Consort of Secrets

by Eva Chase

  The figure outside the window leaned back when I approached, taking my ribbon with him. He was perched on one of the oak’s branches.

  I pushed up the pane. Cool night air washed over me, seeping through my thin pajamas. My pajamas with cute little black cats printed all over them. Witch humor, okay?

  Rather than let myself get embarrassed about my clothes, I focused on the guy outside my window. “Hello.”

  The guy’s smile had grown wider. “Rose. You’re really back. I mean, I knew you had to be when I saw this.” He held up the ribbon. “But I couldn’t help checking to make sure.”

  Up close, I could make out the rest of his features better. Tawny waves framing an angular face, clean-shaven. A slim frame I could tell was tall even when he was crouching. It was too dark to distinguish the color in his light eyes, but they’d be a soft gray-green.

  I’d actually known two boys who fit that description, way back when, but only one who’d approached every situation with upbeat enthusiasm. “Kyler?” I said. His name felt rusty on my tongue. It’d been too many years since I’d last said it.

  Ky outright grinned. “Bonus points for correct twin identification even after eleven years.”

  His balance wobbled. He dropped his hand with the ribbon to brace himself against the trunk.

  Tree-climbing hadn’t been one of Ky’s strong points even when we were kids. I reached to detach the screen. “Here, come in.” Dad didn’t go overboard with security, but there’d still be a few guards patrolling around the grounds. Better if Kyler didn’t fall out of the tree, and even better if we weren’t caught at all.

  Ky scrambled in. I went to turn on the lamp. “Close the curtain,” I said. The light would draw attention too.

  “Oooh,” Phil said. “A secret midnight interlude with a handsome stranger. I didn’t expect our grand adventure to begin quite this quickly.”

  “It’s not midnight,” I told her, silently and obtusely. “And he’s not a stranger.”

  The handsome part, well…

  Kyler Lennox had grown up a lot from the 14-year-old boy he’d been when we’d last roamed the estate grounds together. In both inches and presence. Now that he was standing straight, he had at least half a foot in height on me, and I wasn’t exactly petite at five foot seven. His eyes shone with the cheerful energy I remembered, but there was a little more gravity to his gaze than there’d once been.

  He ran a hand through his tawny hair, looking sheepish and excited at the same time. My gaze couldn’t help following the way his arm flexed against his fitted button-down. He might have been slim, but he was clearly not a weakling.

  And now that he was here, as if he’d stepped straight out of the past into my bedroom, I had no idea what to say. I crossed my arms over the chest of my kiddy pajamas. My pulse was racing.

  This was what I’d wanted, wasn’t it? To bring my old friends, the boys I’d spent so many hours with all those years ago, back to me somehow? But I hadn’t expected them to come quite so fast.

  “You saw the ribbon,” I said, for something to say.

  “Yeah. I go for a cycle around town most evenings, usually swing by the estate,” Ky said. “Out of habit, I guess. It’s been so long I wasn’t really expecting anything.”

  My throat tightened. “Yeah,” I said. “I… I wish I could have come back sooner. Or at least gotten in touch somehow. The way things were in the city…”

  He nodded, no sign of anger or resentment in his expression. Only sympathy. “Your dad and your stepmother kept things pretty strict.”

  “Mostly my stepmom.”

  “If you want to talk about witches,” Philomena inserted with a mutter. I ignored her.

  “We should be back pretty much for good now,” I added. “I’ll probably end up traveling around some, when work calls for it or just for a break, but—I’m my dad’s only direct heir. The estate will be mine as much as his soon.”

  But I couldn’t completely explain the reasons for that. The one thing I’d never talked about with my boys was my magic. I groped for a change of subject. “What are you doing these days? As far as work goes or whatever?”

  “Putting my internet obsession to good use.” Ky wiggled his fingers as if typing. “I took computer science at the state college, and now I do IT work for pretty much every company that needs it in town. Which still isn’t a whole lot of them, but it keeps me busy enough.”

