Consort of Thorns

by Eva Chase

  “Hey,” I said, sitting down across from him as he dug into the rest of the pie. “Thanks for coming.”

  He shrugged and shot me a wary glance. “Your mom still makes the best pies,” he said, as if he needed to explain why he was eating.

  A flash of memory hit me: We must have been only eight or nine years old, the five of us guys and Rose, sitting on the gritty floor of the estate’s old hunting cabin that was one of our favorite haunts, laughing and scooping mouthfuls of still-warm apple pie out of the pan with our hands. My mom had passed her creation off to me and Kyler from the manor’s kitchen with a grin. I made something extra for you kids.

  I’d realized when we’d brought it out there to meet them that we should have brought plates and forks too, but Damon had said, Aw, it’ll be cold by then. What do you think hands are for? And plowed right in. We’d been a mess afterward, but nothing a splash in the pond couldn’t fix.

  I could almost taste the apple sweetness and the cinnamon from back then. Suddenly I had a craving for a slice from the café. But I wasn’t here to get a snack. I was here to make sure Damon didn’t get us into any messes we couldn’t easily clean up.

  “So what did you want to talk about anyway?” Damon asked, spearing a piece of the crust with his fork. “Need an extra hand with something you wouldn’t go to your brainiac brother for?” He smirked at me.

  “No,” I said. “Actually, I thought maybe I could help you out. I was talking with one of the contractors Dad brings on for some of the projects—Mr. Lewis, the electrician. He said he’d be open to taking on an assistant as an apprentice. Paid, of course.”

  Damon lowered his fork. “You’re trying to hook me up with a job.” His tone was unreadable.

  “Well, yeah.”

  “I work, you know,” he said, starting to bristle, and that was my first clue this wasn’t going to go well at all. “I pay the bills I need to. I don’t need you or anyone else pulling favors for me. Why did you think I’d want to be an electrician’s assistant?”

  “It’s a good job,” I said. “In a few years you could be fully qualified. Electricians make a lot of money, you know. And it’s not like people are going to stop using electricity any time soon.”

  “I didn’t ask for a list of selling points,” Damon said. “Why are you trying to get me a job at all? I’m fine.”

  God, how would Gabriel have handled him? He’d always managed to somehow cool Damon down without turning him sulky. I didn’t have even that kind of magic. I wavered and settled on honesty. Honesty and one thing I knew for sure Damon cared about.

  “I know you are,” I said. “I’m not worried about you. I don’t think you need charity. I’m thinking about Rose. We’re all tied to her now. The kind of ‘work’ you’re doing, the way you make your money… the people you work for… The deeper you get with them, the more you’re bringing them into her life too.” And Lord knew she had enough on her plate without having to cope with small-time gangsters casing her and her estate.

  Damon scowled at me. “I’ve been dealing with these guys for years. I think I can manage to keep them away from Rose.”

  “So you didn’t go to one of them to crack Mr. Cortland’s phone?”

  His eyes twitched. Uh-huh. “How do you know anything about that?” he demanded.

  “She passed some phone numbers on to Kyler yesterday for him to look up,” I said. “She told him where she’d gotten them. We’re all in this together now. You can’t just—”

  He couldn’t just steal people’s fucking phones and draw Rose even more into the line of fire, I wanted to say, but I thought better of it at the last second. Damon was already fuming. You could practically see smoke rising off that spiky hair.

  Okay, it was probably time to call this. Attempt number one at bringing Damon back to the non-criminal life: total failure.

  He shoved his plate away and stood up. “No one is going to take care of Rose better than I will,” he said darkly. “So take your pity and your job offer and shove it up your ass.”

  He stalked off down the alley, not even bothering to walk back through the café.

  When he’d passed out of sight, I leaned my head into my hands and groaned. Great work, Seth. Way to make your case.

  How much was it my fault and how much Damon just being impossibly stubborn, anyway?

  The problem was, that didn’t matter. He was still a problem. I’d wanted to do something to make Rose’s life a little easier, a little safer… Otherwise there was nothing to do but wait.

