34. Cress
After how intense Phaeron and Geo could be, it was nice to sit with Ben in the quiet conference room. We held hands, our anam cara marks brushing with the spark to remind us that we were connected too. He’d left a mark on my skin too, but one first made of deep friendship that we’d turned into something more.
We chatted around the subject, calming down together, before he finally sighed and said, “I never thought the fate of anything would hinge on me getting married.”
“Me neither.”
He snickered, and I giggled, which snowballed into a laughing fit for us both.
“I don’t even know where we’re going to find a cupid for the ceremony!” he chortled.
“Imagine if we could make Dr. Aurina do it,” I said, picturing her embittered face. That airbrushed bitch had tried to steal Phaeron’s affections, and I was angry about it anew now that I’d experienced the intimacy of his mating bond.
On second thought, I didn’t want her anywhere near him again.
“You know, Ben, we could do a lot with forever,” I added more seriously.
He sobered up as well. “I know. But it could be about as long as one week if one of us get eaten by Myuna. At the same time, it sounds like we will all get homphed by her if we don’t make a mating circle.”
“Homph?” I echoed.
He smirked. “Thought the situation warranted some onomatopoeia.”
I laughed again and shook my head at the same time. My cheeks were starting to hurt in the good way from all the fun I’d been having within the last day. To think I could have this every day for the rest of a—hopefully—very long life with my men.
All I had to do was slay an interstellar dread goddess first. No pressure.
“I love you, Ben,” I said. “Let’s do this and see if it’s so bad.”
He squeezed my hand. “I love you too. And something tells me it’s not going to be bad at all.”
“If it doesn’t work out, we can disband it after we kill Myuna,” I continued, worrying my bottom lip between my teeth.
“Nah.” At some point, he’d swapped the smirk he wore like armor for a more genuine expression. “It’s going to be amazing. You kidding? First thing I’m going to do is steal your celestial magic and piece it together with mine. Maybe together we make one celestial witch.”
I was a little surprised that was what he’d go for, but maybe he was right. He’d practiced and ended up with a better basic grasp of the spells than I did, and I was the one with the light in my soul. Come to think of it, my birth mother’s ghost hadn’t appeared much lately. I should’ve practiced harder with her.
“Good luck with that,” I chuckled. “Should I get Phaeron and Geo to come back?”
“Nah. Let them figure some of their shit out first. C’mere, babe,” he said, patting his lap. We cuddled together for a while, to my less than subtle sigh of relief. I’d definitely overdone the animaris yesterday. It’d healed away most of the lingering soreness I’d otherwise have, but I was content to have my lady bits relax after sharing so much passion in a short time with him and Phaeron.
He took my phone and worked on setting up a plan with four lines. I rested my head on his shoulder and watched him type in a card number straight from memory. “I always forget it’s a ‘Ph,’” he said, going back and fixing his spelling of Phaeron’s name.
“You have this memorized?” I asked, raising a brow up at him.
“Yeah. You think he knew how to set any modern stuff up? I got him a bank account and credit card and made sure he paid all the bills for our place.” He shrugged underneath me. “Now he’s making our cell plan payment. We can change the name on the account later.”
“Out of curiosity, do you know how much money he has?” I asked.
“Let’s see.” He navigated to a bank’s website and logged in. Snickering, he added, “Nice.”
Phaeron had $969.47to his name. “Fuck, we’re all broke,” I said, covering my face. “You, Geo, and I have nothing.”
“Maybe Wren will share that sweet, sweet stream revenue,” he suggested. “People have been throwing money at her, and she doesn’t know what to do with it. It’s not like we need it right this moment.”
“I’ll get a job once we’re out,” I sighed. Much as I’ve started to consider Wren a friend, I doubted she’d be in a position to share much of her streaming money. Considering how we’d openly admitted we would have to start killing torchbearers and Myuna’s new ascended, it would only be right to distribute the money to the families affected.
“No, no,” Ben said. “We make Phaeron and Geo get jobs. What says eternal devotion better than working a nine to five for the two broke college students in your mating circle?”
I laughed, covering my face with my hand. “Oh, Ben, you’re awful.”
“I’m just saying!”
“I thought you weren’t a student.” I poked his belly where he was ticklish.
He tried to bat me away. “I am conveniently a student right now.”
There was a knock on the door, swiftly preceding Auric poking his head into the room. “You kids done having your moment?” he rumbled. I sucked in a breath, his sudden appearance startling. “Good, because I brought you a cupid.”
He held the door open for a woman to walk in. He’d said “cupid,” but I wondered if he meant angel, as she had a set of feathery, off-white wings and the same kind of flawless face as Dr. Aurina. Her lips formed a perfect blood-red bow in a heart-shaped face, and her pink hair fell in ringlets down her back.
The only thing that made me think something might be off about her was the shapeless white robe she wore, along with a collar of blue lace. She held herself still like a frightened deer when he reached over to unhook the collar from her slender neck. “You will be able to stay here once you perform the ritual for me. Don’t worry, you’re amongst good people,” he told her in an undertone. It was the kindest I’d heard the old dimensional sound, other than in my secondhand memories of him with Phaeron.
