I rubbed my arms. “Yeah… about that. I’m a bit needle shy. Can I get like one today and the rest next week?” I laughed nervously.
She looked at me with pity. “Hon, this blood won’t last a week, and neither will you without these tattoos. Once a Celestial goes through the Awakening, they need their tattoos of light within twenty-four hours or—”
“Let’s just begin, shall we? She’s demon bound, so we need to get her back to her side of the city by noon.” Lincoln cut her off.
Mothereffing prick! I wasn’t sure if shooting fire out of my eyes was going to be one of my gifts, but I sure felt like it right then. I wanted to burn him where he stood. I had the freaking red tattoo on my forehead, everyone and their mom knew what it meant. He didn’t need to explain it to people.
She looked down at her feet. “Yeah, I heard.”
Pity. Great. She felt bad for me. What an awful feeling to have people pity you.
“Can he wait outside?” I asked, flicking my head to Lincoln.
She grinned. “He can get a bit snippy, can’t he?”
My shoulders relaxed. “That’s putting it mildly.”
Lincoln rolled his eyes and patted the massage table. “Come on, clock’s ticking.”
I groaned and thrust myself forward, sitting on the table, and pinning him with a glare.
Murder. The guy made my blood boil.
She sat down and started preparing her space, pulling out cellophane, and little plastic cups of ink. When she was done, she picked up the tattoo gun, dipped it in one of the goblets and looked up at me.
“I’m Marleen, but you can call me Mar.”
I smiled. “Brielle, but you can call me Bri.”
Lincoln made what sounded like a gagging noise, and I had to refrain from pulling my switchblade back out.
“So here’s the thing,” Mar continued. “Tattoos of light aren’t like regular tattoos. They bind to your soul, and it can be quite painful. Do you pass out easily?” At her words, the room spun.
“Yes, she does,” Lincoln answered for me.
I crossed my arms and turned to face him. “Please tell me it’ll be part of my training to practice kicking your ass,” I said through gritted teeth.
Marleen flicked the gun on and it started buzzing. “I really like her.” She smiled at Lincoln.
He sighed. “Noah, I’ll handle her healing. You can’t heal her with your shoulder injured.”
The serial winker seemed to consider Lincoln’s words. “Yeah, if that’s cool with her?”
I chuckled. “I don’t need a healer. Let’s do this,” I urged Marleen. If these boys thought I needed a healer for a tattoo, they would always treat me like glass. They were my master teachers or whatever, and I wanted them to know I wasn’t frail.
Marleen grinned. “Hardcore. Take notes, boys.”
I gave her a conspiratorial smirk, and extended my left forearm. Marleen took a deep breath and leaned forward with the buzzing gun. Her eyes flashed silver, and it was only in that moment that I realized she was a Light Mage.
“Lux sancta,” she whispered, and a white beam shot out of the tattoo gun and into my arm. The needle came down, and a searing pain like I’d never experienced before, slammed into me.
“Mother fuahhhhhh!” I screamed.
It hurt everywhere! Every cell in my body was on fire.
Lincoln extended his hand, which began to glow orange, and I whipped my head in his direction. “Don’t touch me. I don’t want a healing from someone who thinks I’m the scum of the Earth,” I spat. I knew the moment the hurt crossed his face that I might have gone too far. What scrap of kindness was left within him for me had vanished.
His jaw clenched and he stood taller, crossing his arms. “I’m going to walk the perimeter,” he stated with barely restrained anger.
When the pain ramped up a notch, I considered crying out his name but bit my lip instead. I’d been through worse; I could handle this. Besides, the guy was a total dick to me, and I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of letting him know I needed him.
An hour later I had my first wave of nausea.
“I’m gonna be sick!” I shouted, and Mar pulled up the tattoo gun just as I lunged forward and puked into the trashcan near her desk.
“Call Lincoln,” she instructed Darren, who’d been standing near me, trying to chat with me, and keep my mind off things.
“No,” I shouted in between heaving into the trashcan. We’d only just finished the first tattoo. I had three more to go and I wanted to die, but my pride held on strong.
Marleen handed me a towel and sighed. “Look, babe, I get it. You and Linc have something going on, but you’re not going to be able to sit for the other three without his help.”
Dammit.
“What if I came back tomorrow?” I asked hopefully.
She shook her head. “Aside from the magic leaving the blood, you wouldn’t make it that long without the tats. These tattoos harness your powers so they don’t shatter your earthly body as they come alive.”
My eyes bugged out. I’d heard a story about a Celestial who ran off after the Awakening, and they didn’t find him in time. He exploded into a ball of light. I’d always thought it was just a crazy rumor.
Lincoln arrived then, towering over me and looking gorgeous as I wiped the puke from my mouth. His eyes fell on the blue Michael tattoo on my forearm, the same one as him. It was outlined in angry red swelling.
He didn’t speak, which was a first, and probably the smartest thing he’d done all day. Instead he just extended his hand to help me up.
I could refuse it and be an asshole, but I was too tired to tend to my pride anymore. Reaching out with my good arm, I clasped my hand in his. When we touched, an electric jolt ran through me and I almost pulled away. Then his hand glowed orange, and like a balm on my wound, the pain was chased away.
I sighed in pleasure, as I crawled back onto the table. “You’re like a Vicodin,” I mumbled in exhausted pain.
He didn’t say anything, but the corner of his lips twitched. “And you’re like a third-degree burn.”
I scoffed. “Oh please. I’m not that bad. Second-degree burn. Maybe.”
The corners of his lips twitched higher and I decided to make it my mission to see him smile. I bet he had a good smile. The gorgeous assholes always did.
The tattoo gun started again and my entire nervous system jumped into action. Tightening my grip on his palm, I flinched as the light and needle hit my skin. The moment the pain tore into me, it was chased away, and a numbing sensation lay over it. The pain was still there, just on the surface, but nothing compared to what it was before. Lincoln’s hand gripped mine, and I flicked my eyes up to see his dark brows pulled together. A chunk of hair stuck to his forehead, which was starting to sweat.
Interesting.
After being in such extreme pain for over an hour, this was a welcome relief and was actually making me quite sleepy. Not enough to fall asleep, but enough to where I could lay my head down and close my eyes, rest my frayed nervous system.
Before I knew it, she was done with the second tattoo. “Okay, I’ve never done more than two, so where are we putting the others?”
“The backs of her calves?” Darren offered.
My eyes sprang open. “Oh my God, no. Calf tattoos are for overweight men in biker gangs.”
Marleen cracked up laughing.
Lincoln and I realized at the same time that we were still holding hands. He pulled his away and the pain came rushing back. Wiping it on his jeans, he looked at Marleen. “Does the placement matter?”
She shrugged. “Not at all.”
My eyes flicked up to a picture on the wall of a girl in a bikini top with a heart tattoo on her rib cage that said ‘Mom’ inside.
“Rib cage?” I asked.
Her eyes widened a little. “That’s a painful spot.”
My mouth popped open. “Is that a joke? There are actual spots that are more or less painful? You’re shoving a burning needle of light into my skin. I think it’s all the same.”
She chuckled. “Your call, kiddo.”