now.”
“That’s the spirit?” he said like it was a question. He held her, rubbing her back to soothe them both. “It’ll be alright, blue eyes. I won’t let anyone lock you away. Imagine how horrible the cell phone reception would be. How would we text?”
Ella sniggered, but her smile died just as quickly as it came. She was scared, but she tried to take solace where she could get it.