A Perfect Blood (The Hollows #10)

Chapter Six

David put his heater-stuffy, gray sports car into park in front of a deserted shop front, and I stared out the front window, the misty black adding to my stellar mood. Even the familiar, pleasant scent of Were mixing with David's expensive cologne didn't help. There were no cars here, no pedestrian activity, the rain having emptied the usually busy Inderland neighborhood. It was one in the morning in a bad part of town, but seeing that I was sitting next to an alpha Were with an angry bodyguard in the back, I'd probably be okay, even if David's car was likely on three chop-shop lists. I'd been in worse neighborhoods on my own.

David looked across the street to a trashy storefront, its windows plastered with old band posters. It looked like a cross between a beauty parlor and a motorcycle outlet, and I suddenly realized that it wasn't abandoned, but closed. EMOJIN'S was stenciled in faded gold letters on the door. They're closed, I thought, seeing the dark windows. Thank you, God.

"Thanks, Rachel. I appreciate this," David said, and Wayde, in the back and nursing a massive headache, snorted.

"They look closed," I muttered, not looking at either of them.

David opened his door and got out, and the faint scent of old garbage and wet pavement slipped in. "This is the fifth appointment you've missed. They don't expect you to show. Wait here until I know if they'll see you."

Wayde lurched out of the backseat, groaning as he found the pavement and carefully stretched. "I'll check," he said. "If I don't keep moving, I'm going to stiffen up."

David settled back in the soft leather. "I'll wait here with Rachel," he said, and Wayde shut the door, a shade harder than necessary. I knew he was ticked about the bruised ribs, but he shouldn't have tried to carry me out of the church over his shoulder.

Wayde tapped on the glass, glaring at me. "You're being an ass. Apologize."

Sneering, I almost flipped him off.

Wayde, hiding a faint limp, crossed the road to the tattoo parlor. Angling his hand through the wide bars, he knocked on the thick glass. He looked right at home on the street, hunched against the misty rain in his rough canvas coat, faded jeans, and thick army boots. A light came on in the back and I turned away. Great. Someone was still there.

"I mean it," David said earnestly as he turned the heat down, and I sighed. "I appreciate you doing this, but if you don't want to, that's okay. I understand."

But it wasn't okay, and I frowned. Wayde was right. I was being an ass, not to mention childish. "I want to do this," I said, unable to look at the man, my voice sullen. "I'm sorry for being such a pain. I'm excited about it. Really."

David laughed, then sobered. "I try to steer clear of your affairs . . ." he started.

"I know," I said, meeting his eyes. "I appreciate it."

"But I'll feel better once you have your pack tattoo," he finished, his dark eyes even darker in the soft rain spotting the windows. His wipers squeaked back and forth, and he turned them off. "You're vulnerable without all your magic. One man with a van and another with a wad of ether, and you're gone."

"It's not that bad," I said, uneasy as I remembered Trent saying the same thing in different words.

"Yes, it is," he said, his brow furrowed. "Especially now that you've lost the one thing you had going for you, your anonymity. You're a demon with little magic, a prize for every self-styled magic slinger this side of the Mississippi who wants to make a name for himself. I'm not about to curtail your freedom, because when you chain someone up to be safe, they're still chained, but if you don't take steps to protect yourself, I will, and you will accept it."

Ashamed, I fiddled with the lip of my shoulder bag.

"Glenn told me what you, Jenks, and Ivy are working on with him," he added, and I turned to him.

"He told you?"

David nodded, watching Wayde talk through the barred door to an irate woman in jeans and a sweater. "Not a lot," David said, "but enough to be able to read between the lines of the official statements." His gaze went to mine, locking on my eyes and holding them. "Be careful," he said, and I almost shivered. "These people are calling you out. Having a visible tie to someone will make it easier for me to let you go about your business. Especially now that your magic is limited."

"Ye-e-e-es," I said slowly, fingering the bracelet. I said I was a demon, but was I really if I couldn't walk the walk?

