Page 18

“I mean, I guess I can see the appeal to that. But I’ve never tattooed demons before, so I really need to look into it first. If it’s possible, then we can set up an appointment.”

“Oh, me too! I’m Felix, by the way. The cool one.”

Hendrix frowned at his friend. “Didn’t Tyler tell you not to get anything without him being here?”

Felix rolled his eyes. “Duh. I’d bring him too. He’s human. He wouldn’t even need to wait. That guy is hot. Tyler would look even better with his own tattoos.” He gestured to me, chatting animatedly.

I huffed out a laugh. “Thanks, I guess. Here, why don’t I get your information and the name and number of your contact and I’ll get back to you if it's possible or not. And if your…”

“Mate,” Felix finished.

“Right... If your mate wants his own ink, then he can email me to set up an appointment.” I grabbed a few cards off the front desk, handing them out. Hendrix scribbled the name of his contact on a piece of paper and handed it to me, and I wrote down general information on each of them. Aziel stood at the back, discomfort clear across his face, but when it was his turn, he mumbled out his information without needing a push from his friends. Once we were through, he hesitated.

“Dante… He asked if he and Ollie could play again. I understand if you’re busy, but he hasn’t made many friends yet and now that they’re past the fight, he likes hanging out with Ollie.”

Ollie had been upbeat about spending time with Dante, too. After they apologized, they got along pretty well, and not once did Dante lose his cool or act out around us during our game. Even when Ollie was kicking our asses.

“Sure. Just text me and we can set things up. I’ve got Ollie for the next week while my parents are on vacation, so after school works, or the weekend in the mornings if that’s easier for you.”

“He’ll definitely text you. Won’t you, Az?” the woman snickered. I wasn’t sure why she was laughing, and the way she leered at him said she was enjoying ribbing him, but I let that go. If I didn’t know any better, I’d assume she was teasing because he was into me. He’d given no signs of being interested, so I doubted it. Whatever. I had enough on my plate without having to worry about stuff like that.

CHAPTER TWELVE

AZIEL

I hated my friends.They were getting far too much enjoyment out of this. After telling them the truth about my family, Athena decided to spill the vision she had about me. Normally, she kept that kind of thing to herself unless someone asked for her to share, but she said it was for my own good. Now my friends were determined for me to spend time with the human, and they refused to take no as an answer. Which is how I found myself back in the tattoo shop on a Saturday afternoon under some crap pretense of Dante wanting to play with Ollie. Even Dante was determined to help, and he said he was going to play with Ollie every day of the week until Declan and I were at least friends.

The shop was busier than it’d been the last time I was here. There were two people getting tattoos and two more waiting on the couch near the front desk. I kind of expected them to look at least wary when Dante and I showed up, but this seemed to be the wrong crowd for that kind of reaction. I got a few curious looks, but after Declan lifted his chin in greeting, they went back to their phones and conversations.

“Ollie is watching TV upstairs. Gimme a minute, I’ll call him down,” Declan called over his shoulder.

Dante crept closer to where Declan was working, standing on his tiptoes to get a better view. Declan noticed and shifted a little, gesturing with a tip of his head for Dante to come closer.

“What do you think?”

Moving to Declan’s side, Dante studied the ink. “That’s really cool, but you know they don’t look like that, right?”

Both Declan and the guy in the chair looked surprised. “Wait. The grim reaper is real?”

Dante scrunched up his nose and looked at me. “The what?”

Stepping closer, I looked at the tattoo. I’d seen images like that before. Humans used them regarding religion and death, but if they went with the literal sense, grims were very different.

“It’s a human thing. They aren’t drawing actual grims.”

Declan tipped his head curiously. “Grims and grim reaper aren’t the same thing?”

I shook my head. “No. Other than being dangerous, they don’t have much to do with death. And the cloaks are a myth. They don’t actually have corporal forms. They’re more like a black mist, so that’s probably why humans saw them that way.” My gaze flicked down to the tattoo again, and I pursed my lips thoughtfully. “Tattoos like that might flatter them, though. You’ll be less likely to be attacked by them.”

The man in the chair looked surprised, a big smile blooming across his face. “No shit? That’s awesome.”

The man who greeted us the night before, who had been working on a tattoo the next chair over, snorted and lifted his head from what he was doing. “Damn, I guess that means I’m clear, too. You’re gonna have to add one to your collection, Dec.”

Declan rolled his eyes. “I’m good, thanks.”

Standing this close, I could see the tattoos on his arms and neck. There didn’t seem to be a specific theme to them. A compass on the right side of his neck, an old clock face on the left. Roses on his shoulder, a bunch of lines that looked like a date on the inside of his arm, and more. I didn’t realize I was staring until he looked back up at me. That was when I finally noticed his eyes.

“Your eyes are two different colors.”