spinning punches and kicks; the browns and higher did weird, funky kicks that seemed to involve throwing one’s head at the ground while simultaneously kicking an opponent in the face. My knee throbbed just looking at them, but they still did it.
That’s around the time I realized I wasn’t ready for any of this.
Sure, my dad had taught me some self-defense moves, and I took two years of tae kwon do in college. But I was woefully out of shape. I hadn’t been to a gym in years, hadn’t been running in months. And I certainly couldn’t perform any of the basic self-defense moves now, much less stretch my leg so far I could scratch my own damn ear from the topside.
The younger instructor came to join me. “So, are you really joining the class?”
“I’m not going to let this stop me,” I said, pointing at my knee, “but… looking at you guys in action, my knee sure is going to try to hold me back from getting started.”
“You do need to be healthy to get the most out of this,” he said. He hesitated, then continued: “And I don’t mean just the knee. You’ve been banged up, and it will leave you with a victim imprint. You may not feel it right this minute, but a serious assault will leave you with a lot of issues. You should do more than just learn some kicks.”
“What? Like get my head examined? Find a victims’ counselor to help me work through the issues?” I cracked. He smiled faintly, and I sighed and said: “All right. I get it. You guys are big on mind, body, spirit being one, or whatever. I’ll… consider it, OK?”
He held up his hands. “All right, no pressure,” he said, then rejoined the class.
Then my phone buzzed, a text message from Jinx: «elegant, this watch»
With some difficulty, I thumbed back: «But will it work?»
Jinx texted back, seemingly instantly, all in lowercase: «like a charm»
«What about Wulfs tattoo?» I responded. If I ever did get back in touch with him, I wanted to be able to say we could go ahead and get started.
«marquis still sitting on it» was the quick response.
«Keep on him. The full moon is Saturday,» I replied. For once Jinx didn’t reply; I hesitated, then asked: «Should I take Valentine’s challenge?»
Another instant lowercase ping: «o, dakota»
I sighed. Oh, Jinx! I messaged back: «Translate, O cryptic one.»
I grinned. Then I looked at my hand. There were two ugly scabbed lines on the undersides of my first two fingers and healing scrapes all over, but it functioned. I would be able to ink just fine. For all Transomnia had done to me—even knocking out two of my back teeth— he’d still obeyed the rules. I was alive, unspoiled—with two good hands.
It was time to get back to work.
Soon, the class finished with an informal bow and Darren came back to check on me. “So… did we sell you on maybe trying this out, starting Spring Semester?”
“Oh yeah,” I said. “But you know, while I’ve been watching, I’ve been thinking. Long term—I never want to feel helpless again, so I’m going to have to make changes in my life. I can’t waste time waiting.”
Darren sighed. “You aren’t listening. You aren’t ready to start practicing—”
“Who said anything about practicing?” I said, dialing a number on my cell phone. “I need to start working. Alex? This is Dakota. Jinx gave me clearance—I’m ready to do your watch tattoo. How soon do you think the old man will be up for it?”
30. THE WRISTWATCH TATTOO
Valentine filmed his challenges, so an entire crowd was crammed into the Rogue Unicorn’s larger tattooing room. Valentine was in a wheelchair, attended by a nervous-looking, nurse-for-hire type. There were two cameramen and a pair of associated busybodies. And, inside the magic circle that prevented stray mana from infiltrating the design, were my tools, my chair, Alex and me—and a stool with a box containing extra paraphernalia I would use later.
We had started early Friday morning at the ungodly hour of nine, as I had lied and told them it could take up to six hours—even before I knew an hour would be eaten just getting Valentine’s wheelchair up the stairs. When you got over the intricacy of the linework, however, the watch was bone-simple to ink and I would be done in three hours, maybe even two.
I’d stayed up late through the night mixing pigments, performing the