Like I doubted him. "And this someone can do a tattoo's like yours?"

"Yep." He looked like a dangerous little boy.

I narrowed my eyes against the setting sun. "How do you know this someone?"

"Jared." He gave me a lopsided grin.

"Figures." It was just like Jared to know everyone in a town he barely lived in. There was just something about Gavin's older brother that attracted attention. The good and bad kind. And it was more than just his ridiculous hotness. "Does this someone have a name?" It was getting kind of old referring to him as this someone.

He angled his gaze toward me waiting to see my reaction. "Blaze."

He wasn't disappointed. I rolled my eyes. "Blaze? What kind of name is that? It sounds like a male stripper."

He c.o.c.ked a brow at me. "You've changed."

I gave him a sa.s.sy grin. "No thanks to you."

"I really shouldn't take all the credit. When did you become so feisty? You're like a kitty cat with its claws out."

"I'm turning over a new leaf."

He grinned hazardously. "I like it."

I smacked him on the shoulder. "Why am I not surprised? Tell me more about the mark. Does it hurt?"

His eyes sobered. I really didn't understand why he was set against me getting one. He boasted one. What the heck was the big deal? "It's a rapid needle and spellbound ink. h.e.l.l yeah it's going to hurt."

Hmm. He was going to make this difficult. I could see it in the set lines of his chiseled jaw. It was impossible to look at him and my heart not somersault. "Why are you so against this?"

"The mark doesn't come without consequences. There are rules and responsibilities just like anything with magic. If the rules are broken, it can change you, not only as a person but as a witch. It can warp your magic."

Nothing in this world came without a price.

"I just don't want anything to harm you. The mark can be very powerful, but it can also destroy you." His eyes were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with concern and worry.

Even after everything that had happened he was still concerned about my welfare. It made my heart expand. I stared out the window mulling over his words. I wasn't going to lie, it made me think twice, but not enough to change my mind. What would my aunt say if she found out or accidently saw the tattoo? She would no doubt lose her s.h.i.t. The key here was to make sure she didn't find out.

More secrets.

More lies.

The guilt gnawed at me.

She would ground me for eternity and probably ban Gavin from my life. But that brought on a new set of questions. "Does the tattoo look the same for everyone?" I recalled how it been animated.

His hand effortlessly guided the wheel as we made a turn onto the highway. "No. Those without the gift see nothing but a black mark. What did you see?"

I laid my head on the back of the seat and turned my body towards him. "It was stellar. Like nothing I ever could have imagine. The ink was a prism of colors. I swear it moved in waves, shifting in and out."

He nodded. "It's a symbol to ward off dark magic. Four crescent moons intertwined. The four elements of magic: earth, water, air, and fire. Those are the colors you saw swirling within the shapes, along with a fifth color spirit. Spirit is more of an incandescent color. Once it is on you, you can never have it removed. Whatever spell is cast in the ink will follow you forever."

There was a foreboding ring to his words.

It was for protection, I rationed. It had nothing to do with the fact that Gavin had one, or that I wanted to share something with him. And definitely had nothing to do with making him think I was a cool chick.

No way. None of the above.

Who was I kidding? It was all those reasons and more. Everything told me that this magical body art would bring us closer. I knew that I needed to do this. For me. For Gavin. For us. I really couldn't explain it in any other way.

He drove us into a seedy part of Wilmington, the side of town I normally avoided. I focused on the road to keep my mind from thinking of other things. Heavy trees lined both sides of the road in a blur of shadows, hiding the pale moonlight from our view. We were the only headlights on the two lane road. He turned onto a barely visible road. There were no markings, nothing to signal that there was even a road. I wasn't even sure how he hadn't past it by.

The car b.u.mped along the dirt and gravel road.

"Well this isn't creepy," I murmured sarcastically.

"This was your idea," he reminded me, not that my stomach needed the reminder.

This had been my idea, but it wasn't exactly what I had pictured. Were there no tattoo shops along the boardwalk? That seemed a much safer option. I guess maybe they didn't have the proper equipment that was needed. "It's safe right? I'm not going to be butchered up and stored in a freezer am I?"

He snickered. "You need to lay off the slasher movies. I promise nothing bad will happen to you."

And those were words I trusted from no one but him.

An old ranch style house sat off to the right. Shingles were missing from places in the roof. He killed the lights and the engine, immersing us in darkness. A neon sign lit a small section of the house in bold blue lights. It read Divinity Tattoo.

