Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 111986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Raini pointed behind her. “Oh, Devon’s in the —”
A loud hissing sound was followed by a grinning Tanner strolling out of the breakroom with a furious Devon marching behind him, her long ultraviolet ringlets bouncing. Hellhounds and hellcats had an instinctive aversion to each other, and the two demons in question were engaged in a weird war that mostly involved pissing each other off for their own entertainment.
Cat-green eyes blazing with anger, Devon slung a pink ball of yarn at Tanner’s head. “You keep buying me this shit, pooch, and I’ll snap your neck!”
“But the color matches the pretty cat collar I bought you and – why do you have to hiss at me?” In the reception area, he sank into the sofa with a happy sigh, switched on the wall-mounted T.V., and put his legs up on the coffee table, almost kicking off the tattoo portfolios.
Devon frowned at him. “What are you doing?”
“Getting comfortable.”
Harper groaned. “Please tell me that Knox didn’t tell you to stand guard all day.”
“He wants me to stick by you and make sure you’re safe.”
You asked Tanner to stay with me? Knox, we talked about this. The hellhound was a sentinel – he had better and much more interesting things he could be doing than babysitting her.
I told him to repeatedly check in to make sure you’re fine.
Why would he say you told him to stick by me? But as she watched Devon go a disturbing shade of red, she understood. Knox must have understood too, because Harper felt his amusement as his mind brushed against hers. Harper sighed. One day, she’s going to kill him, you know.
I’ve had the same thought multiple times. His mind touched hers once more, and then he was gone.
“Tanner, quit riling Devon and go do sentinel stuff,” said Harper.
He rose to his feet. “I get it, I get it – she needs space because it’s hard for her to deal with her feelings for me.”
Devon gaped. “The only thing I feel for you is a boundless, blinding, glorious hatred.”
He smiled. “You know you make me hard when you get all mean, kitten.”
Harper pointed at the door. “Out.”
Chuckling to himself, Tanner left.
Khloë patted Devon’s arm, the image of sympathy. “Just so you know… your nipples are hard. Hey! Keep them claws to yourself!”
Harper threw an exasperated look at her shit-stirring cousin. Like all imps, Khloë found an immense delight in fucking with people. “Does anyone want to know what happened yesterday?” Everyone’s attention immediately snapped to her.
Eyes glinting with the typical hellcat curiosity, Devon sidled up to Harper – Tanner forgotten. “Do tell.”
Harper crossed to her tattoo station and settled in her black leather chair. “Quick warning: you’re not gonna like it.”
Once Harper had finished recounting what happened, Raini slumped against the glass checkered partition between their stations, amber eyes dull. “I’m sorry.”
Harper frowned. “For what?”
“I should have waited with you. We could have locked up together.”
“Why would you have waited for me? You never do it any other time. You hold no blame whatsoever for what happened.”
“From now on, we all leave at the same time,” declared Devon. The others nodded.
“There’s no need,” Harper assured them, but the words fell on deaf ears.
Khloë folded her arms. “Who do you think sent the hunters after you?”
Harper let her head fall back and took a moment to admire the tattoo flash on the ceiling. “No idea. Apparently, the hunters didn’t know their identity either.”
Disgusted, Devon shook her head. “I can’t believe there are people out there who actually want to hang people’s wings on their wall. It’s twisted.”
“You’re fully healed now?” asked Raini.
“Yes, so you don’t need to worry or fuss.” But Harper suspected they still would.
The doorbell chimed, and Harper’s first client for the day entered. Just like that, the girls switched into “work” mode and ushered the client over to Harper’s station.
Since they kept the name “Urban Ink” when they relocated the business, they also kept its rock/art/Harley Davidson vibe. In addition, they hung their old metal art on the bright white walls – each of which was an enlarged copy of a tattoo, like the tribal swirls, flock of ravens, and the Chinese dragons. Pretty much everything else, including the lighted tracing tables and vending machine, were new.
She figured she didn’t fit a person’s idea of what someone who co-owned a tattoo studio would look like. She wasn’t covered in tattoos and didn’t have dozens of piercings. One of her nipples were pierced, though, and she did have three tattoos, but all three were in white ink and hidden beneath her clothes. Why? Well, Harper didn’t have tattoos done for the hell of it. She only did it if the tattoo meant something to her and, as a private person, she didn’t want people asking what hers meant.
Later, as Harper was cleaning her equipment after doing a floral tattoo, the door once again opened. Tanner strolled in, bringing with him the scents of freshly baked bread, smoky meat, hot peppers, and mayonnaise.