Midnight Magic, page 123
Twila walked out of the office at the same time and shook her head. “Nothing,” she announced.
“Me too,” added Jazlynn. She looked around the kitchen. “You getting anything stronger in here?”
“No, nothing more than outside. But it’s difficult to focus with Witching Hour so close. Maybe we should wait until it passes?”
Jazlynn considered it. It was not a bad suggestion. Once the built-up energy shifted and resettled Twila might have an easier time tracking the magic she sensed. “Okay, but I am going to grab a drink…” Her voice petered off. She looked at the drink fridge in the kitchen and then thought about the one that sat out in the main dining area as well as the lines of soda bottles in the coolroom. This drink fridge was superfluous.
Now that she studied it, Jazlynn realized that the fridge was not running nor even plugged in. “I think it’s the fridge,” she told Twila.
“You think we open it or move it?”
“Open.”
“Okay, let's give it a go.”
Jazlynn grasped the door handle and tugged. The door opened easily, bringing what turned out to be half shelves and their content and a back cover with it. This exposed a darkened entrance, but to what? She looked to Twila. “Ready?”
Twila cracked her knuckles. “After you,” she laughed.
Jazlynn stepped into the fridge and through the open doorway to find another small room, dimly lit with a single red-shaded lamp on a side table on the opposite wall. To the left were two closed doors and the same on the right. She walked into the room to allow Twila to enter, who pulled the fridge door closed behind her. The room was no bigger than the size of a large hospital elevator. Upon each door was a fancy carved plaque. The first two that Jazlynn could read in the dim light were The Hunter & Barrel, and The Octopuses Garden. “Any ideas?” she asked Twila as they studied each door.
“You’ve visited these types of places far more than me, I was hoping you would know.”
“I think it’s a simple puzzle. Each door leads to a different club or restaurant, or in this case, hopefully, a tattoo shop. We have to figure out which one we want by the names on the doors and hopefully a key.” Jazlynn looked around the room. There was some type of pamphlet on the side table. “Just like the menu at the front, this should hold the key.” She picked up the brightly colored folded paper. It turned out to be a drink menu.
“This is a lot of effort to find a place to sit and drink. I get they had to hide during prohibition but why bother now?”
Jazlynn laughed. “For the sheer fun of it. To challenge yourself. We give our children puzzles to grow and learn while they play, some people just like puzzles.” She opened the brochure and perused the drink list. “And I think the idea of the forbidden or secret is always alluring.” Jazlynn guessed that the key to the menu and understanding the door titles would be similar to the pizza menu on the shop front window.
One side of the menu listed wines that would only be served in bottles, while the opposite side listed fancy-sounding cocktails, their ingredients, and a brief description. The Enchanted Underworld symbol again appeared on the cocktail side of the page. Both the fairies were quiet as they huddled together, Jazlynn holding the menu under the lamp, and read through the ingredients and descriptions. Some of the drinks sounded amazing and Jazlynn wished they had time to sample a few. She had to admit that at this moment she was struggling to remain focused as the energy around her was rapidly building to a crescendo. She looked at her watch. Witching Hour was mere moments away.
“You ever experienced Witching Hour in the human realm on a Friday the thirteenth?” Jazlynn asked quietly as her body began to buzz.
“No.”
Jazlynn noted that her friend’s brown eyes were wide with wonder. “You might want to lean against a wall. It can be a little disorientating.” She could feel the vibrations making their way across the Plane's surface. It was an odd sensation, but something she had grown to enjoy as the energy pulsated from the leylines and redistributed itself evenly across the area before it moved on. This occurred over the Earth and all its Planes nightly. It also carried the extra strength of the auspicious date of Friday the thirteenth, which gave the undercurrents a bit more kick.
She placed a hand on the wall to help keep her feet as her body trembled and skin tingled, and it felt like she was buzzing on the inside. It only lasted a few moments, but it was almost intoxicating, if not a little painful. They both breathed through the sensations for several moments, finding their equilibrium.
