Angel's Ink (21 page)

“But—” she stammered, her eyes wide.

“It wasn’t me,” I repeated firmly, but I softened my voice when I continued. “But that doesn’t mean this isn’t a wonderful thing that shouldn’t be thoroughly celebrated!”

She jerkily nodded to me, her smile slipping back onto her lips, though confusion still lingered in her eyes. “Of course. I’ve been visiting with all my friends today and making plans again. After I was told about the cancer, I stopped making plans because I never knew how much time I had. But now that I have so much time, I can live again.”

“Then let’s make plans to have drinks Monday night,” I suggested. It might be cutting it a little close, but this way I would have all day and night Sunday to try to track down a fix for her immortality and the shop would still be closed on Monday for me to do my work in secret.

“Monday night? Not tonight? It’s not that late.”

“I’m sorry, but I’ve been running since early this morning and it’s been a rough day,” I said with a heavy sigh. I grabbed one of her hands and gave it a squeeze. “I wouldn’t be very good company, as I think I would fall asleep in my first drink. We can meet here at nine o’clock on Monday and make the rounds of the bars downtown. Remember, you’ve got time now.”

“You’re right,” she said, her smile brightening. “I want to celebrate over several days and not try to cram it all into one night. It’s just now that I have a second chance at life, I don’t want to go to sleep. I want to keep moving and doing.”

“I understand,” I said, forcing a smile to my lips while I was choking on my words. “But try to get some sleep. I don’t want you falling asleep on me when we’re just getting started.”

“I will, I promise.” Tera laughed, giving me another quick hug. “I’ll see you Monday at nine. Be ready to party.”

“I will,” I murmured as I watched her bounce out the door again, as bubbly as when she first came through it.

I stood there staring at the door for more than a minute, my hand pressed to my churning stomach as I tried not to vomit. I had screwed up in such a major way and now the only way to undo my mess was to kill her. Closing my eyes, I let myself dream that there was another option, but I knew there wasn’t. If the grim reaper had someone scheduled to die, their soul was due for collection. It was not for me to step in and stop it. I was no god or great archangel or even demon that could put a halt to such things. I was a tattoo artist who stuck his nose into business that had nothing to do with him.

I fought the urge to pick something up and throw it through the front window. I needed to hear the sound of something breaking. I needed to feel as if I had something within my power, but right now I was under the control of the grim reaper if I wanted to live. And I did want to live. I wasn’t ready to give up my life for someone else, no matter how I’d messed up.

Taking a deep breath, I reminded myself that I was not the one killing Tera. Cancer was. The grim reaper was calling in her debt to him; he wanted her soul. It had been scheduled long before I ever touched her. The only things I was killing were her hope, her dreams, her happiness while I pretended to be her friend so that she would allow me to stay close.

The sound of high heels on the wood floor shattered my down-spiraling train of thoughts. My head jerked around to find Trixie standing in the doorway, arms crossed over her stomach, a frown pulling at the corners of her mouth. She had turned off the MP3 player, and the silence nearly crushed me. I didn’t need to look into the tattooing room to know that Bronx was also waiting for me to speak. They were both waiting for an answer to what they never should have heard.

“You cured her cancer?” Trixie demanded in a cold voice when I didn’t speak.

Clenching my teeth, I turned and walked into the tattooing room where Bronx was waiting. He sat in his chair, his large hands resting on his knees and his face expressionless. Trixie returned to her station and leaned against the counter. Her expression was dark and disapproving as she waited for my response.

“Yes, I cured her cancer. Tera is perfectly healthy now,” I said numbly, trying to push back the overwhelming feeling of guilt.

“Is this why TAPSS is now looking into the shop closely?” Bronx asked calmly. “Are they going to close the shop because of this?”

“No, this tattoo has nothing to do with TAPSS. We’re not going to be closed,” I said, shoving one hand through my hair. I was exhausted to the bone between the worry and the fights that had filled my day. And now I had to look my friends in the eye and find a suitable lie that they would believe because I certainly couldn’t tell them I’d made the poor girl immortal. No one could know about her immortality. It was too dangerous. It was bad enough that I’d had to tell Sparks.

