Beauty's Cursed Prince

by Mary E. Twomey

  A cloud settled over Henry’s features. “Yes, well, Dad hasn’t met Ella, so he can’t be as disapproving as he claims.”

  Rory’s wistful expression melted away. “I can’t believe Papa Hubert would jump to conclusions that Ella isn’t the one for you over something he saw in a picture. Did you see the photo before it was taken down? I mean, were the two of you skinny dipping or something?”

  Henry rolled his eyes. “We can barely kiss without bringing down the roof, but sure, skinny dipping. You two were the ones making babies in Adam’s castle, not us. I didn’t see the photo, but it couldn’t have been anything scandalous.”

  Ella’s chin fell, and the levity of the beautiful evening crested at mention of the real world they’d escaped for a few hours. She swallowed hard and resolved herself not to recoil from the pain but to reach out instead. She laced her fingers through Henry’s, anchoring herself to him and silently promising them both that she wouldn’t leave. “Whatever happens, we’re still us, right?”

  “Always us,” Henry assured her, squeezing her fingers. “I’m not worried. If we made it through a dinner with Adam and you didn’t bolt, then everyone else is downhill. Though, he was on his best game tonight. I’ve never seen Adam so calm and talkative. He winked at Belle, like he was his old, playful self again.” Henry ran his thumb over Ella’s knuckles. “Did his Lupine features freak you out? If they did, you did a brilliant job of hiding it.”

  “You prepped me well enough. He was lovely, and Belle was wonderful. I think it’s sweet how you, Adam and Rory have clung to each other over the years, with Remus guiding the way.”

  Benjamin spoke up from the front seat. “I chatted with the police when they showed up, trying to bring Adam in on those false charges. I gave them my statement that Adam never left the castle while I watched the grounds. I trust everything is settled?”

  Henry’s expression darkened. “It was. I handled it enough to clear Adam’s name. Why people can’t leave him alone in his last days being human is beyond me.” He ran his thumb over Ella’s knuckles, swallowing hard. The interior of the car fell silent for a few moments while everyone processed the change that would surely come soon. “Thanks for letting me handle it, and I’m sorry our date ended with the cops showing up.”

  Ella shrugged. “No one can ever accuse you of being a boring date, that’s for sure.” She glanced out the tinted windows, pondering her brief time away from the group while the police were questioning Adam. She’d waited in the dining room, hoping that her first date with Henry could remain out of the public eye.

  It was the candelabra that distracted her from the hullaballoo in the foyer. She wasn’t sure what Remus was expecting her to discover, but she reasoned then to be her best window.

  She’d sat at the table, her elbows resting on the surface with her fingers twined to cradle her chin as she stared at the brass two-foot tall three-tiered brass candelabra. Remus had started every session with deep breathing exercises, taking her and Cordray to an almost meditative state to open their minds before filling them with lessons.

  The St. John’s Wort she’d taken in the morning wasn’t strong enough to make sending out her Hearing and Sight impossible, but the view was foggier, and the sounds weren’t as easy to piece together into conversation. However, the tradeoff was that she’d been able to let Henry pin her against the wall in the ballroom when the others were off doing their own things.

  Ella shivered at the memory of such unencumbered ravishing. Her lips still felt swollen from his hungry kisses that never seemed to find satiation. It hadn’t been until Henry’s hand had gripped her thigh beneath the fabric of her hiked-up dress that her Hearing accidentally shot forth, cluing her in to Adam’s dilemma with the police.

  In the privacy of Adam’s dining room, Ella had gathered her Hearing up and pushed it out from her body with purpose in the direction of the polished candelabra. Remus had taught her to control the abstract as if she were conducting clouds to hover over a certain spot. She imagined the clouds gathering like cotton candy around the candelabra that kept catching Adam’s eye during dinner. She wasn’t certain what she was supposed to be searching for, but she gently peeled back the layers of logic that would advise her she was wasting her time.

  “Mm-b-hmph. The Master should ust ask Belle to marry him uh-etty.”

