"Luna, you better have a damn good reason for dragging me out of bed at the crack of dawn," Zoe grumbled, her vibrant purple hair sticking up in all directions as she stumbled into Crescent City.
Luna paced nervously behind the counter, her usual calm completely shattered. "Zo, I swear I'm not crazy. You have to believe me."
Zoe's irritation softened as she took in her friend's disheveled appearance and wild eyes. Luna was usually the level-headed one, all quiet confidence and steady hands. Seeing her like this was unsettling.
"Okay, Lu," Zoe said, gentler now. "Start from the beginning. What happened?"
Luna took a deep breath and launched into her story. She told Zoe about Bear, the tattoo, and the impossible sight she'd seen in the mirror. As she spoke, Zoe's eyes grew wider and wider.
"Hold up," Zoe interrupted, holding up a hand. "Are you telling me you Picasso-ed a dragon to life? Like, actual fire-breathing, wing-flapping life?"
Luna groaned, burying her face in her hands. "See? I told you it sounds crazy."
Zoe was quiet for a moment, then said, "Show me."
Luna looked up, surprised. "What?"
"Show me," Zoe repeated, a determined glint in her eye. "If you can do it once, you can do it again, right? Tattoo something on me, and let's see if it comes alive."
Luna hesitated. "Zo, I don't know. What if something goes wrong? What if-"
"What if nothing," Zoe cut her off. "You're my best friend, Lu. If you say you saw a tattoo come to life, then I believe you. Now let's prove it."
Thirty minutes later, Luna was bent over Zoe's forearm, carefully inking a small hummingbird. She'd chosen the design for its simplicity and the fact that if it did come to life, it probably couldn't do much damage.
As Luna worked, the bell above the shop door chimed. Both women looked up, startled to see a customer so early.
The man who entered was striking in an unconventional way. He wasn't classically handsome, but there was something magnetic about him. His hair was a mess of dark curls, and he had the kind of stubble that looked deliberate rather than lazy.
Sharp green eyes took in the scene before him, lingering on Luna's tattoo gun.
"Sorry," he said, his voice carrying a hint of an Irish accent. "I know it's early, but I saw the lights on. I'm looking for Luna Hawkins."
Luna and Zoe exchanged a look. "That's me," Luna said cautiously. "Can I help you?"
The man's face broke into a crooked smile that made him instantly more approachable. "Declan Cross," he said, extending a hand. "I'm a... consultant. I heard you might be experiencing some unusual phenomena."
Luna felt her heart rate pick up. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said, perhaps a bit too quickly.
Declan's smile didn't waver. "No? So you didn't see a dragon come to life in your mirror last night?"
The tattoo gun slipped in Luna's hand, leaving a small blob of ink on Zoe's arm. "Ow! Lu, what the hell?"
"Sorry, Zo," Luna muttered, dabbing at the spot with a cloth. To Declan, she said, "How do you know about that?"
Declan leaned against the counter, his posture casual but his eyes sharp. "Let's just say I have my sources. I'm here to help, Luna. What you're experiencing... it's not as uncommon as you might think."
Zoe looked between Luna and Declan, her brow furrowed. "Okay, who is this guy, and why does he know about your magical tattoo trick?"
"I'd like to know that too," Luna said, setting down her tattoo gun and crossing her arms.
Declan held up his hands in a placating gesture. "I know this all sounds strange, but I promise I'm one of the good guys. I work for an organization that monitors and manages supernatural activity. We call ourselves the Veil."
Luna snorted. "The Veil? Seriously? Sounds like something out of a bad urban fantasy novel."
"Says the woman who brought a tattoo to life," Declan countered with a raised eyebrow.
Luna opened her mouth to argue, then closed it again. He had a point.
"Okay," she said slowly. "Let's say I believe you. What does this organization of yours want with me?"
Declan's expression turned serious. "We want to help you understand and control your abilities. And," he added, his eyes flicking to the mirror where Luna had seen the dragon, "we want to make sure those abilities don't fall into the wrong hands."
A chill ran down Luna's spine. "What do you mean, wrong hands?"
Before Declan could answer, a commotion outside caught their attention. The sound of screeching tires and slamming car doors filled the air, followed by shouts and the ominous click of guns being cocked.
Declan cursed under his breath, all pretense of casualness gone. "They found you faster than I thought," he muttered, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a sleek handgun.
Luna's eyes widened at the sight of the weapon. "Whoa, what the hell is going on?"
"No time to explain," Declan said, his voice tense. "We need to get you out of here. Now."
Zoe jumped up, her half-finished tattoo forgotten. "Oh hell no. Luna's not going anywhere with you, gun boy."
Declan looked like he was about to argue, but Luna cut him off. "I'm not leaving without Zoe," she said firmly.
