Page 102 of Bright Soul

36

CRESS

Ben shared that it was common for those newly tied in a mating circle to disappear for several weeks before rejoining polite society. I understood exactly why. I’d had all three of my men in every possible way, often all of them at the same time, and had lost track of when and where I was.

When we started wanting non-carnal experiences, we did so as a unit, with a collective “Shouldn’t we be doing something else?”

As we prepared to get out of bed, Phaeron figured out how to borrow from me. I felt a tug on my magic from the strands that connected us and sensed a request coming from him.Can we trade eyesights and knowledge of technology?

I agreed and felt a shift between us, soon covering my eyes from the assault of the lamp lit right next to the bed. While lying next to me, he wove a tendril of shadow between my fingers, forming a blindfold of sorts. “You see why I expected to go blind on your world,” he said.

I heard the rapid clicking of his thumbs on his new phone’s screen as he set it up, then he turned the haptics off.

“Yeah. We’re getting you sunglasses,” I declared.

“Should’ve done that a while ago,” Ben commented from the other side of the bed.

“We’ve been a bit preoccupied,” Phaeron said. “Hmm. This was a lot easier than I expected.” He gave me back what he’d borrowed, and I glanced over to see his pupils narrowing to slits as he looked at the phone screen he’d dimmed until it was nearly black.

“You should ask Geo for tips,” I suggested. The gargoyle grunted from somewhere on the floor. He was retrieving clothes, the most determined of us to leave this room today.

Phaeron nodded, staring at the screen with utmost concentration. “Geo, why is the…” He seemed to wrack his brain. “…browser named after a hunting expedition?”

“It takes you on an adventure through the Internet,” he answered.

“Ah, yes. An apt name.”

Ben and I started to crack up. The next thing I knew, tendrils of shadow coiled under my back and rolled me off the bed. I sprawled on the carpet with a squeak of surprise. Judging by the nearby thud and curse from Geo, Ben had been pushed off too, on top of the gargoyle.

“Let’s get moving,” Phaeron said, turning into shadows and reappearing at the foot of the bed, standing and starting to dress himself.

I reached out and plucked away Phaeron’s sense of balance. There was a hint of resistance, but it seemed I didn’t need to ask to take an attribute from him. One moment, he was shrugging on his shirt and looking for his pants, and the next, he was tripping over his tail and stumbling.

I gaped for a split second, then rose with his usual grace to my feet. “You’re right. We should be practicing,” I said.

He hissed a laugh. “Fair play, bright soul, but I need that back.”

He already had his balance returned by the time he finished speaking. I didn’t know how to hold on to it for long, as it was naturally his soundless predator’s prowl instead of something I had practiced.

We dressed successfully without ripping the clothes right back off one another and relocated to the other room we’d claimed. We sat in a circle facing one another, our feet various weapons in the middle: my sun staff, Geo’s crystal shield and quartz hammer, Ben’s daggers, and Phaeron’s swords.

“It would be ideal if we got to a place of trust where any of us could pick up these weapons and wield them like the original owner,” Phaeron said.

“How do we do that without crippling someone else?” I asked, thinking of how easily he’d blinded me with a taste of his usual photosensitivity.

“Practice,” he replied. “And a clever mind, perhaps. Much as I would like to see you face Myuna carrying one of my swords and Geo’s shield, there are factors at play other than skill.”

I had a feeling I knew where this was going. “I can’t lift his shield. It’s too heavy,” I admitted.

“Therefore, you will need to borrow strength, as well as two separate skills from either of us,” Phaeron said. “Three separate attributes to channel continuously from us to you. Lose your attention on just one of them, and everything gets fumbled. In the meantime, we will fight by your side and share what you don’t need between the three of us. We will all need to learn a fine balancing act.”

I nibbled into my bottom lip. It sounded difficult, but we hadn’t joined a mating circle just for the hell of it. First, it wastime for baby steps. We started borrowing from each other and testing what we could do while seated and relatively at ease. What we shared turned out to be more aligned to quirks of personality and small skills and attributes.

I worked up a headache concentrating, trying to hold on to a portion of Geo’s stoicism. I’d quickly learned that something so integral to who someone else was was almost impossible to keep in full. But Geo had patience in spades, so I could borrow some without immediately losing a hold of it.

The men had to reach through my magic to each other, a process that was tedious for all of us. They were bound to me, though, not each other.

After maybe an hour, I noticed Phaeron pinching Ben with little flickers of shadows. “Stop that,” the dimensional said in undertone.

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