Chapter 10

She stared at herself in the bathroom mirror, ran fingers through her hair and was shocked to see how much shorter it actually was. I mean she knew she had long hair but when Amy cut away nearly eight inches of tresses she was dumbfounded to say the least. Considering that Ryan kept her hair in a bun of some sort she didn't realize how long it actually got since the beginning of the year. It was simple, her reddish brown tresses were still long enough to pull back into a tail or bun, but short and light enough that her neck already felt better. Plus she added a little black and purple into it to be rebellish.

She smiled as she walked to the shower to wash the days grim off. As she waited for the water to warm, she stripped and had an amazing and sinister thought –

Donovan would absolutely hate it.

Well, he hated anything that went against his pedigree in general.

But.

If she was going to do this she needed every ounce of strength in her, and her new hair cut would help with that as ridiculous as it sounded. As she stepped under the spray she enjoyed the warmth and touched the amulet that hung around her neck she thought of her own pedigree and how it differed so greatly from everyone she knew. Even Reid's. As her fingers ran along the jeweled stone it began to shine from within, growing warm under her touch. "What the hell?" When her wrist and the back of her neck started to itch and burn she looked to see an intricate pattern forming.

It was time.

She let her head fall back and groaned loudly. It was not the time. Hurrying to the mirror she looked at the back of her neck and let out a double groan. It was definitely not the time for that.

Reid ran to the bathroom in Caleb's house, his hip had been itching for the better part of two weeks; he successfully ignored it until now. The searing pain he felt made him rush to the bathroom and remove his pants in record time. Inching the waistband of his boxers down her stared at what something that was moving under his skin. Thinking of Dreamcatcher, or Evolution he immediately tried to stop it by pressing down on his hip, cutting of the circulation. Yet it seemed to be only concentrated in that one area. Gripping the edge of the sink, he nearly screamed out as ink seemed to boil up from under his skin to form an intricate triquetra design and a tiny duo of seahorses that twined their tail around one corner of the as if not to drift apart. He had tattoos but none were nearly as painful as this one. The only good thing was that it was over in a matter of minutes.

No larger than the bottom a soup can, Reid was completely oblivious to the meaning behind this very odd occurrence. Except for – but that couldn't be right, he thought.

Wanting to deal with the whole issue later, he resituated himself, making sure not to make any sudden movements with his sore hip. They all had a busy night and when he heard the doorbell he composed himself, and headed downstairs to meet Tyler. As they waited for Sara and Caleb's mother he couldn't help but think about what new pop-up tattoo could mean.

No one liked what was going to happen, especially Mrs. Danvers, who dealt with her own issues of having a middle aged husband who resembled something from the crypt keeps lair. But what choice did they have? No one knew they existed, but a handful of ordinary people and Caleb wouldn't accept any sort of help, even from The Covenant. And as pissed as Reid was that Caleb was ascending first he was also relieved as Caleb was a natural born leader. Plus, none of them wanted to deal with fiasco disguised as tweedle dee and tweedle dum.

While he would never verbally admit it, he knew it mentally, as did the others. No one could keep their cool in hairy situations like Caleb, not even Tyler. Hell, Reid was having a hard time keeping the green-eyed-temper-monster at bay when the girl he loved left him for a prick of an ex-boyfriend. Wait love, he thought flabbergasted. Did he just think about loving someone? Did he truly love Ryan? Or was this another hormonal surge?

Tyler punched his arm. "Dude," he stressed. "Let's go."

Tucking the rose behind her ear, she pinned it to her hair taking a look at herself one more time. The girls did an amazing job at making her beautiful that she barely recognized the girl in the mirror.

The light hit the highlights that were added, with the most prominent being a chunk of purple she begged Amy to add. Her hair was parted to the side and swept back and twisted into a loose side bun. Section were twisted and tucked into the back, while tendrils of dark hair framed the other side of her face, leaving her face open and the mark on the back of her neck visible to anyone who looked.

And something she promised her roommate she would explain later.

Her make-up was minimal but went perfect with the dress. Dark eyeshadow made her eyes brighter and almost unnatural in color. They left her lips a mauve dusty pink color to offset the darkness in the dress and around her eyes. She kept the jewelry minimal as well wearing a pair drop pearl earring that her da sent for her 16th birthday, ones he hunted for and made himself. The color of dusted lavender they were one of her most treasured possesions. The only other piece of jewelry she wore was the amulet that her grandma-ma gave her at the last meeting. The one that signified her role in their clan.

Ryan ran her hands over the dress she slipped on and zipped. Sara and Amy had already left which gave her the time she needed to deal with her feelings. She felt daring and different, a little powerful, and a lot stronger. She loved it, as she loved the changes that were made. She just hoped they weren't fleeting. The dress fit perfectly and was something out of her comfort zone, but it didn't make her feel uncomfortable as she thought it would, it made her feel gorgeous.

And the markings added to that. Ryan couldn't explain it, as she should be terrified of strange markings that just popped up out of nowhere on her skin.

But she wasn't.

In fact she had a sneaking suspicion of where they came from.

