Accidental Surrogate

Chapter 396: Stormy Secrets Ella

Cora glares at Roger, her arms crossed, as he almost literally rolls with laughter inside of the RV, doubling over so hard he has to lay back on the white leather cushions of the kitchenette. “I still don’t see what’s so funny about this,” Cora snaps. I wrap my arm around Sinclair’s waist, grinning widely and listening to the furious sound of the rain pouring on the RV.

I can feel my mate chuckle a little, likewise enjoying the scene. “It’s just too good, Cora!” Roger says between laughs as his father shakes his head, also smiling, and rolls away into the living area with Rafe in his lap, clearly not wanting his daughter-in-law to see the amusement on his face. “What!” Cora snaps, and I have to cover my mouth to hide my own laughter when I see how pissed she’s getting. The rain hits harder, now including little bits of hail.

“It’s just,” Roger says, working hard to sit up and wiping a tear of mirth from his eye, “we had no idea you could control theweather -” another burst of laughter”- but you wanted meso badthat you created ahurricane-” he roars with it again “- justto trap me in a motel, so you could get me in bed

“Oh mygod!” Cora snaps, blushing beet red and striding forward a few steps to smack him on the arm, which just makes him laugh harder.

I have to turn my face in Sinclair’s shoulder now – because as much as I want to support my sister, Roger is totally right. And it’shilarious. Sinclair wraps an arm around me, holding me tight, openly laughing himself and watching with glee as the scene unfolds before us.

“It’s true!” Roger continues as the wind howls around us, shaking the RV a little bit with Cora’s embarrassed rage. “For heaven’s sake, Cora – you didn’t have to nearlydrownus to get me in bed, a little light rain would have done it – you could have just given us a flat tire – ”

Growling a little and still blushing hard, Cora climbs onto the little kitchen bench seat, reaching out to smack Roger again, though he scoots away from her.

“Shut up!” she mutters, “or I’ll strike you with lightening next!”

“Do we evenneedthat kind of foreplay, Cora? You’re already knocked up -”

Cora emits an enraged, embarrassed little shriek and begins to swat at Roger, which has us all howling with laughter. My whole body shakes against Sinclair’s as I give up pretending and laugh so hard that my sides hurt. Because, as much as Cora hates it, Roger’s reading of her is perfectly accurate – she was so pent up emotionally, and loved him so much, that something about it must have activated her gift that day. The storm wasn’t sent by some dark force – it was just Cora’s own dramatic way of creating a space where she and Roger could be alone together, where they had to face their truth.

The wind and the rain abates a little as Roger pulls Cora into his lap and holds her tight, pinning her arms to her side so she can’t hit him anymore, even though I’m sure he didn’t feel any pain. He talks to her softly, still laughing and teasing her in the way she needs to be teased but likewise letting her know that he thinks she’s amazing, and marvelous, and that if he’d had the same power he’d have done the exact same thing weeks before.

“Precisely right,” Cora growls, pressing herself close to him and nudging hischeek with her nose in a particularly wolfish way. “You’re just jealous of my powers.” “Yes, little demigoddess,” he murmurs, kissing her forehead but still grinning with his glee. “I’d have frozen you away in a little igloo jail made entirely of ice until you gave into me – “”Do you think I can do that?” she asks suddenly, lifting her head and looking at him eagerly.

“I mean, rain I can obviously do but do you think I can do ice as well?” “Well you just made it hail,” he says with a shrug. “I did?” she gasps, eager, looking up at the ceiling. “I, for one,” I say, pitching my voice a bit loud to remind them thatthey’re not the only ones in the room, especially as I see Roger’s hand slipping a bit lower on Cora’s waist than he’d usually venture in mixed company.

Cora and Roger turn to me, curious, and I smile widely at them, still excited that my sister has figured out her gift. “Well?” Cora asks, grinning at me.

“I think that you probablycando ice,” I continue, cocking my head. “Do you remember when, that awful night, the faux priestess froze me to the floor? Well, when mom unlocked my gift, I was able to melt the ice. And that hasnothingto do with healing powers, so,” I give a little shrug, looking up at Sinclair, seeing what he thinks. ” Maybe it’s… the crossover that mom was talking about? How all of our gifts are connected, but we can only do a little of what each other can do?”

“Interesting,” Cora murmurs, looking down at her hands as if she can read the magic there. Then she holds her hands out towards Roger, her fingers splayed wide. “What are you doing?” he asks quietly. “Trying to freeze you,” she murmurs, concentrating. “What!” he gasps, smacking her hands away, which just makes her laugh. “Well, I would have stopped,” she says, rolling her eyes,

“before I gave you frostbite. Or killed you or whatever.”

“Let’s…not experiment,” he murmurs, looking at her like she’s a little crazy, “with that too much.” “Don’t laugh at me so much,” she says, leaning closer and giving him a wicked grin. “And I won’t be tempted to.” Roger snarls a little and grabs her by the chin, planting a solid kiss on her mouth, and Sinclair sighs and turns me away. “Do you think,” my mate murmurs in my ear,” that we can sneak in and steal the bedroom while they’re distract-”

“Not a chance!” Roger shouts from behind us. I laugh and then groan as Roger scoops Cora up in his arms and carries her to the back of the RV, both of them cackling victoriously the whole way. Sighing, I lean back against my mate and glare at little at the couch which shifts into a queen-sized bed which is neither big enough for both of us nor very comfortable. “Guess you’re stuck out here with me,” Henry says, wheeling over and grinning up at us.

“Oh, we don’t mind that,” I say, smiling warmly at him and hoping he didn’t take it that way. “After all, youcan wake up with little Mr. Fuss,” I coo, leaning down to smile at my baby, “when he gets up at 2 am! For absolutely no reason!”

“More than happy to,” Henry agrees with a smile, tickling Rafe’s belly with his fingertips and making our little boy laugh. “Any time.” And I bite my lip a little as I take Sinclair’s hand, loving how much Henry and Rafe are already connected. Family, after all, is everything to me now that I’ve got it. I’m so, so incredibly grateful that Cora and I have been so embraced by people who love us so much. “Come on, trouble,” Sinclair sighs, starting to turn out the beds. The wind picks up outside the RV and lightning strikes close by. We all ignore it, not allowing ourselves to consider, really, what it means. “We’ve got a long road tomorrow.”

And I sigh as I help him, because I know it’s true. And I amnotlooking forward to the return of the highway and everything that awaits us at home.RêAd lat𝙚St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only