Nightmare Ink by Marcella Burnard Read Free Book Online Page B

Metal gleamed from her ears, nose, lips and eyebrows. No one wanted a piercing from someone who didn’t have any herself. “You look like you’re feeling better.”
    Isa could get away with being a tattoo artist who didn’t have tattoos, especially with her preference for full-coverage clothing. But those who dabbled in Live Ink had a reputation for being odd. Until tonight,
odd
hadn’t included accusations of witchcraft.
    She ignored her twitching left quadriceps.
    “Good supper?” Nat asked. “How’s Oki? Handling the new jewelry okay?”
    “She’s fine,” Isa said, shrugging out of her coat and rounding the counter to hang it up. “Yunna-san was home with a cold. Oki’s father was trapped in the kitchen. Oki flashed me long enough to let me make sure the piercings were healing well. She’s following instructions. They look good. Nice placement.”
    Nathalie’s shoulders relaxed. She ran her fingers through her spiky black and purple-tipped hair as if that could erase the fact that she cared how her work had turned out. “Good. Thanks.”
    She backed up to give Isa access to the computer.
    “Sure,” Isa said as she plunked her butt in the chair and brought up the empty schedule.
    “I see you met Patty’s new eye candy.”
    “Patty’s new eye candy is a spy,” Isa said, looking over her shoulder at Nathalie. “He’s wearing a Live Tat and an enormous attitude. I don’t know whether to assume he’s from the AMBI, one of the crime families, a new gang, or somewhere else entirely.”
    Nathalie froze, her kohl-lined hazel eyes wide. “Isa Romanchzyk, that’s not funny. He could be working for Daniel. He’s dangerous. You know it, even if you don’t want to admit it. I know it. I’m willing to bet he knows we know it.”
    At hearing Steve’s warning coming from Nathalie, too, Isa flinched.
    “Daniel’s arrogant because he’s the best. He’s brilliant,” she said. Her voice shook. “Not dangerous. Besides. I’ve never bound one of his pieces. He’d have no reason to mess with me.”
    But he had already, hadn’t he, if he’d been Anne’s “source”? Still looking at Nathalie, she caught the glimmer of fear in her eyes. “What?”
    “You’re wrong. Just before you got back, Zoog Fairbanks showed up,” Nathalie said. “He’s in a bad way. I put him downstairs.”
    Isa stared at her, her mouth hanging open. Not again. “You waited until now to tell me I had a client?”
    Nathalie flicked the titanium ring in her silver-painted lip and shook her head. “Damn it, Isa. I get that you think Zoog had potential. When he was tagging, I used to see something really compelling in his art. So did Troy. But Zoog flushed that talent, Ice. You tried to get him into art school, but he’s so afraid of facing the dark inside of himself, he left small-time crime and went to Daniel for Live Ink that would turn him into a real thug. How many times in the four years you’ve known him have you talked Zoog out of getting Live Ink?”
    Isa closed her eyes. “A lot.”
    “A lot. Well, here he is in trouble with Ink and in your containment studio.”
    Opening her eyes again, Isa shook her head.
    “He’s strung out on the Ink, Ice!” Nathalie said. “I know the signs. You’ve made sure I know them. He could hurt you. Really hurt you.”
    “Maybe. But if he has Ink and I don’t do something about it, he’ll end up hurting someone else. At least he’s isolated in a steel and basalt rock box if anything goes wrong,” Isa said. A shimmer of disquiet tugged at her. She glanced out the front window to where Patty and Bishop had been. “Did Patty and Bishop see Zoog come in?”
    Nat shrugged. “Patty’s a fixture. I don’t know when she opened shop or when lover boy showed up to decorate the sidewalk. Look, Ice. You made Daniel’s muscle. Don’t you think you better call the cops?”
    She contemplated the suggestion as she rose. She could call Steve, but what was she going to say? “My