Destined for Dreams

by Susan Illene

  Her suspicions were rising. “Is she under compulsion now?”

  “Yep.” Derrick crossed his arms. “I had Kariann do it, so we can see if you break it while doin’ the tattoo.”

  Cori gave the alpha an accusing look. “How do I know she’s given consent for this?”

  “I wouldn’t make her do it against her will,” he said, annoyed. “In fact, she was more than willin’ when I offered her the opportunity.”

  Melena trusted the alpha, swearing he was honorable if a bit uptight, so Cori would just have to take Derrick’s word for it and hope she wasn’t marking a woman for life who might not want shooting stars on her wrist. This whole situation was becoming even more nerve wracking by the minute.

  “Fine.” Her voice came out clipped. “I’ll find out soon enough if you’re telling the truth.”

  His eyes darkened. “Are you accusin’ me of lyin’?”

  “Sit down and let me work.” She pointed at a chair against the wall. “I don’t need you growling at me and causing me to mess this up.”

  The alpha hesitated, obviously not liking her ordering him around, but he did eventually sit down. Then he looked at Lucas. “I can see why she’s Melena’s friend now.”

  “Also the reason I tolerate her,” the nephilim replied with a hint of pride.

  Cori ignored them and finished prepping the tattoo. She’d already done most of the setup hours ago, but she still had a few things left to do, including choosing the right ink. Derrick had told her which design to do, but she’d choose the colors that best suited the person.

  She was only halfway through the tattoo when the woman’s eyes lost their glossy appearance and became focused. She jerked under the grip Cori kept on her arm. “What’s going on? Where am I?”

  “It’s okay,” she soothed the woman. “You’re in my shop, and I’m doing a tattoo on your wrist that is giving you resistance to compulsion.”

  The woman glanced down to see the outline of stars on her wrist. “Oh. Wow, it’s really working.”

  “You’d still be in a near vegetable state if it wasn’t.”

  She glanced at Derrick. “I don’t remember anything since we left my house. It’s like I just woke up.”

  “Good.” He gave her a reassuring look. “But you need to let Cori finish.”

  “Give me ten more minutes, and we should be done.”

  The human woman nodded and relaxed in her seat. Cori set to work with the final elements of the tattoo, feeling everyone’s eyes on her. Lucas left and let Ivan come in next. The nerou watched her from the corner with hard, emotionless eyes. Of all the people from the compound Melena’s husband could have brought, why did it have to be the hard case?

  Cori finished and began cleaning up the woman’s wrist. “It’s done. Give me a couple of more minutes, and you’ll be out of this chair.”

  “That wasn’t so bad,” the woman said.

  “Was it your first?” Cori asked.

  She stared at her arm. “Yeah, but I always wanted one. Since I didn’t have to pay for it, and there was a chance I might get a bonus effect, I figured I might as well go for it.”

  Cori bandaged the tattoo and instructed the woman on aftercare. Then she turned to Derrick. “I’ll need a few minutes to clean up in here, and then we can start on the next person.”

  “Alright,” he said. “But first I gotta check her.”

  “Check her?”

  Derrick moved in close to the woman and gazed deeply at her. “Close your eyes.”

  “No.” The woman lifted her chin. “I don’t feel like it.”

  “Well, I’ll be damned.”

  Ivan shifted closer to them. “This is something that could be useful in the future if Cori’s ability proves to have multiple applications.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked, fearing the worst.

  “Myself and my brethren will soon become enforcers. Our job will be to put human safety above all else, and we will require many tools to make that happen.” He gave her a look of respect. “You may become an ally to us.”

  Cori had no idea what to say to that, though she was flattered he finally saw her in a more flattering light. Maybe he wasn’t completely annoying.

  “I wouldn’t get ahead of yourself just yet,” the alpha said, narrowing his eyes at the nerou.

  Ivan lifted his chin. “You are irrelevant to me and my sacred duty.”

