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  “First, Faith, stop making that face. It’s very unattractive,” Angus said. “Second, you are not a ghost in any way. A ghost is simply a trail of energy left behind, similar to someone’s footprints left in the sand. We, on the other hand, are most certainly here, in this house, eating this very tasty bacon. And as long as there’s bacon, shit just ain’t that bad.”

  “So, did everybody here die at some point?”

  “No. We were always like this. We used to work for a company that controlled the Universe, where Fate still works. We all decided to quit,” Bic explained. “I used to be Father Time. But don’t let the name fool you, I don’t have any kids.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Angus said.

  “Our swimmers don’t work,” Bic shot back.

  “Yours get a lot of practice. You never know, one of these days they might figure the gig out.”

  Bic waved his fork at Angus. “Man, don’t hate on me just ‘cause I’m not celibate, like you.”

  “Having some standards isn’t the same thing as celibate. I like to get laid just as much as the next guy. I just make sure they have a pulse first.”

  “Bic’s right. You’re going through kind of a dry patch. J Lo ain’t fucking you, dude. Give it up,” Cutty said to Angus but then turned on Bic and said, “But Angus has a point too. You might want to be careful. I really don’t see you doing the dirty diaper thing.”

  Angus’ phone rang, and Bic and Cutty continued to debate their sex lives but it was hard to follow the rest of the conversation when Angus raised his voice into his phone. “We. Were. Eating. Can’t a girl get some breakfast?” There was a pause as he rolled his eyes. “Yeah, we’ll be there shortly.” He pocketed his phone and turned back to us. “We should probably head out soon,” he said.

  Faith watched him sit down again and scoop some more eggs onto his plate. He leaned back over and started eating like he had all the time in the world.

  Chapter Seven

  Lars shaded in another piece of the demon tattoo and wondered why he’d agreed to do this piece. Stupid humans. They had no idea. If the guy lying there ever met a demon—hell, ever saw one from fifty feet away—he’d shit himself. But humans worshipped all sorts of stupid crap.

  “Dumbasses,” Lars said.

  “Huh?” the guy lying on his bench asked.

  “I’m not talking to you,” Lars told him, not caring that they were the only two in the shop.

  The door of the shop opened, giving Lars a distraction from his dark thoughts, and Angus and Faith’s scents mingled with the smell of the ink. He didn’t need to look up to confirm it was them, but he did anyway.

  He’d only meant to glance at her but he couldn’t look away. She smiled in greeting. He responded with a slight nod and then continued his perusal.

  Now that she was clean, her thick hair was honey colored, with streaks of light blonde, and the lights bounced off it as it fell past her shoulders in thick waves. Her skin was flawless. Actually, everywhere he looked she was perfection. He’d known there was beauty underneath all that dirt but he was taken aback by just how much.

  He could see his stare was making her uneasy. He hesitated another second but then finally looked back down at his client.

  He was drawn to her on every level of his existence and he couldn’t figure out why. It wasn’t that she was beautiful, which she was, but he’d dated models. Dated might be overstating the encounters somewhat, but the point was that he’d had plenty of beautiful women. They were fleeting fancies. None of them had grabbed at his guts and pulled at him the way she did. If he could figure out what it was about her that called to him, maybe he could stop this need to want to walk over there and take her.

  “Hey, the tattoo isn’t supposed to go over there,” his client said.

  Lars looked down to realize he’d made a line halfway down the guy’s ribs while he’d been distracted. Shit. Looked like the demon would be blowing smoke now. Whatever. “I’m trying something different. You’ll like it.”

  “But what—”

  “Shut up, unless you want to go down the street to the crappy shop on the corner and have that untalented jerk finish it.”

  He looked back over at Faith and Angus. He couldn’t stop himself from noticing that Angus was checking out her lower half as he walked behind her.

  “You’re late,” Lars said to Angus a bit sharply, and noticed his client was also checking out Faith. He planted a hand in the middle of the guy’s back and pushed him firmly down onto the bench. He landed with a satisfying humph.

  “I don’t know why people come here,” the client complained.

  “Then leave.”

  The client stayed right where he was, even though Lars had removed his hand.

  Lars got up to go walk over to Faith and Angus, realizing he should be offering them some sort of welcome. Then he asked, “Where’s Cutty? I thought he was driving her over?” instead. Cutty came to the shop more. He would’ve been able to get Faith settled in without Lars having to say or do much at all.