He reached for my hand as I stepped out of the car. My stomach went topsy-turvy, and my pulse picked up speed. I was really doing this. I thought I was going to spew. My nerves had settled in and were hammering against my ribs.

"Is there an age limit?" Suddenly I just realized I wasn't yet of legal age to get a tattoo. I didn't know if worked the same way with magical art.

"I got you covered." He flipped his wrist and out appeared a plastic card.

"You made me a fake ID?" I asked in disbelief.

"Every teenager needs one, especially when breaking the law." His blue eyes sparkled in mischief.

I peered down at the plastic card. It looked flawless. "This looks so real."

He flexed his fingers. "Magic."

Taking my hand again, he guided us toward the creepy house. Everything was dark, with slivers of moonlight cutting across the yard. I couldn't see two feet in front of me. Casting an unsure glance to the tree line bordering the property, I tripped on a pothole. Gavin's hand was there, steadying me before I ended up face first in the ground spitting dirt.

My eyes must have been wide as saucers. "We can leave if you want. You don't have to do this."

I just shook my head.

I can do this, I told myself. You can do this. You want to do this. It helped a little.

The door jingled as we pushed it open, and I was awestruck when we walked inside. The place was the complete opposite of what the exterior lacked. I felt like I had been transported to a parallel universe. The walls were painted with mermaids and harpies that seemed to dance and sing. Everything in the s.p.a.cious studio was touched by magic in some form.

My mouth must have fallen open, because he whispered in my ear, "It's glamoured."

I tried to ignore the little blip in my heart at his closeness. It was challenging. Glamour made sense, I just had never experienced it firsthand. It was pretty kicka.s.s. I so needed to learn that trick.

A man in his thirties sat on a stool behind the counter with a half dozen pierces on his face. Both arms were sleeved in ink that sparkled like Gavin's. It was mind-boggling to see so much of his body covered by mystic art.

Billy the bada.s.s, that's what I decided to call him, eyed Gavin in the macho way guys do when they size each other up. Then he turned his grey eyes on me. "What can I do for you sweet thang?" He had a deep, gruff voice like the kind you get from screaming too much and a tinge of the deep south.

In all honesty, he was pretty scary.

Gavin stepped in front of me, centering the attention back to him. "She is here to see Blaze."

Billy the bada.s.s looked from me to Gavin and back to me. "You got ID babe?"

The muscle in Gavin's jaw ticked. I don't think he took well to the casual endearments Billy threw around.

I tried to play it cool and reached into the back pocket of my jeans.

I totally failed.

Gulping, I slapped my new ID on the counter. He slid it off the gla.s.s onto his huge palm. Rings decorated each finger.

"So..." He scanned the plastic card for my name. "Britney, you looking to get inked?"

I glared sideways at Gavin. Britney. He smirked, reading the flicker of spice in my eyes. He had changed my name on the ID. I just nodded my auburn head, afraid to speak.

Billy must have taken my silence for nerves, partially true. "Looks like we got ourselves a virgin."

I choked on a horrorstruck laugh. Gavin's fist clenched at his side. This was going well.

"Don't worry. Blaze will take good care of you. Blaze!" he bellowed. "You got a customer."

A tiny woman with silver hair that traveled past her b.u.t.t rounded the corner. She had it tied at the nape of her neck, and it swayed with her movements. Her features were enchanting like a little pixie. As far as I could see, she didn't have an ounce of ink on her.

This was Blaze. She wasn't at all what I had expected. She was a she.

Her smile was charming, reaching the depths of her aquamarine eyes. She was definitely a witch, yet she looked anything but human. An unearthly glow gleamed on her skin like her outline had been blended by an artist.

"You must be Jared's brother, Gavin. I can see the resemblance." She held out her dainty hand unadorned with any jewelry.

He shook her hand, giving her a Cheshire cat grin. "The one and only, and I'm the better looking one." His ego had no bounds.

I rolled my eyes. Blaze caught the movement, and the corners of her sh.e.l.l pink mouth turned up. "You must be his girlfriend."

Awkward.

He didn't deny or confirm, and she had totally caught me off guard. Since the whole fiasco with Lukas, neither of us brought it up. "Brit wants to get inked," he informed, letting Blaze make up her own mind about us.

My chest swelled, and my heart skipped. It gave me hope, though I had to stop myself from rolling my eye when I heard him call by my fake name.

"Well Brit aren't you one lucky girl?" I wasn't entirely sure it was necessary to stroke his already inflated ego anymore, but Gavin definitely didn't have any qualms with it. "Let's step into my office." She gave me a quick wink and then led the way down a narrow hallway.

