Consort of Thorns

by Eva Chase

  Solid and stable my ass. These people had magic—you’d think they’d be able to pry hard enough to discover one of the people in that partnership was planning on turning the other into a slave.

  Anger rippled through my chest, but I had to tune that out. I was working to get Rose out of that mess right now. Which meant I had to get down to the real work.

  Studying a few of the standard forms, I figured out a way to quickly search for any that might have involved more than two partners. That effort turned up zero results. Determining whether there was any standard record of a witch taking someone outside the witching world as a consort was trickier, but after coming at the subject from several angles, I felt I’d covered every possible base.

  The only differently labeled consorting records I found mentioned a “soul-bound” ceremony. The notes on them seemed to indicate it was something more intense than the regular consort ceremonies. They required a lengthier interview and follow-ups reporting on the witch’s magic, which apparently was more powerful afterward. But hardly any of those had happened in the last hundred years.

  Why not? The records didn’t offer much of a clue. I’d have to ask Rose when I got back. If there was a way we could offer her even more strength, I was all for it.

  I found no accounts of a witch consorting with more than one man, or with a non-witching man, any time since the Advisership had started keeping their records this way—back to the ‘30s. I guessed they’d digitized hard copy records going back that far to account for all witches still living.

  But if any witches still living had done either, Rose probably would have known about it anyway. I couldn’t reach the paper records they might have in storage from earlier times from my computer… and the thought of trying to search through those manually made my head hurt. But I’d do it if I had to. I’d bet I could clone a security card to get into the building if it came to that.

  I wasn’t quite at that point yet, though. A few times my searches had nudged up against another wall within the Advisership’s archives. I’d like to know what lay on the other side of that.

  This wall was a little better built. It took me fifteen minutes to crack through instead of five, but then I was in. It didn’t look like the section I’d opened up was part of the Advisership’s domain after all, just a subsection adjacent to their operations. The documents I came across first were all marked as security reports by the Assembly’s “Justice Division.” The people I guessed Rose was hoping to turn asshole Derek and possibly her father over to. What kinds of “justice” had they needed to do when it came to past consort relationships?

  I opened up a couple of the files. The first one was an account of domestic violence between a witch and her consort. She’d battered him badly enough that he’d needed medical attention. The witch had been sentenced to two year’s imprisonment while she waited out the remaining time before the consort bond could be safely severed. Then she’d been put under a spell that prevented her from touching anyone—to regain her powers through hooking up with them or to hurt them—for ten years after that. Fair enough, but nothing that related to Rose’s case.

  The second one was a broken consorting. The man had delayed and delayed the ceremony only to outright cancel it at the last moment before his fiancée’s twenty-fifth birthday. Too late for her to find someone else. With her spark unkindled, she’d lost her magic. The Assembly’s Justice Division had ruled that the man had entered the engagement in bad faith and required he offer his former partner a big payoff in restitution.

  My stomach twisted. That could have been the fate that Rose would have faced if she’d had to leave Derek but hadn’t been able to turn to us. How could any amount of money compensate for losing the powers you were born to wield?

  As I nudged at the code, I caught another barrier, well-disguised even within this closed section of the network. An even deeper sublevel with very limited access granted—unless you happened to know how to finagle your way into that access.

  What kind of records would they want to keep super-secret, for only select member’s eyes? That was something I definitely needed to know.

  And whoever had set up this secure section really didn’t want me to know. I prodded and poked at the code, my mouth slanting into a frown. They’d gotten someone who actually knew what they were doing to build this wall for them. I’d get in, no doubt about that, but it was going to take more time and effort than the first two layers.

  I set the laptop downloading the files from the less secure section so I could go over them later at my leisure, and then I took a quick break. The walk across the coffee shop and the steam of a fresh cup of coffee helped reset my brain. Then I dove back in.

  Test for a weak spot here. Jiggle this potential backdoor there. Nope, nope—ah ha. A little loophole hardly anyone ever thought to plug. I wriggled my way in, and a new but small set of files appeared before me. What did we have here?

  Before I could open any up, a movement across the street caught my eye. Two middle-aged men in what looked like posh law enforcement uniforms had emerged from the Assembly building. They headed straight across the street with an air as if they expected the traffic to dodge them.

  My skin tightened. They were heading straight toward the coffee shop. There shouldn’t be any way anyone could know I’d snuck into their network, but suddenly I had a very, very bad feeling about this.

  I knew computers, but I didn’t know magic. The witches in the Assembly could be capable of detecting all kinds of things I hadn’t considered. Shit.

  I had to get out of here, but I couldn’t leave without some idea of what I’d just found. My fingers darted over the keyboard, instructing my computer to download all the files in the super-secret section I’d gained access to.

  Trying to look as if I’d simply finished the work I’d come here to do, I eased the laptop shut, tucked it into my shoulder bag, and slung that behind me so it wouldn’t be obvious. Then I grabbed my latest cup of coffee. If I veered over to the counter first...

  I swung past the order pick-up area and then headed toward the door as if I’d just popped in for take-out. The two law-enforcement-looking dudes came in when I was halfway there. My heart thudded, but I glanced over them as if they were just a strange sight, not anything I associated with myself.

