“Okay. I’ll get everything we’ll need.”
“Thank you.”
Noel smiled. “Of course.”
It took three weeks to perfect the design, another week to infuse the ink with the necessary herbs and energy to ensure Jai’s body didn’t reject the connection or heal away the tattoo completely. After scheduling Gideon to watch Riley for the day, Noel and Jai set up their supplies in a rented stall in the corner of one of the Utopian tattoo shops.
“It’s going to take all day,” Noel warned as Jai peeled off his shirt.
Jai rolled his eyes. “I know.”
He settled himself on the reclined chair, back facing Noel. His Other snapped his gloves into place and double-checked his ink and gun. Noel’s nerves buzzed through their bond, and Jai sent him a soothing vibe. It spoke of trust and love and calm, calm, calm. Noel chuckled quietly, and Jai hid his smile in his forearm as he propped his chin up on the headrest of the chair.
“Okay. Ready?” Noel asked.
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
The machine buzzed to life, and Jai blew a breath through pursed lips. Noel’s gloved fingertips touched his back first, cool and rubbery from the latex. Then the first bite of the needles. Jai didn’t flinch.
Their little stall was secluded, and their combined auras glowed subtly as they infused every stab of the needle with purpose and intention. The ink burned, but Jai relished the pain. With every poke and prod, with every symbol Noel hid within the branches, their power infused Jai’s skin.
At first, the pain was intense, more intense than he thought it would be. It prickled and scraped like little knives dragging across his flesh. When Noel filled in the tree trunk on his spine, he had to grit his teeth to stop hisses of sharp pain. But the skin numbed eventually, and the pain faded into a dull, burning vibration across his skin.
There was a point where the tender, exquisite torture sent the wrong kind of signals, and Jai hardened in his basketball shorts. He was glad he was facing away from Noel. It was embarrassing enough that he was popping wood at the hands of his Other—something that hadn’t happened in a century. He didn’t need Noel to see it.
But the lusty pleasure faded, and Jai relaxed into the chair once more.
It took all day. The sun had long since set by the time Noel lifted the needles from his skin and wiped away the last dollop of excess ink. Noel sighed, stretching his back and using a hand towel to clean the sweat from his forehead and neck. Jai didn’t move right away, allowing the erratic power pulsing beneath his flesh to settle and sink into him. The ache was almost overwhelming, but he loved every second of it.
“We need to seal it,” Noel said, voice scratchy.
“Yes,” Jai said, voice just as hoarse.
When Noel’s bare palms landed on Jai’s sides, heels of his hands brushing the edges of the tender branches, Jai jolted. Noel whispered an apology, one Jai dismissed immediately. A white ribbon carefully circled Jai’s torso, and Jai’s rope responded, tangling with Noel’s power and cinching around his wrists. Jai tasted honey on the back of his tongue.
“You okay?” Noel’s voice shook.
“Yeah. You?”
“Yeah.”
Their power beat in time with the rhythm of their hearts until even their heartbeats fell into sync. The atmosphere vibrated. Bright light flared. Noel gasped. Jai bit back a groan. Then the power dissipated, leaving them panting like they’d spent the day training instead of sitting.
“Wow,” Noel breathed. “Did it work?”
Jai focused on the tree carved into his back. He felt the branches sway in an invisible breeze. He could almost hear the caw of the blackbirds on his shoulder. And smoldering hot and strong within the ink, blood, and magic was Riley.
“Yeah.” Jai barked out a laugh. “Yeah, it worked.”
Four days. Riley had been missing for four days.
He wasn’t in Purgatory. Malachi and his team had scoured the entire sector, but they hadn’t found anything. Riley wasn’t in Hell, the second place the angels had searched. They had wasted an entire day and a half sneaking around Gehenna, but still no Riley.
Jai had stopped functioning halfway through the second day. Noel broke down the third day. Gideon hung to sanity by a thread, but the fourth day hadn’t started out promising.
“How can he not be there?” Gideon bellowed, kicking a folding chair and sending it reeling across the room. “We’ve wasted days searching Gehenna because you were sure he was there. And now he isn’t? Where the fuck is he?”
Raphael had the wisdom to jump between Gideon and Gabriel to stave off the inevitable fight. Everyone else simply resumed their work. They were used to Gabriel and Gideon slashing at each other’s throats. It was nothing new.
The base of Jai’s spine burned, and he swallowed his moan of pain as he escaped the room before the Archangels resorted to throwing fists instead of insults. His head pulsed angrily with every beat of his heart, and the shouting worsened the torture. The hall was quieter, but the sun was too bright, the colors too vibrant.
Something sharp raked down his spine, and he slumped against the wall with a muffled cry. It wasn’t his pain, but it hurt all the same.
“You’re okay, baby,” he murmured against the marble. “I’m right here. You’re all right.”
There was no response.
It took most of Jai’s energy to keep himself from tumbling down the rabbit hole completely. Sanity was more of a suggestion these days than a reality, but he clung to whatever semblance of it he could. And with any strength he had left, he did his best to reach through the withered bond in search of his Committed.
Riley was there. Jai could feel him; he just couldn’t reach him. They were separated by a concrete slab, and every day, he pushed against it in an attempt to roll it out of the way. It was slow going, but he couldn’t give up. And every day, the stone shifted, millimeter by millimeter.
But in the moments Riley was stressed, overwhelmed by emotion or pain, he’d punch holes in the boulder. For brief seconds at a time, they’d find each other, but then Riley would slip away. No matter how tightly Jai grasped at him, he’d lose his grip, and Riley would be gone, only for the process to start all over again.
The need to vomit teased the back of Jai’s throat, but there was nothing left inside him to purge. He hadn’t eaten in over twenty-fours hours, so the nausea was easy to ignore. At first, he’d tried to force food down to keep up his strength, but his stomach rebelled every time. Whether it was Riley’s sickness or the negative side effects from their fucked-up bond, Jai didn’t know. Eventually, he stopped eating.
Wiping sweat from his brow, Jai wrinkled his nose at the pungent aroma wafting from his armpits. Shit, he stank. When was the last time he’d showered? He couldn’t remember.
In a daze, he stumbled down the hall and into the elevator. His vision blurred in and out of focus. No one stopped him. No one spoke to him. He didn’t blame them. He was crazy, after all, and nobody wanted to talk to a madman.
Cold water hit Jai’s back, and he yelped. His voice echoed around him, and his ears rang. The locker room? When had he gotten here? Where were his clothes?
Honestly, he didn’t give a fuck. The water felt good on his boiling skin, and he sagged under the spray with a moan of ecstasy. Riley’s tree dug into his back and twisted, and he locked his knees to stay on his feet.