Page 58 of Destined for Dreams
The woman glanced down to see the outline of stars on her wrist. “Oh. Wow, it’s really working.”
“You’d still be in a near vegetable state if it wasn’t.”
She glanced at Derrick. “I don’t remember anything since we left my house. It’s like I just woke up.”
“Good.” He gave her a reassuring look. “But you need to let Cori finish.”
“Give me ten more minutes, and we should be done.”
The human woman nodded and relaxed in her seat. Cori set to work with the final elements of the tattoo, feeling everyone’s eyes on her. Lucas left and let Ivan come in next. The nerou watched her from the corner with hard, emotionless eyes. Of all the people from the compound Melena’s husband could have brought, why did it have to be the hard case?
Cori finished and began cleaning up the woman’s wrist. “It’s done. Give me a couple of more minutes, and you’ll be out of this chair.”
“That wasn’t so bad,” the woman said.
“Was it your first?” Cori asked.
She stared at her arm. “Yeah, but I always wanted one. Since I didn’t have to pay for it, and there was a chance I might get a bonus effect, I figured I might as well go for it.”
Cori bandaged the tattoo and instructed the woman on aftercare. Then she turned to Derrick. “I’ll need a few minutes to clean up in here, and then we can start on the next person.”
“Alright,” he said. “But first I gotta check her.”
“Check her?”
Derrick moved in close to the woman and gazed deeply at her. “Close your eyes.”
“No.” The woman lifted her chin. “I don’t feel like it.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.”
Ivan shifted closer to them. “This is something that could be useful in the future if Cori’s ability proves to have multiple applications.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, fearing the worst.
“Myself and my brethren will soon become enforcers. Our job will be to put human safety above all else, and we will require many tools to make that happen.” He gave her a look of respect. “You may become an ally to us.”
Cori had no idea what to say to that, though she was flattered he finally saw her in a more flattering light. Maybe he wasn’t completely annoying.
“I wouldn’t get ahead of yourself just yet,” the alpha said, narrowing his eyes at the nerou.
Ivan lifted his chin. “You are irrelevant to me and my sacred duty.”
“Why you…”
Lucas entered the room, shooting a warning glare at Derrick. “Let me try.”
Everyone moved out of the way.
The woman gulped, looking up at Lucas who was definitely intimidating as he leaned close to her. “Stand up.”
She jerked to her feet right away, annoyance spreading across her features as she gave an accusing look at Cori. “It doesn’t work withhim!”
Her shoulders sagged, hating that the immunity she’d given the human wasn’t a hundred percent. “I guess not.”
“You owe me a hundred dollars,” Lucas said, holding his hand out to Derrick.
The alpha pulled out his wallet and gave a crisp bill to the nephilim. “I was hoping you were wrong.”
