by Holly Evans
“I’ll tell Fein what Tala told us. He’ll be in touch about the pack,” Tyn said.
“Would you like a shower, Tala? If not, I’ll jump in, and we’ll head out when I’m done,” I said.
“No. Thank you,” he said.
Tala stayed close to me when we stepped out into the city. He wasn’t relaxed, but he seemed to trust Tyn and Vyx’s word that I’d treat him well. I led him down the narrow streets to the more expensive boutiques on the edge of the magic quarter. Fein wanted us well-dressed, and I wasn’t going to risk losing my tattooing privileges by showing up in cheap clothes.
A number of magicians looked between Tala and me as we strolled down the street with the cherry blossom trees heavy with pink flowers and flirtatious nymphs on the bank to our left. The spindly trees dotted along the right practically groaned under the weight of the chicks and kits hidden within the thick foliage. In short, the city was very much bursting with life.
I chose the first men’s boutique that we came across. I hadn’t shopped in there before, but Keirn had mentioned it at some point. The clothing in the window was simple and elegant, mostly smart pants and slim-fit shirts - the sort of thing that would look good on Tala’s rangy frame.
Tala had barely crossed the gilt doorway when a sharp-faced bird shifter said, “No ferals allowed in here.”
His dove-grey feathered hair slowly rose as he became more agitated. I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms.
“He’s with me,” I said.
His hair became more feathers than hair and continued to puff up.
“Out. Out now,” he said as he made shooing motions.
I saw no reason to make more of a scene and took Tala to the next boutique.
By the third rejection, I was beginning to get more than a little pissed off. Tala had been quiet and perfectly well-behaved. I sat down on a low wall that was slowly crumbling and becoming one with the rose bed behind it and pulled out my phone to call the cougars. They’d been in the city far longer than I had.
“Hey, I’m trying to get clothes for Tala, but none of the shops will allow a feral across the threshold. Ideas?” I asked Shadow.
“Try Tissans over on Crown,” Shadow said.
“Great, thanks,” I said.
Tala stood as I put my phone away. We headed off to continue our search.
17
Tissans was a large shop at the higher end of my budget. The owner didn’t so much as blink at Tala. She had the good grace to leave him alone to wander and pick out his own clothes. I left him to it, not wanting to crowd him or block his exit routes. After ten minutes of aimless browsing, I decided a change of tack was needed.
“Tala, do you know what you’re looking for?” I asked.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “No.”
“Would you like this nice lady to pick some outfits out for you?”
The owner gave him a broad smile and kept her eyes averted. She must have worked with shifters on a regular basis.
Tala rolled his jaw and nodded.
“I think that would be best, yes,” he said, a growl edging his words.
The woman wasted no time in putting together a number of outfits for him, complete with shoes and underwear. She gestured for him to try them on in the fitting room.
“You rescued him?” she asked me while I waited for him to try the clothes on.
“I’m sorry?”
“He’s clearly skittish and unused to our way of living, I’d assumed you were helping rehabilitate him.”
“Is that a normal thing?” I asked.
She smiled. “Not normal enough, but there are a group of good people who help beings like him. Luka and his husband tend to send them my way because I’m understanding of their quirks.”
I returned her smile and made a mental note to ask the cougars about that. If I was going to be dragged into the criminal underground, I wanted to get into the right side of things. Tala emerged out of the dressing room with a tight smile.
“They all fit well, thank you,” he said, holding the clothes out to the woman.
He hovered near me, his hands stuffed into his pockets while I paid. My wallet felt a good bit lighter, but at least the little wolf had some suitable clothes to call his own. I handed him the bags and went in search of somewhere for lunch.
Tala didn’t guard his plate as intently over dinner that evening, and he began to relax while we all watched the movies. The cougars looked frazzled and didn’t have any interest in hanging out with the rest of us. Caiden didn’t stop in for dinner, and Vyx was wrapped up in her art. That left me with a quiet evening with Keirn. He ran his fingers through my hair and down over my neck. I reveled in his touch.
When Tala went to bed, Keirn turned to me and took my hand, which had been rubbing at the slave brand without my realising.
“Talk to me, Dacian,” he said softly.
I’d never been one to talk about my feelings. I tried to keep feelings locked away in a tight box. Keirn was the first person I’d let close. I’d been so scared of people finding out I was an ink magician. The thought of good people being hurt because of me, of what I was born as, hurt.
I leaned in to kiss him and change the subject. He pressed his finger to my lips.
“I said talk,” he said firmly.
“How’re you coping with the loss of your brother?” I asked as gently as I could.
He raised his eyebrow. His jaw tightened, and his eyes hardened.
“We’re a couple now, Dacian, that means you trust me enough to talk to me.”
I looked down and away. Isa was the first guy I’d been in a relationship with, and we didn’t do the ‘honest talk’ thing.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
He hooked his finger under my chin and made me look at him. I wasn’t sure I liked being on the receiving end of this treatment.
“I’m literally made to help people, but it feels as though I have the weight of the city in my shoulders. I hate Tala wearing my brand, that’s not who or what I am. I don’t think I’m cut out to do this undercover bullshit. Is it so selfish to want my quiet life?”
