Page 79 of The Omega's Bloodlinem: Part Two

I lifted my head to brush my lips over his. “I’d like you to be there.”

His mouth was hot against mine, his fingers threading into my hair until the sharp clearing of a throat pulled us apart.

“Stop getting her worked up before I get the runes on her,” Shakti admonished. She set down a tray of henna cones. “Clothes off, witch. I’ll start with your front so you can lie down, but you’ll have to stand eventually, especially while it’s all drying.”

With a sigh, I slipped off Kendrick’s lap, stripping each item of clothing and dropping them onto the nearest chair. Shakti observed me coolly, but Kendrick watched every movement, fire hot in his eyes.

Shakti snapped her fingers in front of his face. “What did Ijustsay?”

“The only way I’m not going to stop myself from looking at her like that is if I leave.”

“Then leave,” Shakti deadpanned.

“Call me if you need me,” Kendrick ordered, planting a quick kiss on my temple before departing.

“You can lie on the couch for the first bit if you want,” Shakti told me. “Probably more comfortable than the table.”

I tugged cushions off the couch and loveseat, lying atop several of them, but leaving one for Shakti to kneel on.

“Let me know if you need me to stop anything, but otherwise I’ll work through until we’re finished.”

I nodded and she cleaned my skin with witch hazel.

“Let’s start with keeping you child-free.” I held the book on my chest while she diligently copied the complex script until it filled the space beneath my belly button to the start of the thatch of hair. She glanced up at me. “Doing okay?”

“Yep. Thank you.”

Shakti went back to work, covering my chest with intricate patterns. “You know, I was skeptical of you from the start.”

Nerves tripped in my belly. “I might’ve noticed that.”

She gave me a bemused smile, switching one henna cone for another, leaning over me. “I didn’t realize how stagnant we had gotten. It happens unfortunately often with beings who live as long as we do. We needed the shake-up.”

“I didn’t mean to shakequiteso hard.”

“I won’t thank you for bringing things to head between Kendrick and Yelena, but I do think it was an inevitability. They’ve been cordial since then.” She nudged my knee until I opened it so she could mark the symbols down my inner thigh. “I also have to admit your methods have been helping with the residents. I’ve overheard them talking about it multiple times, how much fun they’re having, how grateful they are to have something to keep their minds off of everything.”

“Really? I haven’t been able to check in with too many of them about it.”

Shakti nodded. “You’ve been busy recovering. I’m the one who’s been in the nest trenches during all of the chaos. I won’t lie and say there haven’t been challenges, but even with all the danger you brought, it’s impossible not to also see the positive changes.”

“So you hate me a little less?” I asked hopefully.

“I don’t hate you at all. And even if I did, I’d have put all of that aside while doing this. Kendrick has been almost alarmingly honest about the entire situation, so I understand it better than you might think I do.”

I hadn’t expected Shakti to be so open with me, but I was grateful she was willing to build a bridge. I was more than happy to meet her in the middle.

While she worked, we talked. My plethora of lovers dipped in and out, making sure we had drinks and snacks. I told herall about my life growing up, and she shared the same, talking about the nest her family was already working on in Colorado and how excited she was to go there when this was all over.

When she was finished with my front, I was forced to stand and she covered me with more scripts down my back, arms, and legs with a quick, steady hand. I had hundreds of sigils decorating my skin, but we couldn’t be too safe. The last thing we needed was having to do a fire evacuation on top of everything else.

“All done.” She set aside the final henna cone and surveyed her work. “Don’t you dare smudge any of it. It has to stay on at least for two hours, but preferably twelve. Stay upright as long as you can.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said with a cheeky grin. The sound of a helicopter came from overhead and my smile faltered. “I should’ve said goodbye to everyone before doing this.”

“You’ll see them again,” Shakti promised.

“You don’t know that.” I swallowed hard.