Looking at the shop, David said, "You have friends and allies out there. With a tattoo, they'll recognize you. You deserve it. Accept it with grace."

Confused, I winced. Trent was telling me to stand on my own, that I had to accept magic as both my downfall and my saving grace. David was telling me to rely on my friends, that doing so was the "grown-up" thing to do. I didn't know what to think anymore. Maybe I could do both. "Thank you," I said softly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come out of the closet."

"Oh no," David said, and my head came up at the amusement in his voice. "I'm glad you did. It invoked the demon clause. Between Trent and me, we almost have you solvent again."

"Demon clause?" I asked sourly, sure the smile quirking his lips was at my expense.

"Demon clause," he echoed, nodding sharply. "Any action caused by a demon cannot be held accountable to any person and is considered an act of nature. It's in most boilerplates, and what it means is that all the lawsuits against you have no validity."

My lips parted, and I sat up straighter. I'd known that David and Trent had been working together to both put laws into place to give me back my rights as a citizen and minimize the damage that me being me wrought, but this was new. "I wasn't legally a demon when most of those suits were brought against me," I said, and David smacked a hand on my knee, clearly in a good mood.

"Yes, you were. You were born a demon. The miracle is that you survived it." I began to smile, and he added, "My lawyer is having a field day making a name for himself. I think he should be paying us to retain him."

I snorted, relieved that something good had come out of it. "Glad I could help," I said sarcastically. The woman talking to Wayde was looking at me. Her expression wasn't eager, and I waved at her. That went over really well by all accounts as she frowned at Wayde, and I watched her say, "I'll ask her. Wait here." The glass door shut, and Wayde turned, shrugging.

"Come on," David said as he opened his door again, clearly in a much better mood. "Let's see if she'll let you in."

A shiver of excitement tempered with dread sifted through me, and I got out, almost tripping on the curb, David had parked so close. Bag high on my shoulder, I shut the car door behind me with a thump that echoed in the rain-wet streets. I looked at the damp, world-weary buildings around me, able to tell that the river wasn't that far away.

"I'm sorry, David," I said, and he smiled at me over the hood of his car. "I should have done this a long time ago. Thanks for putting up with me." Why could I admit I was wrong to David, and not to Trent?

"Not a problem," he said, then gestured to the store. "Shall we go?"

I nodded and started across the road. There were more lights on now. My head down to watch for the potholes, I made my way to the front door, David beside me. Upon reaching the chipped curb, I peered past the old posters and into the shop, avoiding Wayde's disgruntled stare. The windows were so thickly covered with colored images that it was hard to see in.

"I'm not going to run away," I said when Wayde leaned over, almost pinning me to the door.

"Good," he said shortly, not backing up. "Emojin is on her way down. She's not sure anymore that she wants to ink you. Way to go, Rachel."

"Not ink her?" David dropped back a step. "I already paid for it!"

Wayde's expression was hard. "Then you should have gotten her here before she stood Emojin up five times."

"I'm sorry about that!" I said loudly, hearing my voice echo in the deserted street. "I wasn't ready, and I don't like being pushed!"

The door was being opened, and Wayde turned to face it. "Then I suggest you tell her."

Inside, a shadow moved, outlined with a sudden light when an interior door opened. There was a glimpse of a stairway up, and then the door shut. David dropped back, and the outer door was opened by a barefoot, heavy woman in a blue-and-green sari-like garment.

I froze. The woman was absolutely gorgeous. I'd never seen a woman this large who carried herself with so much elegance and dignity. Her skin was a pale cream with absolutely no blemishes or marks from a tattoo needle, looking as soft and supple as a newborn's. Her hair was a silvery white, braided up off her neck. She had comfortable folds of wrinkles that said she smiled a lot, but she wasn't smiling now. Native American and French, perhaps? I didn't know.

"Emojin," David said through the bars. "Thank you. We finally cornered her."

"I haven't said I'd do it," she said, and I stepped on Wayde's foot. He backed up, and I felt better. "Rachel Morgan?"