“Yes,” Keirn said.
I pulled back away from him. I’d been expecting some soothing words. He pulled me back to him.
“It’s selfish, but it’s also natural. You’re not going to have your quiet life, Dacian, but you have a good group around you. Don’t push us away.” He curled up at my side, his head on my shoulder. “Don’t push me away. I’ll be there to help you every step of the way.”
I kissed his forehead and couldn’t help but smile. I knew my elf would always give me what I needed, no sugar coating or lies.
“And how are you coping with your loss?” I asked.
He squeezed his eyes closed and pressed himself tighter to me.
“My heart aches. I feel as though a piece of me is missing. Sometimes I think I hear his voice on the edge of my hearing when I’m falling asleep,” he said in barely more than a whisper.
I wiped away the tears that began streaming down his cheeks.
“Can I help?”
“Don’t push me away,” he said.
“I won’t. I promise.”
He was my other half, I’d take on the world for him.
18
Tala emerged later than I’d have liked the following morning. We were supposed to be heading over to a tattooing client in the wilder end of the magic quarter. His mouth was pinched, and the crease refused to budge from between his eyes. He’d chosen a pair of black pants and a pale blue button-down shirt. His hair, however, remained a scruffy mess.
“You don’t like the clothes?” I asked.
He curled a lip at me.
“No. I’d rather something I could run and fight in,” he said.
“I’d rather that, too, but I have to tattoo someone with far more money than me, so smart clothes are non-optional,” I said with a smile.
I felt his pain. I wasn’t particularly happy in my slate-grey suit. Ye
s, it fit well and was comfortable, but it felt… wrong. I’d put my boots on rather than shiny dress shoes, a small act of rebellion.
Tala slowly perked up as he ate his breakfast. He was beginning to look more alive, much to my relief. Vyx gave him a smile as she walked past to her art room. I took that to mean that I was doing ok with him. Keirn kissed me hard as I went to put the dishes away.
“I have a bad feeling about today. Come home in one piece,” he said.
I brushed the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, trying to soothe him.
“It’s just a tattooing job,” I said with a smile.
He grazed my bottom lip with his teeth.
“Be careful,” he said before he vanished into his art room.
I brushed the oddness aside in favour of herding Tala out into the city so we’d be on time for the tattooing client. Fein was very busy at that time, but I didn’t put it past him sending a heavy after me if I showed up so much as a minute late.
People had the good sense to give Tala and me a wide berth as we made our way to the wilder end of the magic quarter. Tala didn’t bare his teeth, but he didn’t need to. The hard amber of his eyes and partially exposed canines did all the talking for him.
The address Fein had given me was in the centre of the wilds. I’m not one to be easily scared, but I remembered the last time I’d had a run in with blood roses. The wild quarter was crawling with similar plants. It was somewhere between a forest and a jungle, hence its name. The tall narrow buildings were all covered in vines, leaving only small patches of pastel paint revealed around the windows. There was an eerie quiet as we walked. Far fewer people wandered down the cream-coloured paths, and the usual raucous sounds of spring were almost entirely gone.
Tala yelped and then snarled when a particularly aggressive vine latched onto his leg and tried to drag him towards the house it was covering. I grabbed onto his arm and hacked at the vine with my silver stiletto knife. The damn thing bled a violent purple goo onto the path around it as it shriveled away with a soft shrieking sound that sent shivers down my spine.
Tala eyed it suspiciously before he put his shoulders back and said, “Thank you.”
I nodded in acknowledgement and picked up the pace along the path, careful to remain as close to the road, and thus as far from the vines, as possible. That worked fantastically for the first two streets. The third, however, was lined with pure white Veesha trees. Their narrow limbs were stretched skyward in fantastically twisted formations. They were really quite beautiful on first sight. Unfortunately for us, they house vicious sprite-type creatures that were much like the nymphs’ evil twins. Where the nymphs fed on sexual energy, and occasionally whisked the odd person away to their plane for a few years, these drained the person’s life and left them as nothing more than dried husks. One of the trees had clearly fed since the cleaners came by that morning, Tala and I passed a warped stretch of dried and cracked brown leather that had been a person, a living being, that morning.
“Stay close to me and move quickly,” I said to Tala.
We weren’t far from the address. One more street, and we’d make it on time.
A gentle, whispering song wound its way into the back of my mind. My feet began to slow and the edges of my vision took on a remarkable lavender hue that I wanted to see more of. Suddenly, a sharp pain came from my ear and everything was crystal clear again. Two of the Veesha were perched on the tree nearest me, their elongated claws wrapped around the slim branch as they stared at me with saucer eyes. There was nothing cute about them. They were angular, with disproportionately sized… everything. Their arms and legs were too long and narrow, their stomachs bulbous and veiny under over-stretched grey skin. It was the deep purple tongue with the sharp point that languorously ran along its razor thin black lips that really held my attention. It would have used that to devour me. One long lick at a time. I ran the rest of the way, trying to escape the feeling of revulsion that overwhelmed me.
Once we had reached the bright red door of the hedgewitch I was there to tattoo, I turned to Tala and thanked him. He shrugged.