  Ella’s head jerked around, finding no one else in the room. “Hello?”

  When no one answered, she wet her lips and went in for another attempt, this time adding Sight to the mix. Remus was adamant that she catalog every detail, no matter how small, but as much as she tried to focus, the edges of everything remained blurry. The St. John’s Wort, though it was weak in her system, made it feel like she was hearing underwater.

  “Mm-fl-sip-zoo should be more romantic. Make hi-lifsping.”

  Ella had cried out when she’d caught slight movement, as if the candelabra’s top half had opened up and formed a mouth with which it spoke when it assumed no one could hear him. She wanted to hear him speak for hours just so she could observe the oddity, but the pressure in her temples began pounding with uncomfortable pressure.

  “You look like your mind is somewhere far away,” Henry commented, bringing her back to the town car that drove along the snowy backroads towards the freeway.

  Ella was about to reply, but she realized belatedly that thinking about sending out her Hearing had done exactly that in real time. Panting sounds of “It could be Remus! Don’t lose the car!” reached her ears, with that same growl behind it she’d heard when she’d conversed with the wolves last week.

  “Stop the car!” she cried out, surprised when Benjamin obeyed.

  “Is everything alright, Miss?”

  Ella unbuckled herself and fisted the handle. “Everyone stay inside, understood?”

  Henry held tighter to her hand to keep her in place. “Not a chance. The snow is at least a foot deep off the road. What’s wrong?”

  “It’s the Lupine. I can Hear them speaking. They’re trying to flag down Remus.” She shook her head when the others gasped. She’d kept her field trip into the woods with Remus private.

  This revelation seemed to push Henry over the edge. “You can talk to the Lupine?”

  Ella slipped her hand from his. “I didn’t think it was relevant to mention. I’m still learning all that I can do.” When this didn’t pacify him, Ella exhaled. “I’m sorry, Henry. I should’ve told you. But I really need to talk with them right now. It seems urgent.”

  Cordray pressed his hand to Henry’s chest when the prince tried to exit the vehicle. “You stay in here. I’ll go out with her.”

  It was a clear shot to Henry’s masculinity, though Ella knew Cord hadn’t meant any offense by it. He touched the edge of his gloves, but kept them in place for the time being. He tossed his wife a gentle smile when she warned him to be careful. “Of course, Story. I’m the most careful Lethal you know.”

  Benjamin didn’t heed Ella’s warning to stay inside but came out with the two, hemming her in with Cordray. “You can talk to the Lupine? That’s really something, kid.”

  Ella muscled through the cringe that yet another person knew her secrets, but she understood this was a drop in the bucket. Soon enough, all of Avondale would be told by Lady Tremaine that Ella could Hear things she shouldn’t.

  She flagged down the wolves, who ran even faster when they saw it was her, and not Remus. They jumped like puppies when they neared, yipping and rolling in the snow with excitement. “Hi, guys! Is everything alright?” She fastened the top button of the gray wool coat Rory had bought her, but the wind was unmerciful as it whipped at her cheeks, beating color into the flesh that made them feel raw.

  Connor noticed her shiver and moved cautiously toward her. “Tell your friends I’m just going to warm you up. I don’t want any trouble.”

  “At ease, soldiers.” She bent down, leaning forward so she could wrap her arms around Connor’s neck, kissing the gray fur as she scratched behind his
ears. “I missed you.”

  “Oh, my queen. You have no idea.” Connor shuddered at her touch, leaning into it like a starving man offered his last meal. “I don’t want you out in the snow like this, so I won’t keep you as long as I’d like.” He licked her cheek. “How I should like to keep you forever.”

  Ella dimpled. “Oh, you charmer.”

  Guadalupe smooshed her body against Ella’s other side, shielding her from the wind as best she could. “They put trackers in us!” she moaned, letting out a chilling howl into the night. The trees were the only other witnesses to her pain this far out, but nature seemed to absorb her sadness, hushing as the snow fell to respect her agony.