I felt trapped as her brown eyes hit me. "Uh, I'm sorry," I said, feeling like I was back in kindergarten. "I was an ass for standing you up, but I wasn't ready, and I don't like being pushed. Will you accept my apologies?"

She took a deep breath, holding it as she looked me up and down again. "Maybe. Come on in and let me hear you talk some."

Hear me talk? I mused, but she had unlocked the wrought-iron door and turned away, moving her bulk with grace as she went deeper into the store.

David opened the door for me, and feeling like I was being coddled, I went inside. Wayde came in behind me, and finally David. They shut the door with a soft thunk, sealing us inside. I took a slow breath, letting the place seep into me.

The first thing I noticed was a lack of echo. It was warm, too, almost eighty, I guess, and I immediately relaxed. The cement floor had been painted with a fantastic array of colors, mimicking a tattoo. Most of it was faded. The walls were covered in sketches, clearly several layers deep. There was a seating arrangement up front made from old bus seats and a hairdresser's chair, a huge, stained microwave and coffee urn beside it. Three separate rooms that would have been offices anywhere else took up one side of the store. They didn't have any doors, but the ceiling-to-waist-high windows had blinds, and they were closed.

Emojin had shifted her bulk behind a U-shaped, businesslike counter in the center of the store. The scratched glass cabinets held jewelry for body piercing. Behind her were deep shelves with sketchbooks of all sizes, the largest thicker than a wallpaper book.

Seeing David and me making our way to the counter, Wayde put his thumbs into his pockets and sauntered over to the young woman who'd answered the door. Mary Jo, maybe? She looked up from the invoices she was going over and smiled, and I rolled my eyes.

"So you're David's alpha?" Emojin said as I halted before her. She was eyeing me pensively as she settled herself on a high stool before a state-of-the-art monitor and keyboard. "You're nothing like the other girls."

Pulling myself straight, I extended my hand over the counter to her. "I'm Rachel," I said, feeling her smooth, unworked hand slip coolly into mine. "I don't want to be a bother," I said, looking over the clearly closed store.

Emojin's pale eyebrows rose. "Too late for that," she said sourly. "Well, you're here, but I'm not going to do this if you don't want it." She crossed her arms over her chest and looked from David to me. "I know he dragged you here. Let me hear it."

I was so embarrassed. "I want this," I said, then glanced up, seeing her tight expression of disapproval. "Really. I've been unconscionably rude to you and to David. And the rest of the pack. I was unprofessional in standing you up, and I'm sorry. I was just scared."

The big woman grunted in surprise, and her arms uncrossed. "Still scared?" she asked, the first hints of her mood softening starting to show.

I looked at David, then Wayde, who had rolled up his sleeve to show off one of his tattoos to the young woman, and then back to Emojin. "Yes," I blurted out, and David winced. "But I'm scared about a lot of things that I do. I want this more than I'm scared." The skin around my eyes tightened as I looked at Wayde. "If I had really wanted to get away, I would have."

Exhaling heavily, Emojin nodded. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but okay. I'll do it. And I accept your apology."

I sighed, not realizing until now how much this meant to me. "Thank you. I'm really sorry. I do some of the stupidest things sometimes."

Emojin glanced up. "You think this is one of them?"

"No," I said quickly. "I meant ignoring this was. I should have handled it better."

"Well, it's done," the big woman said. Beside me, David had regained his excitement, and was leaning on the glass counter until Emojin tapped a hand-lettered sign taped to the top telling him not to.

"You're a witch, right?" Emojin muttered as her fingers clicked over the keyboard. She had a beautiful voice, as soft and full as the rest of her. Her perfume was nice. Sort of a powdery coolness. "We have David's basic design on file."

David ducked his head, tugging his coat straight as he looked up eagerly again. "I'd like to add to it to show her higher status."

Emojin stared at her monitor as one finger kept tapping a key, scrolling. "Not a problem. I thought you might."