  Keep breathing evenly. Don’t clutch the strap of the bag too tightly. I was on my way out anyway, not fleeing for my life.

  Whatever had brought the guys across the street, it obviously hadn’t allowed them to pinpoint the culprit in any more detail. They glanced at me and my cup of coffee and then moved on. I didn’t stick around to find out how they were going to try to narrow down their search. The second I was out of view of the windows, I hustled right round the block and hailed the first taxi I saw.

  I only popped open my laptop again when I was back in the pastel-colored, slightly sour-smelling motel room. My connection to the Assembly’s network would have broken automatically when I’d gotten out of range, but there should have been enough time—

  As I stared at the screen, my spirits sank. I’d only managed to download five files from that extra-secret section. They must have slammed down a new wall after they’d detected the intrusion, right after I’d started to download.

  The first file, when I tried to open it, proved to be just a corrupted fragment. So did the second. I winced. I might have come out with nothing after all.

  I wasn’t feeling all that hopeful when I clicked on the third file. My heart leapt when it opened without an error. Then my gaze skimmed down the contents, and my body went rigid.

  It was a report a lot like the other Justice documents I’d looked at, but with a series of glyphs along the top that meant nothing to me. The report itself concerned a witch who’d been engaging in “relations” with an “unsparked” man. Some widow off in an isolated nook of Ireland. So that kind of relationship had happened before—and not that long ago. The date on the record was from eight years ago.

&nbs
p; But that fact wasn’t exactly a positive given the rest of the contents. For “stepping outside the boundaries of witching society” and “to maintain order and consistency among the community,” the Assembly, or at least a small group among them, had intervened. A gas stove in the witch’s house had been meddled with—she’d disappeared with her home in a blaze of fire, no evidence left behind. And the man she’d been seeing had been hit by a car on a lonely road not long after, killed on impact.

  At least, that’s what the spells had been adjusted to look like. Just a couple of random, unconnected accidents.

  I leaned back on the motel bed, my arms abruptly shaky. Nausea coiled around my stomach.

  So that was how Rose’s Assembly dealt with witches who’d done what she had. At least a few of them knew it was possible, and they were determined that no one else should ever know, no matter who they had to hurt along the way.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Rose

  It was almost eight in the evening. Derek had asked me to join him for a game of cards then—in front of my dad, so I’d felt I had to play along to avoid raising Dad’s suspicions—but I didn’t feel ready to budge from my room. Not when my anxious texting hadn’t given me better news.

  Sorry, Jin wrote. I haven’t heard anything from Ky since that group message this morning either.

  Seth and Damon had already reported radio silence. I hadn’t been able to get an answer from Kyler despite my several texts throughout the afternoon. All I knew was that early in the morning he’d cheerfully reported he was heading off to “crack some witchy networks” and since then there’d been nothing but silence.

  Let me know as soon as any of you do hear anything, okay? I wrote to all of them in our group message. I couldn’t bring the phone with me, since I wasn’t supposed to have it at all, but I’d check it again as soon as I was back in my room. And if we still hadn’t heard from Ky by morning…

  I didn’t care what anyone on the estate thought. I’d be making that trip to Seattle myself. I’d drawn Ky into this world, and I had to protect him from it.

  Spark help me, I wished there didn’t seem to be so many parts of my world my guys needed protection from right now.

  Of course, Seth said. You know I’ll be watching for any message from him too.

  I’m sure Mr. Brainiac can think his way out of whatever tight spot he’s gotten into, Damon put in. Or maybe he’s just too busy hacking away to chat. Let’s hold off the panic until tomorrow.

  Before my teeth could even quite set on edge, he sent a message apart from the group conversation, just to me. Don’t worry, angel. If anyone’s messed with one of us, they’re going to regret it. We’ll get him back.

  My lips twitched, halfway between a smile and a grimace.

  I shoved the prepaid phone back into its hiding spot. If I didn’t get down there, Derek was going to come looking for me. And after the other night, the last place I wanted to meet him was outside my bedroom.

  I’d just reached for my doorknob when Dad’s voice filtered through from the hall on the other side. “Derek, do you have a moment? I was hoping we could talk.”

  Apparently my supposed fiancé had already gotten impatient enough to come up. “All right,” he said, sounding a little wary.

  What exactly were they going to talk about? Had Dad gone through Celestine’s books and found the paper I’d planted there? Maybe he was going to interrogate Derek about how much he knew.

  My pulse skittered. I listened for the click of Dad’s door shutting. Then I eased open mine and peeked into the hall.

  No sign of our witch estate manager. I could get away with a little magic out here.

  I slipped down the hall to Dad’s office. If I could just hear… No, I wanted to see, too. I couldn’t risk any misunderstandings, not with so much on the line.

  Dragging in a deep breath, I raised my hands toward the ceiling to summon the energy of my spark high. I stepped forward and back, drew my arms back to my body, and slowly but surely wrapped that magic around me. Let every bit of me look like nothing but air.

  A wave of dizziness passed over me. I caught myself against the wall—and stared at it. I couldn’t even see myself, not my arm nor the fingers braced against the cool plaster.

