control over, I blamed her for losing Deon along with the rest of The Royal Court, when my anger should have been directed at people like Connor and anyone who helped him control Postings the way he did. I couldn’t bring myself to entirely regret it—I’d lost so much of myself being in The Royal Court. Not only did stepping away allow me to get back to my more natural self, but it also led to me getting close to Sicily. That said, I ended up taking things to the extreme and hurting someone who’d only ever been like a sister to me.
She didn’t deserve that.
We pulled apart a little, but I placed my hands on her face and looked into her eyes. “You’re so beautiful. I’m so happy to see you.”
She smiled wider and there were tears plucking at the corners of her eyes. “I’m happy to see you too. I missed you so much.”
“I missed you too. I’m sorry for everything I did,” I said. “I love you.”
She snickered. “You’ve apologized to me about a thousand times this week and I already told you I forgive you.”
“I know, but I was so mean to you and—”
Avery dragged me back into a hug. “It’s okay, Cherri. We all had a tough time. If something happened to Ali, I can’t say I wouldn’t act the same. It’s fine. Let’s just put it behind us.”
I squeezed onto her, loving the feeling of my best friend in my hands once again. “Okay. I’d like that.”
We finally released, and Avery turned to Sicily with just as bright a smile. “Hi, Sicily.”
“What’s goin’ on, Avery?” Sicily replied. “I forget. Are you one of the single ones?”
I backhanded his arm, frowning. “What is wrong with you?”
Sicily shrugged. “What? Your old pal Sicily’s been working hard lately. It’d be nice to have a pretty face to come home to.”
Avery didn’t seem at all bothered by the question. “Well, as much as I think I’d enjoy being your pretty face, I am not single. I’m with Alistair.”
“None of the girls in The Royal Court are single,” I added on.
Sicily deflated. “Figures.”
He shoved past Avery and walked into the house with his arms limply at his side, and though I knew he was mostly kidding, I also knew Sicily was an undercover romantic. Being in the house with all the couples was going to be hard on him.
I looked at Avery. “I don’t suppose you know anyone we could set him up with?”
Avery shrugged. “No one that he doesn’t already know. He’ll find someone though, I’m sure. Sicily’s awesome.”
“He really is. It’d be nice if he could have someone great,” I said. “Although, truth be told, I don’t think anyone in The Royal Court is actually up to the task. He needs someone a little quirkier than we are.”
“I’ll keep an eye out,” Avery said. “Well, come on in. Everyone’s here.”
“Oh.” I hesitated in the doorway. “Really?”
Avery looped an arm around mine and pulled. “Come on, Cherri. Everyone here loves you and is very happy to see you. It’ll be okay. We want to discuss what to do next about Connor and Deon.”
I took a deep breath in and held it for a few seconds, then I slowly let it out. “Okay. I’m ready.”
I hadn’t seen The Royal Court since the day we defeated Connor’s henchmen. I sat in Nahtan’s living room and sobbed until my eyes were sore, and then embarrassingly dragged myself out with Sicily and hadn’t been back since. Apart from a few texts back and forth with Nathan to make my new living arrangements and several apologetic calls to Avery, I hadn’t even spoken to them in the week since it all had happened. Why I was so nervous, I didn’t know. They’d all been my friends before—maybe it was because they’d all changed so much, just like me.
Avery pulled, and I relented to her as she led us inside, shutting the door behind us. I could hear the quiet murmur of voices from the living room that got louder as we approached. Eventually, we rounded the corner to see that Sicily had already made himself comfortable on one of the plush couches and was chatting happily with Kyle. Nathan, Nikita, Jaxon, Colette and Alistair were also scattered around. As soon as we walked in, everyone looked up and smiled at me, and each gave me their own cheery greetings.
Colette, Alistair, Nathan and Kyle each stood up to hug me, while Jaxon nodded and