by Eva Chase
Did he think there was some hope of him getting control of my magic still, or did he just see enough other benefits in continuing the engagement? Just thinking about his possible motivations made me feel slimy by association.
I turned to Jin. “I had an idea that might help. If I showed you one of the witching glyphs, do you think you could incorporate it into an image so it was there, but no one would be able to actually see the lines of it? Hidden inside a more complex picture… or even painted right over might work. Just something small, that I could wear as a necklace. Even if the glyph isn’t visible, I could imbue it with enough magic to, er, repulse him.”
Jin’s dark brown eyes gleamed. I could practically see inspiration sparking behind them. “Absolutely. Just show me what you want me to work in. It’ll be a fun challenge. With the extra benefit of knowing it’ll get him to back off.”
A glimmer had lit in Damon’s eyes too. He rubbed his mouth. “A necklace,” he scoffed.
“Have you got a better idea?” Seth asked.
“Maybe. We’ll see. That asshole clearly has a lot worse coming to him.”
“Well, while you figure out what that is, I’ll stick to my idea,” I said dryly, and then to Jin, “Get me a piece of paper? The glyph for warding should give me the right vibe…”
Chapter Fifteen
Jin
The old, vine-shrouded towers at the far end of Rose’s property had always looked beautiful to me in an aged, majestic sort of way. Now, coming back to them for the first time since the consort ceremony, the sight of them sent a deeper thrill through my chest.
This was where we’d all come together. Where I’d sworn myself to Rose and her to me.
Our lives had gotten even more complicated since then, but I hadn’t regretted that decision for a second.
“Maybe we shouldn’t have done it,” Seth had said to the rest of us yesterday after Rose had headed home. “We knew she wasn’t sure how the rest of her community would react, and we still agreed, and now they might kill her for it.”
“We didn’t know,” Kyler had pointed out. “We couldn’t have known. We made the best decision we could with the information we had.”
“If we hadn’t been there for her, she’d be chained to that prick of a fiancé now,” Damon had said, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. “If you think Rose would prefer that to dying, you haven’t been paying much attention.”
“I know,” Seth had said to both of them. “I know.” He’d shoved his hand back through the close-cropped waves of his hair, looking so grim I’d wanted to shake him.
Rose had magic. She had four consorts’ worth of magic—four incredibly devoted consorts. What she needed was us holding her up, not fretting about things we couldn’t change anyway.
So I’d shooed them out of the gallery and gotten to work on the project she’d given me.
I brushed my fingers over the little bulge in my hip pocket as I came to a stop by the towers. It had taken me half the night to perfect the pendant I’d made for her, but I didn’t think anyone could look at it and decipher the glyph hidden within the lines and colors now. I’d picked vibrant yellows and greens and blues—light and life. That was the kind of energy I wanted to give her.
My gaze fell on the arch between the towers. I couldn’t see the log that lay in the clearing beneath it, the log where we’d eased Rose down that night and she’d pulled me to her—
I was half hard just remembering it.
Twigs crackled in the forest behind me. I turned to see Rose herself emerging from the depths of the woods. A leaf had gotten tangled in her black hair. As she joined me, I reached out and plucked it free. Then I bent in to kiss her.
There was something magical, no question, about the way her body instinctively melded into mine. About the thump of her heart that seemed to echo my own pulse. Her fingers slid around the back of my neck, gentle but insistent, and I kissed her harder. That faintly sweet lilac smell drifted off her, mingling with the taste of strawberries in her mouth.
She drew back far too soon. “Did you finish it already?” she asked, worry crinkling the corners of her eyes. My stomach squeezed, seeing that concern. Goddamn it, if I could have blotted that fiancé of hers right out of the picture of her life, I’d have done it in an instant. No one should be allowed to make her this scared—scared enough that she’d felt she needed a permanent shield against him.
“I knew you wanted it as soon as possible,” I said. “He hasn’t hassled you again, has he?”
She shook her head. “I managed to keep my distance all last night. But he’s been watching me like he’s figuring out his best strategy for trying again.”
“I hope this works to repel him, then,” I said, pulling out the pendant. I’d fixed it on a fine gold chain.
Rose’s eyes widened when I handed it to her. She traced her thumb over the swirls of color, like bits of filigree bleeding into each other. “Jin,” she said. “It’s gorgeous.”
I had to grin. “I’m glad you think so.”
“Not that I’m surprised,” she said, grinning back.
There. That was the Rose I wanted to see. The Rose she deserved to be, happy and carefree.
Her cares came back a moment later with a darkening of her expression.
“Your art has always been so important to you,” she said. “You mean to keep working on it for the rest of your life, don’t you?”
Was she thinking about how short that life might be if we were found out? I grasped her hand, closing her fingers over the pendant. “My heart’s in my work almost as much as it’s with you,” I said. “The way you can call up feelings, thoughts, with the right combination of colors and textures… But there’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to keep at it.”
Her mouth twisted. “I want to think that. I started wondering, last night… if maybe we should all just run away. Find some place to live where no one will know us, where the witching folk will never find me. Does that sound silly?”