Something special? For me? "Really?" I said, then warmed at the eagerness in my voice.

David smiled, showing his teeth, taking my hand and giving it a quick squeeze before letting go. "Of course. This is important to me."

And here I'd been avoiding it. God! I was such a jerk.

Behind Emojin, Wayde was following the younger woman to one of the "offices." She flicked on the light and put her hand on the Were's chest, stopping him at the archway. Telling him to stay outside, she started to clean everything. The smell of antiseptic tickled my nose, and Emojin lit a stick of incense, waving it briefly before dropping it into a dusky bottle to smoke to nothing.

"Here's your registered design," she said as she spun the screen to David and me, and we both leaned closer, being careful to not put our weight on the glass. The basic tattoo was a simple dandelion flower gone to seed, the fluffy parachutes being black instead of white, and the green stem coming from a small cluster of leaves. The moon was behind it. It was nice, I guess, but David clearly wanted something special. To be honest, it wasn't doing anything for me. I was just happy the other ladies hadn't wanted broomsticks and bats.

"I'll do the draw myself," Emojin said, and I blinked in surprise. She had put on a pair of round-rimmed glasses, reminding me of Al as she looked over them at me. "But Mary Jo will color you in. She's my daughter and almost as good as me."

"Okay," I said, glancing at Wayde and Mary Jo. She was pushing him out of her way, firmly pointing a finger to the front waiting area. The guy didn't have a chance, but they both looked like they were enjoying the game.

"A tattoo should have meaning beyond its individual art," Emojin was saying as she tapped the design. "What can you bring to this that is entirely you?"

Wincing, I tilted my head. "I don't know. What do you think, David?" I asked, seeing that he'd clearly given this a lot more thought than I had. I was such a bad alpha.

"More flowers on Rachel's tattoo," he said immediately. "And the moon behind it."

Emojin was nodding, her gaze distant as she saw it in her mind. "To match yours?"

"Yes, but we're not a couple, so they should be different," he said. "Make hers full to show her completeness."

Complete? Was he kidding? I was about as unfinished as one could be and still survive.

"Let me think." Emojin hit a few buttons on her keyboard, and a huge, outdated printer behind her hummed to life. "I gave you black fluffs. Let's keep that element the same between you to show unity."

This was getting more complicated by the moment, but I didn't want the two of them to come up with something that was going to take more than a day to complete and cover my entire back. "Um . . ." I said hesitantly as a piece of paper slid from the printer. "Sometimes less is more. Maybe we could stick with just three flowers. Make one yellow, one that's closed and ready to change, and the last one with the black dandelion fluff?"

Emojin leaned to take the printout. Her eyes were sharp on mine when she came back and set it before her. "Change," she said, looking me up and down with the same evaluating air she'd had when I first met her. "That's what you're all about, isn't it? David, she's right. Give me a second."

"Only three flowers?" he said, clearly thinking that I should have more, and I smiled nervously. I didn't want a bouquet. I wanted something simple.

Emojin had a black pencil in one hand and another in her teeth. Almost oblivious to us, she began sketching a new drawing beside the original print. She was a true artist, and as I watched the tattoo start to take shape, I decided I liked the idea of wearing something that this woman created.

"This is good," she said as she added a few floating seeds from the open seed head. "Simple, elegant, easy to do, and rich in symbolism. What do you think?"

She spun the drawing to us, and I took in a breath, loving it. "Oh, this is beautiful," I said as I picked it up, and Emojin beamed. Even David seemed happy despite there being just three flowers and only two actually looking pretty. The third was in an ugly in-between stage, like me, I suppose. My God, she had somehow made the angles on the leaves look like wolf heads, and with the moon highlighting it, it was a true piece of art. And it was mine - if I wanted it.

"Okay," I said, handing it back. "I'll do it. I don't care how much it hurts."

Emojin smiled, all her wrinkles folding in, making her beautiful. "I knew you would."