“Wow,” Twila said after she had caught her breath. “I hadn’t anticipated that. No wonder I was struggling to feel the magic in the area. It was all caught up in the leylines elsewhere, whatever happened in the Oracle's Court must have disrupted the leylines substantially.”
“Now what do you feel?” asked Jazlynn.
“We’re definitely surrounded by magic and magic users, even though they can’t use it here.” Twila shook off the last of the effects of the beginning of the Witching Hour. “Imagine what it would be like on All Hallow’s Eve at Witching Hour. I had no idea we were quite so vulnerable.”
Jazlynn thought about the implications. “Yes, it would be the best time to take the Enchanted species by surprise.” She pushed herself upright and held open the drink menu. Speculating on things that were never going to happen would not help the current situation. It was time to get back to work.
They read the menu several times. Jazlynn considered each item and compared them to the names above the doors. She could see where three of the four had connections but was still trying to determine which door went through to the tattoo studio, if at all.
“I think the door we need is The Octopuses Garden,” Twila said finally. “Look at this cocktail.” She pointed to the page. “The Squid Martini links the two. And the description states it is an inky black color. Ink for squid and octopuses and ink for tattoos.”
Jazlynn studied the small paragraph below the picture of the cocktail and had to agree. It made sense. “It also says that the drink is shaken precisely three times. My guess is you have to knock three times to enter.”
“Ah, yes. I missed that clue. Okay, I can see why people like to do these puzzles, it is a little thrilling when you figure it out.
“Time to find out if we got it right.” Jazlynn folded the drink menu and put it in her back pocket in case they needed it later, or got the room wrong and had to start again.
Twila gave the door three sharp knocks and they both waited. Unexpectedly, the door slid into a recess on its right rather than swinging open, and they were presented with the most pristine tattoo studio they had seen all night.
“Welcome,” said a man sitting at a white-topped desk with wrought iron legs. “Who’s after a tattoo this fine Witching Hour?”
“Me,” said Jazlynn, surprising herself.
CHAPTER 4
“Well, come in then. What ya hangin’ back for?” he asked in a strong Southern accent.
The fairies stepped through the door that slid shut behind them. The room was hospital-grade clean with white walls, white and gray marble floor, and wrought iron and white padded furniture. It was the oddest tattoo shop Jazlynn had ever seen anywhere. Instead of ink pots and equipment on a bookshelf like the Tarot card reader’s shop, this had a white bench along one wall with wrought iron legs that matched the desk, and on it were clear plastic containers of colorful ink bottles. Other containers held different tattooing guns and needles, swabs, disinfectants, creams, and plastic wrap and tape to use to cover the completed tattoo. A laptop, a neat pile of tattoo magazines, and a printer were on the desk. Along the opposite wall to the bench was a white adjustable chair, white padded stool, and another larger, heavily padded chair that Jazlynn assumed became a bed when required. The room had no window or other door, which was disappointing as it meant if he was the one they searched for he didn’t keep the magical items here.
“I’m Julian.” The man, who must have been in his early thirties stood and held out his hand. Each of the women shook it and introduced themselves. Jazlynn tried not to stare at the incredibly tall man. Being only five foot three inches tall, most people were taller than the fairies, but this man towered over them. If she had to guess she would say he was around six foot five inches. He had gray, wide-set eyes, dark bushy eyebrows, and a tanned complexion like he spent a lot of time outside. He wore a tight-fitting t-shirt with a slogan across the front that meant nothing to Jazlynn, and a pair of loose-fitting faded black jeans. Surprisingly, the skin she could see held no tattoos.
“What were you thinking of getting?” he asked Jazlynn. “Did you have anything specific in mind?”
“Have you got pen and paper? I can draw it for you, if that’s okay?” Jazlynn asked.
Julian sat back at his desk and opened a draw to his right. “Here you go.” He pushed over a pencil, then opened the paper tray of the print and pulled out a blank sheet, and slid that to her too. “Grab that stool and roll it over here. You can lean on the desk.” He looked to Twila. “You can sit on either chair for now.” He nodded to the two heavy tattooing chairs.
