Steven frowned. “I’ll ride up front. To keep an eye on you.”

  Liam shrugged, the very essence of ease. “Both eyes. Keep them on me. For I am the Yellow Ronin, and I am a shifty sort. I hope you four don’t mind, but I will need you to partake in the ancient art of Irezumi. I see one of you already has.” He bowed at the waist in front of Tessa.

  Tessa blushed. “Irezumi, that’s the Japanese word for tattoos. And yeah, I’m not afraid of needles.” She climbed into the bed of the truck, as did Mouse and Aria. When Mouse bent over, Steven got a good look at her chest, and he remembered the kiss she’d given him. It had been pretty chaste, but it felt like a start.

  Steven got into the passenger seat. They motored through the outskirts of town to where a tattoo parlor sat next to a liquor store; they shared a wall.

  Liam parked and they all crowded inside the tattoo parlor.

  The tattoo artist was there alone. He was all beard and belly, no hair, and dressed in biker leathers. His grin had gaps. He was shorter than Steven, far shorter. In fact, he and Mouse were about the same height, though the guy had to have a hundred pounds or more on her, easy. Steven couldn’t help but think the guy looked like one of Tolkien’s dwarves.

  The shop had two chairs, sample tattoos on the walls, a beer keg, and an espresso machine. The place smelled vaguely of a mixture of beer, incense, and cleaner. Steven appreciated that last scent. He didn’t want to get hepatitis, though a quick Magica Cura might help with that. Which brought up a question: Could the healing magic cure things other than damage caused by combat? It was something to consider. With enough power, could they heal Tessa’s brother?

  “Hello, BB,” Liam said.

  “Like in BB gun?” Tessa asked.

  The tattoo artist rumbled laughter. “As in bowling ball. I’m kinda shaped like one. The thing is, I hate fucking bowling. And I hate miniature golf. I hate any sport where you have to send a specific ball to a specific place.” He paused and canted his head to one side. “Softball is okay though, since it involves beer.”

  Tessa smiled warmly at him. “I like softball too, but BB, it involves sending a ball to a specific place.”

  “Nah, girl,” BB replied. “You can hit it into right field. You can hit into left field. You can put it down right in that sweet spot behind second base. Or you can aim for the fences. It’s all about strategy and reading the other team. And did I mention there’s beer involved?”

  Tessa laughed and touched his arm. He didn’t seem at all concerned about their odd mixture of outfits or the fact that Mouse’s nipples were poking through her potato sack of a dress. Then again, BB had probably dealt with all kinds of people.

  More than that, with the good-natured banter, everyone was relaxed and happy. Tessa had such a magical effect on people, taking an interest in them, asking them questions, and then really listening to the answers.

  Steven felt a wave of love for the barista flow through him. He’d known she was awesome when they first met. And every day since she’d confirmed that awesomeness.

  “All of this is very amusing, but we’re in a bit of a hurry.” Liam maneuvered them to the chairs. From the pocket of his jeans, he pulled out a vial. “I need four tattoos, but I need you to use this ink. Can you do it?”

  BB nodded, smirking. “Yeah, Liam, that’s what I do. You can’t drink beer for a living. Trust me. I’ve tried. I’ll start with the veteran here.” He motioned to Tessa. “What do you want?”

  Steven stepped in. “I’m not understanding what’s going on here. No one gets anything until I get an explanation.”

  BB shrugged. “Hey, Boss, I’m just the ink slinger. Ask Mr. Yellow here.”

  “And there is where you trust me,” Liam said. “The ink is special. I made it myself. It will give us a certain amount of spiritual protection. As for the pattern, a simple circle will do it, about two inches in diameter.”

  “Circles for all four?” BB asked.

  “Yes. Like so.” Liam unsnapped his shirt to reveal an ornate circle on his chest. The center of the circle was empty, but the lines had loops and swoops, like ocean waves or the inky winds of a hurricane where his skin was the eye in the storm.

  “That’s amazing,” Tessa said. “Just do that to me.”

  “Oh, darling,” BB said, “if you say something like that to me again, I just might have to excuse myself.”

