by Eva Chase
“I’ll be back in touch soon,” I said. “Thank you again, so much. It means a lot just knowing I have someone here.”
Now I just had to wait to make sure I really had her on my side—that her words hadn’t been as false as so many of my dad’s had been.
Chapter Fifteen
Gabriel
I lay back on the lumpy hotel-room bed, my thumb skimming over the screen of the cheap tablet Kyler had picked up for each of us on his last expedition into the tech stores. “Might as well be able to use the internet when it’s available for free,” he’d said cheerfully as he’d handed them out. “Just don’t sign into any of your pre-existing accounts, and no one will be the wiser.”
Ky was sitting on the room’s other bed, hunched over the full laptop he’d bought himself. The keys clattered under his speedy fingers. There wasn’t much in the room except us, the beds, and a carpet that gave off a slightly mildewy smell into the air. A pretty far cry from the gleaming apartment Jin’s friend had lent him, but at least there was no reason for the Assembly goons to check some rinky-dink hotel just far enough from Newark airport that no one really wanted to stay here.
“Still looking good?” I asked Ky.
He nodded, his eyes never leaving the screen. “I’ve been watching all the phone lines, their internet service—everything I can get access to. No one in the Levesque family has given any indication they even know Rose exists. Either her aunt is keeping the secret as promised, or anyone else she’s told knows better than to spread the word.”
“How long do you think we should give them before Rose reaches out again?”
Ky rubbed his hand over his face. “I don’t know. It’s always going to be a crapshoot to some extent. But everything she said about the meet-up sounded positive.”
“So you’re leaning toward trusting them.”
“Well…” He grinned at me. “I’m leaning toward giving them at least a little more rope to see whether they hang themselves with that, at the very least.”
“We can’t be too cautious,” I pointed out. “If we can trust them, we’re going to need them sooner, not later.” Staying in this motel in Newark worked for now, but I couldn’t imagine how it was sustainable. I’d seen how dogged our attackers were. At some point Rose was going to have to cast magic again, and then they’d be on us—unless we had a better way of stopping them.
“True, true.” Ky sighed. “Now, if I had ears right inside their houses… But that might be a little extreme even for me.” He laughed a little to himself, and I made a mental note to always stay on Kyler Lennox’s good side.
I turned back to my own way of contributing something, which was looking through the odd job postings on a website I’d used before to find bits of work here and there while I’d been traveling. Most of the offerings were pretty menial, but every now and then a listing popped up from someone willing to trust a relative stranger with their car. I could go in, give an engine a onceover, and have it running properly again in less than an hour most times. And that paid a hell of a lot better than carting someone’s moving boxes around.
The money we had on us wasn’t infinitely sustainable either. Might as well get a head start on restocking our funds.
There weren’t any quick and easy jobs on offer today, though. I grimaced at the tablet and set it down. The one problem with being under a sort of lockdown was I did get a little stir-crazy when I couldn’t roam around. Rose and the other guys were in their own rooms down the hall. We’d come in one pair at a time and asked for separate rooms, in case the Assembly started checking around for large groups with only one woman. But even if she wasn’t right here with me, I didn’t want to leave the motel without her either.
The Assembly had hit us too many times, too hard, for me to feel comfortable even with the few walls between us right now.
It was still an hour before we were supposed to meet up to grab dinner. What else could I do with the time that might be useful? I’d already spent a couple hours checking over the SUV this afternoon, repairing a few bits and pieces that hadn’t come out of the crash unscathed, stashing some more stores of gas in the back. I’d even managed to fix the windows, thanks to some replacement glass I’d grabbed at an auto shop on our way to the hotel. It was ready to go if we needed to make a run that way, at least.
I brought up a map of the area to consider escape routes by road. A thump sounded on the other side of the wall next to my bed. Then a moan filtered through, low and needy.
Ky glanced over and chuckled. “Glad someone’s having a good time.”
