Page 36 of Inked in Bloom
I purse my lips. “Wonder why they’ve shortened up the guidelines?”
“Whatever it is, it can’t be good.”
Maybe not good for the Blooms, but good for me—if I can get my shit together, that is. Working with clients taught me that so many obstacles are ones we create for ourselves. From how much worse I am compared to everyone else, I’m starting to think this is firmly ameissue.
The skin around my sternum itches.
Unless…maybe this mark is blocking me somehow? I’ll have to find out. Thankfully, the moment classes are over, Cherri takes my hand and we exit for the Sprouts School to talk to Kendrick.
“What haveyou told her so far?” Kendrick asks after I lift my shirt. His eyes dart between Cherri and me. We’re seated in bean bag chairs, which I suspect is to make us more comfortable. But while Kendrick fits perfectly in his, the pair we’ve overtaken are made for much smaller assets than either of us has. I shift back and forth, trying to create some sort of nook to hold myself in place.
“Nothing really.” Cherri crosses her arms and her feet, leaning back so far she almost topples out of her oversized Hacky Sack. “I wanted to be certain and figured it would be better coming from you.”
Kendrick brings a palm to his chest, brows drawing tight. “Why me?”
Cherri waves around the room. “You’re the educator.” Then she gestures toward me. “Educate her.”
“I teach children.”
“Exactly.You can break it down for her.”
“I’m right here, you know.” I wave at both of them, cutting through their vague argument. It’s stressing me out on top of this itching. My nail scrapes over my sweater, but I don’t press hard in case that will make whatever this is worse. All I want is for someone to explain what is going on. The more evasive they are, the more I worry.
“I’m sorry.” Kendrick pinches the bridge of his nose and sucks in breath. “I wasn’t expecting to explain this today…or ever, really.” Sighing, he continues, “The tattoo you are referring to isn’t a flourish mark.”
“Is it some defect? Is this why my magic hasn’t come yet?”
His lips flatten into a line. After a long inhale, he speaks very clearly and very slowly, while maintaining eye contact. “It’s your mate mark.”
It takes a moment to register that they are both waiting on me to say something, but there are no words. “As in?”
“Fate has blessed you with a mate.” Kendrick gives a small smile.
What.
Cherri claps her hands together and shoots them toward the sky. “Congratulations!”
“I-I don’t understand.” I shake my head and both theirfaces fall. “There must be some mix-up. I don’t even know how to dress myself. How can I already have a mate?”
This doesn’t make any sense. Why would Fate choose a mate for me now? I don’t want to be stuck with some Bloom for eternity—I don’t want to be stuck here at all.
“No clue, but now I’m the jealous one,” Cherri replies with a huff.
My body thrums with energy it has no fucking clue what to do with. After a few annoyed grunts, I get my ass out of the bean bag chair, leaving a huge double indent in it as I stand. “Okay, so how do I undo it?”
Kendrick makes a pained expression. “You can’t.”
“But I don’t want a mate.” I begin pacing back and forth, arms hugging around myself.
“I know it’s a lot at once, but this is great news,” he continues, the vein along his neck popping. “You have no clue how lucky you are. Many harbingers wait decades, even centuries for a mate mark. Myself included.”
“The last thing I feel is lucky. I literally just died.” It’s only been a few weeks, most of which I hid under the covers pretending this wasn’t real. I’m not ready for a mate. I’m not ready for the afterlife I’ve been assigned.
I can’t look at the two of them because they want me to be happy and all I am is panicked. Overwhelmed. Confused. “Whoever’s saddled with me would be much better off getting cast out into the mating pool again.”
“Maybe so, but you’ve been marked.” A knot rolls in my stomach as Cherri talks. “Fate doesn’t change her mind on these things.”
I didn’t feel the need to tie myself to someone in life, I certainly don’t feel the need to in death. This is obviously an error. I’m still learning, for fuck’s sake. “It’s not like they’re setin stone, right?”
