Consort of Secrets

by Eva Chase

  My eyes had welled up. Our group still didn’t feel quite complete, but it was whole enough and already bound together by more trust and emotion than I could imagine sharing with anyone else. I wished I could somehow hold them all at once.

  “I love you too,” I said. “All of you. I always have.”

  They closed in around me, embracing me like they had this morning in Jin’s apartment. I breathed in their mingled scents: Ky’s musky mint, Seth’s warmed bronze, Jin’s paint-tinged sweet smoke, Damon’s leather and bitter chocolate.

  “Let’s do this,” Seth said. “Don’t wait on my decision. I’ll watch out for you either way.”

  “All right,” I said. “Come with me.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Seth

  Rose took the lead, and the four of us fell into step behind her. Her pale gold dress made her look like a wraith, but a lovely one. She crossed the uneven ground with steady, determined strides, one hand clenched tight around the strap of her bag, fallen leaves crunching under her feet. The cooling breeze flicked her black hair across her pale shoulders. I couldn’t look away.

  What was I doing? Part of me was hollering at me to throw myself at her feet and pledge my eternal loyalty to her already, and another part was full of the gnawing sensation that I shouldn’t be here at all.

  I hadn’t lied when I said I loved her. Oh, God, how I loved this girl, sweet as lilac and fierce as flame. And I’d fallen so quickly back into seeing her as the center of my world.

  It’d been one thing to live for the next time we’d gather around her on her estate when we were kids. For a guy who was almost twenty-six years old—could this level of devotion really be healthy?

  But the fact was I’d never felt the same sense of purpose as in those old days when we’d roamed through these woods by Rose’s side. Nothing in my life since had felt that sure or right until the moment she’d walked back into it. What was fixing a sink or building a fucking backyard shed when I could be holding up this woman and her magic?

  If it had been just about me, I’d have thrown in my lot with her in an instant tonight. It wasn’t, though. What Rose needed mattered more than what I wanted. Would I really be supporting her when I needed her so badly myself? What if the weight of that need just dragged her down?

  The thought made my gut twist and locked my mouth.

  Damon came up beside me, his eyes narrowed. “Why are you still here if something back there matters so much more to you?” he said, his voice sharp.

  My brother’s head jerked around. “We all helped Rose before any of us even knew about consorts,” Kyler said. “There’s no reason we all have to take that step to keep helping. If Seth’s not ready—”

  “It’s all right. It’s a fair question,” I broke in. Damon’s comment hadn’t even rankled me. I met his shadowed eyes. “Nothing matters to me more than this.”

  His lip curled partway into a sneer. “Then what’s stopping you?”

  The fact that nothing mattered to me more than this. But I didn’t think saying that would clarify things for him. Damon was the last person who’d understand holding back when your instincts were propelling you forward. How often did he think more than a few days into the future?

  Ky’s attention had shifted back to Rose. Longing was written all over his face. Was that how I looked when I watched her too?

  Jin was beaming as he tramped along, as if he’d left every hesitation and concern he’d had behind when he’d accepted her proposition. Were any of them really thinking?

  It wasn’t just me ready to throw my whole life in with her, was it? Maybe all of us were more invested than was really wise. It could be that what Rose needed right now wasn’t wisdom but exactly this incredible devotion, this passion. To hold her up. To kindle her spark. To help her overcome everything ahead of her.

  And if later on that dedication became too much… Would it make any difference if I wasn’t adding to her burden? Whatever Ky said, after this was done, it’d be the other three guys she turned to, not me. I’d be left on the sidelines if I wasn’t a part of this all the way through.

  A memory rose up in the back of my mind of the night when Rose had come to me, flustered and shy but just as determined as she was now. Wanting my touch and the security I could give her with it.

  I know if I get too caught up, you’ll be looking out for me at least as much as I should be. Probably more.

