Hours after waking, lots of primping and several outfits tried on and discarded, Al walked with her friends past a park in a more residential area of the city. They were headed up Frenchman Street looking for the Great Spirit Tattoo shop. Al pulled out the business card Kai had given her again, the corners were already worn from the number of times she had pulled it out and looked it over. Double checking the address, she motioned for Nat and Rogue to cross the street at the corner.
“It should be right up here on the right.” Al said looking from a restaurant on the corner to a store front beside it. Then as they passed a wall covered with new and weather-worn fliers, she saw the wooden sign hanging in front of a bright yellow and red painted store front… The Great Spirit Tattoo. All three women stopped and faced the front door. Two large display windows allowing them to see into the shop past the stylized painted “TATTOO” and the shops phone number. A neon sign flashed "OPEN” in the window of one door and the other door had a sign that said, “ENTER.”
“Wow.” Nat said. “This is some place.”
“I love it.” Rogue said nudging Nat with her shoulder.
“If you don’t like it we can leave.” Al offered timidly. Hoping they couldn’t hear the desperation in her voice. She was torn between wanting them to say no and wanting them to say yes. She desperately wanted to see Kai, but as she tugged at her shirt she felt lacking. Her haggard appearance from the sleepless nights didn’t help. Would he be disgusted by her appearance? Had he hoped she wouldn’t show up at the shop at all?
“Maybe we should leave, go somewhere else or something.” Al begged her friends.
Rogue rested her hand on Al’s elbow, “Why? I thought you wanted to see Kai again, Al.”
“I did, I do,… but I look awful.”
Nat turned Al to face her, “Al, you do not look awful. You’ve had a couple of rough days and look a bit tired, but you are still beautiful. That man will be thrilled to see you.”
Nat knew her so well that she didn’t wait for Al to answer, just pulled her to the door and stopped with her hand on the door handle.
“It looks clean.” Nat glanced through the window. “I say we go in and check out the artists portfolios. I don't see any reason to run yet.” Nat gave Al a wink.
“Absolutely,” Rogue agreed. “Besides, we haven’t seen your man yet."
Kai had to be here. Al really wanted to see him. She wanted to know if he was as gorgeous as she remembered and if he made her feel any of the things she did in the airport in the light of day and after some distance. She couldn’t help but blush at her friends ribbing and pushed past Nat to open the door before they could say anything else. A bell tinkled over their heads as they entered the brightly colored and eclectically designed tattoo shop. Nat was right, it was extremely clean. And, even with the eclectic collection of items on the walls and a few shelves, it was extremely well organized.
“I’ll be right there.” A gruff voice yelled from a back room, before a large man stepped past the blood red curtain to the front of the shop. He stopped, half-turned, as he laid supplies on a counter beside the entry to the back. The man was huge, not as tall as Kai, but he had a larger build than the man Al was hoping to see. As he turned to them, Al heard Rogue whisper, “Woof,” under her breath. The man stopped cold, staring at Rogue, before he shook his head and positioned himself behind the counter at the front of the shop.
“What can I do you for?” He asked. Rogue stood staring and not saying a word.
Nat nudged her with a shoulder and replied, “We were told that this was the place to get a tattoo.”
“Oh yeah, who by?” The man demanded.
“Kai.” Al squeaked. She cleared her throat and tried again, “Kai Darrow. I met him on a flight heading this way. When I told him that my friends and I were planning to get a tattoo, he said he worked here and gave me his card.” Al took out the card and waved it at him.
“You must be the gal he said he met on his way down. The one he missed his flight for.” He said as he grinned at Al. What’s he talking about missed his flight. Al thought before he continued. “Kai’s not in yet, we had planned on doing inventory, so we don’t have any appointments this morning.”
“Oh. We should have called.” Al began to turn away.