Oh, my Briar Rose. “Not at all,” I said gently. “But I think you deserve more than that. This estate is yours. You shouldn’t have to run away from your home.”
“You and the other guys shouldn’t have to worry that one careless comment could ruin everything,” she said. “I don’t want you to have to live the rest of your life being constantly on guard. I doubt you’ll create very inspired art feeling like that.”
“I don’t think it’ll come to that,” I said. “Besides, your dad managed to find your stepmother how quickly? And she’s just one woman. Do you really think we could hide and feel completely secure anywhere?”
“No.” Her brow furrowed. “That’s why I stopped wondering. I just wish I had a better solution already. I guess this is a tiny start.” She squeezed the pendant and glanced around. “This is the best place I can think of to cast the spell. I want to imbue it with all the power I can.”
“Do you mind if I watch?” I asked.
She hesitated, just for a second. “Of course not,” she said, with a little laugh, but maybe those old instincts, the ones that had told her she had to hide what she really was from us when we were kids, still had a hold over her. I hoped she’d be free of that worry soon too.
The warm breeze drifted around us as she stepped into a clear space amid the trees and foliage. Her skirt rustled around her knees. She clasped the pendant in both hands and raised them up toward the sparkling of sunlight showing through the leaves overhead. Then she started to cast her spell.
The best I could describe it was a dance. Precise but graceful movements, flowing from one position into the next, in time with a music I could almost hear just watching her. I could feel it, deep in the center of me where I’d felt the bond between us snapping into place: the tremor of charged magic.
I’d be damned if that didn’t turn me on too.
Rose pressed the pendant over her heart and swiveled in one last slow circle. She bowed over, her hands clenching tight around the necklace. Then she st
raightened up and let out her breath. Her dark green eyes were gleaming like gems and her pale skin practically glowed. I didn’t know how anyone could not see the power in her.
Maybe all that hiding away was making her forget just how potent she was too. I could help with that.
I moved to her as she clasped the gold chain around her neck. The pendant fell low between her breasts. Low enough that she could tuck it under her shirt, out of sight.
Unless that shirt happened to come off, of course.
I rested my hands on her waist and leaned close, kissing her forehead. “Watching you work your magic is the most breathtaking thing I’ve ever seen,” I said. “You’ve got so much power in you. I may not be a witch, but I can feel it, see it. We don’t need to run. It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks about us or about you. It doesn’t matter what they try to do. You could take on anyone—your dad, your fiancé, that entire Assembly.”
She shivered at my words, but from her smile it was a shiver of pleasure. “You think so?” she said.
“I know so. There’s nothing you couldn’t do now that you’ve woken up, Briar Rose. All you have to do is call it up.” I kissed her temple, her cheek, the corner of her jaw. Her sigh tingled over my neck. “You know what I’d like right now? To make love to you on a bed.”
The gleam in her eyes brightened. “I can arrange that,” she said, with exactly the confidence I’d been hoping to spark. She slipped away from me, throwing herself into another spell. Spreading her arms and letting the magic flow from each bend of her elbow, each twist of her wrist.
A long rectangular shape formed in front of us. It solidified into a mattress covered by a silk sheet. Rose stopped, her breath a little rough, her mouth stretched in a triumphant smile.
“I didn’t figure we needed a headboard and all that,” she said, arching an eyebrow at me.
“Not if it means I need to wait any longer before I do this,” I said, and scooped her off her feet.
We tumbled together onto the conjured mattress. Rose’s fingers tangled in my hair, and mine teased up under her blouse. We kissed until my breath was ragged too. I stroked my hand up and down her side, closer and closer to the curves tucked away inside her bra.
I brushed my knuckles over one nipple, already pebbled, and she whimpered. Her teeth grazed my lower lip. A bolt of pleasure shot straight through me to my cock.
Oh, I knew what I wanted. I knew just what both of us needed.
As I loosened her bra to caress her skin to skin, Rose slid her hand down my chest to the fly of my jeans. God, yes. My erection throbbed at the light pressure of her touch. No woman had ever turned me on half this much. I didn’t know how much it was the bond of magic between us and how much just Rose, but who the hell cared?
She jerked the zipper down and palmed my cock. I groaned, teasing her nipple to a stiffer peak. Her hips swayed toward me, as needy as I was. Yeah, it was time.
I eased my hands down to grip her thighs, tugging her skirt up. As I rolled onto my back, I pulled her with me, guiding her so she straddled me.
Heat flared in Rose’s eyes. She arched against my cock, and we both moaned.
“That’s right,” I murmured. “I’m yours. You take control, with all that power in you. Whatever feels good, you take.”
She made a desperate sound as she freed me from my boxers. I helped her strip off her panties. She hesitated over me, her dark hair falling like a curtain on either side of her face, her cheeks flushed.
“I’ve never—”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said gently, touching her hot skin. “You can do anything. Ride me, Rose.”
A tremble passed through her, eagerness dancing in her eyes. She stroked my length until I was even harder, my head spinning with need. Then she sank down onto me, admitting me into the hot slick center of her.
