Aurora moved first, because Aurora always moved first, and she rolled off the couch onto her knees on the carpet like she'd rehearsed it. Addison came off the other couch a half-second later and landed in a crouch that had actual combat mechanics behind it, and for one glorious moment I thought they were going to fight each other on Aurora's rug.
"Rules," Belle said from the stool, notebook in hand.
"There are no rules," Addison said.
"There are always rules. That's what separates us from Ruby house." Belle tapped her pen against the bracket. "One round each. He stays in the chair. Hands on the armrests."
I looked at her. "Hands on the armrests."
"Hands on the armrests." Her amber eyes did not blink. "Otherwise you'll take over and we won't learn anything. The whole point is data collection."
"You want to collect data."
"I want to know who wins." Belle's mouth twitched. "The data is a bonus."
