AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rose’s eyes darted to me, but it shouldn’t surprise her that I’d noticed. We’d given her those ribbons as a gift back when we were kids, right before she’d been torn away from us, six in different colors. She’d used five of them, one for herself and one for each of us, in the original consorting ceremony. Of course I’d seen which one she’d kept in reserve.
She’d used white for herself. The purple one for me, which seemed a reasonable choice—vibrant, a little decadent. Red for Damon and his passionate temper. Green for Seth’s supportive strength. Yellow for Kyler’s bright intellect.
Blue fit Gabriel perfectly. The guy had the same steady, persuasive pull as an ocean tide. My fingers itched. When we got back home—because we were going to, that was the only answer I’d accept—I should make a painting of our group. All our colors woven together like we’d once woven those ribbons, only with all the new complexities now that we’d grown up.
“Blue and white it is.” There was a click of scissors, and then another, and Naomi handed Rose two lengths of cord about as long as her forearm. Rose set them in the bowl with the other supplies she’d collected.
“You’re happy with the dress you picked out?” Naomi asked. “If you want to take another look through my things…”
“It’s fine,” Rose said, smiling at her. “It’s perfect. I just need something simple that I can move in.”
“Mmhm,” Naomi said with a knowing look. Rose blushed. She was having to do a lot of that in the company we’d been keeping, with the things we’d had to explain to some of them, lately.
“So that I can cast the parts of the consorting spell,” she clarified.
“Of course, of course. Is there anything else in here you’ll need?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Well, if you do think of anything, just let me know.” Naomi hesitated, and her expression turned suddenly serious. “The thought of what your dad did to you, or at least tried to do—snuff my spark, I can’t even imagine it. I wish we’d been there for you earlier. But you’re not getting rid of me now, cuz.”
She knocked Rose’s arm with her own in playful affection.
“Thank you,” Rose said, sounding happy and uncertain at the same time.
Naomi ambled off, and Rose came to stand beside me in the doorway. “What’s up?” she asked, worry shadowing her face. The sight of it made my chest ache. She’d been carrying those shadows for a long time now, but in the last few hours I’d gotten the sense they were weighing on her even more than usual.
“Nothing’s wrong,” I reassured her. “I just wanted to see you. To find out if there’s anything I can do for you. You’ve been wearing yourself out, all this running around.”
She shrugged. “I needed to prepare for the ceremony. If it’s going to work, I have to make sure I do everything right.”
“It’ll work.” I touched her cheek, tracing my thumb across her cheekbone. “I can feel it.”
She raised an eyebrow at me, but the corner of her lips quirked up. “And you’re now the expert on magical possibilities?”
“I think anything is possible when you’re the one casting the spell.”
She let out a little groan and tipped her head toward me. I wrapped my arms around her as she rested her forehead on my shoulder.
“I wish it were that simple, Jin,” she said. “Now I’m getting all these other people mixed up in our problems too. And they’re being soniceto me about it.”
“You’re family,” I said. “That’s what good families do. It’s just too bad you didn’t know you had one like this over here all this time.”
“Yeah.”
“You seem to be getting along pretty well with Naomi.”
“She’s nice too. And she seems to be more excited than judgy about the possibilities of multiple consorts.” Rose laughed against my shirt. “Also, she reads. You should see the bookcase in her room. Not half as big as mine, but—well, there’s a lot of overlap between our collections, let’s just say.”
“All those romances that have corrupted your innocent mind,” I teased.
She gave me a little shove, grinning at me. But before I could give in to the urge to kiss her like I wanted to, her expression fell again. She needed more from me than just physical affection. I reached for the right thing to say.
“You picked the spot we’re going to do the ceremony, didn’t you? Will you show me?”
“All right.”
Her hand curled around mine as she led me through the house. After all her bustling around getting ready, she walked through the halls as confidently as if she’d been visiting here for years.