  I’d done it. Now to get inside. With a whirl and a slash of my arms, I threw myself into the teleportation spell that had served me well in the past.

  I was only hopping a few feet this time. The flash of blackness darted past my eyes, and then my feet were jarring against the thick pile of Dad’s rug at the back of the room.

  Dad was sitting at his desk. He’d left Derek standing across from him. My former consort-to-be rocked back on his heels, his stance casual but his expression a bit tight as he chuckled at something Dad must have said.

  The box of Celestine’s books was sitting by the corner of the desk near my former fiancé, the stack of them looking completely undisturbed since Dad had carried them out this morning. The corner of my conjured paper was still sticking out from the top one.

  So Dad hadn’t found it yet. He’d called Derek in for some other reason. I wanted to hear what that was too.

  “You don’t have to worry,” Derek said. “Nothing has changed in that regard. It really couldn’t, could it?”

  “That’s true,” Dad said with a faint smile. He leaned back in his chair. “I just like to consider all the factors. You and my daughter still seem somewhat… distant from each other.”

  What regard? What factors? I itched to shake the answers out of them, but all I could do was watch. Was Derek going to tattle on me, report how I’d pushed him away? Would he want Dad to know that or not?

  “From what I saw in Portland, Rose is pretty independent,” he said. “It’s not a surprise that she’s slow to share her trust, is it? But we’ve been getting to know each other, and I know we’re both still committed to the consorting. I’m doing my best to show I’m worthy of the trust she’s already placed in me.”

  Oh, was he? I’d hate to see his worst then. My hands clenched. I didn’t just want to shake him now—I wanted to punch that ingratiating smile right off his face.

  “I can’t argue that Rose has always been a bit of a loner,” Dad said. “My fault, mostly, trying to raise her out here. But you knew that about her from the start.” He eyed Derek.

  Derek spread his hands. “And my comment wasn’t a complaint, only an observation. I look forward to continuing to get to know her better, even if it takes some time.”

  Dad made a humming sound. Was that all this was? He’d noticed my hesitation around Derek and wanted to feel out how Derek felt about the match now? They weren’t talking as if they were planning on forcing the issue.

  Derek let his hand come to rest on the top of the box of books, and my back stiffened. He’d been eyeing those books earlier. He knew that he’d be in as much trouble as Celestine if their arrangement was discovered by an outside party.

  “I do want my daughter to have a worthy partner,” Dad said. “And believe me, I’ll speak up if I see reason for concern. Just as forewarning.” He smiled again, pleasantly enough, but with a glint of steel in his hazel eyes.

  Derek chuckled again, less convincingly this time. Dad pushed back his chair and bent to retrieve something from one of the drawers on his desk.

  “You’ll have a little more alone time in the next day or two,” he said over the rustling of papers. “I think I’ve pinpointed my wife’s current location. I’ll be traveling out to meet her shortly—my flight leaves in a few hours.”

  Moldy cinders. He’d tracked down Celestine after all?

  I barely had time to panic over that revelation before Derek’s hand crept right down on the stack of books. Dad swiveled to check something on the shelves behind him, and Derek gave the books a quick nudge, looking through the titles, I guessed. I clamped my mouth shut on a squeak of protest when his thumb slid over the protruding corner of paper under the cover of the first.

  He glanced a
t my dad and lifted the cover. His shoulders went rigid.

  No.

  I jerked my hand, slamming the cover shut with a burst of magic. But Derek had already snatched out the paper I’d conjured. Dad turned at the sound, and my former fiancé shoved the paper into the pocket of his pants.

  No, no, no.

  “What was that?” Dad said, and Derek started to make some dismissive gesture, and I wrenched at the magic inside me for a way to turn this situation around. My body shuddered with the surge of frantic emotion.

  The spell I’d cast to make me invisible was starting to crack. I glanced down and saw a sliver of my hand. My heart lurched. Dad’s gaze started to shift from Derek, and I swung my arms around myself. With a flash of black and a hitch of breath, I’d whisked myself back to my bedroom.

  My legs wobbled. I knelt on the hard floor, catching my breath. My spark still burned, but an ache spread through my chest around it. I was casting difficult spells, with magic I’d had little opportunity to practice before now. It was wearing me out.

  What if Derek had realized magic had compelled the book shut? Could he connect that moment to me? I couldn’t go out there this frazzled.

  My mind settled on the last place on the estate where I’d really felt secure. I needed that. Needed to ground myself.

  I dropped onto the floor and grabbed my secret phone out of its hiding place. My fingers darted over the keypad. Is it safe for me to come?

  Gabriel answered a moment later. All clear.

  Scrambling up, I threw myself into the teleportation form one more time. The ache twanged through my limbs, but darkness snapped around me. And then I was stumbling forward, my shin bumping the coffee table in the garage-top apartment.

  Gabriel appeared in the kitchen doorway. He blinked at me for a second. “Rose? I… wasn’t expecting you quite that fast.”

  Maybe I should have given him more warning. I dragged in a shaky breath, swiping my hands across my face. “I’m sorry. I just needed to get out of the house, to get my bearings. And there’s nowhere on the estate I feel safe right now except here.”