Indelible Ink by Matt Betts Read Free Book Online

last three hours and they were playing havoc with her already messed up body, but one more wouldn’t kill her. Deena didn’t know where the coffee jitters stopped and the effects of her powers began. They were wrestling with her psyche and her brain, making every thought painful and forcing her to question each decision. Was she a twenty-something or a teen? It was hard to separate the two. She stuffed the rest of her things—notebook, makeup, brush, extra socks and gum she’d bought at the airport—back into the bag and unlocked the door.
    As she stepped out, a woman waiting nearby rushed in.
    “Grow a bladder, lady,” Deena said. She stepped to the end of the hall and peeked around the corner. Though there were four people standing in line at the counter, she all but ignored them. She also looked past the pudgy, dark-haired girl pouring milk into a mixer near the display case of muffins and bagels. Her gaze landed on the young man at the cash register. She’d been mesmerized by him from the moment she stumbled in off the street looking for someplace warm. His hair was gelled all crazy, every which way and he had a hint of stubble on his cheeks and chin. She thought he looked a little like a popular singer whose name she couldn’t quite place. He had to be eighteen, twenty, tops.
    He’d upsized her regular to a large for free when he saw how flustered she was when she first walked in and that was all it took. Deena knew how fragile she was as she was rebuilding herself, her power, but she didn’t care. She nursed that first coffee as long as she could, staring out the window and checking her watch, waiting for Avi to return from his errands. She was wearing the Mariners shirt and matching sweats she’d bought at the airport. At the time, over-the-top team apparel seemed like a good idea to help her to blend in. Now, she felt like an idiot.
    Kevin, she knew from his nametag, gave her an incredulous smile this time. “Back for more? You’re out of control, girl.” He wiped his hands on his earth-toned apron and prepared to tap her order into the computer. “Same thing or can I get you something a little… calmer? Less caffeinated.”
    Deena giggled, caught herself laughing a little too much and forced it to stop. “Oh no. You find something that works, you gotta stick with it. Can you make this one a bit mintier? Put a little more mint in? I like the mint.” She felt giddy and out of control and tried to remember when the train was leaving.
    “Sure. That’s not a problem,” Kevin said. He turned and grabbed a metal cup and started pouring ingredients.
    The crunch of a blender startled Deena and she felt her arm throb reflexively. She looked down and saw the black ink creeping out from under her sleeve toward her wrist. She took a deep breath and pulled the arm of her sweatshirt down a bit lower. Once her pulse slowed, Deena scowled at the heavy girl mixing another customer’s drink.
    Deena retreated to her table, spread out the maps and brochures in front of her, and eyed them. They were announcements and flyers for all the touristy things to do in the area. Deena had pulled them out of a display at the last rest stop to distract herself. They meant nothing, but she still read them over and over to keep from screaming about the things they’d done and the things to come.
    She and Avi would take a taxi to the train station, get tickets and go. They could hop a train to anywhere and then start sorting out Deena’s life. That was the only plan she had for now and she clung to it tightly. She’d left a message for her sister to call her. Deena would explain the whole thing and tell her where they could meet up.
    The only thing she didn’t have a lock on was Avi. For now he seemed to be going along with the plan. He agreed to put her on the train, but she wasn’t sure he’d follow through. Would he buckle to his fear of Marsh, or stay loyal to the past that he and Deena had together? It could mean the