“No worries. It must have been destiny for us to clear our schedules.” The man was staring at Rogue, “Why don’t y’all tell me what you’re wantin’ and I’ll see what we can figure out." He waited a moment and when the girls didn’t answer, he went on. “How about you beautiful?” He said to Rogue, "what you wantin’ on that gorgeous skin of yours?”
For the first time ever, Al watched as Rogue blushed and giggled nervously. She couldn’t believe it; she had never seen her take charge friend ever react this way. Oh, how fun. I think I have something on Rogue now. Al giggled. Nat looked over at her and motioned to Rogue with a movement of her head and mouthed, “What the hell?” Al just shrugged her shoulders.
“Well, I… I mean we... we wanted to get a tattoo together. We were thinkin’ the same one. Somethin’ to remember our trip to New Orleans. We originally were thinkin’ somethin’ with the feel of the city to it.” Rogue replied.
Nat continued, “But, there have been some events and we’re thinking something a bit different. Something to represent strength. A warrior tattoo.”
“I kind of thought maybe an animal that represents strength.” Al added quietly.
“Hmm, well…” He reached behind him and pulled a large black binder off a shelf. “This book only contains one style of tattoo, but why don't you look at it to get an idea of the work our artists can create. They’re not New Orleans inspired, but they are warrior tattoos with animals. I think it shows some of our best work. I’ll just go in the back and grab the tourist portfolio. I think Kai had it back their updatin’ it.” The big man had made a face when he said tourist.
Al and Nat both stiffened at his words. She hoped he was going to take them seriously. This tattoo meant a lot to her and it needed to be special. Not some knock off art. Kai had made her believe that they would take care of them; she hoped she hadn’t made a bad decision to talk the others into coming here.
With that thought she grabbed the book he had left on the counter and began to flip randomly through the pages.
“You don’t seem enthused with our choice of themes?” Nat questioned before he could disappear into the back.
“It’s just that I hear it a lot, especially about the city inspired part. It’s just not very original for a true tattoo artist.” He responded as he slipped back through the blood red curtains.
“Let me see Al,” Nat said as she grabbed the binder. “Geesh! Start at the beginning, how can you stand to just jump around?" Nat scolded as she flipped to the first page.
“As a technical writer I have to be linear and follow all of the rules, but I’m on vacation and I refuse to do it now.” Al said as she slid the binder back her way and looked at the first photo. She sucked in a breath, her fingers hovering over the edge of the page as she stared. A dragon. He will guide and protect you. Miss Cleo’s words echoed in Al’s ears.
The bell above the door tinkled behind them. Al tore her eyes away from the amazing dragon tattoo that she was pretty sure she was going to leave the shop with. Standing in the doorway was Kai. The man she also wanted to leave the shop with.
***
Kai entered the tattoo shop with a large box in his hands that he had picked up at the post office. It probably held the new supplies that Malkum had ordered. It wasn’t heavy, but it blocked some of his view. He smiled at the customers standing at the counter from around the box and proceeded to the coffee table in the waiting area. He dropped the box on the table just as an enticing blend of flowers and cinnamon teased his nose. A fragrance he would not soon forget. His mate had come.
“Malkum, you here?” Kai yelled towards the back, playing it cool and acting like he didn’t realize that Alvena stood a matter of feet behind him. He
went behind the counter and looked up into dark pools of mahogany.
“Hey, I remember you. Alvena, right?” Kai greeted lamely.
“Huh?” Alvena said distractedly as she stared back into his eyes.
“You’re Alvena. Alvena from the airport, right?” He clarified as she looked down at her hand over a page in the binder on the counter.
“Oh. The airport. Right. Yes.” She stumbled over the words, before pointing at the page her hand had been resting on. “I want this tattoo."
Kai looked down at the binder, expecting the “tourist” binder. Instead he saw his Warrior Mark staring back at him. I knew it! She’s mine. There’s no denying it now. Not that anyone could have with the way she had made him feel.
“Oh, that’s a good choice?” Kai grinned, “Would you like to see it in person?”
