Chapter 23 #2
“No. I'll be fine,” there was a strain in his voice I pretended I didn't hear. I also pretended my pulse wasn’t galloping from the feel of his hip beneath my fingers. I swallowed again, breathless.
He reached down to the hem of his pants, tugging the edges lower. “What do you think you're— I quieted. He was bunching the fabric up to reveal glyphs on his outer thigh, not fully undressing. My eyes snagged on the bulge pressing against his undergarments. I was in so much trouble.
Using his free hand, he pointed to each symbol on his right thigh in turn, fabric gathered in his other hand.
His voice was hypnotic when he spoke. “Concealment, this makes it less likely someone’ll visually notice you.
Influence, this one apparently doesn't work very well on you,” he said, “But it usually makes others more agreeable. Dexterity, this one makes nuanced movements smoother.” He moved his thumb from one side to the other.
Avid fascination didn’t begin to cover my fixation as more of his skin was revealed on the opposite side.
“Authority, makes others question you less, which doesn't seem useful on you, either. Stealth, allows you to move while making less sound. And Alert, which lets you detect threats directed at you from afar.”
“Wow,” I murmured, transfixed even as he settled his hemline back in place. “Instructor Garcien didn't cover any of those in lessons.” He had three on each side, exactly six. I tried not to dwell on how I could have predicted that count with any precision.
“I doubt Mariel knows these glyphs exist,” Zevrial let his hand drop to his side. “Most knowledge about glyphs is highly restricted.” I filed Instructor Garcien's first name away for later.
“How did you know about these, then?” I asked, pulling my hands back. The small movement took more willpower than it should’ve.
He laughed, and it was a jaded, almost wounded sound. “You don't already know? I thought every bit of info about me was already common gossip.” He shook his head as if to clear it. “I'm the son of two Voyagers from the lost Arc.”
It made a lot more sense how he would have access to knowledge on Skinscript, growing up with Voyager parents.
The lost Arc hadn’t been seen since it left in search of land past Raevar. If both his parents had been aboard, Sarina’s comment about an orphan prodigy made more sense.
Did he have a sibling or had he been living alone since then? Sympathy rose, until another likely truth tickled its way to the forefront of my thoughts. “You inked the glyphs onto yourself,” I said. I felt stupid for not having realized it earlier.
It hadn't been a question, but he gave me a musical hum of assent.
Which meant, he'd be the one inking glyphs on me too. In highly sensitive, private places. My cheeks began to burn. There wasn't enough air on the whole isle of Mesmoria for me right now. I scooted away from him.
“You didn't say—” I accused.
“Hmm?” His devilish smile was back, almost mocking. “Volunteer the info I was the one who gave myself this Skinscript? And wait for you to try to convince me that you'd be able to put them on yourself?”
I hadn't thought that far yet, but that did sound remarkably close to what I now intended to argue about. “Yes!” I squawked.
“You wouldn't know how to anyway, and a deal’s a deal,” he said. He was entirely too smug. The desire to punch him again was strong, this time right in that stupid perfect mouth.
“You didn't even finish explaining the rest of your Skinscript.” I pointed to his exposed forearms. “And a deal’s a deal.”
“You already know Acumen, Strength, Agility, Energy, Fortitude, and Luck from your lessons,” he gestured to each glyph on his arms. The Luck glyph explained his unnatural proficiency for Haburi.
“This one’s Perception, which allows you to notice things others wouldn't. Imagination, this helps you think outside the box more easily. Balance, this one’ll make you harder to destabilize.
Durability, which is like Fortitude but for enduring physical damage.
Aptitude, it’ll let you learn new skills more easily.
” He tilted his head, flattening his hair down behind his right ear.
Was that yet more Skinscript? “Auditory, enhances hearing.”
“Are there any glyphs you don't have?” I mumbled.
“Yes, dozens,” he answered. “But there’s only so much skin scape I can hide, and every visible glyph has to be earned officially.
” He pointed to another on his arms. “This one’s Clarity, which makes reasoning more straightforward.
And this is the glyph for Regulation, which helps with maintaining your body temperature. ”
“Which one are you trying to earn next?”
“I'm done performing publicly to earn treats. Any others will be at my discretion, not someone else's.” His words had a weight, a finality to them.
“Which two are you going to give me?” The question was out before I could take it back.
His eyes glittered dangerously. “That depends.”
“On what?” Silence stewed between us.
He blew out a breath, and the tension dissipated with it. “I haven't decided yet.”
I rubbed at my temples, letting my hands fall back down when it did nothing to stop the headache beginning to brew. “Are we ever going to talk about…” I tapped pointedly at the hidden glyph on my chest.
“I think we’ve both discovered at this point that it’s a linking glyph of some kind,” Zevrial stared at me as he said it, and I fought down the rush of desire that him staring at me always triggered.
“Are there any…unlinking glyphs?” I asked.
“No, there aren’t,” his tone was firm.
“What if we tried, I don’t know, messing up any magic in it with more Skinscript ink?”
“That’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard,” he deadpanned.
My temper flared to life. “Oh, and what’s your brilliant plan then?”
“Not to use ourselves as living experiments? Especially since our heartbeats are linked together now?” He made a gruff noise. “Do you have any clue how dangerous it is to try to mess with unknown Skinscript?”
I shrugged. “Can’t be worse than being linked to you.”
His eyes narrowed. “You’ve no idea how much worse it could be.”
“I’m sure you’re about to tell me.”
“You’re linked to someone who is already a Voyager. Someone already fully trained, who has earned enough Skinscript to protect himself. I’m linked to someone inexperienced, untrained, whose only glyph is a wild card that neither of us fully understands.”
“Well, excuse me for not being perfect like you!” I pushed up to stand.
“You haven’t even considered what this is, have you?” He said, so quiet I almost didn’t hear him.
“No, I’m clearly just an unskilled untrained idiot.” I took a step away from him. “Who doesn’t know anything.”
His voice stopped me before I reached the door. “What happens if one of us dies? Have you thought about that?”
I hadn’t. Not really. I stood, clenching and unclenching my fists while taking slow calming breaths.
“Does it even matter to you?” He asked. “That if our hearts are linked and one of them stops beating…”
“Of course it matters,” I snapped, turning to face him again. “But we can’t remove these glyphs, and there isn’t another one that can undo them either. We can’t do anything about it. And nothing like that would happen anyway.”