Rory released her only a few seconds before she scooped Ella’s hand up and led her to the seat next to hers at the large table. “You’re to call me Rory, and I’m to call you my new best friend. Tell me everything about yourself. I can’t tell you how long I’ve waited to meet you. Henry’s been keeping you secret for far too long. I knew something was different, though. I knew he was smitten. Now that I can see you in person? I can tell why he’s so taken with you. You’re absolutely lovely.”
Remus covered his mouth when a chuckle slipped out. “I don’t think I’ve heard you speak that much in a row ever in my life. Did you even pause for a breath?”
“Who has time for boring things like breathing? Henry’s got a girlfriend!” She clasped her hands together under her chin. “Oh, Henry. I never thought this day would come.”
Henry grumbled good naturedly as he sat on Ella’s other side. “You act like I have no social skills. Like it would be a miracle for any woman to fancy me. I’m not a mutant, you know.” Then he raised one shoulder higher than the other, lifted his hands to look like claws, bugged one eye and twisted his mouth into a roar. “Oh, no! You’ve discovered my secret! I really have been a mutant all these years.” He growled, and then swooped in to mime taking a bite out of Ella’s neck.
Ella let a giggle escape, but then swatted at his antics, pursing her lips to scold him. “Would you shush? I’m trying to make a good impression, here.”
Rory’s hand flew over her heart, worry widening her brown eyes. “Oh, no! You shouldn’t think I’m anyone to impress. We’re going to be the very best of friends; I’m certain of it. Henry tells me you’ll be staying here, which means we’ll have nothing but time to get to know one another.”
Ella shifted uncertainly, but couldn’t see any hint of falsity in the woman who positively beamed at her. She wasn’t used to unfettered approval, and wanted to mistrust it on instinct, but there was something about Rory’s wide, accepting eyes and joyful bob on her toes as her legs danced under the table that made Ella wonder if there really might be good people in the government after all. “That sounds nice.”
“This evening,” Remus interjected. “Rory, you have your lessons this morning. I was thinking Ella might want to sit in on them.”
Rory’s face fell as she turned to her uncle. “Are you sure? I thought you said we were going to keep those lessons private.”
Ella shirked back, worried that her presence was going to upset the girl who seemed perfectly delightful. “I don’t see why I should intrude, Mr. Johnstone.”
Remus was dressed for a day at the office. He presented himself as the professional the rest of the world knew him to be—wearing gray pants, a light pink pressed dress shirt, and a blue tie that he kept brushing other colors across in ribbons while he sized up the three. “It’s unfair that Ella’s been expected to divulge all of her secrets, while we have our own that might help her understand hers. She’s gifted, Rory. Much like Cordray is. I think watching your lessons will help her tremendously. I trust you can be discreet, Ella?” His eyes focused in on her, uncrinkled around the edges, as if unperturbed by her response, because he already knew what sort of character she possessed.
“Of course, Mr. Johnstone.”
At this, he tilted his head at her and squinted one eye. “I believe I asked you to call me ‘Remus.’”
Ella flushed, her fingers tightening as they remained clasped in front of her, but she didn’t waver. “I’m working my way up to that, sir.”
Remus broke his formal demeanor and covered his face, letting out a handful of soundless laughs of frustration into his palms. “Very well. Get some breakfast, and I’ll see you ladies in the study when you’re finished.”
Ella’s posture remained stiff in her chair, but she tried to sound calm as she answered all of the questions Rory fired at her in rapid succession. It was a struggle to maintain a breezy demeanor when her stomach was in knots. Under the table, her ankle was coiled tightly around Henry’s to calm her nerves at being the center of too much attention.
19
Peace from Rory
“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, He
nry’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.
20
Cordray’s Secret
Seven hours of lessons in Remus’ study were interrupted only by meals and the occasional phone call that Remus or Rory couldn’t ignore.
It had taken a few hours, but eventually Ella’s secrets came out to the newcomers. Remus ran Cordray through his lessons before they moved on to Ella, which was what helped loosen her tongue. No matter what Ella had to deal with, it was nothing to the stigma that came from being a Lethal. Besides which, Remus had prodded Cordray to reveal his closely-guarded secret to lessen Ella’s anxiety that she was the only strange one.
“You’re so powerful that not even two pills were muting your Lethal abilities?” Ella gaped at him, having lost her timid demeanor a few hours back. Cordray was easy to get along with, and a little less intimidating to talk to than the royals she was constantly surrounded by in the study. “Isn’t that a little dangerous?”
“I’m trying not to let myself be dangerous. That’s why I’m here.”
“Did Malaura know? Is that why she took you?
