Iridescent Chaos: (Enchanted Chaos, Book 3)

by Sorensen, Jessica

  I’m about to ask when something stabs at my palm. I glance down and discover that a sharp icicle has formed between our hands and has cut open my flesh. I start to pull back, but he grasps onto my hand.

  “Don’t let go just yet,” he whispers.

  Swallowing hard, I press my palm closer to his and hold perfectly still. I keep my eyes open, watching in wonder as the droplets of water on his flesh morph into ice, making his entire body shimmer against the sunlight spilling through the branches above us.

  He’s so gorgeous, I think, then realize my mistake as his lips quirk.

  Thankfully, he doesn’t comment and focuses on making the blood promise, his lips moving as he whispers something under his breath. Whatever he says, the ice reacts to it, swirling around on his skin and making a path over to my arm. The contact makes the pain in my palm increase and blood trickles from the wound created by the sharp icicle.

  East’s eyelids flutter open. “I’m going to need you to repeat what I say now, okay?”

  I nod, mesmerized by how icy his pupils are. “Okay.”

  Rubbing his lips together, he laces his fingers through mine. “Promitto opus de iniquitate.”

  Crap, I’ve never been good at speaking other languages. Still, I do my best to repeat what he said.

  “Good,” he says after I’ve finished. “There’s more. And make sure to repeat it exactly how I say it, okay?”

  I nod. “Okay.”

  He takes a deep breath. “Dum faciunt, non portant.”

  “Dum faciunt, non portant.”

  “Oriente mihi partem dolorum.”

  My breath falters from my lips. “Oriente mihi partem dolorum.”

  He hesitates briefly before uttering, “Quin et ipse portabit iniquitatem mihi aeternaliter.”

  I steady my voice as my palm burns. “Quin et ipse portabit iniquitatem mihi aeternaliter.”

  Blinding hot pain scorches through me and I squeeze my eyes shut, sucking in a breath through my nose. The pain lasts only for an instant, then everything goes quiet. At least on the outside. Deep inside me, though, something feels different. Lighter.

  I open my eyes again to find East looking at me intensely. The cause behind his intensity remains a mystery since strangely the link is very quiet at the moment.

  “What did we say?” I ask in a shaky tone.

  He shrugs, his gaze never wavering from mine. “Just your standard blood promise incantation.”

  I frown, sensing he’s keeping something from me. “I hope I said all the words right. I’ve never been that great at speaking other languages. I actually failed French my junior year.”

  “You did fine,” he assures me. “Besides, French is hard.” Giving my hand a squeeze, he pulls away.

  I glance down at my palm, surprised to find a raindrop-shaped ice chunk embedded into the flesh. “Is this permanent?”

  He gives a reluctant nod, rubbing his palm with his fingertip. “Sorry, I probably should’ve mentioned that.”

  “It’s fine.” I skim my finger along the ice patch. “It feels weird, though, like I grew an icicle inside my flesh.”

  “Blood promises always leave marks on the skin, but since we used your power of ice and my power of rain to do it, our mark ended up as an ice patch in the shape of a raindrop,” he explains. “If we’d used another one of your powers to do the promise, the mark would’ve looked totally different. But I thought your power of ice was probably the safest way to do it. And it made it so I could split our palms open.”

  I trace my thumb along the ice mark. “Do you have one too?”

  Nodding, he sticks out his hands. His mark looks similar to mine except for the ice has a more silvery glint to it.

  “Your’s is prettier,” I say.

  He shakes his head. “No way. Look at how shimmery yours is.”

  “Yeah, but yours has more color to it.” I tap my finger against the patch and the noise reverberates through my body and rattles my brain against my skull. “Okay, don’t do that.”

  “I wasn’t planning on it.” He glances down at his palm again, a small smile touching his lips.

  With the link remaining silent, I can’t get a vibe on him at all.

  I trace my finger across my icy palm. “Have you ever done a blood promise with anyone before?”

