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“She’d kill you,” he mouths back. “I’ll take it to my grave. Maybe.”
Chapter 25
Raven
The buzzing of the tattoo gun cuts off, and Cole wipes a paper towel over the newly inked skin. His talent never fails to leave me breathless, even if it is on someone other than me now. Five people, to be exact.
He’s given each of my men, including himself, a raven tattoo. It has a crown on its head and a bloody knife in its claws. They said they all wanted something to represent me on their bodies—the Raven to their Ravenmaster—and what better than something to match what’s on my back.
Becca stares at her forearm, a huge grin on her face. She’s the newest family member to mark herself with a raven. It’s bursting free from a cage, spreading its wings wide, taking off into flight. After she saw my back full of the birds, and Cole reverently explained what they represented, she wanted one of her own.
She’s only killed once, and I don’t see her ever doing it again. She’s too kindhearted. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some darkness in her too. She’s worked nonstop dismantling TB’s empire. Tracking down every sale he’s made. Everyone who partnered with him. And whenever she finds a name, she gives it to us.
The woman supplies me with a never ending hobby list of someone I get to kill in between the assassination jobs we take. You could say she’s one of my favorite people outside of my men. A best friend, even. Which surprises me when I revel in death, and she thrives on saving victims. Somehow she doesn’t judge me, simply accepts me for who I am.
Thinking about her killing TB reminds me of her deception. She lied to us about the doors not being electronic. In the moments after we left her, she locked them in, stopping both her prey and ours. Her actions saved any of the women from being moved while Cole and I cornered them at the end of the tunnel they were trying to bring them out through.
It was an easy takedown because they heard the locks clicking into place right after they passed the door. We only saw them on the cameras in the same room as the women because they were searching for something to open the door with.
Saying I was livid at her for lying is an understatement. I didn’t trust her farther than I could throw her. Panic pulsed through me, thinking it was all a trap to get Jasper away from us. To hand him over to his “brother” so he could kill him.
Sweethearted Becca saw an opportunity and embraced it. She knew her brother would never let her kill someone, and she suspected I wouldn’t trust her from the start. The woman is too smart for her own good.
Needless to say, I decided to forgive her after hearing the gory details of how she stabbed the man repeatedly. I can respect a good plan that ends in death.
“It’s perfect, Cole. I love it.” Becca’s voice wobbles and when I focus on her face, I find her eyes filled with unshed tears.
“I’m glad you like it,” he replies, his tone softer than normal. He has a soft spot when it comes to her. He turns to hide how much her praise affects him, cleaning his tools and putting them all away.
He started today’s session with adding my ravens first. I’m not sure my irrational possessiveness would’ve remained in check if I didn’t go first. It’s been a trial getting used to having another female in our tight circle. My men have had to calm me down on numerous occasions. They’ve even confiscated my knives.
Fucking bastards. Lucky I haven’t left them.
Cole grips my hips, drawing me out of my thoughts. I bite my lip as he lifts my shirt, and his fingers press around the dressing, making sure it’s holding. We decided to keep the main canvas of my back reserved for memorable murders. The everyday variety killings he’s been inking into a larger raven on the bottom right side of my back.
The large raven will comprise countless tiny birds in all kinds of poses, and he’s convinced me to wait to add to the work until I have at least ten. He said it had something to do with envisioning exactly what the shading needs to look like to see only one huge raven from far away.
“Are you sure you want to stay here?” I ask Becca. We’ve been living in the bastard’s mansion. Becca wasn’t ready to leave right away, and neither were a lot of the women imprisoned in the basement.
“I’ll be fine here without you guys, I promise. I can’t leave while there’s still some women here who need help.” She tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. “Plus, I know my brother will find a way to keep an eye on me.”
“What do you mean, find a way? There are cameras all over this place. You know damn well I’ll watch to make sure you’re safe.” Cole scowls at her. He’s about to cancel our plans. It’s taken six months to not only help Becca get things settled here, but to convince him to leave.
“We’ll see,” she says with a smirk.
“Becca, I swear to fuck—”
I cut him off with a kiss, holding his face between my hands. “Becca is a strong ass bitch who won’t let no man hold her down.”
“Never again,” Becca chimes in. She’s been taking lessons from Vander in self defense, and from Jasper and me in shooting. I have confidence in her, and so does Cole, even if he doesn’t want to admit it.
“But you can continue your work with us in our new home,” Cole tries one more time.
“Not while there are still women living here who need me. I still haven’t found some of their families or lost friends.” Cole opens his mouth to say something, but she talks over him. “I promise to come visit as soon as I’ve finished here.”
“Not visit,” Cole growls. “You’ll move in with us.”
“Absolutely not. I love you both, Raven, I swear I do. But y’all fuck like bunnies, and there are some sounds you can’t scrub from your mind.” She shivers before giving me a grimacing smile.