Alvena blinked up at him as her friends looked over her shoulder at the design she had selected.
“What is it, Al?” Nat asked, “Oh, that’s nice. I’m not sure I would want it, but that’s really cool and I guess we don’t have to get the same tattoo like we discussed.” Her voice held a hint of hurt as she looked at Kai, “What do you mean, see it in person?”
“In the flesh...” He said as he pushed his t-shirt sleeve up to show his entire left arm and shifted his body so that it was facing Alvena. She reached up, her fingers hesitated and then she lightly touched a finger to the stark black lines of the dragon. Inside of Kai his dragon roared his approval, finally making its presence known after the quiet of the day before.
“Yes.” She moved her finger along the lines of the design. “Yes. Definitely this one.” Kai grinned at Alvena as he placed his hand over hers on his mark.
“Why this one?” He asked, curious to see what explanation she would give to the instinctive pull she was feeling to the Warrior mark.
“Because he will guide and protect me.” She said and looked into Kai’s eyes. He sucked in a breath at how close she was to describing what the tattoo meant to Kai himself. As Kai continued to hold Alvena’s hand, he was distracted by Nat moving the portfolio over to look at it. She turned the page and at the sight of the black panther that his friend Charlie wore on his left arm, Nat stopped and brushed her finger tips over the image much like Alvena had on his arm.
“I’ll admit that psychic must have some ability, because here’s the panther, but it’s a tattoo not a man.” Nat mumbled to herself, before addressing Al, “I can see the appeal of having a tattoo that looks like this. I’m in Al.” Alvena’s friend said as she shoved the book over to Rogue, “I want this one, how about you Rogue, do you want one in this style? You get one too, then we can all be unique but the same.”
Kai stroked his thumb back and forth over the top of Alvena’s fingers, while looking between her two friends. What were the odds that Alvena’s other friend would choose one of the Thirteen’s Warrior Marks? He didn’t see that happening. The odds had to be astronomical. But he watched as Rogue flipped to the third image, Dar’s, and then the fourth, Malkum’s. Where is Malkum? He thought as he watched Rogue, waiting to see what she would say.
Rogue flipped the page back and forth between the two enforcer’s Warrior Marks a few times. She stopped on Malkum’s and ran her finger over his ability symbol. Kai grinned, the Great Spirit and Destiny had a weird sense of timing, but he’d take it.
At that moment, Malkum re-entered the front of the shop with a couple of other binders.
“Kai! Nice of you to make it in.” Malkum grinned at Kai. “Want to help me tattoo some jolies filles?” He said as he winked at Rogue. It always amazed Kai to watch his friend’s lighthearted banter with customers when at any other time he was stoic and a bit intimidating. Good thing Rogue got to see the softer side first. Kai laughed at that thought, his friend was anything but soft.
“I don’t think you will need those portfolios in your hands.” Kai said. “I believe all the lasses chose from the one you left out here.”
Malkum looked down at Rogue outlining his mark with her finger in the book on the counter. He walked up to the counter and asked, “Do you like that one, ma petite?”
Rogue glanced up, “Yes.”
“It’s the one I have.” He continued as he pushed his left sleeve up to expose the Warrior Mark on his arm.
Nat looked between her friends and the two guys, the couples eyes were locked together as if they were the only ones in the room. She moved Rogue’s hand out of the way and turned to Charlie’s Warrior Mark.
“Does someone you know have this one?” She asked loud enough to gain the men’s attention. Malkum and Kai looked at the book. They both grinned and said, "Charlie.”
“Fuck.” Nat whispered as she stared at the design in the image below her fingers.
Kai continued, “The first several are all ones that friends of ours have.”
Chapter 9
As Kai waited for the lasses response that they chose the Warrior Marks that he and his friends wore, the glass from the front windows exploded inward. Shards of glass rained down on all of them. Without event thinking, him and Malkum jumped the counter and began pushing the girls to the back room of the shop. As a pop, pop, pop noise sounded from behind them, Kai moved to cover Alvena and her friends with his body. What the fuck!