  That news didn’t surprise me at all. Ky had loved his computer as much as I’d loved my books, always turning up to our gatherings with some new fact he’d stumbled on while researching every topic that caught his interest. Some things hadn’t changed.

  “Are the other guys still around?” I asked. “Do you see them much anymore?”

  I hadn’t seen any of their parents yet to know for sure their families were still in town. The group of us had fallen in together because all five of the boys had at least one parent who worked on the estate. Ky and the rest had gotten in the habit of rambling around here in their free time, and then I’d gotten into the habit of rambling with them.

  “Most of us,” Ky said. “But we don’t really hang out anymore. Except me and Seth, because, you know, family. But everyone’s moved in different directions.” He paused. “And Gabriel left, a few years ago. I’m not sure exactly where he headed off to. He hasn’t been back since.”

  “Oh.” That news sent a jab through my chest. Gabriel had been the one who’d pulled me into the group, who’d bound us together in his easy way. It didn’t surprise me that the other guys would have drifted apart without him here.

  “With a reaction like that, I definitely need to hear more about this Gabriel fellow,” Philomena said.

  Kyler peered at me a little more intently. “But you’ve been okay? Things went all right in the city?”

  “Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it was boring a lot of the time. I may be even more of a book addict than I was before.” I restrained the urge to glance Phil’s way. “Mostly just studies and meeting people my father thought it’d be good for me to know.”

  Magical studies. Witching people. I wondered how much Ky could fill in those blanks. We might not have talked about magic between the six of us, but the Hallowells had always taken on plenty of unsparked employees for the everyday running of the estate. People whispered. Rumors passed around town. That was how it went.

  And the second-to-last time Ky had seen me, my stepmother had used her magic on him and the other boys, if only briefly.

  “I’m glad to be back,” I went on. “It’s really good to see you. I’d love to see the other guys again too, if there’s some way I can get in touch with them…”

  “I have all their numbers,” Ky said, motioning to the outline of his phone in his pocket. “You can call or text me any time.” He shot me that bright grin again.

  I opened my mouth and then closed it, hesitating. My phone was in my purse, over there by the armchair. But— “I don’t know if that’s the best idea. It’s probably better if my stepmother doesn’t know I’m talking to you at all, considering. And I wouldn’t put it past her to be monitoring my phone records. We’ve got this whole family plan thing…”

  Ky shrugged, as if that was barely a setback. His expression turned mischievous. “I can pick you up a prepaid if you want. Something she doesn’t even know about.”

  “I like this fellow!” Philomena declared. “He knows how to scheme.”

  “He’s always been a smart one,” I agreed with her silently. And then to Ky, out loud, “That would be great. Are you sure getting it to me won’t be a problem?”

  “I got here the first time easily enough, didn’t I? But why don’t we all meet up in town. If you can make an excuse to head over there. I can get everyone together tomorrow—we’ll have a little reunion.”

  My voice caught. It took me a moment to force out the next words. “I—Tomorrow probably wouldn’t be the best. My fiancé is arriving, so I should be here to show him around.”

  Ky barely
moved, but his eyes flickered and his voice dropped just slightly. “Your fiancé,” he repeated.

  I bit my lip. It shouldn’t matter. I’d never been more than friends with any of the guys. But for the six years in which we’d explored every inch of this estate together, building forts and stealing apples from the orchard and all our other childhood adventures, they’d been the closest friends I’d ever had in my life, then or since. Now Derek would have to come first.

  That didn’t mean I should have to cut everyone else I cared about out of my life, though.

  “Yeah,” I said. “That’s why we’re back. To prepare—we’re going to be married in a couple months. But when that happens, my family will have to start respecting me as an adult, finally. And since they can’t be bothered to in the meantime, what they don’t know won’t hurt them. I could find a reason for a stroll into town the day after tomorrow.”

