Item from Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco
Living tattoos that bloom across Emilia's skin with each supernatural encounter — a map of her growing power written in lavender ink and impossible flowers.
The witch marks are not decorative — they are a record of power, a diary written on skin by forces that consider Emilia's body a canvas for something much larger than she understands. Each new addition corresponds to a supernatural encounter that has changed her: a summoning, a meeting with a prince, a brush with death. The marks grow in complexity and beauty as her power deepens, and they serve as a visible barometer of how far she has traveled from the ordinary Sicilian witch she was at the beginning. The marks also function as a bond-signature — they are magically linked to Wrath's golden serpent tattoo, and the correspondence between their marks is one of the first clues that their connection runs deeper than a simple summoning contract.
Starting as a small lavender tattoo of twin crescent moons within a ring of stars on Emilia's outer forearm, the marks grow with each encounter: serpents twine around the moons after meeting Envy, wildflowers wind around the serpents on the third day after summoning Wrath, and vibrant frangipani blossoms appear after Wrath saves Emilia from venom. The marks are metallic lavender with an inner luminescence, and they pulse faintly when Emilia's power is active.
Also known as: bond tattoo, Emilia's marks, the tattoo