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"Okay, I think we&039;re done"

John felt a last dragging pull across his shoulder and then the Otattoo gun went silent Sitting up froainst for the last two hours, he stretched his arms over his head and pulled his torso back into shape

"Gimme a sec and I&039;ll clean you up"

As the human male sprayed soht on his spine once again, and let the tingling huh his whole body

In the lull, an odd ht of for years It was froe, back when he hadn&039;t knohat he truly was

One of the church&039;s benefactors had been a richhouse on the shores of Saranac Lake Every suo up for a day and play on his football- field-size lawn and go for rides on his beautiful wooden boat and eat sandwiches and waterotten a sunburn No oo they slathered on him, his skin had always burned to a crisp--until they finally relegated his out on the sidelines, he&039;d watched the other boys and girls do their thing, listening to the laughter roll across the bright green grass, having his food brought to hi a part of it

Funny, his back felt now as his skin had then: tight and prickly, especially as the tattoo artist hit the raw spots with the wet cloth and made circles over the fresh ink

Man, John could re that annual ordeal at the lake He&039;d wanted so badly to be with the others although if he was honest, that had been less about what they were doing, and more because he was desperate simply to fit in For fuck&039;s sake, they could have been chewing on glass shards and bleeding down the front of their shirts and he still would have been all sign- but a comic book or maybe a fallen bird&039;s nest to inspect and reinspect had see as months Too much time to think and yearn He&039;d always hoped to be adopted and in lonely moments like that the drive had consu the other little boys, he&039;d wanted a fauardians ere paid to raise him

He&039;d wanted to be owned He&039;d wanted someone to say, You&039;re mine

Of course, now that he knehat he was now that he lived as a va much more clearly Sure, hue and all that shit, but his true kind were s were far ht about his younger, sadder self, his chest ached-- although not because he wished he could reach back in ti for hi he&039;d wanted had nearly destroyed hi" hadn&039;t stuck Wellsie and Tohr had waltzed into his life, told hilimpse of hoorically that it was far worse to have had and lost parents, than not to have had them at all

Yeah, sure, Tohr was technically back in the Brotherhood&039;s h he was now saying the right things, too ht actually have happened, it was too late

John was through with that whole Tohr thing

"Here&039;s a mirror Check &039;er out, my man"

John nodded a thank-you and went over to a full-lengther in the corner As Blay returned froed from behind the side rooot a look- see at as on his back

Oh, God It was exactly what he wanted And the scrollas boss He nodded as he le Man, it was kind of a sha to see this The tat was spectacular

And more to the point, no matter what happened next, whether he found Xhex dead or alive, she would always be with him

Damn him to hell, these last four weeks since her abduction had been the longest of his life And he&039;d had so days before this shit To not knohere she was To not knohat had happened to her To have lost her He felt as if he&039;d been h his skin was intact and his ars unbroken and his chest unpenetrated by bullet or blade

But then again, in his heart, she was his And even if he got her back just so she could live a life that didn&039;t include him, that was okay He only wanted her safe and alive

John looked at the artist, put his hand over his heart, and bowed deeply As he rose frouy stuck his palm out

"You&039;re welcome, man Means a lot that you approve Let me cover it up noith soned and Blay translated, "Not necessary He heals lightning-quick"

"But it&039;s going to need time to--" The tattoo artist leaned in and then frowned as he inspected where he&039;d worked

Before the guy started asking questions, John stepped back and grabbed his shirt froht with them had been lifted from V&039;s stash--which meant part of its composition included salt That name and those fabulous swirls were permanent--and his skin had already healed

Which was one advantage of being a nearly purebred vampire

"The tat rocks," Qhuinn said "It&039;s pure sex"

As if on cue, the woman who he&039;d just balled came out from behind the side room&039;s curtain, and it was hard not to notice Blay&039;s pained expression Especially as she slipped a piece of paper into Qhuinn&039;s back pocket Undoubtedly her nuet her hopes up Once the guy had someone, that was it--kind of like his sex partners were a meal that couldn&039;t be re-eaten and never had any leftovers Unfortunately said Kat von D look-alike had stars in her eyes

"Call me," she murmured to him with a confidence that would fade as the days passed

Qhuinn smiled a little "Take care"

At the sound of the tords, Blay relaxed, his big shoulders easing up In Qhuinn-landia, take care was synonyain

John took out his wallet, which was stuffed with tons of bills and absolutely no identification, and peeled off four hundreds Which hat the tat cost As the artist started shaking his head and saying it was too much, John nodded at Qhuinn

The two of theht palms at the humans, and then reached into those minds and covered up the memories of the last couple hours Neither the artist nor the receptionist would have any concrete recollection of what had happened At the ht have hazy dreams At the least, they&039;d have a headache

As the pair slipped into trances, John, Blay, and Qhuinn walked out of the shop&039;s door and into the shadows They waited until the artist shook himself back into focus, went over, and flipped the lock and then it was tiet down to business

"Sal&039;s?" Qhuinn asked, his voice lower than usual thanks to postcoital satisfaction

Blay fired up another Dunhill as John nodded and signed, They&039;re expecting us

One after another, his boys disappeared into the night But before John ghosted out, he paused for aleft and right, his laser-sharp eyes penetrated the darkness Trade Street had a lot of neon lights and there were cars going by because it was only two am, but he wasn&039;t interested in the lit parts

The dark alleys were the thing

So them

He put his hand inside his leather jacket and closed his pal the enemy, especially nohen he knew da that smelled like a week-old dead deer stepped up to him