  “All right,” Kyler said. “How about noon, then? If you go to the Bluebell Café and get a table on the back patio, it’s on the same alley as my dad’s hardware store. We can cut through there and join you without anyone being the wiser.” His eyes twinkled.

  “That should be perfect.” Having a definite plan made my spirits lift. But— “Your dad owns a hardware store now?”

  Ky’s expression turned suddenly awkward. “Well, you know, there was less work while your family wasn’t in residence— It’s turned out well. He mostly lets his employees run the store and he does repair work and minor construction jobs around town. He likes the hands-on work.”

  Of course. That made sense. I couldn’t expect the world to stay exactly the way it’d been when I was thirteen. People had to move on. Like I had, at least in part.

  “I’m glad he’s happy,” I said. “And I’ll definitely be on that patio at noon in two days.”

  Ky gave a bob of his head in acknowledgment. He paused, and then stepped toward me, offering my ribbon.

  “I think you should hold onto this,” he said. “In case you need us, and you can’t reach out any other way. Tie it to the gate again, and as soon as any of us sees it, we’ll come wait for you—by the stone bridge on the stream. That’s deep enough in the woods that no one should notice us there.”

  My gaze slid to the small carrying case packed with necklaces and bracelets—and the five ribbons of different colors that had been braided together with this one. The gift the boys had given to me right before Dad and Celestine had carted me off to the city. “I still have the others. I’ve always held on to them.”

  “But the more you have, the better prepared you’ll be.”

  He smiled as he said it, but the concern behind those words—and all the good reasons he had to be concerned—hung between us. I took the ribbon from him, my fingers brushing his. The feel of his warm, dry skin and my awareness of his presence now that he was standing just a couple feet away left my nerves jangling.

  He was really here. One of my boys. And what a man he’d grown up into.

  “Okay,” I said, looking at the ribbon instead of Kyler. “I’ll remember that. Thank you.”

  “Always, Rose,” he said.

  The urge ran through me to cross that short distance between us and wrap my arms around him. To hug him with every shred of my gratitude that he was here, that he still cared, that he was bringing me back to the others. But I held myself in place, that exhilarated sensation still racing through me.

  I couldn’t say for sure it was only gratitude I was feeling right now. I wasn’t supposed to be feeling anything else.

  To my combined relief and disappointment, Ky backed away. “I’d better let you get your sleep,” he said. His tone softened. “It’s really great to see you again, Rose.”

  When he’d disappeared back out the window, I sat down on my bed. My heart was thumping again. Sleep? Maybe sometime next century.

  “Was that one of the childhood friends you’ve told me about?” Philomena asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Hmm.” She shuffled her feet against the duvet. “Are you quite certain he was only a friend?”

  I rolled my eyes at her. “I think I can tell the difference.” But that statement felt like a lie before I’d even finished saying it. I sucked in a breath. “Maybe, toward the end, there were some feelings developing that were a little more than friendly. But none of us ever acted on them. I couldn’t have acted on them. A witch isn’t even supposed to be friends with the unsparked. So it doesn’t matter.”

  “It seems to me you’re already breaking that rule at least a little. And I haven’t got any special spark.”

  I smiled at her. “You’re different,” I told her. “And I only want to see them again the once, to know they’re all doing okay. Maybe, when I’m lady of the house, I can change the rules a little.”

  As I snuggled back under the duvet, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d just told at least one more lie.

  Chapter Three

  Kyler

  In the bright sun shining over the town square, my late night rendezvous with Rose felt even more unreal than it had when I’d headed home last night. But it definitely hadn’t been a dream. I’d held that ribbon in my hand. I’d scraped my thumb clambering up that tree.

  “So you can make it, right?” I said. “Tomorrow at noon, coming in through the hardware store?”

  Beside me, Jin nodded languidly, which was kind of how he did almost everything. “My schedule is pretty flexible,” he said with a grin. The grin was languid too. His dark eyes had lit up a bit when I’d explained the reason I’d called this little meeting at the fountain in the middle of the square, but he seemed awfully chill about the whole “Rose returning home” news.

