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Chapter 1
Lauren resisted the urge to move her shirt and cover the part of the tattoo Ambrose had bared. “What do you mean?”
He tilted his head. “Can it be that you don’t know?”
“If you have something to say, please say it.”
“I can’t do that around others, dear Lauren. Not without your permission, and I don’t believe you have enough information to give it.” He turned to Dusty and Link. “I apologize, but I need to walk Lauren outside. I don’t know how long it will take.”
“Lauren’s bedroom here is soundproof,” Link said.
Ambrose gave a curt nod. “Of course it is. I would expect nothing less of your Master.” He turned to Lauren. “Will you invite me into your soundproof room, dear girl?”
“Why do you keep calling me a girl?”
“Because he’s fucking ancient,” Link said. “Most everyone’s a child to him. He doesn’t know any better.”
Lauren turned and walked down the steps, assuming Ambrose would follow. He did, but she had to actually invite him into her room before he would come. She had a feeling it was one of Gavin’s rules, but she didn’t ask.
He closed the door behind him, met her gaze, and told her, “In Japan, you would be part of a little known branch of the ancestral kunoichi, in China, the short form is xianyì, which is something close to fairy art. The long form, rarely used, is xian yì chéngzài zhe, or fairy art bearer. The name most often used, though, is huàsheng, which originally meant something close to draw life, or paint life. Those who know of the family, and there aren’t many who do, generally refer to them as the Huàsheng Dynasty. Most who use the general terms assume they are speaking of mythological beings, rather than real ones.”
He paused, and when Lauren didn’t respond, he continued. “Tattoos have been around for thousands of years. Back when people still used and made use of magic, a family line figured out a way to bring their tattoos to life, and how to keep the magic going through their descendants. It seems implausible that a child of this line would end up in an orphanage, but here you are, with a tattoo bearing its own soul.”
Lauren’s heart skipped a beat and her stomach somersaulted and sank into her feet. “A soul?”
“Has your eyesight improved? Do you notice things you didn’t see before?”
Lauren stared at him without answering and tried to slow her heartbeat. She didn’t want him to know how freaked out she was.
“Tell me the name of your bird, please.”
“Ying.” She didn’t know he had a name, but the Mandarin word forhawkrolled off her tongue.
“Fitting. Okay, I need to see all of him or her. Do you know the gender?”
“Him. Male. I’m not taking my shirt off for you, but nice try.”
“I’ve seen tits before, my dear, and no way will I do anything inappropriate. Do you want my help or not?”
Lauren sighed and pulled her shirt off over her head. She needed to figure out what was going on.
“Close your eyes and tell me what I’m doing.”
She’d worked with enough martial arts teachers to just do whatever they said without arguing it wasn’t possible, so she closed her eyes.
At first, she only saw the color-infused blackness one usually sees with the eyes closed in a lighted room, and then, without warning, the room came to life again, and Ambrose stood before her with a sword drawn and held over his head.
“Fuck me.” She’d meant to say it, but it came out a whisper.
“Ah, and the eyes of your bird shift to reality. Your artist did such a good job, most people won’t notice. A thousand years ago, before the inks were developed so well, and before electric tattoo machines, it was extremely noticeable when the eyes changed.”
Ambrose stood relaxed, and the sword was no longer in his hands. She looked around, or rather, her hawk did, and it seemed to be gone. Mordecai could do that as well, so she didn’t comment on it.
Lauren opened her eyes and the image she’d seen with them closed layered over the information her own eyes sent to her brain. It was too much for a few seconds, but then it wasn’t so bad. Way more detail than she was used to, but she didn’t have to focus on it.
“What does this mean?” she asked Ambrose.
“You chose well, for your first tattoo. I would suggest a large alpha predator, and something like a bat, that can give you echolocation, for your second and third.”
