by Eva Chase
“The five of you—you’ve always felt like home,” she said. “When we were kids, all the time I spent with you, it was the only time I ever got to be completely myself. Every day that we were apart, I missed that feeling. I missed you and who I could be with you. If I’d thought it was possible back then, I’d have been ready years ago. I just want to do what’s best for you.”
“I think what’s best for us is kicking some demon ass—or at least, watching the love of our lives do that with all the strength we can give you.” Kyler straightened up and touched Rose’s cheek. “We’re in this. One hundred percent.”
Seth nodded. “You always want people to be able to make their own choices—this is ours. You just have to accept it.”
A liquid gleam shone in Rose’s eyes. I released her hand so she could swipe at them. “Spark help me. I don’t know how I got lucky enough to find all of you, and then find you again. Of course. I can’t think of anything that would make me happier.”
Chapter Fifteen
Rose
The garden behind Thalia’s estate house on the outskirts of Portland was a little wild—I couldn’t tell how much by accident or by design. Between the winding hedges, flowers that some people might have called weeds dappled the overgrown but soft grass. A blooming vine looped up and over the central ring of shrubs. The nearest tree bowed close, its branches gnarled but its leaves bright green. A sweet scent, both floral and mossy, carried in the warm early morning air.
I drank that air deep into my lungs. “It’s perfect,” I said to Thalia. “Are you sure…”
I didn’t know how to finish that question. I suspected it was in this garden that Thalia would have taken her former husband as consort—the consort who’d fed her magic to the demons. She’d told me she could help us carry out the soul-bond ceremony, that she’d studied the rituals before out of curiosity, but I hadn’t realized until right now just how painful participating might be for her.
“I can’t think of anything better that could happen in this space,” the older witch said now, turning to me with a gentle smile. “My home should have had more love in it. You and your men can bring some back to it. Make it a place where maybe I could see finding another love of my own, a true one, someday.”
When she put it that way, I couldn’t argue. “All right then.” I smoothed my hands over the silky fabric of my dress, a new one I’d had to buy for this purpose, since there hadn’t been time to drive home and raid my wardrobe for a suitable outfit. Instead of the pale gold that was traditional for the regular consorting ceremony, this one was pure white. Symbolic of the total openness, the dissolving of all boundaries, that a soul-bound consorting meant. “How do we start?”
“I’ll need to arrange the supplies,” Thalia said. “It should only take a few minutes. Why don’t you and your consorts get settled in here while you wait. Everything will go more smoothly the more comfortable you feel.”
Maybe it would have been better if we could have returned to the Hallowell estate, then. On the other hand, my family home came with a lot of mixed memories. The joyful times when I’d roamed the grounds with the guys as kids, sure. I’d never forget the ecstasy of our first consorting ceremony in those woods either.
But it was also the place where my father had manipulated my mother until her death, where he’d lied to me and tried to ensnare me. It was the place where I’d had to fend off not one but two false consorts-to-be.
No, being here, in this place brand new to all of us, seemed like the right decision. Which was a good thing, because we didn’t have time to change course now. We were doing this out of love, but not just for each other. It was for all the fellow human beings our strengthened bond might help me save as well.
Thalia went to grab the supplies she’d brought, and I left the circle of hedges to find the guys. They were ambling through the grounds, looking more at ease than they had for most of the last week. We’d gotten more traditional consorting clothes for them too: light shirts and loose trousers, all as white as my dress. It was a little strange seeing them dressed as if they were witching men, but the sight sent a tickle of affection through me too.
Gabriel came over to me first, the deep auburn of his hair even darker in the thin dawn light. He took my hand, raised it to his lips, and kissed my knuckles—easily, without a second’s hesitation. The affection in me swelled into an ache.
“No second thoughts?” I said—with a smile, but I meant the question too. Gabriel hadn’t been consorted to me the regular way for anywhere near as long as the other four guys. He felt like an ineffable part of our group, and he’d taken his usual place within our circle of friendship after just a few minutes of arriving back in town, but he couldn’t ever have imagined he’d be taking a step like this.