  Jealousy zapped Steven, but he knew it was all just banter. He wasn’t about to lose it, not when he was still getting to know Liam.

  Tessa pulled off her shirt to stand there in her bra. The girls looked delicious, cupped in silk, and Steven felt a tingle in his nether regions. Tessa’s arms and legs were already covered in ink, but her chest and back were bare. She motioned to her back. “How about we put it on my shoulder blade.”

  Liam frowned. “You’ll want to put it somewhere you can reach. If we need to find you, you’ll need to cut the circle.”

  “Love that magic shit,” BB said, getting his needles ready with Liam Strider’s special ink. “I do the demon protection tattoo from that show Supernatural all the time.”

  “Yeah, I like magic too,” Tessa said. “If only I’d gone to Hogwarts, I might’ve done better in school.”

  “Fuckin’ Hogwarts would’ve been awesome,” BB said.

  “Would you like to learn magic?” Tessa asked.

  Steven didn’t like where this was headed.

  BB snapped on blue latex gloves and then grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol. “Like real magic? You’re damn straight I would. I’m a total Hufflepuff.”

  That made Tessa laugh.

  BB studied Tessa’s body, looking for a good spot, or checking her out her chest. “Hey, I think I know a cool place for the circle.” He went to touch Tessa’s arm, where the talons of a red-tailed hawk stretched toward her collarbone.

  Like a cobra striking, Steven caught BB’s hand out of instinct. It all happened so suddenly that Steven felt ridiculous.

  BB guffawed. “Damn, man, I get you love her. No need to grab me. And talk about fast. You’d be a killer third baseman with reflexes like that.”

  Steven let go of the man. “Sorry. I’m a little on edge.”

  “Might wanna switch to decaf,” BB said. “Or get off the meth.”

  Mouse let out a strangled cry. “Ha, ha, ha, this is all just so much fun! We’re all just so fucking cute! And isn’t BB so nice and funny? Aren’t we all just so nice and funny?!”

  She stormed out of the tattoo parlor.

  Liam glanced at Steven. Who sighed.

  “Yeah, I’ll go talk to her. Just get started on the tattoos. We need to stay hidden.” Steven went after Mouse, but he had no idea what he was going to say to her.

  SIXTEEN

  Steven found Mouse around the back of the combination liquor store/tattoo parlor, sitting at a picnic table surrounded yellow grasses wet from the day’s storms. Spring on the Great Plains was completely schizophrenic. It was actually hot and humid, though the morning had been so chilly. The sun burned bright in the western sky while the colors around them had softened in the fading light. It was gorgeous outside—vast fields, a few trees, and hills in the distance. You just couldn’t focus on the cigarette butts littering the ground despite the coffee cans placed strategically at the corners of the table. Smokers were rebellious. Full stop.

  Mouse sat sweating in the big baggy dress, looking miserable.

  Steven sat down across from her. “What was that all about?”

  “Same old song from your Mouse,” the blonde said with a sad smile.

  Steven’s heart leapt. Yes! His Mouse! He liked how that sounded. But he kept his face straight. “What’s the song?”

  She sighed. “I’m afraid. So afraid. Here I am, terrified, and there you are, joking around. Tessa is so sweet, all smiley and happy, but at any minute Mulk could find us and kill us. Next time he comes after you, he’s coming full bore. He is going to descend upon you with his full army. We’re talking a dozen dragons, the Terror Trio, and mercenaries with automatic weapons loaded with dragon-slaying rounds. We took down Judith. That, more than anything, is going to stick in his craw.”

  “I’m not scared,” Steven said. Then corrected himself. “Okay, I’m a tad nervous, but come on, Mouse, you saw us back there. We held our own and without very much official training. I’m hoping Liam can help us with that.”

  Speaking of which, the yellow-shirted Dragonsoul pushed out of the back door of the tattoo parlor. He strode forward. “I think I heard you say my name. My new name at any rate. Liam Strider.”

  “Lord of the Rings fan?” Steven asked.

  “Something like that.” Liam sat down next to Mouse, facing Steven. “So, here you are, the new gun in town. Who are you, really?”