  Benjamin and Cordray observed the exchange with mixed looks of curiosity and fear as they assessed how much of a threat the Lupine were to Ella, affectionate as they were to her.

  “What? Who did?” She reached out and scratched under Errol’s chin, taking in his whine with compassion.

  “We didn’t get their names. They put trackers in us, and injected us with some serum. We’re not safe anywhere now!”

  “Are they hunting you?”

  “Not yet.” Guadalupe covered the nape of Ella’s neck when she shivered. “But it’s coming.”

  “What did the serum do? Are you okay?”

  “It muted our Pulses for a while, but they’re starting to come back, thank goodness.” Guadalupe’s tone turned biting. “They treated us like animals, forcing us into cages and injecting us with stuff we never consented to. Now we can never escape, because they’ll always be able to find us!”

  Ella gripped Connor and then brushed her fingers over Guadalupe’s brown-spotted fur as her mind rushed to put the pieces in the most logical order. “If they’ll do that to you…” Her eyes climbed up to Cordray, whose fists were bunched as he tried to determine whether or not he should remove his gloves and clean house. Her heart clenched, and then began to beat rapidly as fear dawned on her afresh, connecting two scandals in her mind. “If that serum muted your Pulses, it’s because you’re the test subjects. They’re gearing up to move forward with developing the pill before Proposition 7 even passes.”

  Errol howled into the night, and despite his stalwart body language, Benjamin let out a bleat of distress. “They wore blue lab coats and took us into a huge warehouse. That’s where they experimented on us. Find them, Ella! Don’t let them do this to anyone else!”

  Ella shuddered from the cold. “Will you come to Remus’ home with me? He might have a few theories. He’s better connected than I am.”

  Connor’s maw brushed her cheek before he licked her earlobe. “I would go with you wherever you led, but we have to alert the other packs. We’re telling you because Remus needs to know. He needs to understand that they’re moving forward without government consent, which means they either know they’ve got the vote secured, or they don’t care if the government sanctions this or not. I’m not sure which is worse.”

  “You can’t expect me to leave you out here!” Ella flung her arms around his neck, casting up a look of gratitude when Guadalupe and Errol moved in closer to shield her from the angry gust of wind that kicked up around them. Ella shivered against Connor, sneezing a few times until her eyes watered.

  Connor hooked his maw over her shoulder. “That’s exactly what you have to do. I don’t want to lead those men straight to Remus, or to you. I want them far, far away from you. Tell Remus the men were wearing blue uniforms with a white stripe across the breast. I bit into one of their legs, and Errol tore up one of their hands pretty badly. So check the hospitals for someone who was treated for those kinds of injuries two nights ago.”

  “Two nights? You’ve been dealing with this by yourselves for two nights? How can I help?”

  “Getting the information to Remus is all the help we need.” Connor laved at the hollow of her throat, forcing a coo from her lips.

  That was when Henry decided he was done waiting it out in the car. He stepped into the snow, his chest barreled. “Are you kidding me with this? I’m not about to sit back and watch while some guy licks my girlfriend’s neck.”

  Ella craned her head up at him. “Huh? He’s a wolf, Henry. It’s hardly the same thing.”

  “He’s a man, Ella. It’s exactly the same thing. Let’s get home. You’re not completely over your cold yet. I’ll not see you back at Urgent Care again so soon.” He sneered at Connor, who snarled in return.

  “Enough,” Ella chided them both. “We can go, Henry. Was that everything, guys?”

  Guadalupe shot Ella a look of warning. “I’d listen to Henry on this one.” She barred her fangs at Connor when he growled at her. “Leave her be.”

  Connor wrapped his tail around Ella’s calf when she stood. “Until we meet again, my queen.” Then he farted in Henry’s direction before he walked off with the pack into the woods.

  When they all piled back into the car, the first thing to break the tension was Henry’s incredulous, “Where was your Lethal status just then, Cord? Next time some guy cozies up to my girlfriend, the gloves come off.”

