by Jane Kindred
She was starting to think Leo was wrong about him. If he was a Nazi, he certainly didn’t think of himself as one. She wasn’t picking up any images indicating he was at all sympathetic to such a cause.
Rhea tried a few more times but got nothing more definitive. She even tried more generally to see if she could pick up on an impression of why he’d come into her tattoo shop, but all she got was a flash of memory of him seeing one of her flyers.
He tipped her well and thanked her profusely. “This is really great. Absolutely fantastic. I’ll be sure to spread the word.”
Rhea beamed. “So glad you like it.” She took a picture for her online gallery and wished him Happy Holidays as he left—her first client and a satisfied one.
Leo came out when he’d gone. “Doesn’t sound like you tipped him off. Great job steering him. Did you get anything?”
Rhea uploaded the photo. “Not really. Are you sure about what he said to you? Maybe you misunderstood him.”
Leo’s eyes narrowed. “Are you kidding me?”
“He didn’t react like he was on board with any of that—the swastika, the Nazis. I even tried picturing stuff myself, as a sort of subliminal suggestion, and the worst I got was a shudder.”
Leo scratched his head through the cap. “I don’t get it. He was very specific to me about the purity of the races and some pro-eugenics crap.”
Rhea shrugged. “Maybe he’s a racist asshole who thinks he’s better than those other racist assholes.”
“And you didn’t get anything from him about why he showed up here after running into me?”
“Honestly, I think it must have been a coincidence. I floated the question and got an image of one of my flyers. Nothing about you. I doubt he’s even aware you work here.”
Leo sank onto the couch, shaking his head. “I don’t get it. What are the odds? But maybe you’re right.”
“On the plus side...” Rhea held up the fifty he’d given her for a tip and grinned. “Demoness Ink is officially legit.” She snapped the bill in both hands. “And now I’ve got Christmas spending money.” She paused and grimaced. “And the gas and electric bill on this place for the first month is probably going to be three times this.”
Leo leaned forward, arms resting on his knees, looking rueful. “I feel bad being one more expense.”
“Are you kidding? I’ve conned you into accepting ink for payment. You’re the best thing I’ve got going here.”
Leo grinned. “In that case, maybe you could pay me a little early? I’ve been thinking it would be fun to have both wrists itching at the same time.”
“What the hell.” Rhea popped the fifty into her cash box. “I’m in a generous mood, and I’m on a roll. After we close today, we’ll get you set up.”
* * *
Mjölnir was more complex than the allrune, a knotted pattern weaving throughout it. It was nice work but impossibly faded, as though the ink had blurred and run together over time. Time Leo couldn’t possibly have had the tattoo.
“I may need to add some color to give it definition,” she said as she looked it over. “Would you be okay with that? Or do you want to stick with black?”
“Actually, I really like the scarlet color you have in the tattoo you showed me. I was thinking that might look nice as a contrast inside the white space.”
Rhea smiled. “I was just thinking that color would be awesome there.” She took the bottle of ink out of her kit. “It’s called Bloodbath.”
Leo laughed. “Let’s hope that’s not prophetic.”
Rhea pondered the job as she set up the supplies. “This one’s probably going to take a bit more time than the other one did. Maybe two hours. Is that going to work for you?” She hesitated. “I mean...are you staying here tonight or do you need to get back to the motel?”
Leo considered. “I wasn’t going to stay, but sometimes I have major memory problems after the final night. That’s why I move around a lot. It’s uncomfortable to wake up somewhere and have pieces missing that other people are expecting you to have. Maybe it would help to have a familiar face there when I wake up—if you’re going to stay, that is.”
“I thought I would.” Rhea tried to play it casual. She didn’t dare let him see how relieved she was at the prospect or how much she’d missed seeing his other self the night before. “And you have my word nothing untoward will happen.” She crossed her heart, as he’d done the other day, with a lighthearted smile.
Leo’s expression said he wasn’t sure he could trust her, but he smiled, anyway. “Now if we could only get his word.”
“Well, that’s what the restraints are for, right? I’ll keep my distance, and he can do his worst. As long as you trust me.”
“I do trust you.” This time the smile was genuine. “Him, not so much. But you, absolutely.” His stomach growled, and Rhea paused in prepping his arm.
“When did you eat last?”
“I had an egg sandwich this morning.”
“Leo. You know you can’t get a tattoo without any food in your system. That’s the first rule on the wall.” She pointed to the plaque. “Let’s get dinner first. If we run out of time, I can always do the rest while you’re restrained.”
“That’s not exactly keeping your distance.” The smile this time was more genuine. “But I trust you. So, yeah. Shouldn’t be a problem.”
They went for pizza, going out to pick it up down the block. The place was busy, and the light was already getting low by the time they walked back up the hill with their pie. Rhea had forgotten this was the longest night of the year.
Leo hurried inside and grabbed his bag to get the restraints in place before dusk fell.
Rhea helped secure them. “Sorry, Leo. I didn’t think it would take that long. We should have gotten fast food. How are you going to eat like this?”
“I suppose,” he said as the locks clicked into place, “you’ll have to feed me, my little dove.”
