by Al K. Line
I let energy flow as I'd done thousands of times now, painting a picture in my mind of how I wanted it to act, where I wanted it to go. As Drugi pulled back out of the car and raised his arm to smash my windscreen, I lifted my own arm and, checking the rearview to make sure we were alone, I felt pain like a thousand pins pricking my hand. Magic surged through me and vented from my palm in the most interesting of ways.
A scattergun of purple blazing pellets spasmed from my hand and thwacked into the body of the goblin like machine gun fire, his body jolting like each hit was fatal. He sailed back across the road and landed hard in the gutter. I lowered my arm and looked at it in shock.
"Damn, this never happened when I practiced." I shifted into first gear as the light turned green and pulled away slowly, mindful of the speed limit as always.
Time to go home and see hubby.
New Beginnings
"Does it hurt?" shouted Faz from the waiting room.
I winced as the needle buzzed and the tattoo artist injected ink darker than the magic I could now channel. I glared at him through the open doorway and knew the look I'd perfected after spending time with Grandma—she's a true expert at the look—worked like a charm.
Faz said, "Sorry, I had mine done a hundred years ago. It's hard to remember the details."
"I hope it's worth it." I wished the damn ordeal would be over, still not sure whether I loved the new me or not.
Faz buried his face in a magazine while the work continued. Half lost to dreams, or maybe nightmares, the next thing I knew I was staring into a wrinkled face that smiled sweetly at me.
"All done, love," said Genevieve as she dabbed at several dots of blood then busied herself with her equipment.
"Thanks. I can't believe how long it's taken." I was utterly exhausted even though most of the time had been spent laying down, but rather than have my tattoos done over many weeks if not months as was the norm, I knew I needed them done all in one go, no breaks. Besides, I was a vampire and healed so fast the artists couldn't keep up.
Half the time when they went to clean away the blood from a particularly long session, it had already been reabsorbed and all that remained was perfect new ink. After the first few hours I refused to look, covered up with a black dressing gown between sessions so the extent of my transformation wasn't revealed and I wouldn't change my mind.
These were no normal tattoos, though, and Genevieve was no normal tattoo artist. She was an ancient witch, a true master of the art. She used inks whose ingredients were so secret that nobody outside of the few artists in the world who did the work understood or could hope to use them. All we knew was that once complete it was like wearing a second skin, a magical one. It allowed the magic to flow effortlessly around the body, to act faster, be more potent, give the user more control and to funnel their emotions and their will through the myriad markings in ways that brought you up to a level you never knew you were capable of.
And in just one day and one night I had been set upon by five of these masters, each working patiently. Never hurrying, following the contours of my body, the secret pathways of my chakras and energy centers I'd glimpsed in the mirror the day before.
I'd asked how they knew where to mark me, but all I got were smiles and a tap of the nose. They simply knew; it was what they did.
The other tattoo artists had left, leaving this ancient woman to finish the work for she was the most adept. Fine-tuning the entire system of ink so it connected up perfectly, would function to the peak of perfection.
"You should have gone slow," said Faz, coming in as I slipped the dressing gown on and got carefully to my feet.
"Whoa, feel dizzy." Faz rushed in, more like lumbered fast as he looked worse than I felt, but caught me before I fell.
"Take it easy. This is a shock to the system. This is why you have it done a little at a time, so you can get used to it and your body attunes to the new way of working."
"I'm fine, and I'm a vampire. I don't need to take it slow. I've been healing pretty good, right, Genevieve?"
"Eh? Oh, sure," she said as she turned from her cleaning. "Never done a vampire before, but bring your friends. It's much easier without so much blood, and the healing means I can rework areas as and when needed, rather than wait for scabs."
"See, told you."
"Still, it's not how it's done."
"Haha, you sound like an old wizard afraid of change." I winced as I sat back down on the high recliner, forgetting that everything, including my bottom, was now indelibly marked.