Cordray sat on the leather couch, shoving the blissfully peaceful Henry to the side. “No. Malaura knew she couldn’t get her hands on Rory, since she was so closely guarded. So she stole me, knowing that Rory and I were in love, and if I was gone, Rory would be stuck in her sleep, and Malaura would win.”
“I read about that. You uncovered a band of Lethals she was gathering.”
Cordray bobbed his head, a haunted look crossing his features. “Months and months of torture. See, most Lethals don’t actually kill much of the time. Sure, they can make you think you’re drowning, slow your heart or whatever, and sometimes that kills you, but none of them are trained to make their Pulse last for more than a few seconds, so they don’t often finish the kill. Still, their gift makes them capable of murder, so they’re all lumped into one category. My Pulse is different.”
Remus raised his finger in warning. “No, Cordray. You’re different. With hardly any training, you were able to kill many of your captors, as well as Malaura herself. That’s nothing to downplay.”
Cordray shot Remus a withering look. “It’s nothing to brag about.”
Remus pressed his hands to his desk that he was leaning back on and hoisted himself up to sit on the polished wood. Though his body language was boyish, Remus still looked like the only adult in the room. He addressed Ella, who was trying to keep her opinions about it all to herself and just be a polite listener. “You see, Ella, people can learn skills under duress that they wouldn’t be able to master with years of study. Cordray was able to kill his captors, but he also stumbled upon a unique ability no one knew was possible. Perhaps if he’d had me as a tutor growing up, I would have limited him by my knowledge, and he’d have never figured out that he can cast his Pulse.”
Ella’s eyes widened. “You can cast your Pulse, Cord?”
Cordray’s brows furrowed that Remus had divulged his secret. “I thought we were keeping that quiet.”
“We are. She’s a mouse, Cordray. Plus, she’s signed a confidentiality clause. Your secrets are safe with her. More than that, they’re important to her.” Remus turned to Ella, his expression that of a patient tutor. “One of Cordray’s closely-guarded secrets is that he learned he can cast his Pulse. The king’s known about Cordray for months now, almost a year. He’s never been taken in for a formal testing. He’s never been experimented on, or coaxed into using his unique gifts for the government. He works with me once a week. We’re trying to get his magic under control so he doesn’t need additional pills to ensure Rory’s safety. We’re also working towards him being able to control his casting, so he doesn’t accidentally electrocute someone without meaning to. Casting one’s Pulse is something no one thought to train anyone to do.” His eyes narrowed in on her. “Do you know anyone else who can do something like that—push Pulse magic out from themselves without the use of touch?”
Ella froze, knowing that this was the moment Remus had been building up to. It was no coincidence that Cordray had been brought in to be tutored while she was staying at Remus’ home. She didn’t know what to say. So many people knew her secret now. To add two more to that list felt like a gross invasion. Still, she went out on a limb an
d decided to trust Remus, if for no other reason than that he fed her, and the reason for divulging her secrets seemed to be for camaraderie. “You brought Cordray here to show me that I’m not the only one.”
Cord’s head whipped toward Ella, his mouth falling open in shock. He stood, rubbing his gloves together and then crossing his arms over his chest, squaring his gait to hers. “You’re a Lethal?”
Ella shook her head perhaps too rapidly, and then stopped, wondering if it was offensive to so adamantly make it clear that she wasn’t like him. “I don’t have a traditional Pulse,” Ella admitted, feeling oddly lighter at releasing herself from the lie that her Pulse was Kindness.
Remus pressed his hands together under his chin. “That’s true. What Ella has is a mutation. She can send out her abilities, just like you, Cord. But she can’t use her Pulse by touching, like everyone else can.”
Rory and Cordray both gaped at Ella, as if seeing a giraffe with three heads.
Henry giggled drunkenly from his place on the couch. “You should see your faces! Duh.” He imitated their flabbergast, and then gave in to the laughter he’d gifted himself. Then he went back to studying the ceiling, which had kept him utterly fascinated for hours.
Remus smirked at Henry before coming back to the matter at-hand. “Ella, Cordray’s gifts are far more controversial than yours. No one knows that he can send his Pulse out, except for the king and the people in this room. King Hubert’s done absolutely nothing to harm or exploit Cordray, and no one on the council knows, except for Rory’s father and mother, and myself, of course.” He lowered his urgency to soothe her nerves, holding his hands out as if she were a wild animal in danger of spooking and running. “You’re safe here.”
Ella banded her arms around her stomach, worry scraping at her insides. Though she wanted to run from all of this and deny every shred of it, part of her understood that this was her one chance to learn with someone who was in a similar predicament as she, and she couldn’t justify passing that up. Ella bobbed her head in a tight, jerky motion, but refused to speak. Not bolting for the exit was a grand feat, and she wasn’t certain she was capable of much more.
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