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Ivan was always a shady, unkempt guy I was leery of, who lumbered past every afternoon. He’d smile or wink, and I’d try to ignore his attention at first. But he started to bring me lunch. Big sandwiches and fruit and all sorts of tasty snacks. Sometimes, a chicken burrito. One time, he got me a whole pizza. It was only a small pizza, but it was a huge lunch for a starving girl. Except I wasn’t exactly starving anymore, thanks to him.
At first, he’d just drop it off and keep walking, then he’d stand and stare at me, which made me nervous. But I figured it was worth the free food and tried not to let it bother me. I’d thank him, he’d nod and watch me eat, and then he’d say goodbye and walk away.
After a couple weeks, he started to sit and eat lunch alongside me. I was much more comfortable with that than being watched. I began to think he was my friend, which was nice because I was so lonely the rest of the time.
Subtly, at first, he’d mumble about magic, and I thought he was insane. Soon after, he seemed to know about my visions, and it was a relief to have someone to talk to about them. He explained they were magic, too, and that I was magical. He told me I could learn to control them and do so many amazing things with magic if I’d practice. I asked him where I could go to learn, and he promised he’d find out for me.
Then, one rainy night, I was hunched under an old, inadequate raincoat, trying to shield myself from the wet and the wind. He showed up out of nowhere and ushered me up to my feet and out of my spot. He marched me a couple blocks away to his shop, gave me a pillow and blanket and let me sleep on a couch in a back room.
In the morning, he gave me breakfast and told me I could stay if I wanted. He said he’d teach me all about magic, how to use a tattoo gun, and give me a job. He’d feed me, and I could stay in the back room until I’d saved enough to get my own place.
The only catch was I had to agree to a magical binding. He swore it wasn’t a big deal. It was like a contract to keep us both honest, and it was only fair that he would help me if I helped him.
So we did the strange ritual in the shop with the lights off at midnight. There were black candles and bones, and our blood was combined in a chalice, which he used to draw war-paint-like markings on our faces. Then, I verbally agreed to his terms. He never lookedhappier than on that night, and I mistakenly believed that was a good thing.
Everything seemed fine at first, except for how often he made passes at me. He gave me a few grimoires, and sometimes when he showed me how to do spells, his hand would wander down my ass and hover too long. When he was behind me, showing me how to use the mortar and pestle, he’d breathe close to my neck. Then, the next time, he kissed my neck. I didn’t know what to do. He tugged my chin to him and kissed me on the lips, tongue and all. When I tried to pull back, he just grinned and whispered, “Shhhhh, there’s plenty of time for us, Tess.”
But I guess he was more impatient than that. The next night, he dragged me to one of his strip club parties and made it very clear no was not an option. I had to drink with him and his friends and watch them get theirprivate lap dances… and other things.
The next time, he had me sit across from him and play with myself while the stripper gave him a blowjob. He never broke eye contact, and his smug expression turned into a leer until I came, at which point he pulled out and blew his load all over the stripper’s face. He didn’t make me lick her face clean that time, but he did a few weeks later. After he started ordering me to let his friends fuck me.
So, I was a tattoo artist by day and a sex slave by night. Not every night, but almost every week. That’s when I realized the binding ritual only bound me to Ivan and not the other way around. I couldn’t run away because I had to stay within five miles of him, or I would choke and die. He had an effigy of me that he used in the binding ritual, a little doll, and if I didn’t do what he said, he would threaten to kill me with it.
So I was trapped. I was better off with my dad, but that wasn’t even an option anymore.
Chapter Three: Stirring Secrets
Tess
When I got home,I kicked my shoes off and padded over the plush carpeting through the darkened room. Seeing my roommate Addie sleeping on the couch, I nudged her on the shoulder with the back of my hand. She blinked up at me, eyes unfocused, and brushed her thick, wavy blonde hair out of her face. I waited for her to wake up enough to get herself to bed, and when she remembered why she’d fallen asleep there in the first place, she sat up with a gasp.
“You didn’t have to stay up.”
Her narrowed eyes and flattened lips said it all, and though I knew her well, her strong jaw always made her look intimidating. “I didn’t. Are you okay? What happened?”
I shook my head, unable to talk about it. If a memory suppression spell wasn’t so damn expensive, I’d be doing that, but it requiredtoo much pain. Maybe someday I’d find a blood mage to pay to do it for me, but I couldn’t wax my own legs, never mind paying the price of a memory suppression spell. “Nothing. I’m fine. Go to bed.”
She pulled the throw blanket off and sat forward. “You didn’t answer any texts, and the maps app said you were at Sapphire?”
I took a step away toward the hallway to my room. “Yeah, Ivan dragged me. It’s fine, I’m going to bed.”
She gave me a soft look and reached out. “Are you sure, Tess? I’m here, you know.”
I stopped and grinned at her, just so that she’d stop worrying about me. “I know. Thank you, but I just want to get some sleep now.” I hated that I made her feel so anxious all the time, but she refused the charm I tried to give her that would have eased that.
She gave a tight nod and stood up. “Okay, maybe we’ll talk tomorrow.”
I didn’t want to talk about it ever, but I gave a noncommittal shrug and muttered good night, shuffling off toward my bedroom. The soft carpet cradled my footsteps, and Addie’s light tread right behind me. When I reached my room, she captured me and pulled me into a hug. I balled my hands up behind her, preventing contact with her body. I’d seen her uneventful death already, but those visions always came with a dissociated feeling I didn’t need to add right now. As her arms encircled me, the warmth of her embrace contrasted sharply with the cold knot of emotions in my chest.
A few years after I got mixed up with Ivan, I was being kicked out of my apartment and looking throughWant Adsfor rooms for rent. She was the third person I went to meet, and we hit it off right away.
She was a dog trainer working with a well-known company, and I was impressed with how together she already was at twenty years old. She was excited to find out I was a tattoo artist. She’d always wanteda tattoo but was afraid of what her parents would say. Apparently, they were the involved type. I was jealous of her for that, too, but she insisted nosy, judgmental parents were nothing to be envious of. When I told her I wished I had parents who cared about me, she cried and said she was sorry.
One day, she accidentally tripped and fell into me. I put my hands out to break her fall and had a vision of her. My eyes always went white when it happened, but if you didn’t know about magic, your brain wouldn’t let you notice. Addie did, though, and that’s how I found out she knew about the supernatural world. She’d always known about it but didn’t know why, because she didn’t have magic, and no one else in her family did either.
It was one of those mysteries.
The tightness in my throat threatened to choke me out, but I held it together long enough to hug her back. I could feel her heartbeat, steady and reassuring, against my own erratic pulse. Summoning every ounce of strength, I managed to whisper, “Thanks,” before gently pulling away and stepping into my room. The door closed behind me with a soft click, and then I let the dam break.
