Page 30 of Roses Are Dead
I logged that information right alongside of the memories where he ordered me on and off his bike. I’d touched his coat, his bike, even his patch. All without asking. But I guess, orders could be construed as “asking.”
“Rule two, fuck authority.”
“Not literally, correct?”
He coughed, trying not to laugh. “Of course, not literally. Geesh.” Then he got a glint in his eye I didn’t like. “Rule three, women are property.”
Oh, fuck that rule. There was no way I was abiding by that one.
He grinned and pointed at my face. “I see you have a problem with that one.”
Shit. I was usually much better at controlling my expression than that. I had to be that way around Carl. When had I let my guard down?
Bear laughed. “Now I see Carl’s game.”
“No, you don’t.”
“No, I do. He was having trouble breaking you. Wasn’t he?”
I slipped easily into the neutral expression I donned around Carl. “Breaking?”
Bear studied my face. “Yeah, breaking.” He nodded to himself, or at his words, I didn’t know which. “And that’s where he fucked up.” He stood up and stretched. “I don’t suppose you had a chance to actually look at any of the flash inside the book while you were listening to Skinner and I, did you?”
I scrambled for a lie. “I’m thinking something with a tree.” In my mind’s eye, I saw branches snaking down my body, even to my fingertips. It felt right, but I’d never go that crazy.
Oblivious to my thoughts, Bear scratched his beard. He walked over to the book and flipped open the binder to a page, and practically found what he was looking for first try. “Like this?”
He turned the binder around and held it out.
On the right-hand side, a gnarled ash tree spanned the entire width and length of the page. From top branches to deep roots, it filled out in a neat oval.
If I ever did get tattooed, this was really close to what I’d want.
Woven in the branches were runes. I scanned their patterns.
Protection, life, happiness… fertility.
Nope.
“Can it be changed?”
“Of course.”
I pulled over the paper I’d written on and drew out a symbol. Then added the right glyphs around it. As the design branched out, Bear leaned over to see my work.
“Protection, strength, wisdom…” He nodded again. “Good choices.”
I froze. He knew how to read witch’s marks? I’d outed myself.
He grabbed the pencil from me and laid a transparent sheet over the book. On it, he began positioning the items I’d drawn.
“Any thought on where you’d want it?”
“I don’t want a tattoo right now.”
He turned his head to send me a look I couldn’t read.
A yawn hit. I tried to stop it but couldn’t before Bear saw it. “You’re tired. Got it.” He packed up the book and papers and dug in a bin. He pulled out a coat with the shop’s logo printed on it. “My house isn’t far.”
