Chapter Four – Jack
Chapter Four
Jack
“It involves you, because we’re still on the same team,” Maya continued.
“I wasn’t aware there was a team.” I walked out and leaned against the piercing jewelry counter.
She sank gracefully down into one of the couches in Dark Ink’s lounge.
“Rosalie was the leader of a significant operation, Jack—a key player on several different fronts. You only knew about the clubs. Do you want to know about the gambling or drug rings?” She read the look on my face. “I didn’t think so.”
I wasn’t entirely surprised to hear Rosalie had had her cruel fingers in multiple pies—the first thing she’d done after she’d changed me was send me in to kill a gang whose turf she wanted.
“My point is that when I meet them,” she said, suddenly looking at her perfectly manicured nails instead of me, “I might need back-up.”
“Why?”
“To keep up appearances. Rosalie had Tamo.”
“So? Turn someone.”
“I turn someone, and they’re out for three days—plus I look weak. Besides, the Rojo want to meet in two nights.”
I pointed at the neon sign behind her. “That says I have to work my shift here, every night.”
“Fine, I’ll pay you,” she huffed, and rolled her eyes.
And if any of Dark Ink’s crew found out I was cutting my shifts short, I’d have a full rebellion on my hands. “Why don’t you just wait till you’re positioned better? I mean, how much more money do you need?”
“When you can live forever, you need a lot.” Maya swept up to standing, and straightened the collar of her fur.
“Help me present a united front until I can figure out what their game is. I don’t even know how much the land is worth—apart from the fact that I’m sure there’s still silver hidden inside the old bunker.
I’ve got my humans working on retrieving it, but the Rojo’s interest seems sudden.
Rosalie never mentioned any other interested parties. ”
I stood still, and she pressed, managing to shift her face into an almost human expression of need. “I’m asking you, as a brood-brother, Jack.”
I tilted my head. “Is that even a thing?”
“No. But it sounded good, didn’t it?” She pursed her lips, and then cracked a smile.
“Come on Jack—I tried not to kill you, despite direct orders from Rosalie last night. That should count for something.” Even when Maya was conniving and untrustworthy—she wasn’t all-vampire, all the time, because an all-too-human exasperation tinged her words, a feeling I could relate to.
And it had been Maya’s idea to turn Paco. Whether or not that was a good one, however, remained to be seen. “All right.”
“Thank you,” she said, emphatic. “Two nights from now, midnight, Vermillion.”
“You’ll owe me,” I warned.
“I give payment due on receipt of services—and not a moment before.” She put her hands into her coat pockets, and glanced the direction where Luna had gone. “I didn’t think you were the owning type, Jack.”
“I’m not. I’ve hired her.”
“Uh-huh.” A quirked eyebrow let me know what Maya thought of that.
“She says you hate her.”
“Well, she’s not wrong there. That bitch was always trying to steal my spot.”
“What is she like?”
“Faithful. In the same way cancer is faithful, you know?” Maya shrugged her coat higher.
“Are you going to make any claim to her?”
Maya chortled. “Fuck no.” I wasn’t sure if that was an endorsement or not as she went on. “See you two nights from now, Jack. Don’t be late.”
“I wouldn’t dare,” I said, and watched her flow out into the night.
I made my way over to my drafting table and settled in, we needed some more flash to make up for the images leaving artists had taken with them.
I pulled out a piece of paper, marked it into quadrants, and decided I’d draw a different flower into each.
Perennials were perennial—and the flowers reminded me of Angela’s lovely English garden backpiece.
Our night had been the first and last time I’d ever see it, when she’d been beneath me, me moving inside her, her body bowed before me—the memories made me hard, as they made my heart ache.
And that was when Luna opened the door—no—she didn’t open the door so much as she burst in, almost topless, and with her came the scent of frank blood.
“Did a little research on my phone,” she said, shaking it in one hand.
I had been right earlier, she wasn’t wearing a bra, and her shirt was pulled up high.
Her breasts were perfectly proportioned and her nipples hard—because through each nipple was a guide-needle.
She walked in, staring at me, and then walked past me, leaning down to get into the back of the piercing display case, bending at the hips so I had no choice but to watch her ass, as she pulled out twin barbells before turning back around.
She popped them out of their plastic bags and then threaded them into the guide-needles one by one to pull through.
I watched her, waiting for her to make a sound or grimace—the only tell she had was a slight tightening of her jaw as the widest side of the guide-needle pulled the barbells through, and when she was done fastening them she turned to me.
“Do you like them?”
There wasn’t much blood—nipples didn’t bleed like ears did—but there was enough for there to be a single crimson drop, gathered on her right nipple’s edge. She swiped it up, and used it to paint a line down her stomach like an arrow.
