“But there are conditions,” he continued.
Conditions. Not surprising. There was always a catch. Sometimes the devil hides in the details. Her eyes shot to the guys standing behind him and then back to Lars. Her fingers clenched in her lap, her nails biting into her palms.
She had no other good options, which was probably why she felt like the acid in her stomach was churning. “What are they?”
“Listen to me, no one is going to hurt you.” He laid his fingers over where hers were clasped on her lap, the heat of his hand drawing her attention to where he touched her. “Do you hear me?”
She nodded, looking back up to his face and not the reassuring hand.
“There are things you are going to have to accept if you do stay. You are no longer human. You do understand that? The life you had is gone. We can’t have you jeopardizing our situation by trying to reach out to people in your past. They’re gone. That whole life is gone.”
It shouldn’t have been a shock. She’d known it. But still, when had the slim chance of a psychotic break become the outcome she had secretly hoped for? She swiped a dirty sleeve across her cheek, not sure if she was making more of a mess but trying to keep herself from falling apart any more than she already was.
“That man, Malokin, how much do you know of him?” he asked and she could see the distrust still there.
Forcing her eyes to stay on his, she said, “Only what I’ve told you.” There was no way she was going to mention the other things he’d said to her in the short time frame she’d talked to him. And she couldn’t think of a single reason why it would be a good idea to mention the other man. Even thinking of him made her skin crawl. Her situation was precarious at best.
“But you do know he isn’t human?”
“Yes, I guessed that might be the case.”
“We’ve been searching for him for a long time. He’s slippery and he’s resourceful. He can also do things, track people, and we haven’t been able to figure out how. He might be tracking you even as you sit here. He might be hearing every word we say.”
Her hands felt like ice as she thought of Malokin and the other one knowing everything, and her eyes shot to the door.
“He can’t touch you here,” Lars said, unaware there was another one she was worried about. “And he won’t come anywhere near us.”
His words weren’t a bluff. She thought back to how eager he’d been to know where Malokin had been. He was definitely the predator in this situation, not the prey. She was safe with them.
Lars watched her intently for a reaction. He didn’t trust her, and she didn’t care. She’d take help in any form she could get it. She’d take her chances on an untrusting Lars.
She didn’t have anything to track, though. It wasn’t like she had a cell phone or anything that could be traced. All she possessed were the filthy clothes on her back. “How could he possibly do that?”
“We don’t know how he does it but we do know how to stop it. You have a choice to make. You can either let us do this or we’ll help you find somewhere else to go.”
She leaned and rested an elbow on the back of the chair and rested her forehead in it. “Go where?”
She was half talking to herself but Lars answered. “Somewhere far away from here.”
“But if he can track me?” she asked, looking for confirmation of where that would end for her. She might be unsettled mentally but it didn’t rob her of all logic. Leaving here would be a one-way ticket to nowhere with Malokin and the other one following on her tail. They’d get her eventually.
Lars nodded then stood to his full height, and she sensed the shift in him as well. Her choices sucked. He knew it and wanted to make sure she knew it as well.
Faith sat there, realizing just how horrible her situation was. She’d been a businesswoman; she’d built herself a life from the ground up with no one helping her and now here she was, afraid and indecisive. She was terrified to stay and even more horrified to go back out there alone.
She could sit there all day but she didn’t think that would magically create a third option. She either accepted their help, however they wanted to give it, or she’d be on her own in a situation that made Alice’s rabbit hole look normal. It wasn’t a choice in her mind, as long as it met one condition. “And this thing you can do, will it stop any of them from tracking me? What about the men with him? He had some guys, too.”
“None of his people will be able to track you. I’ll have to give you a special type of tattoo. It’s the only thing I know of that works. There are other less intrusive ways, a little more work intensive too, but they won’t work for you now. If you want our help, it’s all or nothing. You need to understand something before we go forward. You know you’re not mortal anymore.”
She nodded, even though he knew she understood that. “What am I exactly?”
“Most creatures that exist have two forms. There is the core of who you are, which stays with you throughout eternity, and then there is the form that you take in each human life. When you died, you shed that outer form. That form is what protects your core while you’re on this Earth. You no longer have that. You’re still you but in your most true self.”
“But I feel like I’m human.” Her fingers ran over the skin of her leg, revealed by a tear in her pants.
“When you went through the transition, in order to exist here, your core self goes through a slight transition. There are a lot of similarities and you might feel mortal but you aren’t. You won’t age; you’ll start hearing and seeing better. You’ll be able to move quicker. Imagine it like you were wrapped in bubble wrap and that layer has been shed.”
“That doesn’t sound bad.”
“There is a downside. If this form gets injured, there’s nothing left of you to move on from here. Also, if I put this tattoo on you, your soul, or whatever you want to call what you are now, won’t be connected to whatever lies beyond this dimension. Heaven or hell, reincarnation—this is it. On the plus side, staying around here isn’t the worst thing ever. You’ll never grow old, never get sick. There are perks to living forever.”
Faith thought about the ramifications of what he was saying. “And if I don’t do this?”
“Depends on what you do when Malokin catches up to you. If he does, and you aren’t willing to play his game like you say, you’ll end up finished anyway.”
After that explanation, there was no choice. “Let’s do it,” she said and then paused. “But a tattoo? Is it like magic or something?” She knew she sounded skeptical, but come on. A magic tattoo? In spite of everything she’d just gone through, she felt a giggle coming on. Or maybe it was nervous laughter.
He raised his eyebrows as if to suggest her question was the ridiculous thing, not the tattoo. “What color are your eyes?”
“What? Brown,” she replied, not even thinking of the question.
“They’re bluish green.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “How tall are you?”
She shook her head. She used to be about five foot six. It hit her hard that she had no idea how tall she was now.
“Without measuring, I’d say a couple inches over five feet.” He huffed. “This is the problem with all you transfers.”
“Transfers?”
“Former humans. You were stabbed to death but yet you’re sitting here in my tattoo shop and have the nerve to question if maybe magic exists.”
The guy had a point, and suddenly the tattoo seemed a little more legitimate. “Okay.” She nodded. “What do I need to do?” She didn’t know if trusting him was the most idiotic thing she’d ever do but it wasn’t like there was a line of knights behind him waiting to ride to her rescue. This tattooed man and his scary looking friends were option one, two and infinity.