"Do not." Faz poked his tongue out at me then smiled.
"Anyway, if I'm going to help Dancer, I needed it done fast."
"Yeah, and he's driving me nuts. He keeps calling. Says things are in meltdown but won't tell me what's going on. Says if I'm not working then I don't need to know."
"He's looking out for you. He's our friend but he's Head, so he's doing what he thinks best."
"I saved him from the old HQ blowing up. I saved him from a bloody dragon. I saved him from loads of stuff," protested Faz.
"And he saved you from being a you know what," I said, even though their little adventure brought terrible consequences along with it.
"S'pose. Right, let's have a look," he said, eyes sparkling and some of the old Faz returning.
I was amazed I'd held out as long as I had, as throughout the process, and I may have been all kinds of vamp but it still hurt like nobody's business, I'd been dying to see how it looked, but knew I'd freak and maybe even leave. It was too late for that now.
Whatever happened, whether I did enforcer jobs or not, I was Hidden, and to use the magic properly I needed the ink. This was here to stay, who I was, same as Faz was who he was regardless of what he'd given up, so I'd refrained from looking and made him stay in the other room so he hadn't seen more than a hint of it on my forearms and shins.
"Okay, let's do this. What if I look funny?" I had a sudden panic attack and my heart hammered as I pictured Faz staring at me in horror, not wanting to look at my naked body.
What if he hated it and it ruined what we had? What if I despised it and never let him see me without my clothes on? I was being stupid, but it was one hell of a gamble. His tattoos were amazing, still crisp and fresh after almost a century, and they were everywhere. Yes, I mean everywhere.
"You'll look gorgeous, you always will." Faz squeezed my hand and I returned the squeeze, mindful as always not to exert too much pressure.
"Okay, here goes." In one fluid motion I released the sash and let the black silk slide off my shoulders.
"Oh, wow!"
Home
I drove us home even though the ink felt like a second, alien skin. Pain was already fading to little more than a slight irritation, like that feeling after you scratch a little too hard.
An increased sensitivity Faz warned would never quite leave, that along with improving magical ability the ink made the entire system function better. Increasing blood flow, improving digestion, eliminating toxins rapidly, toughening the skin, making you more in tune with your surroundings, almost like flesh-radar. It allowed you to subconsciously pick up on things you'd otherwise miss, and there were endless other tweaks you grew accustomed to, even as far as making your hair shinier.
Faz kept turning and smiling at me, knowing what I was experiencing and probably longing to get to a point when he was well and could revel in the glory of his own ink and use magic like he'd done for so many years.
He'd get there, he'd been in worse situations before and all it took was rest. For humans, extreme magic use can drain them like I drain wayward Regulars, which is why he's always selective about his work. In the meantime, he was hardly strong enough to change gear, hence me driving, but he seemed content to sit and stare at me. I didn't mind. We were newly married, just a few months, but we'd been together for years and had gone through so much there was nothing the world could throw at us that could break us apart now.
But it still felt different, b
eing married, and we both knew an exciting future awaited us if we got the family we decided we deserved no matter what anyone else said.
I parked up and we walked through the large spread of land that we work together, growing vegetables and flowers and sometimes even succeeding. We also keep chickens, which are no end of hassle but at least we know our eggs are fresh and properly free range. The cottage is picturesque bordering on twee, and throughout the summer I care for geraniums in pots outside the front of the house on the courtyard where they soak up the sun same as me, enjoying being outdoors while I still can under intense daylight.
An empty bowl was outside the front door, so Mithnite had remembered to feed the hobs, which was good. These little mystery creatures will look after your house and land if you treat them right, and after a false-start we now got along great as long as they got porridge in the morning and warm milk at night.
Being home felt great, like I'd been away for weeks rather than all this beginning the day before. As we entered the cool interior and went into the kitchen, it was as though I was seeing everything for the first time. I was used to viewing the world through the eyes of the vampire where everything was more intense and all my senses were heightened, but this was something different again. I could almost absorb my surroundings through my skin.