I stood and walked over to her slowly, like a man possessed, watching the fire light in her eyes when she thought that she’d caught me—until I leaned past her and pulled a canister of Sani-wipes out. I opened it and tugged out one to hand to her.
“Clean up your mess.”
Her jaw tightened again—but she took the wipe before storming off, tugging down her shirt.
I’d finished a sheet of assorted flowers and was halfway into a medley of realistic sea creatures when the front door opened up again and a herd of boys spilled in. Luna, who’d gone back to the piercing studio to sulk, did not reappear.
“Hey gents,” I said, coming up to the saloon doors.
“You are open!” one exclaimed.
“Just like the sign says,” I pointed at the neon.
“We didn’t think you would be—the reviews,” one guy began.
“Don’t talk to me about reviews, okay? We’re under new management, now. How can I help you?” I asked, addressing the group as a whole. There were five of them, and all of them looked collegiately sporty in much the same way.
“We just won a soccer tournament,” the first one said, all business, with Ken-doll hair slicked back—although a buddy behind him shouted out: “Go UNDERDOGS!” at the top of his voice.
“So what were you thinking of? Soccer balls? Soccer gear?”
“I got your soccer balls right here!” muttered another, to laughter.
The temptation to use my whammy—the power that all vampires had to compel humans—on them and order them out again was high. But even the great Rosalie had bent to the whims of mortals for decent Yelp reviews. “You guys all sober?”
“Yeah—except for Johnny. Who will be, by the time you get to him. This is what we want,” said Soccer Leader Ken-doll, pulling out his phone to show me a picture of a soccer ball with a crown. “Except we want all the crowns to be different—”
“Y’all are soccer royalty?”
“Something like that,” Ken-doll nodded, looking smug.
“All right. Can do. It’ll be a hundred a pop—only because it’s a slow night.”
The biggest one of them lurched up from the back. “How do we know you’re good?” I guessed he was Johnny, from the liquor breath.
“Because this is my shop,” I said, sweeping an arm out.
I’d always been loyal to Dark Ink, thanks to Angela taking a chance on me, but I had a new and unfamiliar sensation toward it now: filial pride.
I gave them all a reassuring grin and between that and the fact that there were absolutely no other tattoo parlors open in Vegas this late tonight, they settled in.
Once I started running my guns—Ken-doll was first—Luna reappeared. She seemed delighted to find people present to hang out with other than me, and she’d kept the piercings in—her tight shirt made them clearly visible.
Johnny started to chat her up first and she pulled him away like a wolf isolates prey. “So you just won a big tournament?” She tilted her head down a little, so she was forced to look up at him through long dark eyelashes.
Johnny proceeded to tell her all about it, from its plain beginning to its exciting overtime finale, complete with kicking motions, weaving his way through the other chairs.
The rest of his crew laughed at him or joined in.
All of their eyes were on her, even the one I was tattooing—she was mesmerizing.
I wondered if that was a side-effect of hanging out too long with vampires.
“Where are you guys from again?” I asked Ken. I couldn’t quite tell by their accents, and I hadn’t investigated their IDs too thoroughly.
“Connecticut. We go to Royal Prep.”
Which explained the crowns—and why they found a goth girl so mysteriously appealing.
Luna waited politely till the end of Johnny’s story and clapped in appreciation. “You’re so amazing!” she squealed.
“Why yes, yes, I am,” Johnny said, leaning against the nearest chair, attempting to sound like a debonair combination of James Bond and Elvis, a consummate player. From the sniggers of the others I figured he wasn’t usually like this, not without a half a bottle of Jamison.
“But,” she went on, walking among them. “You’re not my type. I’m worried you might be a little too whiskey-dick for the purposes of my pleasure this evening. I require a hard man with a condom.”
My guns paused for half-a-second—long enough that I knew she’d heard. I only wanted to know what her game was—but she grinned wickedly like she’d scored a point.
“How ‘bout you?” she asked, whirling on the nearest player, whose nickname was apparently ‘Bear’. Couldn’t tell why, he was well-muscled, with close shaved brown hair.
“Uh….” His jaw dropped in apparent disbelief. “I do have a condom—but I also have a girlfriend.”
“Dude, this is Vegas, shut up,” counseled his friend, who’d also fished in his wallet to hold a condom out. He had blond hair pulled back in a high pony, with shaved sides and neck underneath.
All of them were attractive if you could tolerate the douche long enough, I’d give Luna that.
Luna swayed like she was weighing her options and then with her eyes on me, she grabbed both their hands. “Let’s go see what kind of trouble we can get into, eh?”
The blonde practically floated toward her, whereas Bear held back.
“Go,” Ken-doll commanded from my chair. “None of us will tell. Not even Johnny.”
Johnny, who was dismayed to have been passed over, grunted sadly in agreement—and Luna pulled the other two forward.