“If you die, the alchemists will get me,” he said matter-of-factly.
I smiled and dabbed at my ear, which was just throbbing, but hadn’t drawn blood. He’d pinched me.
“It was the first thing that came to mind,” he said with a smirk.
“Damn ferals,” I thought to myself as the relief washed over me.
19
The white and red vines that lined the short path up to the hedgewitch’s door slowly parted before us. I’d never really studied plants, so I wasn’t sure on their name or purpose, but I did know they were poisonous. It wasn’t difficult to reach that conclusion; most plants near a hedgewitch’s house are dangerous in some form or fashion. They work primarily with plants and the beings that live in plants, such as the Veesha. Some of them are wonderful people who help the life magicians and alchemists to create helpful healing poultices and the like. Others are vicious businesswomen who work with the military magicians, particularly the assassins and mercenaries.
They weren’t to be trusted.
The door opened to reveal a dim house full of yet more vines and plants. Hardly surprising, but it made maintaining my broad smile far more difficult. An older woman with deep green and white striped hair led us through to a patio space behind the house. The tall walls were covered in flowering vines that I couldn’t identify. I kept my focus on the hedgewitch. There were two more people within the house. I’d seen glimpses of them as we walked through the hallways to the patio. Tala remained close to me. His ears swiveled, listening.
The woman approached us with a toothy smile, her flinty eyes flicking between me and Tala.
“You brought a feral with you, a good specimen, too,” she said as she reached out to touch him.
I wrapped my hand around her wrist.
“Kindly leave him be. I am here to bring through a tattoo,” I said with a polite smile.
She tensed under my grip, but withdrew her hand from Tala and gave me that toothy smile again.
“Of course. We wouldn’t want to distract you. Why don’t you send him to sit in the kitchen? Merith will bake him some cookies while he waits for you,” she said.
I freed Aris from his tattoo and extended my arm to Tala for him to move along.
“He will be staying with me, thank you,” I said.
Aris understood my emotions and draped himself over Tala’s shoulders. I had to give it to the wolf, he barely glanced at the great snake that moved over him.
The hedgewitch muttered something in a tongue I didn’t understand before she smiled once more.
“So be it.”
With that, she made herself comfortable in a simple metal chair, and I began my work. The ink network took a bizarre amount of coaxing. It kept pulling back from the hedgewitch and flashed deep blues and purples at me.
“You’re the one that gave her a tattoo,” I told it.
It reluctantly flowed into my hands and allowed me to bring through a rangy wildcat. Its mottled grey and white coat covered a well-muscled (if a little too long-in-the-leg) wildcat. It growled and remained as far away from me as it could maintain while I tried to bring it through. The hedgewitch didn’t make things much easier, as she kept fidgeting and saying I was upsetting the cat.
“I can’t bring it through if you both keep pulling away from me,” I said calmly.
She shot me a filthy look and stilled herself.
A scrawny blonde girl tried to grab onto Tala while I was inking the cat’s tail. I was too distracted to see exactly what happened, but I felt Aris’ satisfaction and the sense that he’d bitten the girl. To say I was glad to be done with that tattoo was an understatement. The cat stepped out of the tattoo on the woman’s back and tucked itself under her chair, where it looked at everything with deep distrust. I didn’t know what sort of trouble the witch would use the cat for.
The woman fussed around in the kitchen, supposedly t
rying to find all of the money needed to pay me. The younger women in the house used that time to try and steal parts of both of Tala and me – hairs, mostly, but one tried to claw at us to get blood and skin. Aris took great pleasure in driving them away and foiling their plans. To add insult to injury, she docked some of my fee due to poor customer service. I didn’t argue. I got Tala out of there as quickly as I could.
“Are you ok, little wolf? Did they hurt you?” I asked once we were out on the path.
“I’m fine, thanks to your snake,” he said.
I handed him a couple of notes from the cash the witch had paid me.
“Put it aside to help you set up a good life,” I said.
It wasn’t much, but every little helped. He eyed it with suspicion before he smiled and tucked it away in a pocket. I pulled out my phone to call a taxi. I didn’t have it in me to walk through the wilds a second time that day. They were extortionately priced when coming through the wilds – ‘risk money,’ they called it.
The cougars came running around the corner before I could make the call.
“Dacian, Tala, you’re coming with us,” they shouted.
Just when I thought my morning couldn’t get any worse.
20
“What do you mean, ‘We’re coming with you?’” I demanded.
Luka bared his cougar teeth at me.
“Dacian, we have an opportunity to get some of the slaves out. Now. We need Tala to try and talk to them, to let them know we’re the good guys,” Shadow said calmly.
“Lead the way,” Tala said.
We jogged to the end of the block, where Caiden was driving a sky-blue SUV. The cougars practically threw Tala and me into the back of it before they pressed something warm and damp into my palm.
“Illusions. They’ll last two hours. We don’t want word of your presence getting back to the tattooists,” Luka said.
I took the small gel disk and pressed it to my inner wrist. There was a physical sensation of a bubble snapping over me before a faint mist sensation settled over my face. Tala was curling his lip and snorted a few times before he settled down with a particularly grumpy look on his now-tanned face.
