Title: Cosmo in Retrograde
Author: A. Flowers
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: 09/09/2025
Heat Level: 2 – Fade to Black Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 98200
Genre: Fantasy, bisexual, gay, PNR-magic/magic users, investigators, mystery-police investigation, enemies/rivals to lovers, in the closet, disabilities, mental illness, politics, psychic ability, psychic medium, speech impediment/stutterer
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Description
Nothing has ever gone right for Cosmo Valencourt. After an automobile accident that left him permanently disabled, he lost most of his magical prowess and almost failed out of university. Left with only his talent for psychometry, which allows him to see the history of any object he touches, Cosmo has been working as an investigator at New Scotland Yard. A job that, in Cosmo’s opinion, is beneath him.
To make matters worse, Cosmo is tasked to investigate the threatening notes sent to his university rival, Blaise Howell. The notes, sent by a mysterious entity who calls himself the Third Eye, reveal a conspiracy to take down England’s Department for Marvels—starting with Blaise.
At first, every second with the disgustingly perfect Blaise Howell makes Cosmo’s skin crawl. But as the investigation continues, Cosmo finds himself falling for Blaise. Instead of the arrogant rich boy Cosmo remembers from university, he discovers the first person who truly understands him. There’s something sublime about Blaise that calms the chaos in Cosmo’s mind even as the investigation incites more chaos around him. From warding off magical attacks leveled against Blaise to interviewing prisoners at London’s most high-security prison, this investigation is Cosmo’s greatest challenge yet.
But Cosmo’s newfound love for Blaise is challenged when he discovers that Blaise is keeping a dark secret of his own. Between trying to save the Department for Marvels and attempting to keep Blaise’s heart beating, Cosmo is most definitely in over his head. In the end, he is left with a choice: save the Department for Marvels or keep Blaise Howell. There isn’t much chance of doing both.
But Cosmo plans to try. And if he fails, he will do so spectacularly.
Cosmo in Retrograde
A. Flowers © 2025
All Rights Reserved
Cosmo is sick of this party. He leaves without saying goodbye to anyone, striding down an arch-ceilinged hallway lit with the yellow glow of electric sconces lining the walls. When he reaches the wide, empty lobby, he stops in his tracks. Blaise stands before the three-tiered fountain, which ripples blue light over his pensive face. As Cosmo watches, he takes a copper penny from his pocket, balances it on the tip of his thumb, and flips it into the fountain. It hits the water with a quiet thunk.
“What are you wishing for?” Cosmo approaches Blaise slowly, almost afraid of scaring him away. There’s something in the air between them, something ponderous, as easy to upset as a pile of dust. Cosmo doesn’t want to ruin it. He knows his every step is ruinous, though.
Blaise’s head jerks up; it seems he didn’t hear Cosmo coming. “Oh—well, I can’t tell you that. It, er…ruins the wish. You know.”
“Right.”
“Are you…are you heading out?”
“Looks like it.”
“Oh. Have a good night, then.” He looks as though he wants to say more but stops himself.
“What is it?”
“It’s nothing. I should—I should get back to the party.” Blaise’s cheeks go pink, and he turns towards the doorway.
Before he can pass by, Cosmo catches his shoulder. “You thought the illusion wasn’t good enough for me.”
Blaise sighs defeatedly. “Oh, Cosmo, you didn’t—”
“Yes, I did Read your illusion box.” Some find it intrusive. Cosmo doesn’t care. When he Reads people’s things with his psychometry, he never tells them. It’s more for his entertainment, usually. With Blaise, however, it’s more entertaining to tell him what he’s done. After all, why should Blaise care what Cosmo thinks of the illusion? If it didn’t measure up to Cosmo’s memory of it, that’s his problem.
But he doesn’t know if it’s as he remembers. He hasn’t opened the box yet.
“What is your problem?” Blaise snaps, perhaps emboldened by the alcohol drifting through his system. “That’s incredibly invasive. Don’t you remember the Ethics of Magic course we had to take first year?”
Cosmo laughs. Blaise is at least one drink past squiffy.
“Don’t laugh. Is everything a joke to you?” Blaise demands.
Cosmo can’t help himself. “You’re absolutely ridiculous, do you know that?”
“I’m—I’m not.”
“Look at you.” Cosmo pokes at the knot of Blaise’s tie—purple paisley—then tugs at the lapels of his blue wool suit. “Even this getup can’t disguise your shortcomings. You’re not the paragon everyone makes you out to be.”
His face goes a dark red, the colour of a ripe strawberry. “That’s enough, Cosmo.”
Now, Cosmo has found that sweet spot. His laugh is rather cruel when he pokes at Blaise again. “Enough, is it? Let’s hear that stutter again, see if you can even get one word through.”
Blaise pushes him back, to Cosmo’s shock. It isn’t terribly uncouth; in another situation, it would be a light enough shove to be construed as playful. But from Blaise, who’s never violent with anyone, ever, it’s absolutely an antagonist gesture. With as much strength as he can muster, Cosmo gives him an almighty shove, sending him stumbling a few steps backwards.
In a blur of movement, Blaise rushes at him and pushes him so hard Cosmo loses his balance entirely. For half a second, he’s plummeting. His cane clatters to the floor, his backside hits the fountain ledge, and then, with a ridiculous splash, he’s underwater, slipping on pennies as he tries to right himself. When his head finally breaks the surface again, he sees Blaise staring at him, frozen, with his soft mouth hanging open.
Their eyes lock for a few seconds. Cascading water continuously drenches Cosmo’s sopping curls. Then Blaise hurtles into tremulous apologies. “I’m so sorry, Cosmo… I—I didn’t mean…let me help…”
He stretches out a hand to pull Cosmo out of the fountain. Cosmo takes it, but instead of allowing Blaise to help him out, he yanks down hard, forcing Blaise into the water with him. Cosmo’s curls, already heavy with water, grow heavier from the added droplets sent up by Blaise’s unceremonious entrance into the fountain. Blinking the water from his eyelashes, Cosmo waits for Blaise’s reaction.
Blaise gasps. His blond hair lies flattened against his head, at least until he rakes his fingers through it, pushing it away from his face. It sticks up in places, stringy locks drooping from the dampness. Blaise—rumpled, his tie askew and his suit askance, all perfection gone—sits quite ridiculously in a fountain. With his knees bent and his long legs folded, he holds himself up with his hands, panting after the sudden, frigid shock of the water.
“Fair, I think,” Cosmo tells him. “You all right?”
It seems the jolt from the icy water has sobered Blaise. “I’m sorry for shoving you, Cosmo, but you really took it a step too far.”
“If you tell me you’re sorry one more time, I’ll throttle you!” Cosmo almost shouts. It’s really starting to grate against his nerves, all this contrition. Blaise ought to save it for something—or someone—who deserves it.
Blaise’s eyes widen in surprise. Then he smiles. Then he laughs heartily, completely real, and when he laughs so hard that he snorts, Cosmo can’t help but join in.
When the laughter fades, Cosmo’s eyes are fixed on Blaise’s mouth.
Perfect, perfect, perfect.
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A. Flowers loves all things fantasy, horror, and romance. She lives in a Vermont forest with a duo of mischievous cats. Her favorite place in the world is Kensington Gardens.
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