“Again, Rory. You’re afraid you’ll make Henry pass out, but I assure you, he doesn’t mind.”
Rory balked at her uncle, arms akimbo. “You should assure me that I won’t Pulse him so hard that he passes out, not that he won’t mind if I accidentally render him unconscious.”
Remus shrugged and pointed at Henry, who was laying on the leather couch that was pressed against the wall across from Remus’ desk. “Henry and I only care if you quit, not if you make a mistake.”
Henry rested the back of his hand against his forehead like a damsel in distress. “Oh, Rory! You’re the evilest villain I know! What shall I do to counteract a Pulse of Peace? I’m powerless!”
Ella sniggered at his theatrics, but made sure to keep her presence as silent as possible. It was clear Henry enjoyed putting on a show for her, casting her furtive glances every time he made a joke to ensure she shared in his humor. It seemed Henry was intent on collecting as many giggles and grins from Ella as he could draw out of her. Finally his charm had purpose, and he seemed determined to put it to good use.
Rory touched Henry’s forearm with the delicate grace of a butterfly alighting on a flower. Everything she did seemed like a dance to Ella as she watched the lesson unfold. Within a few seconds, Henry’s smile grew lax, and his arm slumped across his forehead.
Rory jumped back, her eyebrows furrowed. “See? I told you I’m no good at this! All these years I was desperate for a Pulse, but now that I finally have one, it’s so troublesome to use correctly. I’m doing something wrong, Uncle Remus.”
Remus moved around his desk and leaned his backside on the surface. “You’re doing nothing wrong. You’re simply more powerful than most, which is something I never doubted for a moment. It’s difficult to wield, so be patient.”
Rory’s lips tightened. “If I had a gold coin for every time you told me to ‘be patient,’ I’d have about ten million useless piles of gold.”
“Perhaps I’ll try saying it again just once more. Do you think that might help?”
Ella concealed her smirk when Rory grumbled at her uncle and turned back to Henry, who was gazing contentedly up at the ceiling. His eyes bore the same look Ella’s stepsisters had worn when they’d emerged from a massage. “I think we don’t play outdoors enough,” he commented dreamily. “I mean, when was the last time I trounced you at… What’s it called again?”
“What?”
Henry mimed shooting a ball into the air with both hands. “The thing with the hoops and the baskets.”
Remus laughed through his nose at Henry’s loopy cadence. “Basketball?”
Henry frowned as he considered the answer. “No. That’s not it. It’s got boops and haskets.”
Ella stood when the door opened, and pressed her back to the wall with her head down and her hands clasped in front of her, hoping it wouldn’t look like she assumed she belonged with the elite. She recognized Cordray Phillips from the papers. There wasn’t a citizen in Avondale who didn’t know about the man who’d won the heart of Aurora Johnstone. It was his kiss that had awoken her from the counter-curse, and his ring that had taken up a permanent space on her finger six months after. The fact that he had Lethal abilities was just icing on the gossip-laden wedding cake. The ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ as the tabloids called her, had been brought back to consciousness after her months-long coma, only to attach herself to someone who could kill her with an errant touch.
Cordray Phillips crossed the room and greeted his wife with a light kiss. “I see you decided to start without me.”
Rory harrumphed up at him. “You didn’t miss a thing, other than yet again, me not being able to control my Pulse.” She motioned to Henry, who was still staring up at the ceiling with a contented wonder, as if finding shapes in the constellations of a starlit sky. Rory perked up when she recalled the newcomer. “Oh, but you get to meet my newest best friend. This is Ella, Henry’s girlfriend.”
Cordray’s eyebrows rose as he spun to take in the woman who was very much trying to fade into the background. He was taller than Remus, dark-skinned and wore black driving gloves, which stood out against his jeans and maroon plaid button-down. Cordray lit up at the sight of Ella and cleared the space between them in three long strides.
Ella squeaked as Cordray wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her as if they’d been old friends separated by an ocean, and freshly reunited. “Ella! I love you already. Thank God for you. You’re the key. You’re the ticket to me not wringing Henry’s neck. You’ve saved the royal bloodline, I hope you know.”
Ella’s eyes bugged, glancing at Rory in confusion.
Rory sniggered, shaking her head at her husband’s relief. “Henry’s not that bad.”
“Not that bad? The git proposes to you every chance he gets just to make my blood boil.”
Ella shirked out of his grip, her shock falling to discomfort and worry. She shoved her hands in her pockets and cast Rory a wounded look that begged for some sort of explanation.
Rory shook her head repeatedly as she moved over to Ella, looping her arm through hers to make sure the new girl didn’t vanish. “No, no. Cord’s saying it wrong. Henry knows how easily I get embarrassed, so he does everything he can to act up when we’re in public. It’s a joke on the press, who cover our lives so intrusively. You know about our betrothal?”
Ella swallowed hard and bobbed her head.
“Henry and I were promised to each other when we were born. Then when Malaura cursed me as a baby, my parents let Henry’s parents out of the agreement. We stayed very close and grew up like siblings with Adam Fontaine. Never more to it than that.”
The way her tone soured on Adam’s name made Ella want to ask questions, but she balled her toes inside of her shoes and kept quiet.
“Henry proposes as a joke, and the press eats it up—the two promised to each other, finally finding their way back after all these years. It’s ridiculous. I’m very much married to Cord, and Henry’s woefully taken with you.” She squared her shoulders to Ella and cupped her arms. “Please don’t be cross with him, or me. I want nothing more than for Henry to find exactly you. And Henry has never, ever wanted to be with me. Cordray shouldn’t have said anything.” She shot her husband a glare that lasted two whole seconds, but then softened when her eyes fixed on Ella’s uncertainty.
“Okay,” she murmured, unsure what one was supposed to say in this situation. “Thanks for clearing that up. Have you and Henry ever kissed?”
Rory’s expression faltered. “No more than he’s kissed Adam, I’m sure. He used to do that to embarrass him, as well.” She lowered her chin in shame. “When I was in my coma, I begged him and Adam to try and wake me with true love’s kiss if Cord’s wouldn’t work for some reason. So yes, Henry kissed me, but it was an attempt to save his oldest friend’s life, and only because I asked him to. Please don’t hold that against him.”
In that explanation, Ella saw clearly how deep their friendship went, and how loyal Henry could be. She took a chance and sank into Rory’s open arms, hugging the woman for the sister she wished they’d always been. “How much easier my whole life would’ve been if you were my sister.”
Rory gripped Ella hard, having needed the same female camaraderie through her lonely childhood. “Then I will be from now on, and life will be so much better for the both of us.”
It didn’t feel natural for Ella to rest her head on Rory’s shoulder, but she found she couldn’t resist the woman’s transparency and utter acceptance of her. The hug didn’t stop for nearly a minute, while both women silently unburdened a portion of their ostracism onto the other’s shoulder, trusting that a sister could handle such things.