But he pushes me off and launches toward Hugo again. The rain pours down on us, and I wipe the water off my face, hearing a scream. I turn my head, seeing Dylan straddle Eva Kissinger, Eva’s massive fake diamond ring turned to the inside of her hand. She rears her palm back, ready to give Dylan a nice fat scar for the rest of her life, and I run over, grab Dylan under the arms, and yank her off. Eva misses her by an inch.
Lightning cuts through the sky, thunder cracking over my head, and everyone is punching and kicking.
“Cops!” someone screams.
A few of the fights slow, people looking up, and I search the entrance to Fallstown, seeing lights flashing.
Everyone scatters. People take off, running back to their cars, and Axel pulls Hugo off Hawke, Hawke wiping the blood off his mouth.
They stare at each other, and I look between them.
“I’ll meet you at Aura’s shop in ten minutes,” Hawke growls, looking between Hugo and me. “I don’t want her anymore, but I’m gonna take her just to make her pay for wasting my time!”
I clench my teeth, but my heart won’t calm down.
Hawke walks back toward the bleachers and the lot, where his car is parked.
“Hawke!” Kade yells, chasing after him.
Dylan passes me, murmuring, “Oh my God.”
Aura’s shop? That tattoo artist?
I look to Hugo. “What the fuck did you do?”
Hawke
I burst into River City Ink—formerly Black Debs—seeing Aura wiping down the table as two guys pass me, comparing their new tats. They leave, and I whip off my jacket and T-shirt, climbing onto the table. “I need a tattoo.”
She stares at me, the same blonde dreads she’s had my entire life turning gray, and her full sleeves faded with time. But she still looks cool as shit.
She rolls her eyes, mumbling, “Your father sucks at making appointments too.”
This place gave my dad and uncles their first tattoos. All of their tattoos, actually.
I see headlights pull up outside, blurting out, “The Green Street brand?” I tell her. “I need it.”
“No.”
“Aura…”
“Hawke.” She looks at me, a sternness in her eyes that I’ve never seen. “I don’t know what’s going on, but there is no way I’m putting that tattoo on you without speaking to your dad.”
Hugo and his guys make their way across the street, and I catch a glimpse of Aro trailing behind.
“If you don’t do it, they will.” I gesture to the crowd making their way in. “And at least I know your shit is clean.”
She shakes her head. “Hawke…”
“Just please,” I beg. “I’ll make sure my dad understands. I have to have it. You can call him after, if you’re that worried.”
She knows the tattoo isn’t just a tattoo, and I’d be concerned too, if I were her, but she has to trust me. I’m of legal age, and if she doesn’t do it, someone else will. She’s already inked me once.
And she tattooed my mother’s bite marks on my father, for Christ’s sake. Now that was a dumb tattoo.
Hugo and his two sidekicks drift in, the bell above the door ringing, and Aro follows, her eyes barely raising enough to meet mine. She doesn’t seem to be confused about what’s happening, though, so I’m guessing Hugo filled her in.
She just shakes her head and mouths to me, “Don’t.”
I lock my jaw, simply leaning back on my hands and staring at her as Aura gets the shit ready. The Green Street tat is old, its history reaching further back than when it was just a gang affiliation. The old-timers and river rats all have it from back in the day when steam and coal ruled the waterways. She’ll have a template on hand, I’m sure.
Kade and Dylan burst in, and I immediately shake my head. Every muscle in Kade’s face flexes, and I’m not sure if he wants to kill me or them. This ink on me will make him spit knives.
“I assume you called Reeves,” I say to Hugo as Aura places the design on my neck. “Get Aro out of here. I know you care about her.”
I don’t look at her because I’m not inviting her into this conversation. I can handle Reeves. She can’t on her own.
But Hugo shakes his head as he cleans his nails with a key on his chain. “Reeves isn’t coming. I haven’t called him.”
Why? I don’t ask, though. I’m not going to let him indulge in the pleasure of doing us any favors.
But why wouldn’t he call him?
Aura peels the template away and holds up a mirror, but I wave her off. “Just do it.”
I hear a sigh, and then she starts the pen, a second later, she’s cutting the skin.
It’s not a big tattoo. The word River etched down the side of my neck vertically and a dark green line drawn down through the middle of it.