  I was supposed to be the strong one, so why was I so fucking afraid? Not even afraid of her, but of me, of how well I could stay in control. As if I hadn’t always been the one of us best at keeping my head and heart in check.

  What could I really do about her stepmother and that asshole she’d been supposed to marry if I hung back now? What could I do to keep her steady through whatever came afterward?

  Resolve filled me as I picked up my pace to catch up with Rose. I could give her all that, all my attention and love and all the power she could take from me, and be strong enough not to lean on her too much, couldn’t I? If even I couldn’t… we were all careening toward disaster anyway.

  Rose’s pace had slowed. The branches leaned more densely together up ahead. I walked faster to push one aside before she reached it. Like the old days, clearing a path for her. Making her way easier however I could.

  Rose glanced up at me and smiled, so brightly it lit my heart. “Thank you.”

  Yeah. That felt right.

  My hand dropped to take hers as we walked on. Damon muttered something behind me, but I ignored him. I could weather his attitude. I could weather just about anything when I had Rose.

  I eased another branch aside, and we emerged into a clearer patch of woods. In front of us, amid a stand of trees draped with vine, I caught a glimpse of stone blocks. The rim of a tower.

  My breath caught. Oh. We’d only come out this far once when we were kids, but the feel of the place had stayed etched in my memory. The stillness and the aura of some kind of significance. Almost like magic.

  Not almost. We could acknowledge it now. This place was magic. Why else would Rose have brought us here?

  “All right,” she said with a hitch in her voice. “Here we are. Let’s see if we can do this. I think the three of you—”

  “Four,” I said. “You’ve got me too.”

  Her lips parted. “Seth…”

  I touched her cheek and bent to kiss her. A pleased murmur escaped her. She tilted her head to kiss me back more deeply, looping her arm around my neck. When we eased apart a few inches, every nerve in my body was quivering—with a little apprehension, sure, but mostly with happiness.

  Yes. That was exactly where I was meant to be.

  “I’m sure,” I said. “I promise you, I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Rose

  All right,” I said. My voice sounded quiet despite the stillness around us. As if the towers absorbed some of the sound with their latent power. A quiver of anticipation passed through me, looking at my guys who were looking back at me in the darkness of the forest.

  I was really going to do this. I was going to take not one consort but four. And I couldn’t have loved the men I was linking my heart and my magic to more.

  Assuming this worked. I’d spent the afternoon reading everything I could about the consort ceremonies, figuring out which elements seemed to be necessary and how they were typically combined. In any normal case, a witch who wasn’t involved in the consorting would have directed the ceremony, like Celestine had been meant to for mine with Derek. But I hadn’t seen anything that indicated a witch couldn’t call on those forces herself.

  A spark wanted to be kindled. It only needed all parties involved to show how committed they were, to form those magical bonds between us that would last the rest of our lives if we let them. To appeal to the greater Spark that ran through all of us and through life itself.

  The eccentric amateur historian had mentioned structures in the wild where t
he ceremonies had once been held. Considering the etchings I’d found inside the one tower and the symbols of connection and loyalty marked on their outer walls, I had to guess this arch might be one of those. It did feel right standing here near all their history, with all this natural life around us.

  “I think we should stand beneath the arch,” I said. “Or as close to that as we can get.”

  Seth moved forward to push between two of the saplings that blocked the way. “The vegetation isn’t too dense in here.” Now that he’d decided, his eagerness to see our plan through radiated off of him.

  The rest of us clambered into the space. The towers stood about ten feet apart, the stone arch maybe five feet wide, high above our heads. The ground beneath it held only grass of varying lengths, a few patches of flowering weeds, and a log where a larger tree had fallen beside the structure. The air there had a cooler edge, but it couldn’t penetrate the warmth building just beneath my skin.

  I opened my bag and got to work arranging the rest of my supplies. A crystal bowl that I lay on the ground in the middle of the small clearing. Five sticks of charcoal, each the length of my hand. And the five ribbons to match the white one I’d tied to the gate.