Rhea looked up into the munr’s amused eyes. “Wow. Just in the nick of time, it would seem.”
“To you, maybe. I would have much preferred to skip this foolish ritual altogether.” He glanced from Rhea to the pizza box to the little tray at the side of the chair all set up with the tattooing supplies. “I rather doubt those have anything to do with dinner.”
“Leo asked me to touch up the other gauntlet.”
“Of course he did. You realize what these marks are, don’t you?”
Rhea shrugged. “Protective symbols from Norse mythology.”
“Shackles. Stitched into the skin so that they become part of us. Far more effective than any cheap bondage gear.”
“If you’re trying to convince me you don’t need the restraints, you can forget it.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” His stomach growled loudly. “But you could give me something to eat.”
Rhea opened the pizza box on the counter and took out a slice. “This is a little kinky for my taste, but I don’t want you to pass out, so...” She shrugged and took a bite, to Leo’s irritation, his brows drawing together and his sky blues clouding. Rhea laughed. “Don’t freak out. I’m going to share.” She held the slice in front of his mouth.
With a lifted brow, he leaned forward and took a bite. It was unexpectedly intimate to be feeding a man who was tied to a chair.
“I take it Leo didn’t appreciate waking up with his pants undone, knowing he didn’t get to participate in the fun.”
“And letting me fall asleep without remedying the situation had nothing at all to do with trying to goad your own soul.”
“Oh, it had everything to do with it.” Leo grinned and took the next bite she fed him. “Do you know he strung me up from a curtain rod in the bathroom last night?” He rolled his shoulders. “My trapezius muscles are still killing me. Which means t
hey’ve been killing him all day and damn well serves the miserable bastard right.”
Rhea hadn’t expected that. Leo was fighting over her...with Leo. “You know, each of you thinks the other is the miserable bastard.”
“Well, he’s wrong, because he is.” Leo accepted another bite of the slice she held out for him, and Rhea finished off the crust. “He’s the one who locks me up for fifty nights a year because he’s afraid of his own free will. And you’re just going to let him finish me off. Do his dirty work for him and watch me die at dawn. I hope it haunts you.”
“Leo—”
“No, I don’t want to argue. Sorry.” He licked at a crumb on his upper lip but couldn’t quite get it. “I want to enjoy this last night together.”
Rhea wiped the crumb off with her thumb. “Do you enjoy it?”
“What, bondage? I think that’s more Leo’s thing, from what you’ve told me.”
“Spending this time together.” Rhea smirked. “I mean, aside from the other night, which it was quite clear you were enjoying.”
Leo studied her, his expression serious. “I can’t remember ever enjoying any moment more in my entire life than those I’ve spent with you these past few nights.”
Rhea blushed and took another slice of pizza. “By your own admission, what you remember isn’t much.” She took a bite and offered one to him.
Leo ignored it. “The more cumulative hours of consciousness I have, the more I retain. And the more I recall from past years. But from before my mind was bound by the Norns, I’ve begun to recall a great deal.”
“How much, exactly, are we talking here? I mean, when did Kára...?”
“When was I spared on the battlefield from the death that ought to have been mine?” Leo tilted his head toward the slice she was still holding, and Rhea held it out for him to take another bite. He took his time chewing and swallowing, while Rhea nibbled on the pizza. “What do you know of Viking history?”
Rhea swallowed her mouthful. “Um...yeah...nothing, actually. Wasn’t my area of focus at the university.”
“The raid on which I received my mortal wound was in the last millennium.”
She couldn’t help the surprised little laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“The last millennium was seventeen years ago.”
“Ah. Leo doesn’t make much of an effort to keep me apprised of current events.” Leo pondered a moment. “Then it was one thousand and...forty-nine years past.”
Rhea nearly choked on her pizza. Not that it should have been a surprise. As soon as she’d made the Valkyrie connection, she’d suspected he wasn’t exactly from the modern era. But more than a thousand years old?
“So you’re, what...one thousand and...?”
“Seventy-four. I admit the age difference is a bit of a barrier, but I’m a young one thousand and seventy-four.” His eyes twinkled, and all Rhea could do was wonder how he didn’t have any crow’s-feet. No wonder his tattoos looked faded.
“So the marks, as you call them, they’re that old, too?”
“The originals, yes. Evidently, Leo has them refreshed every so often, because he’s a complete twat.”
Rhea glanced at the prepped table. “So I guess I shouldn’t...”
“Of course you should. Why not? It’s not as if he won’t do it tomorrow anyway after I’m gone.”
“But I’d have to remove the restraint.”
“How could I possibly get away with my other arm still locked down?”
Rhea shook her head. “No can do.”
Leo sighed. “You’re a cruel mistress, Rhea Carlisle.”
“I’m not your mistress.” She tried not to think about the implications of the word. “I can do the handle portion, though.” Only the top of the hammer was fully covered by the restraint. “I mean, what else are we going to do all night?” Rhea laughed as Leo waggled his eyebrows. “I promised him I wouldn’t.”
“Gods, that soul of yours. Almost as irritating as his.” Leo pouted. “My last night, and I don’t even get a kiss goodbye?”