  Of course, I couldn’t remember when I’d ever seen anything really faze that guy. The way he moved through life with that perpetual dreamy expression, I’d almost have thought he was on some kind of illicit substance. Well, actually, when we were still in high school I had thought he must be on something, until I’d looked at every Drug Abuse Warning Signs website out there and concluded Jin didn’t show any of the symptoms. He was just naturally flying high.

  Our twelfth grade history teacher, on the other hand, had clearly been into some unusual recreational activities.

  Seth scooped a couple pebbles off the rim of the fountain and tossed one across the rippling surface of the water. It skipped with a few plinks before sinking. My twin frowned at the statue overhead, a bronze woman pouring water from a bucket while perched on a horse’s back. The broad cascade sent cool flecks onto my skin.

  Don’t ask me why anyone would go around carrying buckets of water on horseback. I’d tried to look up the history of that statue more than once, but it was one mystery that even the internet couldn’t shed light on.

  “You know I can be there,” Seth said. “But are you sure Rose is really on board? We’re risking getting her into who knows what kind of trouble all over again.”

  “Of course she’s on board,” I said, suppressing my exasperation as well as I could. Trust my brother to find the most negative way to view the situation. He might be my twin, but some days it was hard to believe we’d come out of the same womb, let alone nearly simultaneously. “It was her idea. I mean, the seeing all of us part. She didn’t leave her ribbon on the gate because she figured it needed some air.”

  Seth gave me a baleful look. “I’m just remembering that the last time we got her in trouble, her family dragged her away from her home for more than a decade. If she gets caught mixing with us again, what do you think they’ll do to her?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. I’d rather not think about that. “I do know that Rose can figure out how big a risk it is and whether she’s willing to take it all by herself. She’s not a kid now any more than we are. Don’t you want to see her?”

  My brother glanced away. His jaw worked. “Yeah,” he said, a little hoarsely. “Of course I do.”

  Footsteps scraped the ground behind us at a careless rhythm. I knew Damon had finally
shown up before I turned around, partly because of that brash swagger and partly because of the whiff of cigarette smoke that reached my nose.

  Damon flicked the half-finished cigarette into the fountain and glowered at me, as if I’d already managed to offend him without even opening my mouth. He shrugged the collar of his beaten leather jacket higher against his neck. “So what’s the big news you just had to tell me in person, Mr. Brainiac?”

  Somehow he made the idea of having a well-oiled brain sound insulting. Maybe that’s why I tossed the information at him with no preamble at all.

  “Rose is back.”

  I’d bet you could have gotten years of study out of the complex shift of emotions those three words provoked in Damon’s body. The twitch of his eyes, the sudden distance in his gaze, the tensing of his mouth as his hand fell loose to his side. He let out a sound that might have been a laugh or a cry, but either way he caught it before more than a hint of it escaped him. Then he shoved his fingers back through his spiky coffee-brown hair, gathering himself.

  “What’s it to me?” he said, his usual cool annoyance falling back into place.

  Right. Maybe he could fool the idiots he hung around with now, but he didn’t really think that act worked on us, did he? Damon had become a lot of things in the last several years that I didn’t like at all, but the last thing I’d suspect him of was indifference. Especially on this subject.

  So I just ignored the tenor of that question. “She wants to see us. All of us. Well, obviously Gabriel won’t be there. Anyway, she’s going to meet us out back of Lennox Hardware at noon tomorrow. If you feel like showing up.”

  Damon’s lip curled in a sneer. “She breezes back into town after all this time and wants to pick up right where we left off? It doesn’t work that way.”

  My mind slid back to last night, to Rose’s hesitation as we figured out what to say to each other. We could get past that, get back to something like it’d used to be. I had to believe it. But still… “I’m sure she knows that. And you know she didn’t leave here because she wanted to.”