  And now that was still all I had to do. Also, I might just have made her life a little worse, if Damon went and did something even more stupid because he was pissed off at me.

  I headed back through town, but the restless urge wouldn’t leave me. My work for the day was already finished, pointless as installing a new sink to replace Ms. Lindel’s perfectly good old one had seemed anyway. I wanted to see Rose, but I couldn’t just stroll over there whenever I liked until it was safe for her to reveal that she’d taken us as her consorts. Damn it.

  I ended up rambling down one of the back roads that circumvented the Hallowell property. I could see the stone wall, the trees of the wood shading it, the distant peaks of the manor beyond. It was a warm day, but the breeze ruffled my clothes briskly enough that I started to wish I’d brought a jacket. Not enough to turn back, though. Maybe I’d spot something out here that she could use. It might be a long-shot, but I wouldn’t be doing her any good sitting around at home.

  The land around the road here was mostly vacant fields, but up ahead an old farmhouse loomed. My gaze returned to it between glances at the Hallowell estate. The bones of it looked solid enough, the frame straight and the roof stable. Part of the porch had collapsed, though, and the eaves trough was sagging. A few of the windows were broken, splinters of glass glinting against the plywood behind them in the light from the sinking sun.

  A forlorn-looking For Sale sign swung on its post out front. I could see why no one had snatched this place up yet. It didn’t just need a hell of a lot of repairs—it was out in the middle of nowhere, almost an hour’s walk outside of town, with the closest neighbors being the Hallowells. They weren’t the kind of neighbors most people around here could imagine popping by for a quick hello or to ask to borrow a cup of sugar.

  It’d be just a five-minute walk from the farmhouse’s dilapidated porch to the Hallowell estate’s stone wall. Maybe fifteen minutes from there to the manor, if I was judging the distances right.

  A gleam of an idea started to jitter in my head. I turned away from the estate as I came up on the farmhouse and ambled over for a closer look.

  Some teens from town or somewhere else nearby must have gotten into it. Amateurish spray paint tags colored the worn clapboard slats. I couldn’t tell what color the slats were meant to be under the layer of gray grime coating them.

  The awning was standing straight enough. Based on the size of the place, I’d guess it had at least four bedrooms. It didn’t look pretty, but looks could be fixed.

  I folded my arms over my chest, considering the building. My heartbeat kicked up a notch. Was I crazy to even think about this?

  Even if I was, at least I’d be keeping busy.

  It wasn’t as if I could make any decisions yet. I walked back to the For Sale sign, pulling out my phone, and dialed the number listed there.

  “Silverton Realty,” a bright voice answered. “How can I help you?”

  “Hi,” I said. “What’s the current list price on the farmhouse out on Hallowell Lane?”

  Chapter Ten

  Rose

  I breathed into my spark and exhaled slowly, sweeping my right foot out and behind me. My back arched as I reached my arms toward the bedroom wall. In the yellow glow of the lamp, my limbs cast long shadows on the floor. The wind warbled, rustling the heavy curtains covering my window. Magic radiated through all of my movements, even though I was keeping it contained inside my body for now.

  I dipped m
y hands low and straightened up again. With a quick swivel, I was facing my bed again. The bed where I’d supposedly come up here to sleep in. But I’d already felt as if Mrs. Gainsley had been watching me curiously a few times today. Maybe I was giving off some sort of lit-spark vibe without even trying.

  My audience, Philomena, sat on the edge of the bed at rapt attention. “It really is quite magical to watch,” she said, and gave me a little clap as well.

  I laughed. “That’s a fairly basic form. If I’d released the magic, I’d just have cooled off the room a little.”

  “Well, why don’t you release it, then? If there’s a better show to be had, I’m all for seeing it.”

  I gave her an amused look. “I’m trying to work on my control. To make sure when I do need to use my magic, I won’t expend much extra that another witch could notice.”

  “A witch like that new estate manager of yours?” Phil said. “Hmm. Yes, I’m not sure I quite like the look of her.”