  Kyler fished in his pocket when he saw those. “I brought it back for you again,” he said with that brilliant smile.

  “Thank you.” I wrapped it around my wrist like I so often did, but left half of the length hanging. Then I handed out the sticks of charcoal and the ribbons, each color to the guy it fit. Yellow for Ky. Green for Seth. Red for Damon. Purple for Jin. The blue one I left in the bag. The ceremonies I’d read had used rope or twine, but they’d also emphasized that symbolism that harmonized with the consorts’ emotions was the key. I couldn’t think of any better material than this.

  The guys had settled into a natural circle around me. I stood with the bowl at my feet and breathed in deeply. Taking in their scents, the quiet of the arch, and the energy of the forest around us.

  My spark flickered dimly in my chest, partly lit by the kisses I’d gotten from Ky and Seth. I was going to need more magic than that to begin the ceremony.

  Damon had offered himself first, so I turned to him first. “I need a little help kick-starting my powers,” I said.

  Desire lit his eyes. “You don’t have to ask twice, angel,” he said, and tugged me to him, shoving ribbon and charcoal into his pocket.

  He kissed me hard and hungry, sliding his fingers into my hair and tilting my head for better access. As his tongue tangled with mine, my spark flared brighter. His other hand slipped up my side to caress my breast through the soft fabric of the dress. Lust spiked between my legs as he tweaked the nipple like he had that night in his apartment.

  Then another presence pressed against me from behind. Kyler, I registered, just before Damon claimed my mouth with an even deeper kiss. Ky lowered his lips to the crook of my jaw, kissing a trail down the side of my neck. His arm circled my waist. His fingers traced over my ribs and up to stroke the curve of my neglected breast.

  The glow of my spark spread all through my chest. I gasped into Damon’s mouth. He took the opportunity to plunder it even more thoroughly. The combined heat of their bodies enveloped me. Ky’s thumb swiveled around my nipple, and my hips swayed between his and Damon’s. I’d thought getting it on with just one of my guys had been pretty spectacular. This? This was paradise.

  It would have been easy to get lost in the moment, in the rush of our rising desire. But my magic was smoldering behind my sternum now, ready for my use. I had to stay focused, to direct this ceremony as well as succumbing to it.

  I eased my head away, and both Damon and Ky immediately drew back. Ky was breathing hard, Damon grinning fiercely. A thrum of arousal seemed to course all through our circle. I knew without having to look that all four of the guys were as hard as my panties were now damp.

  “Fuck,” Jin said, sounding awed.

  “Later,” I said, with a slightly hysterical giggle. I gathered my breath again, sucking the night air deep into my lungs. The flame inside me steadied, still burning hotly. “Follow my lead. It all starts with me. First I have to show that we mean to honor the light that brings life. When I come to you, offer your mouth to accept.”

  I slid my foot across the grass. The ground I stood on was a far cry from the smooth boards of the magicking rooms where I’d done almost all of my practice, but my muscles adjusted, finding the right tension, the right speed. I weaved my hands through the air, from my chest where my spark licked at my ribs up into the air and then down my body from belly to core. All the magic in me, for the world and for me. My blessing to the great Spark that brought life to us all.

  “The Spark that guides us, bless this partnering,” I murmured.

  I’d never performed magic on this scale in front of the guys before, nothing but a few little tricks. I couldn’t risk checking their expressions in case they distracted me from my casting. But the atmosphere around me—a breath drawn in, the stirring of feet—held only wonder.

  In a fluid movement, I swooped my arms down and scooped up the bowl from the ground. I turned as I raised it toward the arch and the sky above it. My feet swiveled on the grass at the same time, whirling me in a slow circle. My spark seared to the edges of my body and tingled up my arms.

  The gesture was only symbolic. I tipped the bowl as if dribbling the magic I’d sent into it over my mouth. Then I held it to Seth. He raised his head like I had, his lips parting. A tiny jolt of energy passed from him to me. His essence touching my spark directly. The connection starting to form.