It wasn’t Rose. Her room and the other guys’ was in the opposite direction, with a couple between theirs and ours. But hearing two strangers go at it made me think of her anyway, with a tightness in my groin.
I wanted her, so badly. I could have her now. But I had to think about what was best for all of us. She had four consorts who could not only light her up with pleasure but with magic too. It only made sense for me to step back for the time being and wait on the sidelines until she didn’t need that energy quite so much.
Another moan carried through the wall. I rolled my eyes and got up to use the bathroom—and maybe relieve some pressure in a different way.
I’d only made it halfway across the room when a now familiar pain smacked me across the head.
The wave of magic cut through my senses and jabbed down my spine. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth against it, my feet stumbling to a stop. The Assembly’s enforcers hadn’t thrown anything at us since that last skirmish when Damon had brought out his gun. I’d started to think they might have quit that strategy.
No such luck.
Kyler had sucked in his breath with a hitch. A moment later, his shoulders came down as Rose must have sent more magic through their consort bond. She’d said she didn’t think they could trace that because the connection was already established. The pain in my own head eased, but it couldn’t have been because of her.
No, it wasn’t going away. It was just shifting. An eerie sensation wriggled through my nerves. I found myself turning toward the door. Just to get out, just to stretch my legs. I’d wanted to get some air, hadn’t I?
My heart hiccupped. That wasn’t my impulse. The magic was propelling me somehow.
“Where are you going?” Kyler said.
“I—” The sensation wrapped around my throat, making it harder to speak. I forced the words out. “Their magic is pushing me.”
I tried to fight it, tensing against the movements. My steps dragged, but my feet still edged toward the door. Ky’s eyes widened.
“I’ll tell Rose,” he said, grabbing his phone. “She can help block them.”
“No!” I wrenched out. “I can shut this down. I just need time. If she has to cast an actual spell, that’ll bring them right here. That’s what they want.”
That might even be why they were doing it in the first place. Trying to provoke her into using magic that would reveal where we were. I couldn’t let that happen.
“Gabriel—”
“Don’t you dare,” I gritted out. “I’m going to see where this is taking me, and maybe it’ll wear off in another minute or two. And if it doesn’t, I’ll figure out how to break it.”
Ky hesitated and then scrambled off the bed. “Fine. I won’t get her involved yet. But I’m coming with you.”
I couldn’t exactly stop him. I couldn’t even stop myself. I gave in to the urge for a moment to give myself a chance to gather strength and consider my options. My hand rose to the door knob and opened it. I ambled out into the hall, Ky right behind me.
I half-expected my legs to carry me toward Rose’s room, but of course that wouldn’t make sense. Whoever was sending this magic at us didn’t know where she was. So where did they want me to go? Were they going to try to walk me across the country to wherever that magical decoy of hers had led them to?
The impulse told me to get out of the building. I moved toward the elevators. With each step I tested ho
w difficult it would be to change direction, to stop completely. Every time I tried to exert control over my muscles, the magic shoved me harder.
Shit. I couldn’t let them ruin this brief respite we’d found. We weren’t ready to face them again.
Kyler obviously wasn’t affected at all anymore. Whatever power Rose was able to channel through their consort bond had shielded him completely now. He watched me, his expression worried, as he kept pace with me to the elevators.
“Are you sure—”
“Yes,” I snapped, the lack of control fraying my temper. “I’ll tell you if I need help. Maybe—maybe if you just distract me from the impulse. Talk about something that’ll get my thoughts going in a different direction.” Maybe then I’d be able to break this hold.
“A different direction,” Ky murmured to himself as the elevator arrived. Thankfully it was empty. I automatically reached for the button that would take us to the lobby.
“Rose,” he said. “You want to talk about her? She’s plenty distracting.” He grinned a little tightly, his gaze still anxious as it lingered on my face. “Do you remember that time when we were kids and someone had the bright idea of going to the apple orchard after that thunderstorm? The whole place was a mud slick. We practically skated on the stuff—until we’d all fallen down at least ten times and there was as much mud on us as the ground.”