  “Nope. You got to pop my cherry with that.” A devious smile pulls at his lips. “And I guess I got to pop yours too.”

  I roll my eyes, somehow managing to keep my embarrassment under control.

  He laughs softly, taking my hand in his again and lining our icy marks together. “Do you feel any better about this Brody thing?” He grows serious so quickly I nearly get whiplash from the subject change.

  I nod. “I do. Why, though? I thought the promise was to motivate me to get over my guilt?”

  He shrugs. “It is.”

  Again, I have a feeling he’s keeping something from me. “East, what exactly did we say when we made that promise?”

  “Honestly, I’m not even sure. I’m not that great at speaking other languages either.” He winks at me.

  I frown, aware he’s being vague on purpose.

  Just what the hell did we promise to each other?

  “Stop frowning. This promise is a good thing,” he assures me then takes a deep breath, his mood shifting again. “However, what I need to tell you now is going to be a bit hard to hear.”

  “You mean about the soul tethering?”

  He gives a hesitant nod. “So Porter hardly explained anything about it to you before he did it?”

  I nod. “Other than while he was doing it he was going to feed off my powers. But he didn’t explain how he could do that. Or well, he didn’t explain what he is, other than he’s kind of undead.”

  His eyes flash with surprise and the ice covering his pupils melts into liquid and drips out of his eyes. “He told you he was undead?”

  “Yeah… Did you not know that he was?” Crap, was I not supposed to say anything about it?

  “No, I knew but… He rarely tells anyone. In fact, it took him three years after it happened before he even told me and Foster.”

  “Well, I think he sort of felt like he had to since when he appeared in my dream, I relentlessly bombarded him with questions about what he is.”

  “That makes sense, I guess.” But his forehead is creased in puzzlement.

  Which makes my own forehead crease. “You think that’s not the reason why?”

  “I don’t know.” He wavers, chewing on his bottom lip. “I have a theory, but I’m not sure if I should tell you yet.”

  I lift my brows. “I thought the main reason you brought me out here was to tell me the truth.”

  “True.” He wavers again then sits up straighter. “I’m gonna tell you my theory, but first I want to explain the details of soul tethering so we can get that out of the way.”

  I nod, hoping I can handle what he’s about to say. But his sudden nervousness does nothing for my own nerves.

  “Soul tethering, while temporary, is still a pretty big deal,” he starts. “Not only is your soul tethered to Porter’s right now, but his is tethered to yours, which means your souls are connected.” He pauses, observing me. “When you were close to him back in the tree house, did you feel anything strange when you looked at him?”

  I bite on my lip. “Kind of.”

  “I’m guessing it was an intense connection of desire, need, and hunger?”

  “Yeah, but how did you know that?” I feel too exposed at the moment.

  “Because I know how soul tethering works,” he tries to tease but then sighs. “Well, and also because your emotions slipped down the link.” He scratches at the back of his neck. “But anyway, until this soul tethering thing fades, you’re going to have some of the same urges as Porter. It won’t be as intense or anything, but they’ll be there.”

  “Wait… You mean I’m going to want to feed off power?” I ask and he gives a reluctant nod. My eyes widen in horror. “Bu
t I’m not going to have to, right?”

  He doesn’t respond immediately, but I’m pretty certain his silence is enough of an answer.

  “Holy shit,” I breathe out. “I don’t think… I can’t…” I struggle for words.

  East takes a hold of my hand. “Don’t worry. My brothers and I will do everything we can to find another way around this And if we find one quickly enough, you’ll never have to feed off of anyone’s powers.”

  I swallow the lump wedged in my throat. “Porter mentioned there was another solution to keeping darkness out of me forever, but I’m not sure I like it either.”

  His brows furrow. “What’s the solution?”

  “To become like him. And while I’m not even sure what he is, I know he feeds off power and is undead so…” I trail off, noting how pale East looks. “What’s wrong?”

  He shakes his head. “It’s nothing.”