  I turned to Jin next. As I tilted the bowl, he tipped his face just as Seth had. Another electric tingle passed through my chest. Then Damon. Then Ky. My spark was starting to jitter. An eager quaking, as if something at its center were waiting to snap free.

  I set the bowl down and spun around it again, expelling magic through our ring. Sending it out to each of my guys, opening myself to them and calling them to me.

  When I came to a stop, I was facing Jin. I stretched out my arm to offer my stick of charcoal. He copied my gesture, holding out the stick I’d given him. I touched the tip of mine to his and propelled a flash of magic through me.

  A flame leapt up from the joined sticks. Jin’s face glowed with pleasure and the flickering light.

  “With you I would kindle my spark,” I said. “Will you join me?”

  “I will,” Jin said, a smile stretching across his face.

  I let the flame simmer down. Then I held my stick to Damon’s. He touched his to mine without any further prompting. I expelled another quaver of magic toward them. Another flame, dancing with passion, ignited between us.

  “With you I would kindle my spark,” I said. “Will you join me?”

  Damon smirked at me, the light gleaming in his dark eyes. “I will.”

  I lit the flame and made my request to Kyler and then Seth. The magic inside me was dwindling with the effort, but it was heating up at the same time. The shrinking spark seared against my heart.

  Even as my spark contracted, magic sang through the stone blocks around us. The power was growing in the air, wrapping around us like an echo of the arch overhead. But I had to finish this ceremony before I lost enough power to complete our bonds.

  Holding on to that energy as tightly as I could, I lifted my hand with the charcoal into the air. The guys did the same. “We will honor the Spark with our bond,” I said, and nodded to them.

  “We will honor the Spark with our bond,” they repeated, their voices mingling together. I twisted my other hand in a spiral. All the sticks flared a second time, streaking light through the darkness. The vibration of energy in the air prickled over my skin.

  The connection wasn’t finished. I’d honored it and I’d opened it and turned our devotion into light, but I hadn’t sealed it yet. I brought the charcoal to my other hand, snuffing it against my palm. The flames on the guys’ sticks blinked out in the same moment.

  I drew the glyp
h for joining across my palm. This part they couldn’t do themselves. I stepped to each of them in turn, cupping my hand over theirs, guiding their fingers through the looping shape. I stopped at Ky and caught hold of the loose end of my ribbon.

  “I, Rosalind Hallowell, take Kyler Lennox as my consort,” I said, placing the ribbon on his glyph-marked palm. His fingers closed around it. Magic rippled through my words and through that symbolic cord between us. My chest pinched. Did I have enough? “I will light my spark by him and never let it burn him.”

  My spark flickered out with that last press of power. It radiated into Ky. “Now you,” I said quietly.

  He glanced at the yellow ribbon he held and offered one end to me. I curled my fingers around the strip of silk.

  The magic I’d given him quivered through Ky’s words. “I, Kyler Lennox, take Rosalind Hallowell as my consort.” The corner of his mouth quirked. “I will light her spark with my heart and never do her harm.”

  My throat tightened. He hadn’t needed to add that last part, but it fit.

  The magic I’d sent to him tickled back over me with his words. It sank into my chest. And then my spark burst like a firework.

  Light and heat exploded through my body. It blinded me from behind my eyes, stealing my breath, scorching my throat. Kyler inhaled sharply. A sob fell from my lips, but it was a sob of joy. The magic raced through every nerve, through every pore, as if my spark and my body were one.

  The woman from the Assembly had been right. Even after the intimacy I’d already shared with these guys, I couldn’t have imagined this exhilaration. The way every particle in my body rang out with the sweep of power.

  I clutched Ky’s hand, yanked him to me, and planted a kiss on his mouth. A little of the magic rushing through me cascaded on into him. He gripped me harder.