"Weird, eh?" said Faz, smiling.
"Very. It's like I can taste and smell, somehow feel and experience via the ink. It's absorbing everything."
"You get used to it."
"Guess I'll have to." I suddenly felt weary, needing to sleep. I slumped into a chair at the kitchen table and willed my body to relax.
"Careful!" Faz rushed over and tried to catch me as I toppled sideways but he was too far away. My reflexes sprang to life and I pushed out with bent arms as my palms slapped against the dark flagstones and shunted a little magic into the hands, resulting in me springing back into position as though I'd never moved.
Staring down at my arms, the ink was raised from the skin, writhing like black snakes waking from hibernation. I could see something moving through the patterns.
Faz watched for a moment then said, "It's the magic. Flowing, helping. You've got to be careful," he warned, "about what you do."
"I only told myself to relax," I protested.
"Yeah, and your ink will help, the magic too. Everything's more sensitive now, but you'll grow to love it."
"Hope so." Slowly, the ink faded back to just some killer looking tattoos and my body returned to feeling mostly normal.
"No regrets?" asked Faz.
"No, not really. What about you?"
"Me? How'd you mean?"
"About me looking like this?" I may have gulped, which was annoying, as I shouldn't need anyone's approval, but that's what love does to a woman, makes her stupid.
"Kate, you look bloody amazing. And I'd love you however you looked."
"As long as I don't start wearing sportswear."
"There are limits," he said, only half joking. He adjusted his tie with shaky hands, unconscious of the act.
"Hey, guys," said Mithnite as he wandered in sleepily, still in his dressing gown.
"Hey, buddy," said Faz.
"Morning. Thanks for feeding the hobs," I said, wondering how long it would take him to ask for a look.
"No problem."
Mithnite was becoming a true man now, having morphed from a hygienically challenged boy into an adult in the short time he'd been with us. He was almost a full wizard, had his own tattoos when he turned eighteen and was powerful if still learning. But there was something off, Faz and I had both noticed it. Something about him that hinted at another side to him he refused to talk about and we didn't push. His childhood had not been good and he'd escaped to the Hidden world as soon as he could, never to see his parents again, about all anyone ever got out of him concerning his past.
Faz had taken him in when his master lost the plot and killed a student, and now we were family. Nothing like a few near death experiences together to bond people, and we'd had quite a few.
"So you got them? You're really gonna be an enforcer?" he asked, squinting at my arms.
"I did, and I am."
"It's so unfair, why didn't Dancer ask me?"
"Because you're young and don't have enough experience."
"Yeah, but Kate's only had her skills for a couple of months, I've been at this game for years."
"It's different and you know it is," said Faz. "She's more like a true Hidden, where the power is innate, not like us poor saps who have to learn spells and how to focus and direct it. It's different, she's special."
"S'pose. Can I see?" His eyes lit up at the thought of being one of the first, and only, to see my ink. I wasn't about to parade around naked to show everyone, and although Mithnite had seen me in the buff a few times—scalding lava tends to burn away your clothes, flesh too—I wasn't about to let him see the goodies again.
"Okay, but you'll have to wait a few minutes."
"And I want to see properly too," said Faz.
"Fine." Truth be told, I wanted another proper look too, away from the tattooist. Just me and my guys, at home where I felt safe and loved. "Be back in a minute."
A Desperate Call
"Oh, wow!" Mithnite brushed his straight brown hair behind his ears and rubbed at his patchy beard.
Faz just stared, open-mouthed, same as before, but I could tell what was on his mind. It was on mine too.
I was brimming with all kinds of energies, like a magical balloon ready to burst, sending all manner of wondrous things exploding in all directions. My flesh felt like it was glowing and singing I was so damn alive. I felt bad for feeling so good when I knew he was hurting, but there was nothing I could do to stop it.