With a nod, her flawless face framed a shaky smile. “T-thank you,” she whispered.
Ben and I exchanged a glance. “Well, go on,” Auric said in his usual abrasive manner. “Call your mate.”
“How are you so sure I’ve agreed to join a mating circle?” I asked. He gave me the most unamused look that I nearly regretted even that small challenge.
“I hate stupid ‘what if’ questions. Call your mate,” he repeated.
I put my hand over the mating mark on my shoulder. It was already prickling with awareness, like Phaeron could sense how much I wanted him to act as a buffer between Auric and me. He was able to send me a feeling back, like a cheerful “Be right there!”
“I called him,” I chirped. I made introductions with the cupid woman while we waited. She had a soft-spoken, musical voice and seemed to have little interest in small talk but told me her name was Crissina.
Phaeron and Geo arrived through the shadows after a few minutes, taking form behind where Ben and I sat. Phaeron ran his fingers over his mating mark, and I felt a streak of possessiveness in him flare as he squeezed my shoulder.
“Where did you come from?” Geo asked Crissina.
“I found her,” Auric answered.
It was still a little disorienting to feel Phaeron’s suspicions rise separate from my own. “She was in Cerris City?” he asked.
“No, but once she does me the favor of securing you lot into a mating circle, she’s going to stay to be evacuated like she was here all along,” Auric said. “Let’s just say she is leaving a bad situation.”
Phaeron frowned. “Ah. Well, thank you,” he said to her before turning his attention on me. “You’ve both decided?”
“Let’s get married,” I said with a lot of cheer and a pinch of nerves for seasoning.
Crissina shifted her wings with the shivery sound of her feathers rubbing together. “Um. Do you have a private place to go afterward?” she murmured.
“We do,” Phaeron said.
“Come along,” Auric said, turning toward the door. “I went ahead and invited some witnesses to the establishment of your mating circle.”
Something told me “some” witnesses meant it would be the whole hospital, and as I walked out hand in hand with Ben on one side, Phaeron standing on my other side, and Geo behind us, I saw that I was right. The maze of upturned tables, chairs, and sofas had been hastily moved aside to make space for us in the foyer, and several friendly faces lined the second-floor landing, hooting and waving down at us.
Arrayed in a waiting semicircle was my coven and our closest friends, plus Mom, who looked like she’d just hastily pulled her mask off and changed into street clothes. She came forward and pulled me a step away from my men. “What’s happening, baby? They announced that you’re going through some kind of marriage ritual to save all of us?” she asked, a shade off from panicking.
“Relax. It is meant to be,” said my birth mother’s ghost as she formed next to Mom and sent tingles up my arm as she attempted to hold my other hand. Mom had no idea she was there, as only Phaeron could see her. And Lucas too, I supposed. He was with my coven, leaning against Roe heavily.
“That’s right, Mom,” I said, squeezing her hand. “It’s…well, it is a big deal, but it’s not a sacrifice. I love these three men.”
Eris dabbed at her eyes with the corner of her sleeve. “One glance at you all, and I knew it would lead here eventually,” she said.
I smiled briefly at Eris before meeting Mom’s concerned gaze. She’d be worried about me being coerced into this or moving way too fast, and I wasn’t sure how to convince her otherwise. Compared to me, she barely knew my men.
Well, there was little to do except tell her everything. “I’ll be right back,” I said, tugging Mom to the side, behind where áine was weaving branches and blooming vines together, creating a makeshift trellis of flowers. She beamed up at her creation proudly.
In the meantime, Phaeron snagged Eris’s attention, coaxing her away for a few minutes of privacy for us. “Mom, I know this is going to sound crazy,” I prefaced. The truth came out in a rush about mating circles, my tether with Braza, and our plan to defeat Myuna. It was a lot, and I’d had a bit of time to accept it all, while I left her reeling and holding the side of her head.
“If…if any of them don’t treat you well after this, they have me to answer to,” she said, drawing me into a crushing hug. “I understand why you have to do this, but it is very sudden.”
“It is,” I agreed.
“But you’re going to kick Myuna’s pearly white butt because of this, huh?” She held me harder, enough to restrict my airflow.
“Yeah,” I gasped out. “In theory.”
She loosened her hold enough for it to become a normal hug. We swayed together for a few moments before she whispered, “Can I tell you something crazy too?”
“Of course.”
“You know that fae man who keeps following me?”
“The really annoying one?” I asked.
“Yup. We finally had a conversation past him trying to ‘protect’ me,” she said, making air quotes with one hand. “He believes I am his fated mate.”
I sucked in a breath so hard it was a wonder my lungs didn’t explode.
“And if you can…get magically married to three men…to save us all from a soul-eating goddess,” she continued with a few rapid blinks, “then I think I just might accept his invitation to go on a date.”
“Mom!” I practically shrieked, bouncing on the balls of my feet. Most of my coven and all of my men came running to see me clutching her with an open-mouthed grin. “Guys! Everyone! My mom is going on a date!”
They whooped, which caused our watching audience to do the same. A big blush overtook Mom’s fair cheeks.