  “It’s not about how she looks. She could be a completely lovely person, and I still wouldn’t want her to know I’ve kindled my spark already.”

  “I take your point.” Phil bounced on the mattress. “Perhaps I could give you some tips. I happen to have excellent self-control. Why, there was that time I was just dying to tear off Lord Haverton’s cravat, but I managed to keep my hands to myself. For the five minutes until the maid left the room. Not to mention the Duchess of Canterbury’s luncheon, when—”

  The window rattled with a knock. I jumped and turned. Had that just been a branch in the wind?

  The knock came again, soft and steady, almost playful. My pulse settled, and a smile crossed my lips. I didn’t throw caution to the wind, but as I walked over to tug back the curtain, I was pretty sure of what I’d see outside.

  I was right. Kyler grinned back at me from the other side of the glass. He was perched in the oak tree outside like he’d done the first night I’d been back, when he’d come to confirm I’d returned home.

  The wind tossed his tawny curls as if it meant to chuck him right back on the ground, and his knuckles whitened where he was gripping the branch. I shoved the pane higher and yanked out the screen. My consort scrambled in, accepting my helping hand.

  I peered outside for a moment. No security guards nearby. I yanked the curtain shut again and turned to Kyler.

  He was still holding my hand. Without a word, he pulled me to him, dropping his mouth to mine. The kiss was so sure and full of desire I melted into it. We’d come a long way from the first awkward peck I’d pressed to his lips a few weeks ago. And I hadn’t been able to see any of my consorts since yesterday in the town museum.

  I hadn’t used enough magic to be hungry on my spark’s behalf, but I was hungry in all sorts of other ways. If we’d been able to behave as proper consorts did, I wouldn’t have left their sides for more than a few minutes in this first week after the ceremony.

  On the other side of the room, Philomena cleared her throat. “I think that cooling spell might be in order now. I’d better, ah, find another way to occupy myself.”

  I kissed Ky again, reveling in the heat of his lean body, in his smell: lightly musky with a hint of mint. His arms came around me, but after the kiss he eased back a few inches, still grinning.

  “I’m thinking I should get in the habit of stopping by more often.”

  The thought of how much risk he’d taken to stop by at all chilled a little of my desire. “You should have let me know you were coming. I could have given you some cover.”

  “I didn’t need it,” he said. “I was careful. Security hasn’t changed their patrols much since my dad was on duty here.”

  The guys had snuck into the estate dozens of times before, but I had trouble feeling completely reassured. So much was at stake now that we had so much more to hide.

  Stepping back from Ky, I cast a quick silencing spell over the room that would let sound in but not out. Nothing another witch should be able to sense from outside my door—which was locked, but not securely enough to feel quite safe.

  A spell on the door itself, Mrs. Gainsley might pick up on if she came by. I hesitated, and then dragged my reading chair over to block it from opening.

  “Okay,” I said, brushing my hands together. “Now I feel better. Are you just stopping by, or is something else going on?” My heart gave a sudden lurch. “The other guys are all okay, aren’t they?”

  “Yes, yes, don’t worry,” Kyler said, holding up his hands. “There was some information I wanted to get from you, and I wasn’t sure if doing it by phone would be secure enough.”

  I stepped closer to lean my head against his shoulder, and he slid his arm around my waist. “Well, now I’m intrigued. What kind of information?”

  He chuckled. “Nothing all that exciting to you. I was just thinking—you know you said the other day that you wished you could go to Seattle to check out the witch-related records there?”

  “Yeah. But I—”

  “I know,” he said gently. “You can’t explain away the trip. But no one will think anything of some techy dude heading over to the city for a few days. I figured I could hang around, see if I can crack whatever security that Assembly of yours has on their internal network… Maybe I can dig up some records for you that even you couldn’t get to.”

  He offered me one of his brilliant smiles, so pleased with himself that my heart squeezed. Both with gratitude and with nerves. “Are you sure? If they realize that you’re poking around in their business… The Assembly takes their secrecy pretty seriously.” Would they hurt him? Wipe his memory?