  “No, it’s something,” I insist, aware of how squirmy he’s gotten. “What is Porter? Because considering I may have to become like him, I think I deserve to know.”

  His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows hard. “You’re right. You deserve to know.” He scoots closer to me and takes both my hands in his, holding onto me. “Porter is part incubus, which is a type of demon. An undead demon, but most demons are. I’m not sure if you know much about incubuses, but they feed off of sexual desires. But since Porter is also an elemental protector, he has to feed off of power too.”

  My mind struggles to process what he said. “I don’t… How… Why did he become one of them?”

  Sadness takes over his face. “Porter has always been kind of a risk taker, but he took things too far when he tried to travel through a secured magical connection without practicing. He ended up permanently separating his spirit from his body, which means his body was going to die. Since his essence was stuck in his body, it meant when he died, his spirit and soul couldn’t connect to the elemental protectors’ afterlife, so he was going to end up in the underworld with all the rest of the wandering souls that have died. When the banshee showed up to collect his soul and take it to the underworld, Porter managed to strike a deal. She agreed to return his soul and spirit to his body and in return Porter would become a certain type of demon, one that can collect souls for her, also known as an incubus, hence the reason that he can soul-tether. He only does it occasionally when the banshee calls on him to collect a soul, or when Max needs help tracking down an outlaw with a corrupt sou. But Porter constantly struggles with his incubus powers, especially the hunger part of it. And I’m not talking about a hunger for food.”

  Incubus? Feeding off of sexual desires and powers? Collecting souls for a banshee?

  “Does that mean he’s going to give my soul to the banshee?” I ask, horrified.

  He swiftly shakes his head. “Porter may be weird and sometimes make some stupid decisions, but he cares about you. Plus, my brothers and I would never let him do anything that would hurt you.”

  His words would reassure me if there wasn’t another huge problem.

  “But he said I might have to become like him?” I whisper. “I don’t want to be a… I think succubus is the female term for his kind, right?”

  East nods then reaches out and cups my face between his hands. “We’ll find another way,” he promises. “You won’t have to become like him. I promise.”

  “You keep making promises to me,” I say, feeling heavy as reality settles onto me.

  “I know. And while I joke around a lot, I don’t with my promises. Especially with this one because I in no way shape or form want you to have to deal with what Porter does on a daily basis.” He pauses, mulling over something. “Although, seeing that sexual side of you would be a total turn on.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. “Don’t start with me, dude.”

  He gives me an innocent look. “Start what?”

  “You know what,” I say, but he only grins. I lean away from his hands with a sigh. “So where does this leave me? I mean, what do we do next?”

  His smile broadens but then dissipates as his gaze snaps in the direction behind me.

  “Well, considering how repulsed you are by what I am, I’d suggest we start looking for another way to permanently get darkness out of you.” Porter’s voice sails over my shoulder.

  Drawn to him by an unseen force, I twist around. The instant our gazes collide, my mouth salivates with hunger. And not a hunger for food.

  He has demon blood inside him.

  He’s an incubus.

  Holy crap.

  “I’m not repulsed by you. I just don’t think I can handle becoming a demon.” My words are surprisingly truthful. “I can barely handle being an elemental enchanter and a power source… Although, I think I haven’t even tried to deal with the latter yet.”

  His gaze skims across me with doubt. “You’re not afraid of what I am?”

  I shake my head. “No, not really.”

  “Hmmm…” He rubs his scruffy jawline. “That’s probably either because of the link or the soul tethering.”

  Maybe he’s right, but I don’t know. While I find Porter unsettling sometimes, I’m not straight up terrified of him, even after learning what he is. And considering he saved me from darkness, how could I be?

  “I wouldn’t try to overanalyze it, honey.” Porter’s gaze bores into mine, binding me in some sort of trance that I’m pretty sure is being caused by the soul tethering. Although, I’m not positive. “How you feel about me isn’t really important. Not when we’ve got so much other shit on our plate to worry about. Although, we might have one less problem to worry about soon.”