  “Why you…”

  Lucas entered the room, shooting a warning glare at Derrick. “Let me try.”

  Everyone moved out of the way.

  The woman gulped, looking up at Lucas who was definitely intimidating as he leaned close to her. “Stand up.”

  She jerked to her feet right away, annoyance spreading across her features as she gave an accusing look at Cori. “It doesn’t work with him!”

  Her shoulders sagged, hating that the immunity she’d given the human wasn’t a hundred percent. “I guess not.”

  “You owe me a hundred dollars,” Lucas said, holding his hand out to Derrick.

  The alpha pulled out his wallet and gave a crisp bill to the nephilim. “I was hoping you were wrong.”

  Cori gave the woman an apologetic look. “I gave it all I had. I’m sorry.”

  “Do not feel bad.” Lucas glanced between them. “I’m over two thousand years old. I’ve yet to run across a human who could fully resist me in a very long time no matter what precautions they took.”

  Even before Cori had a dose of Melena’s blood, she’d had a natural resistance, but when Lucas’ twin, Micah, tried to compel her, he’d managed it with some extra effort. She should have known her newfound ability would only go so far.

  “Two thousand years old?” the woman gasped, looking the nephilim up and down. “How is that even possible?”

  Lucas leaned close to her and spoke in a compelling tone, “Forget the last few minutes of conversation and that your tattoo doesn’t provide full protection. The only thing you need to know is you’re safe from compulsion by anyone who would try to harm you.”

  “Hey.” Cori hit him in the arm. “That’s not fair to her.”

  “But it is the way it must be after what she’s seen and heard.” He straightened, letting go of his mental hold on the woman, and led her out of the room.

  Derrick and Ivan followed behind, giving Cori some space. After she had everything set up for the next customer, she called out to the alpha, who quickly led a man into the room. This one moved just as woodenly and had the same glassy-eyed appearance.

  “He’s next.”

  Cori directed the man to take a seat. “Does he get the shooting stars, too?”

  “He does—in the same place.”

  She wondered what Derrick expected her to do if she ever had to work on a human who already had a tattoo on the same wrist. She supposed she’d have to cross that bridge when she came to it. On a bright note, at least if this worked out she could charge extra for these tattoos. A lot of humans would want them once the word got out. It could become good for business—as long as Derrick endorsed it so the sups wouldn’t stop people from coming. Still, it helped her relax a little at the possibility. Maybe things would work out, and her shop would be running smoothly again soon.

  Cori finished with the guy even faster than the woman. He was also under compulsion until she broke it halfway through the tattoo. The man thanked her profusely, making her wonder what his story was, before he headed back out to the front room.

  “Well, I had no doubts she’d handle these first two okay,” Derrick said, standing up from his chair.

  Lucas leaned against the doorframe. “Neither did I.”

  The alpha glanced at her. “But can she handle givin’ normal tattoos?”

  “Just hand me the next tattoo design and get the hell out of here while I clean up.” Cori reached out her hand. “I’ll be alright.”

  Derrick’s voice came out gruff as he dug into his pocket, “We’ll see.”

  He gave her a wrinkled p
iece of paper, this time with a flaming sun on it.

  She lifted a brow at him. “You really put a lot of thought into these, didn’t you?”

  “If I have to pass around the word about these, then I gotta keep it simple and easy for folks to remember.” Derrick shrugged. “Some supernaturals are smart and have good memories, but not all of them.”

  Cori supposed she could see the logic in that. She waited until the two men left the room before starting her cleanup and prep. After finishing, she worked on the outline first before calling in the next human.

  The alpha led a man inside. “Do him first.”

  “The wrist or somewhere else?”

  “Upper arm,” he replied.

  She got the man set up in the chair and prepped him for the tattoo. The whole time, she tried to keep her mind clear. If this was going to work, she couldn’t think about magic or compulsion or even supernaturals. Instead, she kept her mind focused on the design and what it would take to make it look perfect. Cori now understood how a surgeon felt during a complex operation. Her very livelihood was on the line if she didn’t do it right.

