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“Not at all,” he said, straddling the chair and leaning his chest against the padding. Talitha and Reggie spoke quietly over him as they set up to work, and within a few minutes, the first image – a complicated black tribal design that spanned his back shoulder to shoulder – had been transferred to his skin. The buzz of the tattoo machines as they turned on set his teeth on edge, but he pushed the feelings away and thought of Mia. This was all for her.
* * *
Lucian groaned as he sat up and stretched. His entire back felt like chewed-up hamburger, and the scent of blood and ink mixed with the sweet woodsy scent of magic filled the air. He stood and stretched, then straddled the chair the other way, resting his hands on his thighs.
Talitha flexed her fingers. “Wanna take a break?”
“I’m good if you are,” he said.
She snapped her fingers with a smile. “Witches are fast healing.”
“Hold on,” Reg said. “Check out the back.”
Talitha leaned over. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“What’s wrong?” Lucian asked.
“The ink’s disappearing!”
Lucian rushed to the mirror on the wall and lifted a hand mirror, turning away and angling the smaller one so he could view his back. As he watched, his skin seemed to absorb not only the normal ink but also the magically inked outline.
He glanced at his arms, where the last of the original tattoos had been, and found them gone as well.
“What. The. Hell!”
Talitha moved toward him, but Reg stopped her and pushed her behind his back. “You need to calm down, man,” the male said.
“What?” Lucian asked.
“Your eyes are red and your voice is deep. We didn’t do anything wrong. Clearly your berserker doesn’t want to be caged anymore.”
Lucian didn’t even realize how angry he’d gotten. Pushing at the berserker, he felt the beast calm. “Sorry.”
Talitha peeked around Reg’s body. “Can your berserker do that? Decide he doesn’t want to be magically bound and just reject it? I’ve never heard of such a thing, and P.S., I’m a damn awesome witch and that was double-strength.”
At a loss for words, Lucian stared at his reflection in the mirror. How the hell was he going to see Mia if he couldn’t cage the beast?
Trying not to feel too defeated, he grabbed the duffel and pulled out a stack of bills. “Thanks for trying,” he said to Talitha and Reggie as handed her the money. It wasn’t her fault that the tattoos hadn’t stayed, and they deserved to be compensated.
He opened the door and shielded his eyes from the bright sun.
“Sorry I couldn’t help. Let me know if I can do anything else for you,” Talitha said.
He scented the hunters before he even stepped out of the shop, and he snarled. He knew by the tranq guns the males held that they weren’t going to let him do anything but go with them to the office, which meant he’d need to fight. He didn’t want to, but he had to find a way to get his beast under control so he could get to Mia.
No one was going to stand in his way.
CHAPTERNINE
Mia rolled over and yawned, curling around a pillow. It was scratchy and didn’t smell right, which made her wonder where she was. All at once, her mind snapped into gear and she remembered what had happened.
Sitting up with a squeak, she clutched at the blankets that were tucked around her and looked around the room. She recognized it immediately as the guest bedroom in Mal’s house. A nightlight that was shaped like a howling wolf was plugged in, giving off a warm golden glow. On the bedside was a bottle of water, and she cracked the lid and took a long drink.
“Mia?” Nila’s voice came through the closed door.
“I’m awake.”
The door opened with a soft creak, and Jack walked in ahead of his mom, holding a stuffed wolf in one hand and a daisy in the other. He handed Mia the flower with a toothy grin.
