Page 7 of Fool's Bargain

Deva laughed. “He’s a cheeky dragon.” She leaned forward into the red cloud, breathing the smoke into her mouth and closing her eyes. She sat back with a soft, sensual hum, looking like she’d just taken a puff off a bong, then looked at Bodhi. “You’ll make it up to me later,” she said, the salacious promise not lost on me.

“Your tattoo is alive. Okay.” I eyed the covered parts of his torso, heart pounding. “You’re saying that’s because ofme?”

“In part, yes. The one tattoo you didn’t give him doesn’t behave that way.”

“Why me?” I asked, ready as fuck for whatever answers they had and hoping they could answer them fast enough, because that was only the tip of the iceberg of questions that had popped into my head.

“I have a theory, but I think we need to preface it by explaining how the bloodline works.”

I set my water bottle down and stood, holding a finger up for her to hold that thought. Walking to the private kitchenette in the back of my shop, I opened the cabinet and grabbed a bottle, followed by three clean glasses. I set the whiskey on the table.

“I’m pretty sure I’m going to need more than water to hear this.”

4

Zarya

By the time Deva finished the basics, I’d forgotten about Bodhi entirely. It was like the world had been reborn in my eyes. Like a rosebud unfurling into full bloom after I’d gotten used to the idea of it dying on the stem.

I refilled my glass for the second time and took a swallow of the potent liquor. So far, I’d learned that the bloodline were a segment of humanity that had been tainted by the blood of the higher races over thousands of years of crazy, mad-scientist-type experiments. The higher races weren’t perfect, they had enemies, and the worst of them had been destroyed after carrying out these experiments, but it had left behind humans like me and Bodhi after generations of the victims had moved on with their lives and had babies.

“There have to be millions of us,” I marveled. “Especially if this Meri person started that long ago and we’ve carried on procreating while she kept tainting more of us. When did you say she finally bit it?”

Deva gave me a weary nod. “She’s been dead less than two years. Therearemillions of bloodline humans, and so far it’s been a challenge working to understand what this means for all of you. How the magic manifests within each member of the bloodline varies. Some, like Bodhi, have more potent mixtures of the blood. He has strong magic from all four of the higher races. Judging by the way his tattoos behave, I think your concentration of higher races blood is quite strong too.”

“Why are you so adamant about helping me? I’m happy to finally understand why he and I never worked. It’s crazy but also makes complete sense that we were like oil and water—two elements that just don’t mix. But I’d prefer to have a choice. I don’t want you choosing a partner for me. Being alone has its perks.” Being alone was fuckinglonely, but I wanted more time to wrap my head around the fact that I wasn’t entirely human. Besides, I knew half the blame in my failed relationship with Bodhi lay squarely on my shoulders. I’d been too wrapped up in my burgeoning success as a tattoo artist to see the self-sabotage before it was too late. I wasn’t confident I wouldn’t repeat the mistake. I loved my work. Could I love another person enough to find balance? To make the relationship a priority? Even with my doubts, I desperately wanted to say yes.

“If you’re as strong as I think you are, it will be tricky to find you a match. The members of the bloodline with more dilute blood just require a song and they gravitate together. It takes attending a Fate’s Fools concert, and then they can find a match among the crowd with another member of the bloodline whose mix of blood resonates at the same frequency as theirs. The more potent the blood you possess, the harder it will be to match with another human. You will need the presence of blood from one or more of the higher races to complete your soul.”

That same thrill coursed through me again and I glanced at Bodhi. He was leaning back on his hands, watching us both. His head turned and his gaze rested on Deva, a flash of hunger in his eyes. I envied her that look, something he might have given me at one time, but I didn’t think it had ever run quite that deep. She had her shit together, that much was clear, and Bodhi looked ridiculously happy. Did I have the strength to try again? If whomever she found was as special as Bodhi, maybe I could make it work this time.

“Whatareyou that matches him so well, just out of curiosity?” I blurted. “Because as much as I’ve avoided interacting with them, I’ve noticed people around here who I’m pretty sure aren’t human. You said there were four—dragons, ursa, turul, and nymphaea. Which are you?”

“I am technically bloodline too,” Deva said. “But my blood is a perfect blend, equal parts of all five races, human included. Or it used to be, before I ascended.”

I stared at her, not sure whether my interpretation of her words was correct. “You’re what? Divine or something?”

“Yes, but to answer your question, the reason Bodhi matches me is because he is also a perfect blend. But at our potency, we still needed more than each other to be complete. If you possess more than one race’s blood, chances are you will need more mates to be whole as well, but everyone within the bond needs to fill some void in each other.”

I couldn’t help but snort out a laugh. That may be asking a bit much of me. “I’ll pass on that. I’m not sure I can avoid driving awayonemate, much less more.” I paused as Bodhi’s expression clouded, then turned tender.

“Zar, you deserve love. You just need to open your eyes when it’s right in front of you. If I can find something this amazing with Deva and the guys, there’s no fucking reason you can’t have something just as amazing.”

My eyes widened. “Wait a sec. When you say ‘we,’ are you saying you have multiple mates?”

Bodhi grinned. “She shares. But yeah, there are five members of her harem altogether, including me.” He unbuttoned the front of his shirt, and as his collar parted, I caught my first glimpse of a glowing mark on the side of his neck. But when he slipped out of his shirt, my breath left me in a huff.

Allthe tattoos I’d given him were alive and wondrous things. They moved with barely perceptible undulations, as if the elements they’d been designed to represent lived within him, pulsing with vibrancy—something the ink itself couldn’t have produced.

I leaned across the table, reaching out to the trunk of the tree in the center of his torso. When I touched it, I gasped. I felt the roughness of the bark and the cold firmness of the wood beneath, traced the length of a branch, and marveled at the feel of a cold breeze cascading across my fingertips.

Bodhi’s deep, rueful chuckle brought me back to reality and I drew my hand back, giving him a chagrined look when I realized I’d just teased his nipple without thinking.

“I’m sorry.”

“I am more than what’s on the surface of my skin, Zar. That was the thing you forgot. You didn’t deserve how I walked out on you. I know you were going through some hard stuff, but I deserved to be seen by you as more than a canvas. I have a feeling you understand that now, don’t you?”

I winced. “Hindsight is a bitch,” I said in a shaky voice, the old hurt welling up in a conflicting knot of things I’d rather not feel right now in the wake of all these new revelations. My fists clenched and I stared down at them, mind ablaze with what they offered and the fear that if I went through with this, I’d fuck things up even worse than I had with Bodhi.

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