  East stands up and moves beside me, standing so close his arm brushes against mine. “Did you guys figure out another solution to keep darkness out of her?”

  Porter shakes his head, his intense gaze lingering on me for a faltering moment before he looks at East. “Hunter found a way to fix the link.”

  “Wait… I thought he could just fix it,” I say at the same time East mutters, “Oh.”

  The atmosphere grows quiet except for the lull of the summer-scented breeze kissing the air around us and scattering leaves across the ground.

  “We need to hurry, though,” Porter adds, glancing at Easton with his brows furrowed. “Hunter’s been talking to Camille, this faerie who can read creatures and energies really well, and she’s informed him that the longer the link remains altered, the harder it’s going to be to fix it.”

  East bobs his head up and down, staring off into empty space as he traces the palm of his hand with his thumb. “We should probably hurry then.”

  Porter stares at his brother curiously. “Foster was pretty persistent that I stress the hurry part when I volunteered to come find you two.”

  East blinks, snapping out of his daze. “He’s probably right. We definitely need to hurry.” Without a glance in our direction, he stomps off into the trees.

  Porter watches him a second before turning to me with a grin. “You ready to get this link fixed and stop feeling all of our emotional baggage?”

  Well, when he puts it that way…

  I nod and we start through the trees, trailing after East, who doesn’t so much as even glance back at us. Clearly he’s upset, but about what? The link getting fixed? Why, though, when he’s already made it pretty clear he’s not too thrilled about me being able to sense what he’s feeling.

  “He’s worried you won’t want to be around him as much once the link is fixed,” Porter unexpectedly mutters under his breath.

  My forehead furrows as I glance at him. “East?” I ask and he nods. “Oh.” I stare at the back of East. “Well, that won’t happen. I like spending time with him.” As a series of worries whisk through me, not all of them belonging to me, I look at Porter again and add, “In a completely platonic way.”

  He’s all sorts of wicked amusement. “Is that so?”

  “Yes.” My voice lacks a bit of confidence, though.

  He examines me with a s
parkle in his eyes. “So you’re saying that you’ve never felt anything toward East besides your standard feelings of friendship?”

  “Yes,” I repeat, but a hint of doubt laces my voice.

  He slows down his pace, his gaze welded with mine. “So you don’t crave even a taste of his power? Not even a drop?”

  “Um…” Now that he’s mentioned it, my mouth begins to water with the idea of pressing my lips against East’s neck and devouring him. In fact, I can practically smell the scent of rain pulsating from East. “What are you doing?” I whisper to Porter.

  He wets his lips with his tongue. “Testing the soul tethering to make sure it hasn’t weakened from that little blood promise East made with you.”

  “How did you know about that?” I ask, confused.

  Without removing his gaze from mine, he sketches his fingertips along the icy patch marking the palm of my hand. “Because of this.”

  “Oh yeah.” I swallow an uneven breath. “I didn’t realize a blood promise could weaken a soul tethering.”

  “There’s a small chance it could. East didn’t know that, though.” He assesses me with his head slanted to the side. “But since you’re hungry for him, I’m guessing the soul tethering is fine.”

  “I’m not hungry for him,” I lie, my throat feeling very dry at the moment.

  “You are,” he states. “And while that might be a bit frightening, it’s a good thing.”

  “I…” I smash my lips together, my gaze drifting to East again. When I find that he’s looking at me, the hunger inside my chest amplifies.

  East’s lips sink downward. Then he starts backtracking toward us. “What’s wrong?”

  Shaking my head, I step back. “Nothing.”

  He freezes, throwing a questioning look at Porter. “You wanna explain why she’s suddenly freaking out?”

  Porter shrugs, a move that contradicts the intensity in his eyes. “I was just checking to see if that blood promise you did with her interfered with the soul tethering.”

  East scratches his arm, appearing a bit twitchy. “I didn’t realize that could interfere with it.”

  “Not always, but what you promised could.” He stares at Easton in an unnerving way, making East grow even more fidgety.