“Did you cure her with magic?” Trixie demanded. “Is that why the warlocks and TAPSS have been sniffing around here so much? Is Tera the reason you haven’t been here today?”

I felt this conversation slipping out of my control, like water through my fingers. I needed to soothe their well-founded fear, but I didn’t want to risk alienating them. They were not only my employees, but my friends as well. Two of the few friends I had, and I needed them. But I didn’t want to lie to them any more than I already had.

“No, I didn’t use any form of magic on Tera. It was a potion, just like every tattoo I have ever done,” I said after releasing a slow, deep breath. So far, I was still telling the truth. “Unfortunately, there’s been an unexpected side effect from the potion I stirred, and I need to find a way to undo it. That’s why I haven’t been here today. I sought the advice of my mentor.”

“Why didn’t you tell her about this side effect?” Trixie pressed. She still looked displeased with me and I couldn’t blame her.

“I didn’t want to ruin her happiness. She just got her life back. I’ll talk to her when I see her on Monday.” It was the truth with a few exclusions. I would talk to her about what I had done and its impact on her existence, but only after I had completed the touch-up of her tattoo.

Unfortunately, by Trixie’s expression I had a feeling that she didn’t completely believe me, but she kept her comments to herself, for which I was grateful.

“What ingredients did you use in Tera’s tattoo potion?” Bronx inquired, drawing my gaze back to him.

I shook my head. “I’ll never say. The items were from my personal stores, and they will be destroyed once this is over. The items were more dangerous than I had expected, and I won’t allow them to fall into someone else’s hands.”

“And what about TAPSS? What drew them here?” Trixie pressed.

“Nothing to do with Tera,” I snapped, but quickly stopped myself, clenching my fists at my sides. I was the one who’d made this mess. I had no reason to be angry with Trixie or Bronx for their concern for me or their livelihoods, and it was more than obvious that I was jeopardizing both.

When I was sure that I could speak again in a calm and even voice, I continued. “TAPSS was drawn here because of Russell Dalton’s complaints about his faulty luck tattoo. I think they might also know that I used magic when I was attacked the other day in the alley. That is all.”

“Why hasn’t a warlock appeared tonight? You’ve been using magic for hours to protect Trixie,” Bronx asked. When a stricken look crossed my face, he merely smiled at me. “I may be just a troll, but even I can smell magic in the air. You’ve been casting one spell after another tonight with no heed to the consequences for yourself.”

I wanted to ask him how long he had suspected. Like him, I could smell magic too. Particularly on heavy users, as it tended to cling to them like a second skin. Was it like that with me? I didn’t have the chance to ask.

“Gage?” Trixie whispered in a fractured voice. Her crossed arms slid apart and fell to her sides where they thumped against the counter. I didn’t want her thinking about the warlocks and what hell might still come down on my head for what I’d been doing. She was worth the risk, worth risking my soul for. I wasn’t going to let her fall back into the hands of the Summer Court if she didn’t want to go.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said, peering deep into her wide green eyes.

“But if the warlocks come for you because of me . . .”

“They won’t,” I countered firmly as her voice drifted off. “If they haven’t come by now, they aren’t going to come. If the guardians are going to strike, they’ll strike the second they sense anything going on that shouldn’t be. I can tell you for a fact that they keep me under tight surveillance. Trust me, they know what I’ve been up to tonight.”

“What if they’re waiting for you to be alone?” Bronx said, drawing my attention back to his pool of calm. Despite the touchy topic we had been discussing for the past several minutes, his expression had never changed. Though I could now see some concern in his eyes that he hadn’t been allowing to surface before.

“As much as I respect your strength, it’s not enough to stop a guardian if they feel the need to strike,” I said with a half smile. “They don’t care if I’m alone or not. Hell, they prefer an audience. It helps to keep the rabble in line.”

“Then why have we been left alone?” he asked.

“Someone is holding them back,” I replied, letting my eyes fall shut. I slumped back opposite Trixie, against the counter that ran the length of the wall. I had little doubt that Simon was holding back the horde of guardians currently itching to take my head off. The struggle between Simon and me was personal, and he wanted to take care of it himself if he was going to regain any face among his peers. He needed to be the one to eliminate me or someone was going to take the opportunity to eliminate him in the name of pruning the weak growth.