“Not one,” he said. “You know…” His gaze traveled across the other guys, who were starting to make their way over. “I think I’ve been missing the sense of having a family for a long time. After my mom left, after my dad fell apart… The last few months, it’s the first time I’ve felt like I was really part of something bigger, something good.” His fingers tightened around mine. “Knowing I’m going to have this forever, or at least as long as I live? I couldn’t imagine anything better.”
A lump rose in my throat. I touched his jaw to draw him into a kiss. He kissed me back tenderly, but with the hot slide of his hand down my side like a promise of things to come.
Thalia had assured me that the center of the garden was completely private. When she finished the ceremony and retreated to the house, we wouldn’t have to worry about any spectators as our new bond fully took hold.
“Hey!” Damon said. “Aiming to get a head start?” When I turned to mock-glower at him, he grinned. Ever since I’d accepted their proposal yesterday evening, he’d seemed looser, less wound-up. The thought struck me with a pang: Maybe up until now some part of him had still been a little worried that I might not keep him with me. Damon knew how to put on a tough front, but I’d seen how vulnerable he could be underneath.
“I suppose I’ll just have to kiss all of you to make it even,” I said, arching my eyebrows. “Poor me.”
He laughed and swooped in to make good on that suggestion. I gripped the collar of his shirt and kissed him back hard, as if he’d need more convincing of how much I meant it.
“All right, love birds,” Thalia said, sounding amused, as she returned. “We’re ready to begin.”
The six of us followed her back to the center of the garden. “You’d think a ceremony like this should be terribly complicated,” she said. “But especially with you all already bonded with each other, it’s really quite simple. Mostly it depends on the willingness and emotion inside you. If you can’t open yourself up and accept the connection, it won’t form.”
“Okay,” I said. My own worries had faded, but it was still good to know there was some sort of a safeguard in place. No one could enter this sort of consorting unless they were completely sure.
She arranged the guys in a ring with me in the center. The grass between us was carved with glyphs. Crisply herbal incense smoke drifted from the sticks she’d set burning around the border of hedges.
“You remember the form I had you practice last night?” she said. “We’ll take it one at a time, each of you passing Rose on to the next. When it’s time for the clasping of hands, you’ll need to pause for me to bring the dagger. Speak when I prompt you to. That’s all there is to it. I’ll begin.”
Thalia stepped back and spun on her feet in a slow circle, her arms drawing patterns through the air. “The Spark that guides us, bless this partnering,” she said in a lilting voice that echoed through my bones. “Let souls that long to unite be one, so that they may honor you that much more. Let love and light flow freely, between Rose Hallowell and Kyler Lennox. Hear them now.”
“I open my soul to you,” I said, holding Ky’s gaze. “Let every light shine between us.”
A smile that looked almost giddy had stretc
hed across my consort’s face. “I open my soul to you. Let every light shine between us.”
We’d gone through the brief form enough times last night, all of us, that I barely needed to think. He reached toward me and I looped my arm around his. We whirled around each other, twining tighter and then easing apart. Our hands slid down each other’s arms until our palms nearly touched. My spark swayed in my chest with an eager heat.
Thalia stepped up to us with her ritual silver dagger gleaming in her hands. She slipped it between our not-quite-joined hands and nicked our palms with the faintest sting. I pressed my blood to Kyler’s.
The flame of magic inside me billowed out with a glow that felt like liquid sunlight streaming through my veins. My breath caught. From the shine in Ky’s eyes, he must have felt something like that too.
“Their souls entwined, from this breath to the last,” Thalia intoned.
“Our souls entwined, from this breath to the last,” Ky and I said together. A jolt like a tiny bolt of lightning shot between our hands—and sent that wonderous glow spiking down to my core.
We spun around each other again, slipping past each other’s limbs, our hands staying melded together. With each brush of Ky’s body against mine, the heat inside me blazed hotter and purer. At the end, with our clasped hands hugged between our chests, we brought our mouths together. His kiss seared my lips.