“Well, maybe one. But only if you behave and let me work without being difficult.”
“That promise, my dove, will keep me going for hours.”
She put the pizza away and held a water bottle for him to wash it down before settling beside him and pulling up the tray. She’d already shaved his arm, so after a quick swab, she started on the black.
As unproductive as her attempts to read Dressler had been, Rhea hadn’t even considered the potential for another inadvertent reading from Leo, but given her previous experiences with him, she should have seen it coming. The moment she made even proximal skin contact, it was like the tattoo was buzzing with anticipation, waiting to tell her stories.
Focusing on reinforcing the black lines of the design, she managed to shut out the images threatening to overwhelm her, but they were vibrating in the air, wanting to be read.
Leo watched her biting her lip in concentration. “Why not take a peek?”
Rhea kept her head down over the machine. “I don’t think I want to see what you’re thinking right at the moment.”
“The vision you had before didn’t reflect what I was thinking. Why do you assume it would work that way now?”
Rhea laughed. “It might not have been your uppermost conscious thought, but you were definitely thinking it.” And judging by the visible bulge in his jeans she was trying to ignore, his current train of thought was similar.
“And what are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking this is going to be a long night.”
“The longest,” Leo agreed.
Rhea paused to switch out the needles and ink. “You know, I usually spend this night with my sisters.”
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to keep you from them.”
“You’re not. We didn’t have anything planned this year. Theia’s still up north—not that I’m talking to her, anyway—and Phoebe and Ione have other things on their minds.”
“What sorts of things?”
“They’re both in new relationships.”
“Ah, so they’re busy fornicating.”
Rhea laughed. “Sometimes you have quite a way with words, Leo. But yes. They are, I’m quite sure, busy fornicating.”
Leo watched as she readied the red ink cap. “He’s adding color?”
“It was my idea. The old lines have lost a lot of definition around the edges, so I thought we could fill in some of the spaces between with color to delineate them better. He said to go for it.”
“I doubt the Norns would be pleased.” The last word was cut off on a sound of surprise in his throat as she put the needles to his flesh. The first stroke of the red ink seemed to have an instantaneous physical effect on him. And Rhea was feeling it, too. It was beyond arousal, beyond desire. It was a sense of rightness, as though they were kin. And not in a creepy incestuous way, just an overwhelming sense of belonging together.
“What is that?” Leo stared at his arm where she’d continued tattooing in a kind of trancelike state. “What did you do?”
“I don’t know. Do you want me to stop?”
“No. It’s...nice isn’t quite the word. It feels a little like ants crawling through my veins, but I have to admit, it’s strangely pleasant. Satisfying.”
“Yeah.” That was the word that had been eluding her. “I mean, I don’t feel the ant-crawling thing, but this feels very satisfying. I don’t want to stop.”
“Weird,” said Leo, but he didn’t seem too disturbed by the odd sentiment. “It’s like...an itch being scratched.”
Rhea nodded, head bent over her work. “It’s funny. My tattoo has been itching like crazy lately, but it stopped as soon as I started on yours.”
In less than half an hour, she�
��d finished the knot work on the handle, which was super fast for her. Of course, the rest of the tattoo was still covered by the restraint. Rhea took her foot off the pedal. Leaving the tattoo incomplete was maddening. That was an itch that needed scratching.
Rhea pondered the fishing knife she’d tossed into a drawer that first night. He wouldn’t be able to escape with one arm still shackled. Not unless he somehow managed to grab the knife from her and stab her so he could do it himself. She didn’t think he was capable of that, soul or no soul, but she’d be on her guard.
She set down the machine and got up to get the knife.
Leo’s eyebrow ticked upward. “And what are you planning to do with that? Is this some pagan ritual you’ve been leading up to culminating in a blood sacrifice on the eve of the solstice?”
“Just getting this out of the way.” She slid the blade beneath the outside edge of the cuff pointing away from his skin and slashed downward and out. It barely made a dent in the leather. But it did make a dent.
“Careful,” said Leo as she started sawing at it. “You don’t want to slip with that thing. I’ve already lost this hand once. If the Norns wanted my mind in exchange for restoring it, I don’t even want to think about what they’d want this time.”
“Relax. I’m not going to cut your hand off.” It took some doing, but at last the far edge of the leather came away, leaving him free to wriggle out.
Leo ran his fingers up her arm and drew her close. Rhea had enough presence of mind to toss the knife onto the counter out of reach before she gave herself over to the pleasure of his mouth. God, this man could kiss. This was master class–level kissing. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hooked her fingers in the hair at his nape, twisting it mindlessly until he made a slight noise of discomfort against her mouth.
Rhea drew back, releasing his hair. “Sorry. I got caught up in the moment. Forgot the hair was attached to anybody.” She earned one of those surprised, delighted, deep-throated laughs from him. He was still wearing that damn knit cap. Rhea took it off and tried to smooth the flyaway hair into a tidier semblance, but it was a losing battle.
Leo studied her as she played with it. “That was unexpected. What did I do to earn my partial freedom?”