The moment they had the women through the curtain, Kai noticed Nat’s combat stance. Her eyes were shifting back and forth looking for danger.
“That was fucking gunfire.” She yelled. “Who the hell is shooting at your shop?”
“How the fuck am I supposed to know!” Malkum growled back. His stance was protective behind Rogue.
Rogue had already dug her mobile out of her bag. Pressing the on button, she began to dial 911. But, before pressing send, she looked at Malkum, “What’s the address here again?”
“Wait a minute. I don’t hear anythin’.” Malkum said as he moved the curtain to re-enter the front only to be pushed back by more bullets. He turned to Kai, "I think we better leave through the back. My truck is parked out there.”
Kai nodded his acceptance.
“Oh, hell no! You so did not make a decision without talking to us?” Nat demanded.
“I know you did not just say we were leavin’ the scene of a crime.” Rogue added.
“We’ve done it before, Rogue.” Alvena said in a monotone voice.
“Right now I don’t care about the damn law, but I make the decision about what I do.” Nat firmed up her stance, “The Marines told me what to do. No one does anymore.”
“We need the cops. We need help.” Rogue yelled.
“Who the hell cares,” Alvena’s voice rose in fear, “I don’t want to die.”
“Enough.” Malkum’s intense stare, nothing like the one he had turned on the women just minutes earlier. This look like ice, focused on the women, and affectively stopped all of them from arguing.
“It’s for the best if we don’t stay here, because whoever that is may come in the shop after us.” Malkum stated and looked from one woman to the next, only moving his eyes to the next one as they nodded their understanding.
“Lasses, we don’t know what is happening, but Malkum knows what he is doing. He has training.” Kai moved Alvena to the back wall next to the door, which he opened a crack. His dragon senses were on high alert as he searched for anyone in the back alley. He didn’t detect any danger, but he wouldn’t allow his and his brother’s mates to go out the door until he was sure it was safe. Mates. All three of them are our mates. They must be protected.
“Hey, Malkum, throw me your keys and I’ll get the truck moved up to the door.”
Malkum tossed the keys to Kai, who caught them and looked down at Alvena, “Lass, can you stay here until Malkum lets you know it’s safe to get in the truck?”
His mate stood very quiet, her breathing shallow and fast from fear, but she shook her head yes. Kai ran a finger down her jaw, then tweaked her nose.
“That’s a good lass. It’ll just take a minute for me to get
the truck.”
Kai opened the door, verified that the coast was clear, and quickly rushed out the back. The door quietly closing behind him, someone obviously stopped it from banging loudly and causing unwanted attention to their plans.
He quickly scanned back and forth around the area behind the shop. He partially shifted, his eyes and sense of smell enhanced by his dragon. Not seeing anyone, he approached the truck and just as he began to get in to the large black F150, a scream sounded from the back of the shop.
***
Al was surrounded by Nat and Rogue as they kept her backed into the wall by the door. Once again she felt like a liability. Her brain was disconnected from the action happening around her, her body moving mechanically, the fear causing her breathing to increase and her chest to tighten. Al kicked herself for being so weak, she couldn’t afford to have a panic attack. She would get her friends killed, if they had to take care of her.
She was once again amazed at how fast her friends had jumped into action, but not her, she had once again shut down and waited for someone else to save her. Kai. Her hero. That’s who she wanted to save her. But, who was he and this friend of his? She had barely met Kai, spending only a few pleasant hours on the plane chatting with him. Even so, she felt that she could trust him.
Miss Cleo’s words echoed through her mind, “Trust in him, he will guide you and protect you.”
Al internally smacked herself up beside the head for staking her life on some vague words said by a self-proclaimed psychic. Ugh! But, he went out there alone. I won’t forgive myself if something happens to him.
Finding the Dragon (Dásreach Council Book 1) Page 10