  Steven glanced at Mouse. She rolled her eyes. “For the love of biscuits, Steven, we can’t NOT trust him at this point. Tell him the whole story. Don’t leave out a single detail.”

  “But he tried to kill us,” Steven protested.

  “For the love of biscuits?” Liam laughed lightly. “Mouse, you said that whole sentence without a single curse word. Steven might be having a calming effect on you … or at least on your vocabulary.”

  “Fuck off, Ronin,” Mouse said sharply.

  Liam sobered. “Yes, I was hired to kill you. I failed. I kidnapped Aria for some insurance and paid for it. I’m on the run as well. And I am a fucking Ronin, which is good for you, and bad. I won’t swear my allegiance to your cause, Steven, but I don’t serve any other masters. I need you as powerful as you can be so we can end Mulk’s reign. With him gone, I will be able to return to Denver and their vibrant art scene. We are partners in this.”

  “How can I trust you?” Steven asked.

  Mouse answered. “Make him swear on the soul of his father. Dragonsouls take that shit really fucking seriously.”

  “I swear on the soul of my very cruel father,” Liam said. “You see, he was a Prime, in Finland, three hundred years ago. He saw my power, and he would’ve killed me. I killed him first. Filicide, such an ugly word. But perhaps patricide is worse.”

  “Three hundred years?” Steven felt a twinge of awe.

  “Yes. I’ve aged very well. Because I don’t play the games of Dragonsouls. I learned early to gamble on myself and my abilities. They have served me well.”

  “You used Magica Incanto to put protection magic in the ink, didn’t you?” Steven asked.

  “Unlike more modern dragons, I am not afraid of magic. I’ve mastered all the spells on the skill tree, though I find myself less and less interested in the dark arts. Did anyone else think it was strange that BB considers himself a Hufflepuff?”

  “If you talk Harry Potter shit, I’m leaving,” Mouse threatened, lips pulling into a scowl.

  Steve, though, chuckled. “No, BB is a total Hufflepuff. I’m just wondering if Tessa thinks we should try and bring him in as a vassal.”

  Liam shook his head. “Be careful, Steven, of who you tell our secrets to. We must remain hidden, from the humans and from the Zothoric.”

  Steven paused to consider that. The grimoire had mentioned the Zothoric a handful of times—some sort of demonic creatures who hunted Dragonsouls—but it seemed they were more myth than reality. “Aren’t the Zothoric just boogeymen that Dragonsouls use to keep things static?”

  “Tell me your story,” Liam said. “I don’t like talking about the Zothoric … or even pondering them, for that matter.”

  Steven took in a deep breath, hardened his heart, and told the Yellow Ronin everything.

  At one point, Liam stood and walked out into the weeds, to touch the wet blades of grass. When Steven stopped, the Ronin encouraged him to keep talking. He mentioned the strange missing paragraph in the Drokharis Grimoire as well as the two missing volumes of his father’s spell book.

  When he was finished, Liam turned. There were tears on his cheeks. “So, you are the last of the Drokharis clan. Your father, Stefan …” He faltered. “Well, he was my friend, and I don’t make friends easily. You see, both of us rejected the games of power that Dragonsouls play. We studied together. For twenty years, I have wondered what happened to him. I’ve cast divination spells, weekly, to find answers, but the magic protecting the truth of his death is powerful. Only a sorcerer-dragon, thousands of years old, could stop me from seeing.”

  “Mulk isn’t that old, is he?” Steven asked.

  “He’s only about a hundred years old,” Mouse said. “But he’s sick with power. No, he’s just sick. One sick fuck.”

  “But he killed my father,” Steven said. “If there is another ancient dragon in the mix, why would he help Mulk?”

  “That is just one of the mysteries we are facing.” Liam wiped his face and sat back down. “Steven Drokharis. To think, I went up against you. If I had slain you and then found out the truth, it would’ve shattered me. I am so very sorry I ever tried to hurt you.” He glanced away. “Can you forgive me?”

  “Nothing to forgive,” Steven said. “You didn’t know.”

