“Again. I’m not sure you’re concentrating.”
Ella bit her tongue to keep any sass locked inside. Her brain felt like it was seeing the world through a foggy mist, taking longer to process everything. “I’m sorry. It’s the cold medicine. I’m not used to it.”
Cordray turned a full circle in the swivel chair that he’d rolled to the side of the study to avoid Remus’ agitation. Though Remus was never out-and-out harsh, he didn’t hesitate to push when necessary. “Honestly, Remus. The poor girl’s clearly sick. She’s doing her best. Ella, the next time you sneeze, aim it in his direction so he catches your virus, and we can say condescending things to him while he muddles through.”
Ella sniggered but that led to a coughing fit, during which she was pretty sure she actually did spread germs in his direction. “No, no. Remus is right. I’m not concentrating. We have to figure out what to say to Lady Tremaine tomorrow, and I’m in knots about it.”
Remus leaned back on his desk, and then pressed his hands behind him to lift himself up to sit on the sleek top. His gray slacks and light green dress shirt were perfectly pressed, even though he’d worked nine hours that day at the Johnstone Foundation. He sighed and scrubbed his face with his hands. “Cord is right. I’m off-center. I was hoping to be further along than this, but it seems your cold is affecting your magic.”
Ella shook her head. “It’s not my cold. I could still hear through walls and whatnot when I was starting to get sick. It’s the cold medicine.”
“You’re certain?”
Ella shrugged. “I haven’t had any kind of medicine in years, so yeah. I can tell something’s not firing correctly, and that’s the unknown variable.”
Remus stared up at the ceiling, as he often did when he was putting together equations and solving problems in his head. “Have you tried St. John’s Wort before?”
Ella quirked her eyebrow. “That you think Lady Tremaine gives me access to any kind of vitamins or herbs makes me think I downplayed how miserable it was for me there. She barely gave me food.” Ella sat back down in her chair across from the desk, her body groaning at being out of bed for this long. “Why do you ask?”
“Lethals have options. Cord doesn’t have to wear his gloves, but he chooses to, because he’s too powerful for the pill to mute all of his abilities. I don’t want to mute your abilities, only make it so you can more easily control them. Take them down a notch so you can choose when you access them. Think of how nice it would be to kiss your boyfriend without fear of bringing down the house.”
Ella thought over the last two hours of mental and magical exercises Remus had her do. Each one was designed around control. Levitate a chair, but only two inches, and then hold it there, never moving it up or down, for twenty minutes. See through the cover of a book, but find only a specific page while being timed to see how long it took, and then how long she could stay on that page before the vision fell away. “Do you really think it’s as simple as an herb?”
Remus tipped his palms upward. “I think we can do a fair amount of practicing on you to see what we can get right. It’s much more complicated troubleshooting with Cordray.”
Cord flexed his gloved fingers with a look of a chagrin to him. “Sorry.”
Ella’s eyes fixed on Remus’ feet that swayed lightly against the desk. “Henry doesn’t understand why you aren’t on as many pills as it takes to mute your powers, Cord. Isn’t it safer if you are? Isn’t that easier for you than going through all this testing?”
Cord stopped swiveling in his seat to stare at her. “Of all people, I never would’ve pegged you as one to vote for the easy way out. I don’t want to need a band-aid for the rest of my life. The pill isn’t a solution, it’s a temporary fix. Besides, my abilities seem to want to mutate past whatever dose I put in my body.” He shook his head. “And it’s not safer for me to be on the pill, even if it worked as it’s supposed to. Rory has been abducted eight times in her life. Did you know that?”
Ella’s eyebrows shot upward. “Oh, that’s terrible!”
Cordray touched his chin, running his tongue over his teeth. “In those situations, I’m not going to just sit there and watch while they take my wife, kicking and screaming. I know what happens to the hostage.” His dark eyes clouded over with a storminess that made Ella feel like his thoughts were too private for her to look at him directly. “It’s not safer for anyone if I can’t protect my wife. I’m very careful to always wear my gloves, so I’m not worried about accidentally electrocuting her, like I know Henry’s afraid might happen.”
Ella felt horrible for Cord’s plight. She adored Rory, and couldn’t stomach anyone hurting someone so wonderful.