I did remember: the earthy, gritty flavor that had worked itself even into my mouth, the giggles carrying between the trees, Rose’s dark green eyes lit with a brilliant light amid the dirt streaked all over her face. Her amusement had faltered for a few minutes when she’d thought about going back in the house looking like that, but the weather had come to rescue us, dumping another heaving of cool rain all over us and washing us clean.
I tried to focus on that impression of water rushing over my skin, as if it could carry away the magic compelling me now. Resistance shivered through my muscles. The elevator dinged as it reached its destination.
My legs balked—but only for a couple seconds. Then, with an ache that spread up from my knees, they jerked forward.
I looked up at the glass doors that separated the elevator alcove from the main lobby, and a new urge tickled up my throat. I clamped my lips tight against it, but it didn’t leave.
Oh, no. Understanding hit me. They weren’t going to make me come all the way to them. They just wanted me in a public enough place where I could shout and make a scene, do who knew what crazy things, so they’d hear about it.
Panic flashed through my body. My fingers closed around the door handle. I clenched my jaw. I let my arm push the door open, and then I gripped the door frame and yanked the handle back with every shred of control I could summon.
The door slammed back into the frame—and into my other hand. Pain splintered through my nerves. I gasped with it, staggering.
“Gabriel!”
A couple people in the lobby had turned to look. I propelled myself back toward the elevators, pain still radiating up my arm in pulsing shards. A metallic taste trickled through my mouth—I’d bitten my tongue.
But I came to a stop at the elevators without being driven back. The outside impulses had faded. I’d managed to sever that magical hold after all.
Ky had lifted his phone. I grabbed his wrist with my good hand.
“No,” I rasped. “I’m okay now. I stopped it. See? We can go back to the room now.”
He gazed at me for a long moment before he lowered his arm. “You’re sure?”
“I’m sure.” I held up the hand I’d bashed. It was already red with burst blood vessels under the skin. Fuck, it hurt, but I’d never welcomed pain more. “I showed them they can’t use me like a puppet.”
We got back on the elevator, and I sagged back against the wall. My body felt as exhausted as if the magic had wrung me out like a towel. Ky shifted his weight from foot to foot beside me as the elevator ascended.
“That impulse to come down here—it only grabbed you,” he said, and then his expression shuttered. “Oh.”
“Because I’ve got no consort bond,” I said. My gut twisted. And that very fact made me a total liability. What if next time they hit us even harder? What if I didn’t find a way to throw their spell off?
I rubbed my hand, wincing at its throbbing, but a deeper discomfort filled my chest. I’d tried to keep it from Rose—how much more I was struggling with the attacks than the other guys. I hadn’t wanted to add even more stress to her life right now. But she needed to know.
There wasn’t any getting around it. Either I formed that bond with her, or she’d be safer if I was a million miles away.
Chapter Sixteen
Rose
For just a little while, eating dinner in a burger place down the street from our hotel with the five guys I loved with all my heart, life felt almost normal. Almost good.
“That’s not a burger,” Damon informed Jin, eyeing the other guy’s tofu-and-goat-cheese combo. “This is a burger.” He hefted his half-pounder stuffed with pickles, cheese, and bacon.
“Are you going vegetarian on us?” Kyler teased.
“I had beef with lunch,” Jin said with a smile. “I believe in variety. Like certain other people I’m fond of.” He shot a wink at me. He hadn’t said it loud enough for anyone around us to hear, even if they’d have guessed what he meant, but I blushed anyway.
“I still say it’s not really a burger unless there’s a cow in it.” Damon elbowed Seth, who’d ended up in the booth beside him. “Someone’s got to back me up here.”
Seth gave him a dubious look. “And you think it’s going to be me?” Then he shook his head with a brief chuckle. “I think I’ll just worry about what I want to eat.” He dug into his own burger.