  “Bic and Cutty wanted to go check out a fire that happened last night. See if any traces of Malokin’s involvement were left behind,” Angus said at a volume the client wouldn’t overhear.

  Faith turned her back on them as she looked about the place and Angus made a silent whistle as he eyed her without her knowledge. He mouthed the words, Who knew?

  Lars didn’t bother responding that he’d had a pretty good idea. He was also the connoisseur of the group. He knew a hot chick when he saw one, even buried under a couple of layers of dirt and grime. But yeah, she was a piece, and he was kind of wishing she were covered in dirt and grime again. If he wasn’t going to sleep with her, he certainly wasn’t going to sit back and watch Angus do it instead.

  Faith walked farther into the shop and stopped, looking unsure of what to do. Angus followed after her like a mama duck. He placed a protective hand on her shoulder and said, “One of us will be back at seven tonight. If you need anything, call me. We’re all programmed into your new phone.” He tapped his hand on the purse Faith was holding. His voice dropped a little lower as he continued speaking. “There’s some cash in there, too. I put it in this morning, just in case you need to buy anything.”

  Lars watched as Faith clutched the purse close to her chest like she was carrying the Hope Diamond inside. “Thank you so much, Angus. I’ll pay you back.”

  “No need,” he replied, waving the idea off.

  “Are we getting back to the tattoo soon?” Lars’ client asked.

  “Shut up,” Lars said and took several more steps away from him toward where Faith and Angus were now standing.

  He couldn’t understand it, but the fact that she was so grateful to Angus for the few dollars or whatever pitiful amount he’d given her, churned his insides and made his temper rise. “She doesn’t need your money. She’s got her own,” Lars said.

  “She does?” Angus asked.

  “No, I don’t,” Faith said shaking her head. “I used to but I can’t get any of it.”

  “Faith will be working here,” Lars said, addressing Angus who was really working his nerves today. Did he need to get laid that bad that he had to go after Faith? “I wouldn’t expect her to do it for free.”

  “I will?” Faith asked, looking as shocked as Lars felt inside.

  She will? Did he just lock himself into having her here indefinitely? “Yes. That’s why you’re coming here every day. The timing worked out perfectly.”

  “I thought I was just…” She shrugged, letting her words trail off as her eyes shot around the room to everywhere but him until she finally spat it out. “Lars, I don’t know how to tattoo. What can I do here?”

  “Doesn’t matter. You’re going to be the shop manager.” Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea. He only had a couple of other tattoo artists he deemed talented enough to be there but the phone rang pretty often. If she was going to be around, she might as well be useful. She could shoo the annoying hum
ans out as well.

  “Shop manager?” Angus asked and Faith’s eyes shot to his quickly as if confirming her own suspicions.

  “Yes. Like I told you just a few days ago I was going to hire one.” Lars gave him a look as if to say and you better swear that I did.

  “Yeah, I completely forgot about that,” Angus said. Angus had the decency to turn his face away from Faith before he rolled his eyes.

  “You can put your stuff in the office,” Lars said, pointing to the back room.

  He was watching her walk in there when Angus started questioning him. “What are you doing?” His voice was hushed but impatient.

  “If she’s going to be here, she might as well help out.” Sounded logical enough to him. Nothing to make a big deal out of.

  Angus’ jaw dropped open as his brow lowered. “You going soft on me?”

  “Me?” Lars responded in a forced whisper. He jabbed a finger in his friend’s arm. “Who bought her a phone and gave her lunch money?”

  Angus shot a look to see if Faith was still in the office before he replied in an even softer voice than Lars. “I couldn’t help it. She looked all…I don’t know, sad and lost and shit.”

  Lars didn’t say anything but nodded and motioned to the door. “Okay, well get going. I’ve got shit to do.”

  Angus made a huffing noise. “I don’t know how you have customers.”

  Lars let out a sound that was almost a laugh before he said, “Me neither. But seriously, get out.”

  Angus shook his head and Lars watched him walk out the door. When he turned back around, Faith was standing there. Now what was he going to do with her?

  She straightened her shoulders, still standing there and looking determined about something. Then it clicked. He’d seen this look before. She wanted to talk. This was already going downhill and this was only her first day.

