Page 8 of Rascal

“Fine, but at the first sign of trouble, you duck and stay low. I don’t want you getting hurt for me.”

Jinx offered me a mulish expression, and I guessed he was going to dig his heels in.

“Come on. Let’s head inside. Wraith’s waiting and he’s drawing me up a new design.”

“Fine. But don’t baby me, Rascal,” Jinx muttered.

I stopped walking for a second time. “Jinx. I’m not doing that. I saw how those two deaths affected you. You took them to heart. I don’t want to put you through that again. Only an asshole would,” I stated.

“We’re all assholes,” Jinx replied and shoved through the door. Whilst at the counter, Wraith nodded at us.

“Any trouble?” he asked.

“None. Trip was smooth,” I responded. We jumped as a chair fell over, and Jinx cocked an eyebrow. Fuckin’ Jinx!

Wraith eyed him warily, but pulled out his design. I’d shown Wraith the scars the other day, so he knew what he was working with. They were ugly. There was a stab wound in each shoulder, and the one near my heart. But Hallie had tried carving me up too, and I had several slash marks that had been deep.

What Wraith unveiled was a masterpiece. It was a scene surrounded by smoky edges. Trees filled the background, with a masculine sugar skull in the middle. Below that was a graveyard with crushed skulls, broken headstones and crosses. A crow stared out from a mausoleum. It took my breath away.

“Holy crap,” I muttered.

“You don’t like it?”

“Get real. That’s amazing.”

“See here,” Wraith pointed to several lines, “this is where it’ll hide your scars.” One of my shoulder wounds became the moon and the other an eye in the sky.

“Any changes?” Wraith asked.

“None.”

“Then come to my room and strip. I’ll do the outline today,” Wraith said.

“I wasn’t expecting—”

“You’re Hellfire. I kept today free to fit you in. Sit down, prospect,” Wraith demanded.

There was a crash from outside. “Is Jinx here?” Smokey yelled.

“Yo,” Jinx shouted back with a wicked grin.

“Prospect, get the fuck out of my shop!” Levi bellowed.

“No can do. I’m Rascal’s shadow. Chance ordered it,” Jinx called.

Death threats aimed at Jinx came from Levi, but he didn’t push the issue. Nobody would. I settled into the chair and let Wraith ink me.

“That’s gonna be kickass,” Jinx stated as we headed down an alley to collect our bikes.

“I’m sure it is. Only whose ass is being kicked?” a woman said.

I stopped mid-stride. Despite the five years, I recognised that voice.

“Jinx, get behind me,” I ordered as I turned towards Hallie. Seeing her shocked me in more ways than one.

Her face was thinner, her hair cut short, and a bad scar ran down her cheek. Her body was toned, and the small tank top she was wearing showed her arm muscles and taut stomach. She wore combats and shitkickers. It was the look in her eyes that stole my breath. Sheer, unadulterated hatred.

“Yeah, Jinx, stand behind him. Don’t ever obstruct him. He’s a backstabbing cunt,” Hallie hissed.