  Half an hour later, she finished. Her shoulders had begun aching from trying so hard to do the opposite of what she’d been doing with the first two people. It helped that the tattoo was different, but she also had a lot of eyes on her. Lucas didn’t leave the room this time, and Ivan and Kariann took turns hovering in the doorway. She could almost feel their doubts and skepticism, or maybe she imagined it, but either way it was disconcerting.

  Cori glanced up at the human’s eyes and found they were still glazed over. Relief filled her. Not once did he move in his seat or question her. “I’m done.”

  Kariann swaggered over. “My compulsion is still there—good.”

  “That’s one down, but can she do it again?” Derrick gave Cori a questioning look.

  “Just give me half an hour.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I need a short break.”

  “Don’t take too long,” the alpha said.

  She scowled at him and headed for the bathroom. After using the toilet, she washed her hands and splashed cold water on her face. Cori noted dark circles under her eyes. She hadn’t been sleeping well this past week and last night was the worst of all. Worrying about Bartol, as well as how things would go with the tattoos, had kept her from getting much rest. It was silly and maybe weak of her, but she wished her mate was here. Whenever she was near him she felt more relaxed and secure, like she could face anything. She had no doubt he had her back, which helped most of all. The others out there might claim the same, but she couldn’t be sure of them. There were few people in her life she’d ever found to truly be reliable.

  Cori returned to her booth and started cleaning up. Once finished, she washed her hands again and called in her final customer. A glance at the clock told her it was almost seven in the evening. At least they were making good time and she could close up shop before it got too late.

  Derrick led in a blond woman who was probably pushing forty. Once again, she had a glazed look in her eyes that gave away she was under compulsion. It was awkward working on people this way, but at least they didn’t flinch or feel pain as long as they remained in their dazed states. Cori supposed it did have that advantage.

  After prepping the woman, she started on the final tattoo. She was so tired that it didn’t take much effort to avoid thinking about compulsion or anything else. Cori just focused on the tattoo and making it look its best. Occasionally, she glanced up to check her customer’s eyes, but they remained unfocused.

  At the end, she cleaned up the woman’s arm and bandaged it. “That’s it.”

  “You owe Melena a hundred dollars now,” Lucas said to the alpha, holding out his hand. “I’ll give it to her.”

  Derrick begrudgingly got his wallet out once more. “We’ll see how it goes when we move on to werewolves next.”

  So he was actually considering her tattooing his pack? The fact the full moon had passed during the weekend and he hadn’t had anything negative to report, was a good sign. She’d been so nervous about their test today she’d forgotten about the other issue until now.

  “How are things going with your guy?” Cori asked.

  “He didn’t feel the pull of the moon like the rest of us, but he was able to shift,” the alpha replied.

  She hesitated. “Is that a good or bad thing?”

  “Depends on who you ask. Some like the call of the moon and don’t wanna lose that, but others think shifting durin’ the day might be worth the price.” He paused. “Assumin’ you can repeat what you did before.”

  “And when would that be?”

  “Give me a few days, and I’ll let you know,” he said.

  “So do I get your endorsement to work on humans again?” That was really the most important thing since regular people were ninety percent of her business.

  Derrick glanced at Lucas, who glowered at him. He couldn’t back out now without raising the nephilim’s ire. “Yeah, I’ll put the word out and tell my people they gotta let humans come here again. But there are two conditions.”

  Cori stiffened. “And they are…?”

  “For one, you mess up even once and give someone resistance who didn’t want it or vice versa, I’ll withdraw my support. For two, you can’t advertise it, and either Lucas, your mate, or another nephilim strong enough to push through the compulsion has to make sure the human isn’t able to tell anyone about the uniqueness of their tattoo. They’ll know, but they can’t talk about it.”

