Ace looked at King, like he wanted permission before speaking. King gave a barely perceptible nod. “You tattooed men who work for him, right?”
I nodded. “Well, yeah. But it was just to get experience with people instead of fake skin like I’d been doing. They volunteered.”
“It wasn’t practice,” Wizard corrected. “He was sending those men into organizations they didn’t belong to. Your tattoowork lets them blend in. Your reconstructions were functioning identity documents.”
My stomach flipped, and it felt like a cold weight pressed against my chest. “No. I didn’t—I would never?—”
“You didn’t know.” Wizard’s tone left no room for argument. “But you’re a living index. You can reproduce entire symbol families without ever seeing the originals. That makes you valuable. And dangerous.”
“All those discipline exercises and his secrecy rules…” My voice trailed off as I tried to wrap my head around everything. “They were just what Jareth said to hide what he was having me do?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” King confirmed.
“So I helped a criminal organization.” I swallowed hard, my eyes burning as the full weight of what they were telling me sank in. “And I put you all in danger when I asked Ink to let me apprentice at Hellbound Studio.”
Reeve slid his hand from my shoulder to the back of my neck, grounding me with the warm, steady pressure of his palm. “Stop.”
I shook my head. “I didn’t see it. I should have?—”
“No.” Reeve knelt beside my chair so we were eye level. “None of this is your fault. Not one damn piece of it.”
My throat strained around the knot forming there. “But I let him use me.”
His gaze stayed locked on mine, fierce and unyielding. “You trusted someone who was supposed to guide you. He manipulated that trust. That’s on him. Not you.”
I pressed my trembling hands against my thighs, trying to steady my breathing.
“There’s more,” King warned.
“More?” I echoed, my stomach twisting. I wasn’t sure how there could possibly be anything else after everything they’d already told me.
King dipped his chin toward my leg. “That tattoo on your calf is a claim. It signifies that you belong to his organization. More specifically, to him.”
For a second, I couldn’t breathe. I was so angry that tears pricked behind my eyes.
“He marked me?” My voice cracked, humiliation burning beneath the fury. My skin crawled at the thought. “I trusted him. I thought he was helping me grow as an artist, and he branded me like property?”
Reeve’s jaw clenched so hard I heard his teeth grind before he bit out, “Yes.”
I pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes, mortified. “I didn’t know. I didn’t see any of this. I should’ve realized something was off.”
“Marks is a manipulative son of a bitch who knows how to exploit talent without anyone suspecting a thing. His reputation in the art world is pristine,” King growled. “You were young, gifted, and he positioned himself perfectly. That’s not on you.”
Wizard nodded. “You were kept in the dark by design.”
Ace added, “And now that we know what he’s doing, we can stop it.”
Their reassurance should have made me feel better, but shame still twisted in my chest. I forced my chin up because now wasn’t the time for a pity party. “I want to help. If my drawings or something in my head can undo any of what he’s done, I’m in.”
Reeve slid a hand around my waist and pulled me to my feet. Then he leaned down, his breath hot against my ear as he murmured, “I told you. Once I had you, there was no going back.”
I didn’t know how much I needed to hear that until he said it, but it didn’t tell me what I needed to know. “Does that mean I get to help?”
King was the one who answered, “Yes.”
Reeve straightened with a nod. “But you’re not leaving the compound until we figure all this shit out. I’m not risking you.”
My reply was easy since I wasn’t going to argue with what he thought was best right now. “I’m okay with that.”