“I knew it,” Ben said under the general din of the crowd.
“Is he a worthy male?” Phaeron asked. “Perhaps I should inform him I will rearrange his insides if he acts like her last partner.”
“Maybe that is too extreme for a first date,” Geo suggested.
Phaeron nodded slowly. “The second date, then.”
I gave Mom one last squeeze. “I think it’s time,” I said.
“Wait! Promise me you’ll have a normal…ish wedding in a couple years,” she said, clasping her hands under her chin.
“Absolutely,” I said. “You’re going to walk me down the aisle. We have it planned, remember?”
A hint of tears sheened her eyes. “How could I forget?”
She took her place in front of my coven, unknowingly standing right next to my birth mother, who was also holding back from weeping. “Right here,” Crissina whispered, pointing to a place for me to stand.
She sprinkled magic around me, the sparkles matching the off-white of her feathers. She repeated the process three times, having Ben stand about a yard to my right, facing me. Phaeron went to my left, and she gave him a wide berth as she dispersed magic around his feet. I glanced over my shoulder to see her place Geo behind me.
“Are you four ready?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said amongst a masculine murmur of agreement.
“Then let us begin.” She raised her hands and spread her wings. The particles of magic around my feet danced to a personal breeze, spiraling upward slowly. She went to stand before me. “State your full name.”
“Cressida Rollins Darkmore,” I answered.
“Are you here of your own free will?”
“Yes.”
She spoke with the familiarity of an old ritual. “From this moment forward, these three men will be bound to you upon their agreement and admission of free will. You will become the strongest member of your circle, its core figure. As such, you must protect and cherish those who have joined you on this path. I sense three is the limit of what you can bind to you at this time.”
“That’s fine by me,” I said. I couldn’t even imagine needing the intimacy of such a close relationship with any other man.
“Very well.” A hint of some emotion touched her perfect lips before she went to Ben next. She had him state his name and agree that he was here of his free will as well. But what came after that was different for him. “Do you agree without regret to bind yourself to Cressida Rollins Darkmore’s circle?”
He looked over at me, a shy sort of smile on his face. Gone was his usual smirk. “I do,” he said.
She dipped her head in a brief nod. “From the moment of your binding, you shall be known as Benjamin Darkmore.”
Then she repeated the process with Geo, seeming puzzled when he stated his full name as Geo, like she expected more. He accepted his new name, Geo Darkmore, without complaint.
Finally, Phaeron, who quietly told her his new name before she could announce it. “Phaeron Darkmore et Sudair,” she repeated at the end of his part of the ceremony.
“Humans have been trying to give me a family name for centuries,” he murmured. “I am glad to accept yours, bright soul. Also…brace yourself.”
Crissina spread her wings again, and the particles of her magic began to form patterns and loops midair. More sparkles leaked from her palms to fill in the gaps of the complicated lattice of cupid magic which connected us. She drew in a deep breath and began to sing in another language, the words flowing out of her like an angel’s call.
“Body, heart, and mind,” Phaeron translated in a low voice. “I bid these souls entwined.”
The audience murmured in awe as the magic shimmered to the cadence of her words. There was more to the song, but I barely heard it as the binding portion began and I forgot who I was in the sudden crush of power, magic, strength, and knowledge that flowed into me.
For however long it took, I knew what it felt like to be my handbook, stuffed as full of foreign facts and magics as I could take.
I was Ben: young, limber, and irreverent. His power tasted of blood in the back of my throat and felt like possibility. Anything a body was capable of, his magic could do.
At the same time, Geo: solid, focused, and steady. I had the sensation of my skin being cool rock, impervious to all but the slow weathering of elements.
And also Phaeron, but he felt like a reprieve on the edge of where I could’ve been overwhelmed. I’d already seen the depths of his soul yesterday, yet his magic felt like raw power in my veins.
Just when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, Crissina’s angel voice dipped, and all I’d experienced and all that I was moved on through the circle. Ben knew what it was like to draw librarian witch runes with a silver sword. Geo clutched the strength of my emotions tight to himself. Phaeron focused on the skills he could glean, how to cut and sew and apply makeup like a modern human.
And just like that, the song was over, and the sparkling magic suffused us. While I figured I’d be sneezing cupid dust for days, a small portion of the ambient magic went to my three men. I squeezed my chest, feeling a heaviness that hadn’t been there earlier.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the Darkmore circle,” Crissina announced, and the foyer exploded with applause.
I looked around, dizzy and off-center all of a sudden. Sound was coming in and out, like I was hearing from one of my men’s ears as well as my own. The clinical lighting around us seemed too bright. Geo put his arms around me to steady me as I wobbled.
“Smile and wave,” Phaeron instructed in one ear. “We’re leaving as soon as you blow a kiss so we can consummate the circle and stabilize its effects.”
“Thank you for doing this for us,” Ben said, probably to Crissina.
I did as Phaeron said, hoping I didn’t make anyone concerned if they noticed my sudden disorientation. I found Mom and Eris and blew them the kiss, then closed my eyes to be whisked away into darkness.