“Do you know who?” Bronx asked.

“Yes.”

“Do you know why?”

“Yes, he’s hoping to kill me personally.”

Trixie gasped, covering her mouth with both hands to stop whatever words had been about to rush forth.

“And I don’t regret anything I’ve done tonight,” I added, trying to alleviate any guilt she might be feeling. My problems with the warlocks had nothing to do with the elf, and in truth, I had a feeling that my ability to stay quiet and hidden wasn’t going to last my entire life. I had used magic before I was collected by the warlocks and I knew that I would keep using magic until they finally killed me. It was too much a part of who I was, running in my veins with my blood.

“What’s the next step, boss?” Bronx asked, bringing a smile to my lips. Only a true friend would continue to stand next to me when I was talking about facing down the Ivory Towers. They ruled this world and crushed anyone who dared to speak out against them. Only a friend or a madman would continue to associate with me.

“Sleep.” My eyes fell shut for a second as I sighed. “It’s been a long day.”

“Want me to close up?” Bronx offered.

“No, keep your normal hours. I don’t expect you to have any trouble.” I turned my attention to Trixie, who was watching me with fear filling her wonderful eyes. “Are you ready to call it a night? I have to set the protective spells for the upstairs apartment before I leave for my own apartment.”

Trixie nodded once before walking to the back room and the door that led to the back stairs. As I walked past Bronx, I clapped the troll on the shoulder once and smiled. I couldn’t have been luckier in the friends I had surrounding me. I just wondered whether they would remain so close if they found out what kind of mess I’d made for Tera. If I couldn’t find a way to forgive myself, how could they?

Chapter 18

T
rixie was kind enough to wait until I shut the apartment door behind us before she let loose with her real thoughts on the situation. Bronx didn’t need to know that I was getting myself entangled in more than I already had on my plate.

“Are you fucking insane?” she shouted as I checked the one window in the living room.

I continued to move through the apartment, making sure that all the windows were still locked, as well as checking that no spells had been cast about the apartment that weren’t my own. If the elves were smart enough to figure out where Trixie worked, then there was a good chance they also suspected where she might be hiding after she escaped from her own apartment.

“I’ve begun to wonder that myself,” I said lightly as I moved into the bedroom. Sanity was beginning to appear highly overrated. I was managing quite well without it.

Trixie followed close on my heels, her footsteps heavy in her frustration. “This isn’t a joke, Gage. You can’t cast any of the protective spells you were planning. You’re just throwing more fuel on the fire.”

I couldn’t stop the snort that escaped me. “It’s a little too late to stop now. Simon is going to come after me sooner or later, regardless of whether I set these spells. I would like to get some sleep tonight rather than spend it staring at the ceiling and wondering if you’ve been found by those damn elves.”

“I can take care of myself,” Trixie said, blocking my exit from the bedroom by standing in the doorway, her hands braced against either side of the doorjamb.

“No offense, Trix, but so far your way of taking care of yourself is to run every time they get too close. And I’m not ready to let you run out of my life. I don’t think Bronx is either.”

“I’ve stood and fought them!” she cried, hitting my shoulder with the heel of her right hand.

“And then what?”

She fell silent, her eyes drifting away from my face to stare down at my chest as her initial bravado deflated before my eyes.

“You ran,” I filled in when she refused to speak.

“You don’t understand.”

“I do. There are too many of them and they’re too strong for just one person to fight. You did the smart thing. You ran, staying alive and free. If I’d been you, I would have done the same thing.”

Trixie shook her head, refusing to look up at me. “No, you wouldn’t have. You would have stood your ground and fought. Gage, you would have died fighting rather than spend a very long lifetime running and hiding.”

“I honestly don’t know if that’s true. But if it is, then I’m glad you’re smarter than me.” I reached out and ran the fingertips of my right hand along her cheek, getting her to raise her teary eyes to my face. “Running brought you to Asylum and into my life. You’ve made both Bronx and me extremely happy over the past couple of years and I’m not ready for that to end. If it means that you need to make a stand with me at your side using magic to protect you, then that’s what I’m going to do.”