If it’d been only us two, the ceremony would have ended now, and we could have taken each other in every possible way. Instead, I tamped down on that tug of desire and turned. Ky swung me under his arm toward Jin.
“Let souls that long to unite be one,” Thalia said. “Let love and light flow freely, between Rose Hallowell and Jin Lyang. Hear them now.”
We said the words and stepped into our form. Jin moved with me as gracefully as if he’d been born to this dance. His face glowed as our hands came together and Thalia drew fresh blood from our palms. The white-hot light of my spark tingled through me at a higher pitch. When we spun around each other again, I barely felt my feet touching the ground.
With each of the guys, with each promise exchanged, with each kiss, the rush of brilliant energy inside me flowed faster. I reached Gabriel last, my nerves singing, my skin ablaze as if I contained a sun within me. The awe in his expression would have destroyed any fears I had left if his earlier comments hadn’t already.
The actual sun was beaming over the tops of the hedges now. It gleamed off Thalia’s silver-streaked hair as she brought her dagger to bear one last time. “Their souls entwined, from this breath to the last,” she said.
“Our souls entwined, from this breath to the last,” Gabriel said with me. His love shone right back at me, so clear it was hard to believe I’d ever thought he’d lost it.
The rising tide of longing swelled as we completed the movements of our form. Gabriel’s free hand skimmed my waist, and I almost whimpered just at that brief contact. I caught a glimpse of Thalia’s smile as she slipped away between the hedges, leaving us to our joining. And then it was only us six.
Gabriel claimed my mouth with the same urgency ringing through me. I clung to him, trembling with need. When our lips parted, I found the wherewithal to gasp out, “All of us united. Let love and light flow freely.”
My consorts came to me. Desire blazed between us, so brightly I could barely tell where I ended and they began. Lips pressed to my neck and a thumb teased over the peak of my breast and fingers glided up my thigh, raising my dress. I gave myself over to them, to every sensation rippling through me, to the connection that streamed between us as easily as the thump of our heartbeats, the eager rasp of our breaths.
My dress fell to the ground, the sun warm on my bare skin. As two of the guys tugged down my panties, I nudged Kyler down on the crumpled fabric. Somewhere in the haze of wanting, I’d stripped off his shirt. The lean muscles in his chest flexed as he wriggled out of his pants. The head of his cock slid over my sex as I arched against him.
“Rose,” he murmured. He cupped the back of my head, pushing himself up to embrace me as I pushed down onto him, welcoming him into me. His groan was lost in the meeting of our mouths. At that deeper physical connection, the blaze soared higher, from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. I rocked against him, and he bucked to meet me.
Other hands stroked over my breasts from behind. Ky eased back and thrust up again, each pulse of his cock making me moan as he stretched me, filled me. I was already so close—but I wanted all of them. I needed all of them.
My hand closed around the waist of Seth’s pants. He wrenched them off in an instant, and I drew his erection into my mouth. He swore breathlessly, his fingertips grazing my scalp as he held me to him. Damon was kissing my neck. Gabriel reached down to stroke my clit just above the spot where I was joined with Ky.
My body shuddered, and the surge of pleasure blanked out my vision. I came braced against Ky’s lean chest and Seth’s hard thigh.
“I love you,” Ky said, gripping my hip. “So much, Rose. So much.” Then his head tipped back with the impact of his own release.
I sucked Seth down harder, and he came too with another groan. The aftershock of my orgasm and the flood of musky fluid in my mouth wasn’t nearly enough. But my guys weren’t done either.
Damon lifted me off Ky with such a gentle touch my heart sang even as desire made me grind against him. He and Gabriel caught me between them. Gabriel kissed me hard on the mouth while Damon slicked his tongue from the crook of my jaw to my earlobe with an electric quiver of bliss. As if they understood each other perfectly, Gabriel sank down, holding my hips steady, as Damon eased his cock into me from behind. As he filled me with one smooth thrust, Gabriel pressed his lips to my clit.
