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Eyes narrowing, Pru moved closer. “By whom?”

Hannah reappeared as though summoned by the rising tension, and she latched onto Pru’s arm with force. “By me.” And she shoved Evelyn into Pru’s arms.

Pru’s nostrils flared as she turned to Hannah. “Hannah. I don’t want to hold your baby.”

“I know you don’t, but you’re going to until you can learn to play well with others. Corvus, come with me. Sofia wants to pick your brain about the Dark Sky Place in your ancestral home. She’s an astronomer, and she’s interested in how the magical nature of your home would influence her viewing of the stars…”

Hannah’s voice faded into the crowd as she pulled Corvus away, and Pearl turned to see Pru holding Evelyn with a murderous expression on her face. A snort escaped her before she could stop it, and Pru sighed wearily. “Can you hold the baby?”

Pearl put on her best teacher voice. “Have you learned how to play well with others?”

“Maybe you need to hold the baby until you don’t look like you’re about to snog someone senseless in the middle of your crowded living room.”

That pulled a gasp from Pearl. “I did not!”

“Oh, yes you did! If I hadn’t come when I did, you would have been sucking that man’s face right off. Hannah and I are going to have words about this little stunt she pulled.”

Cheeks reddening, Pearl replied with heat. “If you could just give him a chance!”

Pru - never one to back down - matched her. “If you could stop giving him so many!” Whirling away, Pru marched off before Pearl could say anything else. Standing stunned as she watched her friend walk away, Pearl suddenly couldn’t stand the noise of the party for one more second. Fleeing to her bedroom, she lay on her bed in the dark and took several deep breaths. Her peace was momentary, however, as a sliver of light against her closed eyes indicated that someone had opened the door. Sighing and begrudgingly opening her eyes, she was relieved to see that it was Aashvi.

Aashvi was the gentlest of all her friends, proving that once again when she sat down next to Pearl, took her hand, and didn’t say a word. Closing her eyes again, Pearl took several more meditative breaths and just allowed herself to take comfort in her friend’s presence.

Pearl wasn’t sure how much time had passed when Aashvi broke the silence. “I hope you’ll take what I’m about to say in the spirit of love in which I intend it, but I think you know I wouldn’t be friends with Pru if you weren’t the glue holding us together.”

Opening her mouth to protest, Pearl found that she couldn’t deny the statement, so she simply said. “I’m glad you’re both my friends.”

Aashvi smiled at that. “I can’t deny that Pru has her charms, and I’m not sorry that she is in my life, but I think that in this moment, I’m glad that I am your friend. Because I can come in here and tell you in a way that Hannah and Sofia would not, that sometimes Pru is wrong. And sometimes Pru needs to back off and let you live your own life. And that you are a highly intelligent woman, and you can trust yourself to make good decisions.”

Sitting up, Pearl threw her arms around her friend, and felt warmth spread all the way to the tips of her toes at the confidence Aashvi had in her. When she pulled back, Aashvi held onto her arms. “I want you to go back out there and have the party you want to have. Not the party Hannah or Pru or anyone else has tried to create for you.”

Pearl gave her a shaky smile. “I’ll try.”

Returning her smile, Aashvi stood to leave, but turned back at the last second. “I will say, Pru was right about one thing.”

Pearl raised an eyebrow in question. “What’s that?”

“That man is hot as hell.” And she threw Pearl one last wink before she closed the door.

Laughing softly to herself, Pearl freshened up in the bathroom, and took a deep, fortifying breath to attempt to take her friend's advice. She reentered the fracas with as much confidence as she could muster, and immediately spotted Corvus’ blonde head. He didn’t have as much muscle mass as the rugby players, but he was taller than almost all of them, and as soon as she entered the room, his eyes went to her, a smile lighting up his face and bringing out his dimples. She couldn’t help the smile she gave him in return, and with perfect clarity, she knew exactly how to answer the challenge Aashvi had given her. She knew exactly how she wanted to spend her evening.

Chapter sixteen

Past - Last Year

Throughout his life, Corvus almost always had advance notice his mother was going to enter a room. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen her without heels, and the marble floors of the manor made them clack everywhere she went. He wondered if she chose not to spell them to be quiet because she enjoyed that people knew she was coming. But as a child, he’d thought it was like a cat that had a bell, and the hilarity of that image rather diminished the aura he believed she was trying to exude. When she marched into his office, he had already placed his papers aside and was waiting for her grand entrance.

So much of the last few years had been spent cleaning up messes of his father’s making. The amount of shady backdoor nonsense he’d been involved in was staggering, and dragging the Winterbournes into the light was proving to be a Herculean task, but at least it was a welcome excuse to avoid his mother’s matchmaking.

Predictably, she opened the door and immediately began speaking. Maybe that’s why she didn’t quiet the heels, so she didn’t have to waste time with small talk. Everyone knew she was a woman on a mission, and she could jump right in. “Corvus, it’s well past time for you to marry.”

“And good day to you, too, Mother.”

“Don’t ‘good day me, Mother’ with that smug look on your face. You’re not going to blow me off this time.”

Corvus leaned his face against his hand. “And why is that?”

“Because that girl is engaged to be married.”