Page 4 of Mending Mayhem

I held in my groan. “I don’t think it’s a ghost.”

2

EMBER

The needle of Ash’s tattoo gun raked across my skin, the resistance to venom sigil taking shape on my arm. I winced as the ink approached the bend in my elbow, sucking a breath through my teeth.

Ash laughed and finished the final line. “All done. You should be used to this by now.”

“My nervous system is fried from yesterday. From the past few months.” I set the tip of my finger ablaze and lit the thicker skin, protection, and venom resistance designs, activating the magical ink. The sigil trio glowed bright red before fading to a cool blue.

“I’d ask for speed and strength too, but I don’t think I can handle any more ink.”

“Offensive sigils tax my vim too much. I couldn’t handle doing five on each of us.” She wiggled her tattoo machine at Chaos. “You’re up.”

“I’m not sure your sigils will protect me. I’m not of this realm.” He sat at her station and laid his arm on the table.

“It’s worth a shot.” She changed the needle and dipped it into a fresh well of ink. “The fae venom got to you last time, so we have to try.”

While she applied sigils to her demon and herself, I checked my phone. I’d messaged both Miles and Shade twice, but they hadn’t responded, so I dialed Shade’s number, the phone ringing five times before sending me to voicemail.

“Fae are destroying the library,” I said. “Meet us there ASAP.”

I hit End and tried Miles. He picked up on the third ring, his voice thick from sleep. “Hello?”

“Higgins called. There’s a fae soldier in the library.” I assumed it was a soldier, at least. What other beastie would be invisible to the cameras? I sure as hell didn’t want to know.

“What time is it?” Sheets rustled through the phone before he sighed. “It’s five in the morning.”

My phone pinged, and I checked the screen. Higgins’s text read, Where the hell are you? The reference section is being shredded.

“I don’t think the fae care about the time. Neither does Higgins, so wake up Shade and meet us there.”

“On it,” he said through a yawn. He hung up the phone, and I hoped to Hecate he didn’t go back to sleep.

“They should come here first so I can give them ink.” Ash lit her finger ablaze and activated the sigils on herself and Chaos. “Defensive sigil magic doesn’t tax my vim as much as healing does.”

“I’ll let Patrice know to be ready.” I sent her a text and grabbed my sword from the table. “He’s tearing apart the reference section.”

“Oof. We better hurry then.”

I knew that would get her in gear.

She slung her bag over her shoulder and cast a forlorn glance at the tattoo mess we were about to leave behind. “We have to save the books.”

With my sword sheathed in my back scabbard and four knives strapped to my legs, I led the way out the back door. If we lived in any other town, the number of weapons I wore on the daily would set off alarms. Thankfully, Salem was a booming tourist attraction, so most people assumed I was in costume.

Not that it mattered this morning. Sea fog had rolled in overnight, desaturating the dark city and making it look almost like we were walking through one of Shade’s shadows. The crisp morning air raised goosebumps on my arms, and I rubbed them to chase away the chill.

“We should have worn jackets.” Ash matched my determined strides, her teeth chattering as the library came into view.

“Nah. Things are about to heat up.”

My phone pinged with a response from Patrice: Let me know if you need me. Oh, I spoke to Chrys’s mom. Someone messed with the ward on her building and broke into her and a human’s apartment. Could be Boston again.

I replied: It was us. I’ll explain next time I see you. At the library now.

It pinged again when I shoved it into my pocket, but I ignored the message and crossed the street.

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