Between Shadow & Ruin (Fangs & Fae Saga Book 2)

ninety-seven.

The next morning, Ava and Noah were presented with their jewelry for protection – Ava got a bracelet that matched Jade's, and Noah was given a necklace. Val had also made a ring for Bee to wear that Aria gave him. We met up with Alessia, Jacques, and Sebastian at the office and they decided they would go first to get their tattoos. After a few hours, they came out of my office and Sebastian immediately showed off the tattoo on the base of his neck to us. I saw Jacques' right arm sleeve rolled up and Alessia's shirt was barely buttoned, so I assumed hers was somewhere on her torso. They thanked us all for the protection and left home. Alessia was supposed to return to France soon – Jacques signed his bar over to her and she needed to get back and run it.

Ray and Aria headed in to get theirs done after. I held Skylar close to me as I was beginning to feel nervous. For whatever reason, she always made me calm down – Zane wasn't sure if it was because I was having post-partum hormones and holding her reminded my subconscious of how I felt when I carried her; Val thought it was something stronger than that, something to do with the bond of being a mother to a fae child. 'I told you, it's where the wolf pack mindset came from... You have a little bit with our other kids, but you gave birth to Skylar – it's different!' she said, in our conversation with Zane and Chris. I didn't care what it was though, so long as Skylar was happy and healthy, and she was.

Ray had his button-up open and I could see he chose to do his tattoo on his chest, and I couldn't see Aria's, but I assumed she would eventually show me. Before any of us could say something, she flipped around, pulled the right side of her shirt up, and the right side of her jeans down to reveal that she'd gotten hers on her lower back. Chris and Zane went into my office and Aria and Ray went into his.

After another couple of hours, Zane and Chris emerged from my office freshly tattooed. Chris opted for his calf like Jason, while Zane opted for his ribcage. His tattoo was still quite red and was covered with a clear bandage. Bryn came out of my office to grab a cigarette and pick up the food they'd ordered.

"Bryn said something about my skin not healing as quickly as yours does, so they suggested I keep this on for a day or two," Zane said, re-buttoning his shirt. "I don't know if ribs were the best idea though. It hurt like a bitch. I feel like I'm going to be sore for a while..." Chris kissed his forehead.

As we waited for Bryn to return, Val paced around the lobby.

"You okay?" Zane asked, noticing her.

"Yeah. I'm just a little nervous, but nothing I can't handle," Val said with a smile.

"Your pain tolerance is better than mine," he said, grabbing her hand. "I'm sure you'll do great." He kissed her hand just as Bryn finished eating.

"Okay, Moms. You two ready?" they said to us. I handed Skylar off to Chris and headed inside with Val. Bryn had completely reworked my office. My desk was up against a wall. The table was covered in a protective mat where they put their ink and needles. There was a big, cushioned chair that moved in whatever way they needed it to in order to make us feel most comfortable while receiving the tattoo. They closed the door behind us, and we both sat on my couch in the office. "Well, one of you is going to need to sit in this chair... Who wants to go first?" Val looked very nervous. I stood up.

"I'll go," I said. "I was thinking of my left forearm. The baby has it on their left hand and... I think it's a nice touch."

"Okay. Sounds good. Sit here and rest your arm on this," they said, pulling over a cushioned side table to rest my arm on. They began to pour the magical ink into a few small containers and grabbed their supplies to begin. They cleaned my arm and placed a piece of paper with the sigil on my arm. When the paper was removed, it left behind a faint trace, so Bryn knew where to do the tattoo.