  Cordray merely chuckled as he shivered next to Rory, who cuddled into his side. “There’s a reason nature didn’t give you anything more than charm. You couldn’t handle a day in my shoes.”

  Henry grumbled at Cordray and gathered up Ella’s hands, blowing hot air onto her fingers. “Tell me you’ll never do something so reckless again. Having a chat with the Lupine shouldn’t be done unarmed. They’re dangerous, Ella.”

  “Oh, honey. They’re not the ones we should be afraid of.” She leaned into his shoulder, wondering just who was behind the attack on the Lupine, and what could be done about it all now.

  35

  Eavesdropping

  “She’s being dramatic. You wouldn’t believe the wild stories she can concoct.”

  Remus ran his hand across the surface of his desk, keeping his face composed, lest he shout at the woman on the other end of the call. “I’m not speaking of Ella, I’m merely relaying the doctor’s notice I was given when I took her to Urgent Care. Ella’s got a severe case of pneumonia, I can only assume from being locked out of the house with wet hair in the dead of winter. She’s to be confined to bedrest for two weeks. She hasn’t been able to perform her housekeeping tasks that I paid for, so I’ll put her up here at no cost to you until she’s well enough to fulfill her duties. Does that sound reasonable?”

  Lady Tremaine made a verbal show of huffing and puffing out her indignation, but eventually consented when Remus threatened to have Ella hospitalized for the duration of her illness, and the bill be sent to Lady Tremaine. “Fine. You can keep her until she can do her job. This is ludicrous. She’s faking it.”

  “Faking pneumonia? My, she’s utterly wasted as a housekeeper. I should book her for acting gigs first thing. Good day, Lady Tremaine.”

  Ella didn’t speak until Remus ended the call. “I don’t have pneumonia, you know. I’m perfectly healthy.”

  He quirked his eyebrow at her. “You wanted more time to be with Henry before going public. I just bought you a little privacy until the ball. You don’t need the stress of dealing with the fallout of leaving her on top of it all. And frankly, Henry can’t handle one more thing right now. After seeing Belle defeat Adam’s curse two nights ago, I think he’s had all the cameras in his face that he can handle. He could use some downtime with you every bit as much as you could use the time with him.”

  “I still can’t believe that when we left, he was part Lupine, and then the next day he’s full-on human again. Good call on him not being mentally ill, by the way. I thought I was going crazy when I heard the candelabra speak.”

  “I’m just grateful everyone’s alright.”

  Ella’s mouth drew to the side. “How about you? Are you alright? I know you left with Henry when he dropped us off here to go back to help Adam.”

  Remus tilted his head to the side, looking at her as if she was the first breath of fresh air he’d had in days. “It’s e
xhilarating to be witness to a curse breaking. But yes, I’m glad the cameras seem to be aiming at Adam now, instead of at me.”

  Ella rubbed her throbbing temples. She’d been doing the mental exercises at length while Remus had been helping Adam field the voracious journalists with Henry. Something about stretching her abilities all day sent her to bed with a headache every night. However, it was starting to pay off. She’d been able to read a receipt Remus had hidden in his drawer upstairs from the study on the floor below. He’d paid entirely too much for her gown, so she took breaks throughout her studies to make it up to him by cleaning on the housekeeper’s day off.

  Remus set his planner down to take in her furrowed brow. “You look troubled. Anything I can help with?”

  “I don’t like that I know all this terrible stuff that’s happening to the wolves, but there’s nothing I can do about it. Like, literally nothing. I mean, is there a plan to storm the warehouse of Davin Industrial or something? Because I wouldn’t mind being part of that.”

  Remus sat back in his leather chair and turned his focus to the ceiling. “Unfortunately, this isn’t something the law can handle, or that the law would forgive if we handled. The Lupine aren’t people, so they aren’t afforded the same rights as we are. The Baron’s company put trackers into wolves, which isn’t humane, for certain, but it’s not illegal.”