Trey didn’t react right away. I think he almost believed Sydney too. Turning away from us, he pulled off his shirt and revealed a sun tattoo on the back of his shoulder.

Wolfe leaned forward to study it. “So, what? Your parents see you shirtless a lot?”

Sydney winced at the flaw in her logic. “It’s just better if it’s gone when they visit, sir.”

“Yeah,” agreed Trey. “Sometimes we do family trips to the beach.” I had to give him points for playing along.

Sydney explained how Wolfe only needed to deliver the ink into the existing tattoo. He looked disappointed that there’d be no chance to test his artistic skills, but I think he was happy enough about a late‑night visit to Jackie to not be too put out about the time and effort.

Although Wolfe’s equipment looked professional enough, the garage setup gave the whole operation a kind of sketchy feel. I didn’t know the fine details of tattooing, but Sydney examined everything with a critical eye, asking about sterilization and seeming pleased that Wolfe used new parts on some of the equipment each time. Jackie looked as helpless as I felt and stood near me and a wide‑eyed Trey, whose tanned skin had paled at the approaching feat. Even Sydney looked a little uneasy, however, when Trey lay facedown on a bench so that Wolfe could get to his shoulder with the needle.

“I’m sure he’s very skilled,” she said. It was hard to say which of us she was trying to convince.

“Damn boy,” said Wolfe, poking one of Trey’s huge triceps. “What sport do you play?”

“All of them.”

“Oh yeah? You ever done speed‑skating‑javelin‑throwing?”

“Speed‑skating what?” asked Trey.

All of us could tell Wolfe was on the verge of a story, and Sydney cleared her throat. “Um, sir? We should really get moving.” She went over her instructions one last time, and then Wolfe set to his task.

I’d never seen tattooing before. It sounded like a dentist’s drill, and although I was no stranger to blood, seeing that high‑powered needle go to work made me squeamish. It had to hurt, but Trey took it stoically, never twitching a muscle. Sydney supervised everything with a sharp eye, and I had a feeling that if Wolfe did anything even remotely irresponsible, she’d throw herself in there to stop him. She was literally and figuratively watching Trey’s back.

I moved closer to her, careful not to touch but also not really leaving any space between us. “Okay. Presuming Wolfe doesn’t accidentally impale Trey, what’s the next step? I get your logic about giving him a tattoo with Alchemist ink later to see if this one will protect him, but how exactly are you going to get their ink? Doesn’t that require vampire blood and earth compulsion? Those aren’t things you have lying around your room.”

A faint smile played at her lips. “No, nor are some of the other ingredients. And they’re not exactly things I can order off the internet either or use regular Alchemist channels for. I’ll have to think of some other way to get them.”

“But you still wanted to do this first?” I nodded toward Trey.

Whatever fleeting smile she might have had vanished on the wind. “Yes. I had to, after seeing Keith today. Maybe this is preemptive. Maybe I should’ve held off until I had Alchemist ink, but when I think about Keith . . . I have to do something now,  Adrian. I can’t let them do that to other people. I’ve been talking about replicating this stuff in hypothetical terms for a while now, and I couldn’t stand the thought of waiting for Marcus or the ideal procedure. This puts us one step closer. Trey’ll be ready for when I get some Alchemist ink, and once we prove this works, Marcus will disperse it.”

I resisted the urge to cup her face in my hands. What she was suggesting wasn’t a bad plan. Would it have been better if she and Marcus had managed to tattoo one of his disciples with an Alchemist compulsion tattoo and then  see if this stuff worked like Marcus’s indigo ink? Sure, that would’ve been the ideal plan. And that was the thing. Sydney usually went with ideal. She was meticulous. She wasn’t the type to rush stuff or settle for the second‑best option. But she’d rushed now. She’d let the optimal order for her experiment be altered in order to speed things up. It was something anyone might do. I would. The fact that Sydney had done it, however, told me something crucial. She’d acted on impulse and emotion, which was out of character for her. Sydney was scared.

What the hell had she seen in Keith?

“You should have Wolfe tattoo you too,” I said gently. “If you’re worried, that is. Just in case Inez was wrong about magic use undoing yours.”

A pained look crossed her face. “I thought about it, believe me. The problem is, I can’t easily do it with Zoe around. This process irritates the skin, and even though the most obvious effects are gone in a few days, it’s still not something I can hide while living with her. I’ve just got to take my chances and wait.”

“You going to tell Marcus about this?”

“If he ever calls,” she said, rolling her eyes. “He’s probably passed out at some cantina.”

“We can dream visit him, you know,” I said.

“Adrian.” Her voice was stern. “You know we can’t.”

“I know no such thing,” I declared. “I haven’t used spirit in a long time. Not really since–well. You know. That night. A little burst like this for the greater good? No problem.” I made the boast without thinking, mostly because it was a gut instinct to help her. It occurred to me too late that I might not actually be capable of it with the pills.

“It’s dangerous,” she said. But I could see indecision in her eyes. She wanted to talk to Marcus in theory but didn’t want to put me at risk.

“What’s dangerous is not doing what we can to protect others. And if that means talking to my favorite outlaw, we should do it. I should do it.” I had to try. Maybe it’d end in failure, but I was powerless against helping her.

She hesitated and then gave me the best answer I could expect: “We’ll discuss it later.”

Whatever his other flaws, Wolfe proved surprisingly competent. The tattoo process seemed to take forever, but he didn’t gouge any holes in Trey’s back. When they finally finished an hour later, Trey’s skin was pink and irritated, dotted with a little blood. Both Sydney and Wolfe assured us that was normal. He nodded in satisfaction and allowed Trey to sit up for cleaning and bandaging.

“I covered the whole thing,” said Wolfe. “How long until it fades?”

“It can take a while,” Sydney said smoothly. “Sometimes you need a few more applications, but I’ve got a good feeling about this. Thanks for your help.” Again, she spoke so easily that I could almost believe we were just doing a cosmetic removal and not protecting against mind‑controlling magic.

“Wish they’d had that kind of thing back when I was younger,” Wolfe said wistfully. “If I’d known what I knew now, I never would’ve gotten Tocllul tattooed on my thigh. But, hey, I was practically a kid myself and thought Tocllul and I would be together forever.”

“Toc–what?” I asked.

“Tocllul. This Aztec princess I met while I was backpacking around Mexico.”

Trey leaned forward. “Did you say Aztec?”

“Yup. The last of her people. Her family had fallen on hard times, though, and had to sell souvenirs to make ends meet. I competed in several death‑defying games of honor to prove my worthiness. I finally won the right to be her royal consort, but after a couple months, I got restless. I wasn’t ready to settle down. It broke her heart when I left, but what could I do? I was young, filled with wanderlust. I had to be free. Free as a bird.”

“‘And this bird you cannot change,’” I said solemnly. Sydney shot me a wry look. “So you’ve still got her name on you?”

“Nah.” He pushed up one leg of his Bermuda shorts, revealing a hairy thigh and Tactful  written in slightly faded navy ink. “I got back to the States and found a guy to modify it. This was the best we could come up with the letters available.”