  Kyler waved off my concern. “I’ve managed to get into international banks and government databases,” he said. “No one’s caught me yet. It’s not as if I even need to be in the building. They’ll never notice me, and I won’t leave a trace. Maybe I can ferret out a little more info about the people those phone numbers belonged to—and about your Master Cortland too. My preliminary digging hasn’t turned up anything suspicious.”

  Hope was already overtaking my worries. Kyler did know what he was doing when it came to computers, better than anyone I’d ever known—and witching folk didn’t tend to be all that tech savvy in the first place. Who knew how much he might be able to discover out there? I’d put my plan into action with Dad tomorrow, he’d scour the Assembly’s digital archives, and in just a couple days we might have all the answers we needed.

  “All right,” I said. “So I guess you need to know exactly where the Assembly building is. I assume you have to be close for all this special server hacking?”

  He laughed. “That would help.” He dipped his head a little closer to mine. “But just so we’re clear, that’s not the only thing I came for.”

  My breath caught at the promise in his voice and the mischievous glint in his gray-green eyes. “No?”

  “If I’m going to be away from here for a while, I definitely need to get in all the Rose time I can beforehand,” he murmured, nuzzling my cheek.

  “I see,” I said. “And how were you thinking we’d use that time?”

  “Oh, I’m just full of ideas.”

  “Like always,” I teased, and then he was kissing me again, and I couldn’t think about anything but the tender slide of his lips against mine.

  My bed was just a few steps away. I sat down on the edge, and Kyler bent over me, his hands traveling up under the thin cotton top of my pajamas. His thumbs stroked over the peaks of my bare breasts, and I whimpered against his mouth.

  He kissed me harder, teasing my nipples with careful strokes of his fingers until they were so stiff it was almost painful. Pleasure radiated through my chest. I wanted to pay him back with some of that exquisite torture.

  As our kisses grew sloppier, I reached to cup the bulge of his erection through his chinos. Ky made a rough sound in his throat, his tongue sweeping over my lips. He rocked into my touch. I eased my palm up and down over the hard length of him. I’d taken him into my mouth before, but never an
ywhere else. Right now there wasn’t anything I could imagine wanting more than to meet him core to core.

  I scooted back on the bed, pulling at Kyler’s shirt to bring him with me. He climbed after me, and I tugged the shirt right off him. The planes of his slender body were smooth and delightfully firm, his muscles twitching when I grazed the heel of my hand over his nipples.

  He wrenched my pajama top off me and leaned in for another kiss. The heat of his chest against my breasts sent the glow of my spark rippling all through my body. But when I reached for the button of his pants, he hesitated, gazing down at me.

  “I’ve only done this once before,” he admitted. “And that was years ago, at some stupid college party, and I was drunk enough from trying to work up the courage to make a move that I hardly even remember it. So… it might take some practice before I catch up with the other guys.”

  He said the last bit with a wry grin. A giggle slipped out of me. “Plenty of practice. Sounds good to me. It’s not like I’m any kind of expert.” I arched an eyebrow at him. “I’m surprised you’re not. Is sex the only thing you’ve never bothered to research?”

  He guffawed and lowered his head to nip my ear. “Oh, believe me, I’ve researched that subject plenty. So I may not have the experience to back it up, but I do know, for example, the most likely ways to make you moan without even needing to touch you here, or here.”

  His fingers grazed my breasts and my clit with a shiver of bliss. Then he rested his hand on my side. He pressed his lips to the underside of my jaw, kissing his way down the side of my neck with soft flicks of his tongue. His fingers traced an airy line from my ribs down to my hip bone, over and over, as his mouth continued its journey. Quivers of pleasure ran through my skin. By the time he’d reached my collarbone to nibble a sensitive spot just above it, I was trembling with need. That moan he’d been looking for spilled out of me.

  “Okay,” I said, groping for his pants again. “Enough experimenting. I want you inside me, now.”