I groaned, clutching her thighs harder. A whimper slipped from her lips. She rocked over me, taking me deeper as her skirt pooled over us. “Jin,” she said.
“Right here,” I managed to say, even as my head spun with bliss. “You feel fucking amazing, Rose. You always do. Oh, yeah, just like that.”
She moved, bobbing up and down, bracing her hands against my chest. Her head tipped back, her eyelids fluttering. Pleasure was coursing all through my veins, but I didn’t let that completely distract me. My thumb settled over her clit, letting that little nub bump up against it with every pump of her hips.
A gasp escaped her. She pumped faster, pressing against me harder. I thrust up to meet her in time with the rhythm she'd set. Her hands clenched against me, fingernails nicking me with a sweet, sweet pain. I could have let go right then, but she needed her release first. This was for her first. Always for her.
“Feel that spark,” I said, imagining a little flame swaying inside her. “Feel the power you’ve got. So much of it, Rose. I’ll give you everything you could need, we all will, and it’s yours to wield.”
She moaned and ground herself harder against me, chasing her peak. “I can do anything,” she said in a tumble of words. “I can do anything. This is my life. I’ve taken my consorts. I’ll see us all through this. I won’t back down.”
She plunged over me, taking me even deeper than before, and her channel clamped around me. Her hips jerked. I groaned, unable to hold myself back any longer. My balls tightened, and I spilled myself inside her in one glorious rush.
Rose dipped down over me, her body shaking but soft and sated. She kissed me tenderly on the mouth. Then she eased back up, holding my gaze.
“I won’t let them hurt you,” she said fiercely. “Not now or ever.” And I swear I could see that spark dancing in the back of her eyes.
Chapter Sixteen
Rose
The power of my spark hummed through me as I walked up to my father’s office door. He’d gotten home while I’d been out at the towers with Jin. The protective weight of the pendant hung against my sternum under my shirt, and the fresh heat of that little interlude tingled under my skin.
I could do this. Get my answers, see this horrible situation through, even if Dad had betrayed me. Even if he still meant to.
I knocked on the door. “Dad?”
No answer. I was about to knock again, louder, when the hall floor creaked. When I looked up, my father was walking toward me. A faint smile touched his lips when he saw me, but his eyes stayed solemn.
“Looking for me?” he said.
“Yeah, I— Matilda said you’d gone up to your office.”
He nodded, reaching past me to open the door. “I was just putting Celestine’s things back in the magicking room,” he said as he ushered me in. “No need to have them cluttering my office now. She hasn’t given any indication she wants them returned… I suppose I should have Matilda send the family volumes to her daughters, and you can go through the rest of the supplies and see what you might want for your own use before we get rid of the rest.”
The finality in his voice made me pause. My pulse hiccupped. “Did you talk to Celestine then?”
She shouldn’t have been able to talk to Dad, not with the spell I’d put on her… But that had been the first magic I’d ever cast of that sort. Maybe I’d gotten it wrong somehow.
Dad was already shaking his head. Thank the Spark. “It’s… a very odd situation,” he said. “But I was able to gather that she has no intention of returning or remaining a part of the family.”
He sounded pained. My gut twisted in spite of how glad I was to have Celestine out of our lives.
“I’m sorry,” I said, and I meant it. I was sorry for his loss even if I knew it’d had to happen. If Dad hadn’t been a part of her schemes, Celestine had hurt him too. Had made me hurt him by acting suspicious, by hiding so much awful truth from him. A prickle of anger ran through me.
Then my gaze settled on Dad’s desk, which was much barer than the last time I’d been in here. He’d put away Celestine’s things—including the box of books I’d been planning to use to plant that bit of co
njured evidence.
Shit. I couldn’t just conjure it right there on his desk—he wouldn’t believe he’d missed it.
“I know you are, lamb,” Dad said. “I suppose it’s a good thing I’ve got plenty to distract myself. The final details of that Cairo deal are coming into place. The witching families involved are wanting to celebrate, but I had to tell them I couldn’t be away again so close to your consorting. They even suggested we have a party here, as if you want to be dealing with that.” He chuckled.
“Oh,” I said, my stomach twisting for a totally different reason.
I meandered over to his bookshelves where the case with the Egyptian wand he’d brought back from his business trip was sitting. I flipped open the lid, looking at the gem-laid magical tool, as if it would give me some inspiration.
So much power it’d once held. So much power it must have been dangerous. That was how Celestine had talked about me, after I’d confronted her. The excuse she’d given for enslaving my magic. I’d be too powerful. I couldn’t be allowed to wield that power unrestrained.
But she and Derek could be trusted with it? Ha.
I turned the idea over in my head as I glanced back at Dad. She’d said that power was why he’d orchestrated the plot. Maybe there was a more direct way I could get at his feelings.
“Dad,” I said, tentatively. “When the advisers from the Assembly came to talk to Derek and me about our consorting… One of them mentioned to me that they expected my magic to be particularly strong. Because of your bloodline and Mom’s.”
Dad’s expression brightened with a more confident smile. “I’ve always told you you’ve got a lot of history to live up to, haven’t I?” he said lightly. “Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?”