As we turned around the corner, I elbowed him the ribs. "What was that?"

He grunted and scowled down at me. "Security. I don't want anyone tracing you," he whispered near the nape of my neck.

I ignored the shiver. Then there was the uncertainty I felt about him protecting my ident.i.ty. It seemed a little excessive. I made a mental note to ask him on the way home. We followed Blaze into a quaint room the same color of her eyes. The blue-green walls were trimmed in dark mahogany. A counter housed a slew of instruments that looked more torturous than artsy.

She took a seat and indicated I take the one beside her. "What do you have in mind?"

Gavin stood behind me. His presence was like a shield. "Protection. You know the whole evil spirits and whatnot. The usual nasties."

Her smile was lovely and illuminated her entire face. "Hmm." She reached out and clasped my hand in hers. A charge of electricity jolted through our hands on contact. My eyes widened, and I studied her face wondering how this was helping. Didn't I just pick out a pretty design and voila, abracadabra...I got a kicka.s.s tattoo.

Sounded accurate enough to me.

Blaze looked at me funny. "Whoa. I wasn't expecting that. You pack quite a punch in such a little package." Who was she calling little? We were about the same height and build. She smiled, aqua eyes dazzling. "I've got just the thing for you. Let the party begin."

I wouldn't exactly call this a party...to each his own I guess. There was both a bubble of excitement and a sliver of fear in my chest. The fear was mostly for the pain. Glancing at Gavin his eyes filled with worry.

"You don't have to do this you know," he said for like the umpteenth time.

I had to fight from rolling my eyes again. "I know. I want this. I can't explain it. This just feels right."

He nodded, a loose piece of dark hair falling on his forehead. "I understand. More than you know."

The buzzing of the liner machine vibrated behind me, a sudden reminder of what I was about to do. Straddling the chair, I lifted my shirt as I waited for her to get started. The first p.r.i.c.k of the needle was like eeehh, no big deal. A few minutes later I was trying not to jump out of the chair.

I bit my lip to keep from squealing like a girl. It reminded me like a hot scratch, but repeated. Eventually the area went numb until she hit a new nerve, then it started again. Gavin's warm hand clutched in mine helped me focus on anything but the annoying pain and kept me from jerking away.

Clamping my eyes shut, I concentrated on the pulsing vigor from our connected fingers. If I thought the outline was bad, the shading didn't compare. Dots of black swirled behind my eyelids. When at last the buzzing stopped I thought my ears deceived me. They still rang.

"All done," Blaze's voice sounded from behind me.

I let a huge sigh of relief. She smoothed on an ointment before leading me to a full length mirror. Turning over my shoulder, I looked at the red patch on my lower back. There just above my jean line sat the dark lines and incandescent rainbow ink of my first act of rebellion. It was majestic, mystical, and alluring a cross between a sun and a star. A trail of dust encircled the image. In awe, I watched as it swirled in movement.

"I love it," I said, facing forward grinning. It had been worth the risk, worth the pain. At the center of my back I could feel the thumping of magic where the tattoo sat. "It is remarkable," I gushed.

Blaze smiled in the mirror. "It really is. One of the best I've ever done. A reinforcement of what already courses through your blood. This will heighten, guard, and guide you." Then her eyes went stony and opaque. "But the price for the darker side of magic will be increased tenfold. Choose wise in your spells. The vector of elements suits you."

Her words struck a chord inside me, a weight of responsibility I hadn't felt before walking inside the deceiving rundown house. "Thank you," I managed in a soft and shaky voice.

Gavin, after a playboy worthy smile goodbye to Blaze, ushered me back down the slender hallway into the main entrance. He was such a flirt, I thought to myself but really I didn't mind. It was adorable and harmless.

Billy the bada.s.s gave me a sly wink as we past him heading for the door. "I'll see you soon sweetheart. They said once you've been inked at Divinity you always come back for more."

Gavin placed a hand on my elbow, and his flirtatious mood vanished. I could feel the steam of energy radiating off him. "Don't hold your breath tough guy," he added spitefully. Then he ushered us into the cool wash of twilight not giving me a chance to say anything, which was probably a good thing.

The moment the door closed behind us we were surmised in darkness. Gavin intertwined our fingers. Sparks flamed in the air from all the pent up irritation that suddenly rolled through him. "I should go back there and give Rambo a thrashing," he growled.