It didn’t take Jazlynn long to sketch the image she wanted. She had the original drawing he had done back in the barracks room she shared with Twila. It was a simple design based on the Greek symbol for love. They were going to get it together, but now she would get it for a different reason. In the time since he had destroyed her trust and broken her heart, she had healed as best she could, and had come to understand that you have to love yourself instead of placing it on someone else to make you feel loved. She wouldn’t be stupid enough to fall in love and be taken advantage of and humiliated like that again, nor would she put her family through anything like that a second time.
“Where do you want it?” he asked as he watched her draw.
“Back of my neck.” She pushed the paper with the pencil resting on it back to him.
“Won’t take any more than ten minutes. Would you like me to stencil it on so you can check sizing and placement? Or are you happy for me to freehand?” He put the pencil back in the draw. Clearly, he was someone who kept his workspace tidy.
“Freehand is fine. I trust you.” She wanted to establish a rapport with him and the easiest way to start was to give him a sense of ease, which meant pretending to trust him.
“Great. Take a seat on that chair and straddle it. I’ll readjust it for you in a moment.” He stood and rolled the black desk chair out into the space in the center of the room. “Twila, you can sit on this now as I will be using the stool.”
The fairies swapped seats while Julian went about the room, collecting his tools. “Do you need a hair clip or do you have a tie with you?”
“Thanks, but I have a tie. Always carry one with me.” Jazlynn dug around her front hip pocket until she found an elastic to tie her hair up with. She piled it high into a messy bun, making sure that her neck was completely bare. “I had a friend come here the other day and they raved about your work,” she began the conversation.
“I figured,” Julian said as he pulled a small trolley out from under the long bench and placed all the items he needed in it.
Jazlynn was surprised at the unexpected answer. “Why?”
“Same tattoo, right?”
That gave her pause. “Someone got the same tattoo as mine a few days ago?” Her heart thudded before her logical side kicked in. It couldn’t be Cael; he was being hunted by everyone for what he had done, he had no time to be getting tattoos.
Julian confirmed it wasn’t him with the next sentence. “Yeah, he had a Japanese blossom tattoo wrapped around his arm, coming down onto his wrist. In one of the leaves, he wanted that same symbol.”
Cael had no tattoos. The Greek love symbol would have been their first, something that they would share. Even though it wasn’t Cael they were speaking of, Jazlynn took the opening she needed. “Yeah, that’s him.” She softened her more formal natural way of speaking to match the human’s speech patterns.
“Cool.” Julian pushed the trolley and snagged the stool Jazlynn had vacated and organized them behind her. He adjusted the headrest on the chair and flipped the armrests so she could sit more comfortably. “He’s a great guy. We have a bit of a deal going. I give him tattoos, he supplies me with other things.”
Twila laughed her most disarming laugh. “Sounds like a great deal. We might be in the market for that other stuff he is giving you if it’s what he was boasting about the other day.”
Jazlynn smiled to herself as she listened to Twila lie so sincerely. It was impressive. She couldn’t turn her head to engage in conversation and he was currently wiping down her neck.
“Mmmmm… not sure what you mean,” Julian was non-committal.
“Oh, bugger, sorry,” Twila apologized. “Was I supposed to whisper, like it’s a secret?” she mock lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Better?”
Julian laughed as he turned on the gun and dipped it in black ink. “Hold still, this will probably sting a little.”
Jazlynn braced herself to discover that the pain of the tattoo gun needle was not as bad as she thought it was going to be. Getting hit by one of Calliope’s roundhouse kicks or Twila’s energy bolt was far more painful.
“You all right?” he asked.
“It stings, but I’m good,” she assured him.
“So, I’ve got a friend who claims they can figure out any magic trick you show them if given enough time,” Twila continued her mock whispering. “Our mutual friend told us that you could possibly give us a magic trick that my obnoxious friend can never figure out.”
Jazlynn held still and listened to Twila chat with Julian.
“She’s such a pain when she gets on one of her know-it-all rants about anything you see on TV. And to be honest, I just want to shut her up for a while. Is that too mean?” she asked, her voice filled with insincere innocence.
