“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. Almostgood.
“That’s not a burger,” Damon informed Jin, eyeing the other guy’s tofu-and-goat-cheese combo. “Thisis 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’resupposedto 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.”