When Ella coughed again, Remus said to Cordray, “Would you mind getting Ella some tea?”
“Sure thing. Hang in there, Sis.” Cordray clapped Ella on the shoulder before leaving the study.
Ella took in Remus’ serious expression, and the fact that he waited until Cordray was halfway down the hall before he spoke. “Have you read the fine print of Proposition 7?”
Ella turned her chin slowly from side to side, confused at the abrupt subject shift. “I just know the headlines. It’s about privatizing the pill, leaving the original for the government to distribute. The plan is to release the formula to the highest bidder, so they can make mutations and try to work out the kinks.” She frowned at him. “That would be good for Cordray, right?”
“On the surface, yes. But there’s a little line in there that most people gloss over. ‘If any harmful side effects occur, the manufacturer has the right to quarantine, treat, and study the subject for the duration of the effect.’”
Ella chewed on his words, but didn’t see anything inherently evil about them. “Well, shouldn’t they help if they do something that hurts Lethals? Doesn’t that just give them license to clean up their messes?”
Remus remained seated atop his desk, but he leaned forward to meet her eyes in earnest. “‘Harmful’ is a broad judgment. Taking away Cordray’s magic could be considered harmful, which would then give whoever’s in charge the right to lock him away, test serums on him, and track his every movement for the rest of his life under the guise of medical research.”
Ella’s mouth fell open in horror. “Are you serious? Do you really think that could happen?”
Remus crossed his legs atop his desk, looking to Ella a little like a meditation guru in business casual. “If I was diabolical, my first move would be to lengthen the life of the pill, so instead of every month, it would last a year or more in a person’s system. That way I could study them for much longer when they needed to be quarantined ‘for their own good.’” His voice lowered. “If that bill is passed, the government would also have those rights.”
Ella’s head felt like it was swimming with too much information. “But King Hubert is a good man.” She swallowed the shame at the king’s scorn of her over the phone, and clung to his usually fair policies. “He wouldn’t do that.”
Remus met her eyes with a seriousness that revealed more sleepless nights than he would admit to aloud. “There have been two attempts on the king’s life just this year. Henry can’t leave the house without either myself or a guard. Once you two go public about your relationship, that will be your life, as well. The throne is in good hands now, but if certain councilmembers had their way, the king would be replaced. Imagine the damage that bill could do in the hands of the Baron. He owns a company that’s chomping at the bit for this bill to pass. Would you want the Baron manufacturing your medication?”
Realization of the far bigger picture crashed over Ella like a ton of bricks, knocking her worldview. Reality began to chip away at the precious parts of her that needed to believe in happily ever afters. “Why are you telling me this?”
Remus straightened his tie. “Because Cordray won’t see reason. He wants this bill passed, which means that if it does, he’ll be first in line to try a new pill that might let him hold onto his magic while keeping Rory safe. I don’t want you to fall into the same trap. When your ability gets out, it might be suggested you go on the pill as well. That would be most detrimental.”
Ella covered her mouth and sucked in too much air, which pushed her into a coughing fit. It wasn’t until Remus hopped off his desk to rub soothing circles into her spine that she saw another layer clearly through all the politeness and politics. “You’re not done studying me, and you’re worried a new pill will pause our progress.”
Remus shook his head. “That’s like, fifth on the list of reasons why I don’t want you to fall for this golden opportunity. Henry needs someone like you to watch out for him. What you did when you overheard the Baron plotting to take out members of the council? We were able to get ahead of that because of your gift. I sleep better at night knowing you can help the people we love.”
Ella slumped against Remus’ hip, letting him ease her assumptions that had been a bit too harsh. “I’m sorry. I’m just used to…”
“I’m not here to use you, Ella. No more than you’re here to use me.”
Ella’s eyelids drifted shut as she rested her weary head against his side, marveling at how very comfortable she was with Remus now. She felt truly at home in his house, and knew that he was only expecting of her the standards he’d set for himself—to protect the people they both loved with the unique gifts nature had granted them. “If the bill passes, I won’t take the new pill. Thank you, Remus.”
Remus gusted out a sigh of relief. “Thank you for trusting me, Miss Ella.”