  Her jaw dropped. “Then how is anyone supposed to find out?”

  Never mind how much of a pain in the ass it was going to be if every time she did one of the special tattoos she had to call a nephilim in afterward. Cori hadn’t seen that rule coming, though she probably should have. Derrick didn’t appear too fond of her new ability, especially since he wasn’t strong enough to get around it. The alpha had quite a lot of power, but not nearly as much as Bartol, Lucas, or Micah, who were far older.

  “I’ll send them your way whenever we find victims who need your special brand of tattoos,” he said, tone brooking no argument.

  Lucas crossed his arms. “Myself and the nerou—after they become enforcers—will also reserve the right to direct customers Cori’s way.”

  Derrick worked his jaw while Ivan stared at the alpha with a hard expression. The nerou already had the look of an enforcer and would probably be rather good at the job. Cori sure as hell wouldn’t want to get on his bad side.

  “Fine,” Derrick said, less than pleased at being usurped in his own territory.

  Cori didn’t know how Melena could call the alpha a friend, but she doubted she herself would ever consider him that. How could he not see what a big deal this was to human safety?

  “Some people might like to avoid becoming victims before something bad happens,” she argued.

  “That’s one way to look at it,” he agreed. “But if too many people get your tattoos, vampires and other passing visitors who might need to wipe human memories—for whatever reason—might just start killin’ them instead of just takin’ their blood and lettin’ them go. I can’t control everyone all the time. There will always be people who break the rules or just don’t know them yet.”

  She let out a frustrated breath. Derrick sort of had a point, but she didn’t have to like it. “Fine, but at least don’t hesitate to send the people who do deserve the tattoo. I…” she swallowed, hating to show weakness, and glanced between the alpha and Lucas. “I need the business.”

  “That reminds me.” Derrick pulled out his wallet for the third time and withdrew a chunk of cash, handing it to her. “Here’s your payment.”

  She counted it. “This is two thousand dollars. That’s way more than I planned to charge you.” Cori was a lot of things, but she wasn’t a cheat. She believed in giving her customers a fair deal even when she didn’t like them. “It’s too much.”

  “From now on, your anti-compulsion tatt
oos will be five hundred dollars each. That’s fair since I ain’t gonna let you do many of them,” the alpha replied.

  “Take it,” Lucas said, giving her a stern look.

  She did need the cash, and the test hadn’t exactly been easy. “Fine.”

  “Good.” The alpha glanced around. “Now let’s get this place closed up. I don’t want you leavin’ here alone tonight, especially not until I talk to my people.”

  That was…thoughtful of him. “What about tomorrow?”

  “I’ll have the word out by then. You should be alright to open up like usual.”

  Finally, things were looking up for her—she hoped.

  Chapter 16

  Bartol

  It was midafternoon when Bartol, Tormod, and Caius arrived in Budapest. After checking into their hotel, they took a taxi to a local mystic’s home. Word had spread in Europe that their group was hunting the demon, and supernaturals were starting to call with tips. Their latest clue had come about two days ago, but they’d had to wrap up their cleaning job in Romania before they could head to Hungary.

  The taxi stopped in front of an old apartment building three stories high and made of brick. An older woman with curly gray hair sat on the steps, gripping a cane stretched out in front of her. She looked at them as they approached and said something Bartol could not understand.

  Tormod glanced over at him. “What did she say?”

  “I’ve no idea. Never had a reason to learn Hungarian.” Bartol knew at least twenty different languages, half of them ancient and dead now, but he couldn’t take the time to learn them all. They were constantly evolving, and it wasn’t easy to keep up.

  “I said wipe your feet!” the woman yelled in a heavily accented voice.

  Well, it appeared she knew English. Bartol made a point of giving her a wide berth as he got near the steps. He’d had more than his fair share of experiences with cranky, old women and didn’t have any desire to get hit with a cane. She could probably put up a decent fight.