A cry escaped me. Then Jin was there, fondling my breasts and capturing my mouth as the other two guys sent me spiraling higher into ecstasy inside and out. My legs wobbled, but they held me. The light inside me pulsed alongside the rhythm our bodies made: Damon plunging deeper, Gabriel teasing my clit with the tips of his teeth, Jin swallowing my moans as he tweaked both nipples with expert fingers.
“Fuck,” Damon muttered through his teeth, but he couldn’t hold back his release. He hugged me tight as a hot spurt flooded me. I was close again, teetering on the edge of a maelstrom of passion, every nerve jittering with the love and light we shared.
Jin caught me, easing me down onto my dress on the grassy ground. I pulled him to me. As he plunged into my sex, bringing back the pressure I was craving, I tugged Gabriel closer too. A rumble escaped his throat as I palmed his cock. He bent over to kiss me with a stutter of breath.
With a few more thrusts, Jin’s length found the perfect angle to send me flying. I gasped against Gabriel’s mouth. My grip on his cock tightened, and he came hot and slick over my forearm. At his groan of bliss, I reached my peak. My toes curled as the blaze of pleasure radiated through every inch of me from my core. Jin came with me, bowing over me to claim one last kiss.
The six of us sprawled together in a haphazard version of our earlier ring, every one of my consorts with me skin to skin. In those first few moments, as our passion settled from a bonfire to a steady but heady burn, none of us spoke. But we didn’t need to. Their joy hummed through me as clearly as my own.
I was theirs and they were mine, down to our very souls.
Chapter Sixteen
Rose
The closer we got to downtown Portland, the more the afterglow of the ceremony faded. I snuggled closer to Seth in the backseat of the car, breathing in his warm bronze-y scent and reveling in the tingle of bright energy that passed between us just with that innocuous contact. He hugged me closer with his arm around my shoulders. At my other side, Jin rubbed my knee.
My spark burned to hide away with my five consorts and bask in our newly strengthened bond all day, all week. The ache ran even deeper than when we’d first committed to each other. But if we gave in to that impulse, the demon might have ravaged the city around us by the time we emerged.
I didn’t know if I could summon enough power now to overcome that monster, but I could feel I had more. The magic humming through my chest with each sway of my spark had a stark brilliance to it that I’d never felt before. My spark wasn’t just a flame now but a miniature star.
We hadn’t heard any news about the demon while we’d been on Thalia’s estate, but the Assembly wouldn’t necessarily have reached out to her or me at this point. Who knew what destruction it might have wrought in the last few hours? My stomach knotted at the thought.
When the car pulled up outside the Assembly building, I took a small comfort in the fact that the building was still standing, and all the ones around it on the street too. The medic yesterday had said at its current pace, the demon might reach the city later today. Steeling myself, I climbed out of the car with the guys. The rest of my consorts spilled out of the second car that had been driving with us.
The gray face of the Assembly building loomed over us, looking solemn and impenetrable. I motioned my consorts to me. “Come on. Let’s talk to them together. They’re going to have to start accepting us as a package deal, especially now.” And the idea of my newly soul-bonded partners traveling even blocks away from me down the street made my heart wrench.
We filed into the building. Thalia gave my hand a squeeze and moved down the hall to check in with the other recovering witches. I turned to one of the enforcers on guard near the doors.
“Are the Northcotts in their office?”
“Lady Northcott is on the premises,” she said. Her eyes slid over the guys, with a wariness I couldn’t help noticing. How many times had we come and gone from this building in the last week, and that tension remained.
I guessed that was as good an answer as I was going to get. We headed up the stairs to the Northcotts’ office on the fifth and top floor. The building might look modern enough, but witching society hadn’t thought elevators worth bothering with. It really was ridiculous how much so many of them looked down on the unsparked when we had plenty of backwards habits ourselves.
