Page 31 of Hers to Rule

“Oh, thank goodness.” She sat up and stretched. “Come in for a minute?”

“Sure.” Tilly slipped inside and touched the switch on the wall to bring the lights on dimly before shutting the door. “Do you need something?”

“Just wanted to talk since we have a couple of minutes.” Mari gestured to where her robe hung. She still wore only her camisole and wasn’t sure how modest Tilly was.

Tilly crossed the room and handed the robe to her and then turned around. “What did you want to talk about?”

Mari wrapped the robe around her body as she stood, smiling to herself at the unnecessary privacy Tilly afforded her. “I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about what my father did to you because of me.”

Tilly turned to face her. “That wasn’t your fault.”

“No, but you deserve an apology for it, since you can’t get one from him.”

“Thank you.” Tilly frowned. Her clawed feet, the same deep blue as her wings, shifted on the tiled floor. “I spent a lot of years hating you for what happened.”

Mari sighed. “I can understand that. It was awful.”

“I don’t anymore. Haven’t for a while. You had it much tougher than I did.” Tilly shrugged, the feathers on her arms resettling. “After that, your father mostly ignored me.”

Mari understood now why she’d felt the need to have this conversation. She did have something to atone for, after all. “And so did I.”

Tilly looked startled, but after a moment, she nodded. “That hurt. And I didn’t understand at first that you were doing it for me. So that he’d have no excuse to come after me again.”

“I’m glad it worked.” That made the isolation she’d felt in the years that followed worth it.

Sadness softened Tilly’s expression. “That must have been so lonely. No one dared to get close to you after that.”

Until Cisco in recent years, no one had. “I understood why. He terrorized all of us.”

Tilly stepped closer and held out her feathered arms. “We survived.”

Mari accepted the peace offering, moving to hug her. “We survived,” she agreed as she squeezed Tilly tightly. “And I’m so thankful for that.”

Tilly’s strong arms held her for a long, quiet moment as they both grieved the girls they’d been. Eventually, they pulled apart, both of them having said what needed saying. “I’m glad you found your people.”

Mari smiled but couldn’t help feeling like the other shoe had yet to drop. Contentment was hard to come to terms with for her. “You’ll find yours too.”

Tilly shrugged. “I think I already have. She just has to figure it out.”

That pleased Mari to hear, and she was curious who the lucky lady was. “I’m going to ask you for all the details about that soon, but I really have to get in the shower.”

Tilly nodded. “I heard you’re headed to meet with Esmé. I’m stuck on compound duty tonight, but you’re going to crush it.”

Mari took a breath to calm the nerves that were already fluttering in her stomach. “Let’s hope so.”

Chapter 10

Mari looked into the standing mirror next to the closet. She almost didn’t recognize herself. The dress Cisco had bought for her clung to her, a millimeter shy of indecency, the fabric rich and red. The neckline carved low between her breasts, and the backline even lower, exposing the small of her back. The skirt fell silkily almost to the ground and showed flashes of her leg through a long slit when she walked. The dress was scandalous and gorgeous, and she loved it more than any piece of clothing she’d ever worn.

“You look stunning,” Cisco said from behind her.

She met his eyes in the mirror and shivered with a thrill at the heavy weight of his gaze. He was dressed in an impeccably tailored black suit and looked delicious. “You don’t look half bad yourself.”

He smiled easily. “I’ve got just the thing to finish the look.” He picked up the box Greta had given him earlier from a table nearby and handed it to her.

She opened the top and looked inside. Nestled in plush black fabric rested a silver necklace shaped like two clawed hands with rubies sparkling out of it. She could feel the magic worked into the platinum reaching for her.

“It won’t restrain your power,” Cisco said softly.

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