The pressure on her neck let up and she felt him wipe down the area before resuming. Jazlynn was still a tad shocked that she was sitting in a tattoo artist's chair and willingly getting a tattoo on her neck. The strangest thing was she didn’t regret it at all. She would get this symbol to remind herself of what she had lost, but also the strength she had gained.
“Nah, not too mean at all. No one likes a show-off,” Julian agreed.
Try telling that to Calliope, Jazlynn thought unkindly to herself. Kirkpatrick had trained them all to fight, and they were all deadly Weapons, but Calliope was deceptively stronger than anyone she knew and at training, she had to pull her punches or risk breaking one of her team members' bones. Calliope liked everyone to know that she could beat them at training, and it grated on Jazlynn’s nerves because she could put Calliope in her place if they were allowed to use their magical powers when they sparred. They were only allowed to do that with Kirkpatrick so there were no mishaps, but it put Calliope at an advantage.
“So, do you think you can help me out with the showoff?” Twila pushed gently.
The situation was perfect. Julian was focused on doing his job and was only half paying attention to the fairy asking him slightly inappropriate questions, but she was doing it in a friendly, almost flirty way that kept the conversation light and Julian unguarded.
“What exactly were you after?” he asked.
“Not sure. Our mutual friend was not very forthcoming with information.”
The gun stopped and he wiped Jazlynn’s neck again. “You do know what you are talking about, right?”
Jazlynn took the moment to turn her head enough to see the both of them. “Magic,” she whispered, attempting to wiggle her eyebrows humorously. She turned back and resettled as the gun started up again.
“Do you believe in magic, Julian?” Twila asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve seen some pretty freaky stuff. I’m not ready to dismiss anything at this point. What about you, Twila?”
“I believe in ghosts or spirits, whatever you want to call them, so why not magic?”
“Good answer.”
“What sort of freaky stuff have you seen?” Twila asked.
“You sure do ask a lot of questions.”
“If you don’t ask, you don’t learn. My Pop used to say.”
Julian laughed. “True.” The gun stopped and he wiped Jazlynn’s neck and then put what felt like cream on it. “Done,” he announced. He handed her a small mirror before he took a large one from the bottom section of the trolley and held it up behind her. “What do you think?”
Jazlynn held up the mirror to look in the other mirror he held up to see her neck. The symbol was perfect in its simplicity and meaning. “I love it. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now, let me show you a few samples of what I think our mutual friend might be alluding to. Though I’m not sure why he directed you two to me when he is the one I get them from.”
Jazlynn quickly connected the dots. The supplier of magical items and the man they needed to question was the man with a Japanese blossom tattoo with a Greek love symbol in one of its leaves.
*.*.*.*.*
* * *
Julian took the mirror from Jazlynn and put them both back away in the bottom tray of the trolley. He then, very tenderly, placed plastic wrap over her tattoo and taped it down. “Keep it clean, don’t swim or submerse yourself in water for at least a week. Showering is fine, keep it moisturized with something like a diaper rash cream, but don’t slather it with cream, you only need a thin layer. You want it to dry and gently scab. Don’t pick the scab or occasionally you will get a spot where the ink has come off.” After all the instructions, Julian started cleaning up the tray and putting everything away. Jazlynn undid her hair and let it fall over the tattoo. This was not the time to show everyone her new ink.
“How did you want to handle this?” Twila asked Jazlynn as if Julian was not in the room and able to hear them.
Jazlynn studied the tall man. There was something about him, she just couldn’t put her finger on it. She knew he was human, it was obvious he was human, but if she didn’t know any better she would think that he also was something else. A Shifter or warlock? There felt like the faintest of undercurrents that ran through him, but she just couldn’t pin it down. She looked to Twila who could detect magic and magical beings far better than her. “Can you feel anything when you look?’ she asked cryptically. Jazlynn knew it was a long shot because on the human Plane it was always harder for Twila’s gifts to work, just like her own, which was why she needed a focusing tool imbued with magic for her to be able to communicate telekinetically.