  They sat in silence, the three of them, listening to the sounds of the small town. A car door slammed. A bird, restless for night, twittered. In the distance, a big rig gunned its engines while another engaged its hissing air brakes. Tessa laughed inside the tattoo parlor. Aria let out a cry. “Ouch. Needles. Ouch. And people pay for this torture?” BB said something in a low voice that made Tessa laugh more.

  Liam lowered his head. Tears dropped to the table. Steven was a little uncomfortable at the show of emotion. Where he was from, men weren’t so open. The Yellow Ronin then said in a choked voice, “I heard you want me to train you. But can I? Am I worthy? You might not understand who your father truly was … he was the best of us, and not just with his skill at sorcery. There was a goodness to him, a noble goodness, fearless. He, too, wasn’t frightened of the Zothoric. And his portal magic was unparalleled. Yet, I never understood why he would take such risks, opening the doors he did. He had a secret agenda that he kept from everyone. Even from me.”

  Another long stretch of silence. Mouse couldn’t hack it. She got up. “Yeah, Tessa must be done. I’m after Aria. So, yeah, I’m gonna go and let y’all have your moment.” She walked slowly away from them.

  Steven leaned back and folded his arms across his chest. “I need you to train me, Liam. There’s so much I don’t know. Like the Exhalants. I can’t even breathe fire. And our shields failed against the Terror Trio, and we don’t know why. Tessa nearly died by skipping ahead of one of the skill tree abilities. We need a teacher.”

  Liam sighed. “She skipped a spell class? Which spell class did she skip?”

  “The Impetim magic.”

  “There is a good chance she will never be able to cast those spells again. You do need a teacher.” He reached up and ran a hand through his blond locks.

  Steven caught his dragon scent, lemons and leather. If Tessa missed out on any of the spells, that could only hurt them. Steven shook his head. Dammit.

  “So,” Liam said, “if you kill Mulk, you’ll get a Primacy of your own. You are so young, so full of power. What then? How will you wield your power?”

  Steven had to be honest. “I don’t know. I really don’t. But in my visions, my father talked about a revolution. I think he wanted things to be different for our kind, and I think he was killed for it. And if there is an ancient dragon involved, well, first I want to take out Mulk, and then I want to talk to whoever is protecting that murderous dick.”

  Liam again wiped his face. He raised his head but couldn’t make eye contact with Steven. “I know of one ancient dragon, but he’s ... Well, he’s not right. Time is cruel. It devours all things. It grinds stones to meal. It brings mountains low. And it catches up with even the most powerful of Dragonsouls.” Another long beat. “I will help you, Steven Drokharis. I will do my best to be the teacher your father couldn’t be. But if you see him again in a vision, if you get another question to ask him, ask about the secrets he kept from me. I long to know.”

  “I will,” Steven said.

  “I said before that I would never join your cause, Steven.” Liam nodded. “But you’re the son of my friend, and I will do everything I can to help for as long as I can. Even if it means giving up my life.”

  “Thank you.” Steven wanted to say more but the words didn’t come. This powerful Ronin, it seemed, had become a vassal, even if it wasn’t official.

  There didn’t seem to be any more to talk about, so the pair went inside. Tessa had brewed up coffee for them all, and of course, it was delicious. She showed him the hurricane circle on the upper left portion of her chest. It was as if the red-tailed hawk was trying to gasp the circle. BB was a true artist. Aria got her tattoo on her left forearm.

  “Why there?” Steven asked.

  “This is truly a tactical decision,” Aria explained. “If I need to break the magic, I can easily scratch it.”

  Aria was a total warrior, and Steven could appreciate that.

  Mouse sat naked in the chair and BB didn’t seem to care. Steven couldn’t help looking her up and down, from her cute feet, up her shapely legs, to the blonde patch of hair between her legs and just below her taut belly. And her breasts were so cute! Was he really going to sleep with her at some point? It seemed so.

  BB was just finishing up inking the circle above her left breast. The ink contrasted beautifully with her pale skin. The result was striking.

  “You’re up next, brother,” BB said. “We’ve been talking Harry Potter again. What house would you be sorted in?”

  “I’m Ravenclaw, interestingly enough,” Tessa said. “I’m a schoolgirl now, and I thought I was destined for Slytherin.”