“Hear, hear,” Gabriel said with a slanted grin. He chomped on one of his French fries.
“And my chicken burger is very good, thank you very much,” I said to Damon.
He gave me a light tap with his foot under the table. “I guess I’ll forgive you a few sins.”
I sipped my cola and leaned against the padded back of the booth. The air smelled like salt and grease, and some sappy country song from decades ago was playing on the crackly speakers. I hadn’t eaten in a place like this in, well, a long time. Maybe once or twice in Portland when I’d been off on rambles on my own, but sitting tucked away in some corner alone was nothing like this. I could believe I belonged here, in regular unsparked society with my unsparked men. Just leave all of the witching world behind.
If only they’d let me go.
I didn’t want to think about that right at this moment. I took another bite of my burger, savory chicken and mayo and doughy bun mixing together in my mouth, and tried to soak up as much of this normal, happy atmosphere as I could.
It might have been easier if I hadn’t noticed early on that Gabriel seemed a little quieter than usual. He was still present, laughing at the others’ jokes and directing the conversation when something struck him, but in the moments in between, when he paused to take a breath, his smile dipped a little. A hint of a shadow touched his bright blue eyes.
Well, why wouldn’t he be worried? It wasn’t as if I could completely shake off all thought of our precarious situation either. That’s what I told myself, anyway.
The waitress came to clear our plates with a flash of a smile and a cock of her head. “Always nice seeing a bunch of friends enjoying themselves.” She raised an eyebrow at me. “Don’t leave ‘em hanging too long before you pick one, honey. Have a lovely night!”
We managed to contain our laughter until she’d walked away to get the bill. Then sputters carried all around the table.
“All right, Briar Rose,” Jin said, slinging his arm around my shoulders. “Who are you going to choose?”
Damon grinned darkly. “Maybe we should demonstrate just how good we are at sharing.”
“No!” I said, pointing a finger at him. “Don’t you dare start anything like that. We’re supposed to look like
we’re just a bunch of friends, remember?”
Ky’s eyes glinted with mischief. “Anyway, clearly if Rose were going to pick anyone, it’d be me. Brains over brawn, right?”
I squeezed Jin’s hand and tipped my head just briefly against Seth’s shoulder at my other side. “I think I’m happy taking both, thank you.”
As we walked back to the motel, Gabriel fell into step beside me. He took my hand, twining his fingers around mine. His touch could still provoke a flutter in my chest. But his low voice and the words he said turned it into an anxious quiver.
“I need to talk to you about something when we get back.”
I glanced up at him. “What? Did something happen?” I’d felt a probing wave of magic wash through the city earlier this afternoon, but Gabriel had acted as if it hadn’t affected him that much.
“You could say that. But it can wait until we’ve got some privacy.”
In the dim hall outside our rooms, Seth paused by the one he and I had ended up sharing and took in Gabriel’s and my joined hands. He dipped his head in acknowledgment. “I’ll keep Ky company?” he said.
Gabriel offered him a crooked smile that looked more like his usual easy and confident self. “You can have her back for the night.”
“Hey, take as long as you want. Rose belongs to herself, not any of us.” Seth gave us a little salute and followed the others to the farther rooms.
I swiped the keycard and turned toward Gabriel as the door thumped shut behind us. “Now will you tell me what’s going on?”
He moved closer to me, setting a hand on my waist. With a nudge, he walked me back a step so I could lean against the wall. His other hand came up to brush my cheek. He gazed into my eyes for several seconds, so intently I didn’t know what to say.
My breath caught when he dipped his head toward mine. He caught my mouth with a kiss so soft and sweet the fluttering in my chest came back at full force. My fingers curled into the soft waves at the nape of his neck as I kissed him back, reveling in the moment. But I couldn’t lose myself completely. I knew Gabriel well enough not to believe he’d asked me in here just for this.