The Phoenix Prophecy: Nova

Kole is staring at me with dark, unblinking eyes. He’s holding something in. Pressing it down to the basement of his being. Trying to stay strong.

When he brushed my hair from my neck, it magnified tenfold. And now I’m right about the vial in his office.

It was blood, and he might not be a vamp, but there’s a reason he kept it locked away. Some kind of hunger washes over him when he looks at me. The word reverberates through my head, but I have no idea where it came from.

He wants me. In a visceral, animal way — he wants me. Knowing he could have me if he lost control should be terrifying. But it’s not. It’s empowering.

“First, I need you to do something for me.” My own words surprise me.

Kole’s head ticks sideways. He doesn’t reply.

I stand up and step into the beam of light coming from the window. I look down at my chest. The A.M.A. mark on my skin shines flame red. “Rev said you do tattoos.” I raise my eyes and let them trace the ink on his skin. His neck. His biceps. His knuckles. His face.

His arms are folded. He clenches his fists.

“I want you to cover this up for me.” I move closer. “Cover it up so that no one else ever has to see it except you and me.”

Kole swallows hard. His jaw twitches. Then he nods.

I expect him to say something, to ask what I want to cover it with or how well I handle pain, but he stalks toward the door and simply says, “This way.”

His tone reminds me of the way he spoke to Tanner. Commanding. I almost tell him, “Yes, Sir.”

With my shirt still in my hand, I follow him downstairs. We pass his office and head through the empty bar. The air is cool on my exposed skin.

At the rear, he pulls back a dark red curtain to reveal a locked door. He swipes his hand over it and it clicks.

“How do you do that?” I ask, my voice echoing through the room.

“Lock incantation,” he replies, glancing at me as he stands back and ushers me through.

At first, when the door closes, the room is pitch dark. I can hear Kole breathing and I can feel him close to me. Then a light flicks on in the corner.

I look around at the room we’re standing in. The walls are the same deep red as the curtain. There are huge, framed posters showing intricate patterns like the ones on Kole’s arms. In the middle of the room is a bed. Like a massage table. Dark gray, with a stool beside it.

Kole indicates I should sit down. There’s no equipment here. At least, none I can see. But when he perches on the stool opposite me, he reaches under the bed and pulls out a small metal cart. On top of it is what looks like a sharp fountain pen with a large barrel of black ink attached to it.

“When I do this, I offer people a choice. The traditional way — which is painful — or the magick way.”Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

“What is the magick way?” I’m staring at the tattoo gun.

“The needle doesn’t pierce the skin. It’s painless.”

“I can handle pain.” I snap my eyes up and lock them with his.

He doesn’t look away. “I know you can. But it’s better if you don’t…” He stops mid-sentence, as if the words have snagged in his throat. “It’s better if you don’t bleed.” He picks up the gun and weighs it in his hand. “Your skin hasn’t completely healed. Plus, the magick way is quicker.”

“All right.” I shuffle back a little on the bed. “Do I need to pick a design?”

Kole shakes his head. “It’s intuited.”

“Intuited? Like, you’re a seer, so you know what I want?”

Kole’s eyes narrow. He’s wondering how I know he’s a seer. “I don’t know what you want. I know what you need.”

I moisten my lips and fold my hands in my lap. “All right. Let’s do this.”

As I lay back, Kole slides my bra strap off my shoulder, closes his eyes, and breathes deeply. When he opens them, without hesitating, he holds the tattoo gun over my scar and leans in close.

I can feel his breath on my neck, but his hands are rock steady. One on the gun, one splayed on my chest, holding me still.

I flinch as the gun starts to purr. My skin feels scratchy, but there’s no pain. I look down and see the first bloom of ink curling over my raised flesh. I blink quickly and stare at the ceiling. “Thank you,” I whisper.

He pauses and looks up at me, nods, then returns to what he was doing.

After a few moments of silence, I ask him, “How long will this take?”

“Long enough that you can tell me what happened at your apartment.”

I bite the inside of my lip. A promise is a promise. “I set fire to it.”

Kole doesn’t move. “How?”

“I don’t know. Johnny attacked me. He wanted to kill me. I could see it in his face. I backed away and when he came for me…” Lying on my back, I splay my fingers out at my sides. “Poof. The whole place caught fire.” I close my eyes as the memories start to flood in. “They came from me. The flames. I left him there, burning, and walked out. The paramedics looked at me, and they knew it wasn’t right. They were accusing me of being a witch. So, I ran. My friend drove me to the bus stop. The first bus on the board was to Phoenix Falls.” I turn my head to look at him. “So, now you know.”

Kole pauses and sits up. He flicks off the gun, and it stops vibrating. Silence swells around us.

“And now that you know, maybe you can explain to me how a human creates fire with her bare hands? Has someone cursed me? Is something else going on? Because I heard what you said to Tanner. If she’s the one we’ve been looking for…”

I wince as the words leave my mouth.

Kole’s eyes darken. He pauses the gun and leans forward to grip the edge of the bed. I’m still on my back, and now I look away from him up at the ceiling.

“You heard us?”

I can’t answer him. My mouth is bone dry.

Kole’s finger brushes the ink that’s just settled into my skin. The gun starts to purr once more. “You hid this scar from us.” He leans closer. “What else have you been hiding? How do you know what I said to Tanner?”

My heart is beating hard and fast. My body feels hot and cold at the same time. A fizzing sensation snakes through my limbs. “I was in your office. Luther knew to go to Ridgemore because he found out I’d used your phone to call home.”

A small rumble comes from Kole’s throat.

“I hid under the desk when you came in.”

“Under the desk.” Kole speaks slowly, his words taut and gravelly.

I can’t look at him. I want to, but I can’t. “I heard everything.” I suck in a shaky breath. “I was there when you bent him over it.”

Kole sighs a deep, hard sigh. “Is that so?”

I nod.

“Then tell me, little star, what did you see under there?”

That nickname again. I lick my lower lip. Kole has sat back on his stool, but somehow the tattoo gun is still in place. When I look at him, his eyes flash green. He leans in and grips the edge of the bed.

“I asked you to tell me what you saw.”