For a moment, Declan looked like he might protest, but then he nodded. "Fine. But we need to move. Is there a back way out of here?"
Luna nodded, her mind racing to keep up with the sudden turn of events. "Through the store room. There's an alley that leads to Bourbon Street."
"Good," Declan said, moving towards the back of the shop. "Let's-"
He was cut off by the sound of the front door being kicked in. Three figures burst into the shop, each wearing nondescript black clothing and carrying weapons that looked far more advanced than standard guns.
"Luna Hawkins," the leader called out, his voice muffled by a high-tech looking mask. "Come with us quietly, and no one needs to get hurt."
Declan pushed Luna and Zoe behind him, his gun trained on the intruders. "Sorry, boys," he said, his accent thickening with tension. "The lady's not interested in your job offer."
The leader tilted his head, studying Declan. "Ah, the Veil. Always sticking your noses where they don't belong. This doesn't concern you, Cross."
"Like hell it doesn't," Declan growled.
Luna's mind was reeling. These people knew Declan? What the hell had she gotten herself into?
As if sensing her thoughts, Zoe squeezed her hand. "Whatever happens, we're in this together, Lu," she whispered.
Luna squeezed back, grateful for her friend's unwavering support. But as she looked at the standoff before her - Declan with his single handgun against three heavily armed assailants - she couldn't see a way out of this mess.
That's when she felt it. A tingling sensation in her hands, like static electricity but warmer, more alive. She looked down to see faint lines of light tracing the tattoos on her arms, pulsing in time with her rapid heartbeat.
Without fully understanding what she was doing, Luna stepped out from behind Declan. She raised her hands, palms out towards the intruders.
The lines of light grew brighter, spreading from her arms to dance across her fingertips.
"I don't know who you are," Luna said, her voice steadier than she felt, "but I think you should leave. Now."
The leader laughed, a harsh sound behind his mask. "Or what, little girl? You'll draw on us?"
Luna felt a surge of... something. Power? Magic? Whatever it was, it flowed through her, making her tattoos glow like neon signs. "Something like that," she said.
And then, to everyone's shock - including Luna's - the tattoos on her arms began to move. The compass rose spun wildly, its needle elongating into a gleaming sword.
The crescent moon peeled itself off her skin, growing until it was a shimmering silver shield floating in front of her. Even the tiny book tattoo fluttered its pages, growing and multiplying until a swarm of paper birds filled the air around them.
The intruders stumbled back, their weapons wavering. "What the-" the leader started to say, but he was cut off as Luna's paper birds dive-bombed them, their edges somehow sharp enough to slice through cloth and draw blood.
"Holy shit," Zoe breathed from behind her. "Lu, how are you doing this?"
"I have no idea," Luna said through gritted teeth. Maintaining the animated tattoos was taking all her concentration, and she could feel her energy draining rapidly.
Declan recovered from his shock first. "We need to go," he said urgently. "Luna, can you hold them off while we make for the back door?"
Luna nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She focused on her creations, urging them to push the intruders back towards the entrance. The leader fired his weapon, but the moon shield expanded, easily deflecting the strange energy blast.
"Fall back!" the leader shouted. "We need reinforcements for this one!"
As the intruders retreated, Declan grabbed Luna's arm. "Come on, we don't have much time."
Luna let her creations fade, the tattoos settling back onto her skin as if they'd never moved. The sudden absence of the power flowing through her left her feeling drained and shaky.
"I've got you," Zoe said, slipping an arm around her waist to support her.
Together, the three of them hurried through the back room and out into the alley. The sounds of sirens filled the air, getting closer by the second.
"This way," Declan said, leading them down the alley towards the busier streets of the French Quarter. "I've got a safe house nearby."
As they merged into the early morning crowd on Bourbon Street, Luna's mind was spinning. Who were those people? What did they want with her? And most importantly, what the hell had she just done?
She looked down at her arms, but her tattoos were back to normal, no sign of the incredible display of power they'd just put on. Had she imagined it all?
But then she caught sight of a tiny paper bird, no bigger than a butterfly, fluttering alongside them. As she watched, it winked out of existence, like a soap bubble popping.
"Declan," she said, her voice shaky. "I think you better start explaining. What's happening to me?"
Declan glanced at her, his expression a mix of concern and something else... excitement? "What's happening, Luna, is that you're waking up. And trust me, this is just the beginning."
As they hurried through the slowly awakening city, Luna couldn't shake the feeling that her life had just changed.
The New Orleans she knew - the one of music and food and easy living - suddenly seemed like a thin veneer over a world of magic and danger she was only beginning to glimpse.
And somewhere in the back of her mind, she could have sworn she heard the distant roar of a dragon.