AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Despite my distended belly, I wasn’t sad about it.
“This whole courtship deal with the king’s advisor—I don’t like it,” Harper said as she carved out a piece of the velvety-smooth cake. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one thinking about tomorrow.
I swallowed before I replied, “I don’t either.”
We exchanged worried glances and delved back into the cake as if it held the solution to our problems.
“By the way,” Harper said with a mouthful. She motioned to my forearm with the pronged end of her fork. “I’ve been meaning to ask, where did you get the time to get a tattoo?”
I glanced down at the tattoo on my left arm. The vine and its thorns looked delicate, yet strong—the ornate detail of it made it almost lifelike. It started at my wrist and circled up and around my arm, the fine, detailed vine more spread out as it got to the end. It was beautiful, enchanting even, yet it felt like it was missing something. I didn’t know what . . .I didn’t know what?I could hardly believe myself—what was I saying? Some mysterious tattoo showed up on my arm shortly after I kissed Von and now I was admiring it? I needed to get it together, figure out where it came from, and how I could get rid of it. And I had a feeling all the answers I needed could be given by the male who just strolled in on unnaturally silent feet.
I pointed my fork at him accusingly. “Ask him.”
Harper’s brow shot up before she looked at Von, waiting for an answer.
Von took his irritatingly sweet time as he plucked a sizable red apple from a heaping bowl of fruit. His large hand dwarfed it instantly. We waited while he leisurely inspected it as if he had nothing better to do. I realized he wasn’t even listening. That, or he was just toying with me.
I squinted at him, deciding it was the former. “Go on, explain to her why I have a tattoo because I am eager to find out as well.” My fingers wrapped tightly around my fork, strangling the handle as if it were his irritatingly divine, purely male, kissable fucking neck.
His eyes, black as coal, didn’t bother to shift from the apple. “She made a deal with me.”
That was it. That was all he offered.
This male was infuriating.
Harper nodded like she now understood.Like she now understood?
My eyes flared and I hissed, “I did not.”
“Oh yes, Little Goddess.” Those endlessly black eyes lifted to mine. “You did.”
I grumbled. I wasn’t making any headway. I switched tactics. If he put it there, he could damn well remove it. “I want it removed. Now.”
“No.” He bit into the apple.
Unreasonable, insufferable, stupid male.
I looked at Harper for help, but judging by the awkward look on her face, it seemed like she had other places she would rather be. Still, I dragged her in, kicking and screaming, no less. “Harper, please reason with this demented male and tell him to remove the tattoo,” I gritted between clenched teeth.
“I can’t,” she stated, giving me a half apologetic shrug.
I shook my head. Clearly, they had both lost their minds. “And why can’t you?”
“Because you made a deal,” she said, as if that explained everything.
It didn’t.
I caught the amused look on Von’s face. I couldn’t tell what he was enjoying more—Harper’s unwillingness to defend me or that damned apple. I was half inclined to water arrow it right out of his hands.
“Regardless of if I made a deal or not, that doesn’t give him the right to tattoo me.” I dropped my fork onto the empty cake plate before I impaled one of them with it.
“Sorry, Sage, but it sort of does. It’s not exactly practical, but laws drafted by the Old Gods so rarely are,” Harper stated as if it were a matter of fact. She got up from the wood stool and went to the sink where she began to wash our forks.
“What does a tattoo have to do with the Old Gods?” I asked. I could feel Von’s eyes on me, that familiar tug pulling at me like a string. I ignored it.
Harper dried the forks, put them away in the drawer, and then turned, hands spreading out on the counter behind her. “As you know, our ancestors, the ones that came here all those years ago, brought the Old Religion to Edenvale. Tattooed bargains were part of the religion created by the Old Gods. A tattooed bargain, although a bit barbaric, is one that is set in stone. A tattoo is given to both parties involved in the deal. Unlike a flimsy piece of paper, it is not something you can just tear up—the grounds of the deal must be met before the tattoo is removed. It’s binding.” She paused before she added, “Although, we don’t see it happen very often anymore. Those who possess the magic for it, well, there aren’t very many of them left. Actually, Von is the only one I know who has the ability.”
I fumbled over what I was told. The tattoo was binding, something that would not be removed until the deal was complete. The deal I had promised Von . . . My breathlessly soft voice hummed in my ears.Anything. . .Everything.