From the front of the store, Wayde made a rude bark of laughter, and I turned to him. "What are you laughing at?" I demanded, and David put a calming hand on me.

"You." Wayde slouched in his chair. "God, Rachel. It's not going to hurt that bad. The way I hear it, you've had worse."

"Not intentionally," I said, stifling a shiver. "You're just sulking because you got pwned by an elf."

David gave my arm a squeeze as Emojin slid from her stool. "Thank you," he said earnestly. "I know this means more to me than you."

Uncomfortable, I winced. "I'm sorry it took me so long, but at least now I know it will last." I shook my arm with the silver band, and a hint of worry crossed his expression.

Moving slowly, Emojin joined us. "So, all I need to know is where you want it."

I blinked, remembering a demon asking me the same thing. "Uh . . ." I said intelligently. "Where would you suggest?"

She exhaled, tired. "You've not given this any thought."

Wayde had started our way, and he pulled his collar aside, saying, "A real Were would put it here, where everyone could see it, but since you don't want to show affiliation - "

"Mr. Benson," David growled, facing him with his hands clenched.

"That's not it at all!" I said, angry as well. "I just didn't want to get one only to have it vanish after some stupid demon transformation curse! They don't last through that, you know."

Wayde stopped a good eight feet back, slumped with his weight on one foot in a maybe-show of submissiveness, but his jaw was still clenched defiantly. Smirking, Emojin stepped between them. "I'd suggest an arm or an ankle," she said as if the two weren't ready to face off. Training or not, Wayde would lose badly. The only reason David had asked for Wayde's help was because David had a problem forcing me, his alpha, into anything.

Emojin shook the paper to get David and me to look at it. "You're going to want to show this off on request. Putting it on your ass might be a bad idea."

I laughed to help defuse the tension, and both men turned from each other. "The ladies have put theirs on their front shoulders," David said. "It's very showy."

But I didn't want showy. I wanted subtle, and my stomach started to hurt.

"With your fair skin, this is going to look fabulous," Emojin said, seeing my hesitation. "I may ink this myself. Can you hold still when something hurts?"

I nodded, remembering the needles from when I was a child. God, I hated needles. "Yes," I said, trying to find a way to meld my desire for subtlety with David's wish for show. If it wasn't where someone could see it, there wasn't much point to it as far as he was concerned.

"I'd like this on the back of my neck, high and almost behind my ear so my hair covers it most of the time," I said, taking the drawing from Emojin. "And the detached fluffs coming around the front somewhat. One on my neck by the main piece, one on my collarbone where everyone can see it, and a third where you think appropriate."

I looked up, fixing on David's eyes. "If someone knows it's a pack tattoo, they'll recognize it flat out. And if they don't, then they won't need to see the larger one."

David thought about that, and Emojin took the paper back. "Like an open secret," she said, pleased. "Rachel, this is good. I'm so pleased that you came in. This is going to be one of my more satisfying pieces."

"Why?" Wayde asked, his stance belligerent. "Because she's been such an ass about it?"

Emojin stopped, turned, and nailed him with her glare. "Because she's making this one piece all she'll ever need to show the world who she is instead of coloring her body with random images and needing thirty expressions to show her soul."

My lips parted, and I stared as she paced to him, looking as if she wanted to smack him.

"She might have come in sooner if she had had something to mull over other than you men telling her it isn't going to hurt, because she knows it is, and to believe otherwise is stupid."

Wayde backed up another alarmed step as the shorter woman faced him. "I told you to bring her by for a drawing session first," she said. "Rachel may have been an ass for standing me up, but she did come in." Turning, she made a last huff, then smiled at me. "Men," she said as she took my arm and led me to the brightly lit room. "They forget we need to see the outcome of pain before we willingly put ourselves through it. How else would we suffer nine months to have a beautiful child? We already know we have guts. Getting a tattoo to prove it means little. You're going to like this. I know it."

She patted my arm again, inviting me to follow her into her small/big world of ink and needles and expression of soul. And this time, trusting her, I went.