She fingered the intricate design of a triquetra and seahorses at her neck, then the ones around her wrist. Though it wasn't just around her wrist, but entwined and crawled up her arm to the elbow. It was the most beautiful thing she ever saw. Intricate tribal sea dragons, a lotus flowers, and a variety of other sea life beginning with a seahorse encircling her thumb and trailed and climbed around her arm like sea kelp ending with an octopus reaching a tentacle around her bicep. She had seen this design before.

It was her grandmothers.

It was one of the markings of a sea witch.

Like her grandma-ma had said, it was time.

A knock came at the door, and frowning she slipped on simple strapped heeled sandals the color of amethyst before going to the door. She didn't know who it was since she told Donovan that she would just meet him there. "You ruined your hair." Were the first words that came out of Donovan's mouth that her reaching up and touching it self-consciously.

"Sara and Amy did it, and it's not ruined because I so happen to love it." She tensed as she spoke to him without feeling guilty but waiting for the hit to come. It didn't. His eyes roamed, in disgust over her body. He noticed the only jewelry she wore was long, chunky, distasteful necklace and pearl-like earrings.

Donovan tried to hide the distaste from his face at her lack of decorum for events such as this. He would have to train her how to be the proper escort. "That dress shows too much skin, your hair looks a mess and unpolished." He reached in his jacket pocket and pulled out a box. Opening it held a necklace that was studded with diamonds the color of the stars. She wanted nothing to do with them. "You need to take that ridiculous jewelry off and put this off. I am not going to have you parade around with fake stones. You are an extension of me and must look the part. Here." He reached to tear the necklace off her neck when she reached up with her hand to protect it, only then he noticed the markings on her arm.

"What the hell is on your arm?" Dropping the necklace in his hand he grabbed her wrist and wrenched her to him. She grimaced in pain. "You dare defile me like this! I will not have my future wife mark her body with whorish symbols!" He screamed.

Snatched her arm, she turned her eyes up to his in anger, over his complete and utter lack of -anything resembling humanity. Anger flared through her, and the lights flickered, but neither of them noticed. Drilling a manicured nail into his chest she kept her voice calm, and controlled. "It would be best to remember that I am only your girlfriend because of Chase. If he did not pose as a threat to my family or my friends, you would not be here." She poked him with enough force that it knocked him backwards. "These markings are of my people, it is an honor to have them, and for you to call them whorish shows how very little your truly know about anything other than what you were spoon-fed by your wretched family."

He grabbed her arms. "You dare to speak to me?"

She pushed closer to him, so she was in his face. "Yes. Get off your high horse Donovan before you're thrown from it. I'm done being your punching bag."

He let her go abruptly, raising a hand to strike her, but thought better of it. He knew it would not look good if he showed up to the school party with a bloodied date. But the hate he felt filled his eyes, and Ryan saw it. He straightened his tie and jacket and looked at her with the promise of payment. "We will talk about this later, and you will regret what you said. Try to please me tonight and I may forget this incident." He bent to retrieve the necklace. "You will wear these."

"I will not. Contrary to what you think, these are precious gifts from my father and grandmother, and I can assure you they are worth more than those putrid diamonds."

Again the thought of hitting her ran through his mind, looking at his watch, he hissed. "We're late. Remember what I said Ryan, we will talk about this later."

Reid and Tyler stood on the front steps of the school. Sara stood between the two of them while Tyler talked to Caleb on the phone. Reid was watching for a certain red head, as well as, Chase. He saw Donovan enter and nearly dropped to the floor at who was on his arm. The dress fit her like a glove, and the color of jeweled olives, it made her skin glow. The back of the gown was nearly backless if it weren't for two pieces of crisscrossing silk that hooked just below the shoulders. The remainder of her back was bare until the skirt of the dress began at the top of her hips. Then she turned, he saw the rose tucked behind her ear.

He still nearly choked. "Beautiful isn't she?" Sara asked him, smiling.

"She the most stunning woman out there, no offense." He knew what the dress looked like, since he bought it, but he had no idea how amazing Ryan would look in it. The skirt was to the ground with the only hint of leg showing through the mid-thigh high slit. The bodice was ruched and crisscrossed to the point it reminded him of her scales when she was in her true form. It had a sweetheart neckline that gave a slight hint of cleavage and bunched straps that capped her shoulders. The only jewelry he could see well was an amulet that rested on her chest. When Ryan looked at them and waved tentatively he wanted to howl at the moon.

Though he gaped at her appearance he noticed markings on her skin. Thinking that tweedle dum-ass harmed her he nearly surged forward, but using what little power he could muster he saw that it was a tattoo. He pulled at his pants and tie, as both were becoming exceedingly uncomfortable.

"Yeah hold on, she's righ- dude I swear she was right here." He tore his eyes from Ryan, and focused on the fact that Sara vanished from their side.

"Where's Sara?" He asked Tyler.

"I don't know. Caleb? Caleb?" The clock began to toll, and they looked at it as Tyler closed his phone, the connection lost. "Happy Birthday Caleb." he said.

"This night can't get any better." Reid mumbled, as they headed to the ball. Plans changed, if they couldn't protect Sara, then they would protect Ryan, whether she wanted it or not.