I stood before the only two important men in my life, smiling at how lucky I was, for I trusted them completely even wearing nothing but plain black underwear—it wouldn't be right to let Mithnite see the pink frilly stuff, that would just be weird.
My entire body was covered in intricate, impossibly black tattoos that swirled around my generous curves, zig-zagged across my ribcage, and dove for cover under my breasts like hungry serpents before shooting down my arms like the magic they would help channel was already alive and couldn't wait to begin blasting.
They swept down my hips like a torrent, rushing to my thighs where they seemed to go slightly crazy, tumbling and spinning this way and that. Yet somehow it was all interlinked, a thing of beauty like the simplest of marks made by a master of calligraphy, aesthetic beyond belief without me being able to say exactly why. The whole was much more than a sum of its parts, and I inspected my legs, feeling frisky and super-awesome just looking at the way the ink faded in glorious eddies as the designs wrapped around my calves.
The effect was mesmerizing and dizzying, and scary, as there was no going back now, no way to change my mind. This was who I was now, what I had made myself. My choice. I could have accepted the magic and let it sit inside, never used it, but I'd made a conscious decision to not let this power go to waste, to do something with it and make Faz proud, myself too.
I was the tattooed lady, forever branded as such.
Woman. Witch. Vampire. Hidden.
The bad guys' worst nightmare.
"You are so going to kick ass," said Mithnite, mouth hanging open.
"She's going to scare the shit out of the buggers," agreed Faz.
"So it looks okay? Tell the truth." I was nervous, not of being stared at, but of losing my femininity.
"You look beautiful. You always were, but this, I dunno, it's changed you, somehow made you even sexier." Faz licked his lips and Mithnite tugged at his brown shirt collar.
"Yeah, er, um, you look hot, Kate. Ugh, that's weird, it's like talking to my mom."
"Thanks, you guys, that means a lot." And it did. "Right, wait here, I've got another surprise." I dashed out of the room like an excited schoolgirl.
Fifteen minutes later I was back, dressed in my new
wardrobe, something I felt would give me the right image and would make Faz even prouder, obsessed as he was with always looking so damn smart. Even Mithnite had his own look now, earthy colors and all the hair, like a rather wild beatnik but with impressive violence and power simmering under the surface.
"Damn, you're gonna be such a badass," said Mithnite with a whistle.
"Suits you perfectly," said Faz. He stood and hugged me, and everything felt right in the world.
"Love the coat, give us a twirl," said Mithnite.
I looked down at my tight leather trousers, the simple white t-shirt, and the long leather coat, and knew I'd nailed it. Just vamp enough with the black hair and the red lipstick, but like an enforcer too. Ready for action, even if I felt like a character from a sci-fi movie just needing an oversized gun to complete the look.
With my arms spread wide, I twirled, and as my happiness grew so I felt the new ink spring to life. Next thing I knew, purple sparks shot from my fingertips and I smashed the window over the sink.
"Might wanna do the swishing outside," offered Faz with a wide grin.
"Shut it, or I'll blast you," I warned, before I frowned at my fingers.
The phone rang, interrupting us, and as Mithnite picked up the receiver the shrill voice of Dancer could be heard.
"It's for you," he said, handing it over in a hurry.
"Where are you? Things are getting crazy, are you ready?"
"Um, not really," I ventured.
"Well, let me tell you something. You are. Now get over here so I can brief you." Dancer hung up.
"Guess I'm off to do my first job. Wish me luck."
With a kiss, a pat on the back, and several warnings from Faz to be careful, I got my gear together and went to be given my first job.
Hidden HQ
After an "incident" with the old Hidden HQ, Dancer relocated and this would be the first time I'd been there. Much as we were friends, Dancer was still in charge of human Hidden, and I wasn't classed as such. I'm part of the vampire world and my boss is Oskari, Vampire Head and seriously spooky.
