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“What are you thinking, Gabriel?” Seth asked, his forehead furrowed but his tone hopeful.
When we were kids, these guys had always looked to me to take the lead. I liked to think I’d never steered us all that wrong. But this—it was bigger than any of that. Still, the more the idea came together in my head, the more sure I was that it was the answer we needed.
I turned to Kyler. “You mentioned a while back that there’s another type of consorting you read about when you were looking through the Assembly’s files. A more permanent one?”
Ky nodded, studying me. “It doesn’t look like it’s done very often anymore—that’s what Rose said too. The regular one, if one of the consorts isn’t happy after the first few years, from what I’ve gathered they can ‘divorce’ and no one gets hurt. The ‘soul-bound’ ceremony I saw mentions of… Rose said it’s unbreakable. You’re bound together until you die.”
“And when one of you dies, the other does too,” I said. “I remember. She also said it means a deeper connection, more energy shared, didn’t she?”
Understanding dawned on Ky’s face. Jin let out a soft whistle.
“She said we can’t give her more power with the bonds we have,” I went on. “But if we had an even stronger bond, if we were even more closely connected…”
Damon pushed himself to his feet. “What the hell are we waiting for, then? Is there anyone here who isn’t ready to commit that far?” He glanced around the group, on the verge of a glare as if anticipating a protest.
Jin laughed. “‘Til death do us part. The way the last couple months have gone, we’ve pretty much already committed to that, haven’t we? This’ll just make it a bit more literal. I can handle that. You all just have to promise to live a long, long time, all right?”
Ky’s eyes had brightened, but he paused with a frown. “It’s not just about what we’re ready for. I’ve brought it up with Rose a couple of times now, and she’s always dismissed the idea right away. She wouldn’t even consider it.” A shadow crossed his face. “She’s afraid we’ll end up regretting it.”
“She’s got to believe now that we know what we’re in for,” Seth said. “If we’re still here after being chased across the country and threatened by demons, we’re here.”
“She’s not getting rid of us,” Damon said with a dark grin.
“Then we just have to convince her of that,” I said. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you all first, to make sure we’re all sure, before I brought it up to her. She has to see how much this means to us too.”
A new part of the idea started to unfurl in my head. Even though I was worried about convincing Rose, a smile touched my lips. “I think I might know exactly how to put it to her.”
* * *
Rose was still curled up on the bed when we returned, but she eased into a sitting position at the sound of the door. She took us in as we filed through the doorway.
“No dinner?” she said, her slight teasing smile not quite reaching her clouded eyes.
“We can get to that in a little bit,” I said. “There’s something more important we need to say first. Come here?”
I beckoned her to the edge of the bed. The five of us had come to a stop in a row there. As soon as she’d scooted close, we all went down on bended knee, each of us reaching for her closest hand in unison. My fingers closed around hers alongside Seth’s and Kyler’s.
“Rose Hallowell,” I said. “Would you do us the honor of making us your soul-bound consorts?”
She was already staring at us. At those words, her cheeks flushed red. She started to tug back her hands. “I can’t ask you to make that kind of commitment when—”
“Rose.” I squeezed her hand, and she stilled. “You’re not asking. We are. We understand the risks. We’ve already staked our lives on being with you, Sprout. Can’t you see that? None of us cares how many witches are trying to kill us or which monsters are looking to rend our souls apart—we’ll still want to be with you. We’re at our best together. And I can’t wait to find out what that best looks like when we’renotunder constant attack.”
“Me neither,” Jin murmured.
“It’s going to be fucking spectacular,” Damon said.
“For once, Damon and I see completely eye to eye,” Seth put in with a smile.
“I’d just like to point out that this was my ideamonthsago,” Kyler said. “Just so we know where credit is due. Oh, and I don’t have any more doubts now than I did then. Which means none.”
Rose’s lips twitched upward. “I didn’t want it to be like this,” she said. “I didn’t want you to ever have to be in danger.”
“What’s life without some danger?” I said. “And it’s not just us now. If that demon goes on a real rampage, if the other ones get loose too, the whole world’s in trouble. You pushed yourself to the brink out there trying to stop that from happening. You’ve got to let us take some risks too. Even if it’s hard for me to see deepening the connection we have as some kind of risk.”
She drew in a breath. Her hand trembled in ours. “It still might not be enough. You might make that sacrifice and we still can’t save anyone.”
“It’s not asacrificeto be your consort in any way we can,” Damon said. “It would be an honor. You know I wouldn’t say that if I didn’t mean it.”