  “I know that you just made up this position for me,” she said. “It doesn’t matter. I promise I will be the best shop manager you’ve ever had.” She gripped her hands together as her brows rose and said, “Even if I’m the only shop manager you’ve ever had.”

  He didn’t respond and she didn’t move. She was looking at him like he should be saying something to her now but he wasn’t sure what she wanted. He knew what he wanted to do and it had nothing to do with talking.

  He took a couple of steps away, seeing if that would jar her out of this strange expectant mode but she followed him.

  “Lars?”

  She wasn’t going to let this whole talk to me thing go. He stopped walking away from her and tried a new approach. “It’s not a big deal.” Then he turned his back and hoped that was the end of it.

  “What should I do?”

  And the talking just kept going on and on. She was looking all around. If he were human, he’d even say she looked eager. The idea made his insides shudder.

  “Watch the door. If someone walks in, tell them to get out.”

  Her mouth opened slightly, and she looked confused. What was confusing about that? It was a very simple request.

  “But what about the rest of the time?”

  What did he have to do to get the talking to stop? And then the phone rang and it sounded like a symphony to his ears. He pointed to it. “Answer that.”

  She ran over to it and then paused right before she picked it up. “Wait, how do you like to normally answer the phone?”

  “Say whatever you want.” He was sure it would be better than his normal, What do you want?

  “Dead Ink, may I help you?” She grabbed a pencil from the cup by the phone and looked for something to write on. He pushed the appointment book at her and she was off and running.

  ***

  Lars had gone back to tattooing, and the phone had stopped ringing, so Faith had taken it upon herself to sweep up a bit. She’d tried to ask Lars what else he needed but he kept getting that look on his face, like he couldn’t understand why she kept speaking to him.

  When there was nothing left to sweep, she tried to straighten up the shop. It wasn’t a complete mess but it was far from organized. She moved around and tried to group similar things together.

  Every so often she’d feel his eyes on her, watching. He probably thought she was going to mess something up, so she was careful not to do anything drastic. But she needed him to think she was useful. If she could keep the place running smoothly, he’d keep paying her, and it would buy her some time to figure out a plan.

  It was crazy how much relief she felt at having some purpose, even if according to Lars it was to answer the phone and kick people out. Anything to keep her mind off her life as it was now. Her family, career, everything gone. She’d just started to figure out who she was, build something to be proud of, and it was gone. The biggest question she had was how do you rebuild a life when you aren’t a person anymore? It wasn’t like she’d got divorced or moved to a new city. She had no past. As far as the majority of the world was concerned, she didn’t exist.

  But with money, she had options. She had no idea how much Lars would pay her but it was a beginning. Without an ID, she couldn’t even serve up fries at a local fast food joint. She’d had zero options before but now she did. People bought fake IDs all the time. She’d save and buy herself a new life.

  When she did, it would be one far away from Seattle and the memories of what she’d lost. There were too many friends there she couldn’t talk to anymore because, well, unfortunately they all thought she was dead. Nervous laughter threatened to burst from her and she covered her mouth, trying to hold it back. She didn’t want to explain to Lars why she was hysterically giggling but it was either that or cry.

  Out of some morbid curiosity, she’d looked up her obituary this morning on the phone Angus had given her. She’d known it was going to be there but she still had to see it. The part that had bothered her the most was the “Survived by her brother,” part. At least her parents weren’t alive anymore. She’d lost her mother to cancer when she was ten and her father in a car accident when she’d been nineteen. Her brother had turned eighteen only the month before.

  Her brother was tough though, even as a kid. He’d be okay. Maybe, at some point, she could reach out to him, explain what had happened. But not now, not until she got her own phone that she knew no one could track.

  Screams startled her and she dropped the boxes of gloves she’d been piling up. She looked to the window and saw a gang of people fighting across the street.

  “Lars, we have to call the police,” she said and looked over to where he was finishing up with a client.

  He looked up and at the window. “Why would we do that?” he said, completely unfazed.

  “There’s a gang fight across the street.” The front of the shop was all windows. He must be able to see what was going on.

  “Can I go out the back?” the client asked.

  “Yeah, sure,” Lars responded, neither of them seeming overly concerned.

  Faith ran over to the phone and dialed nine-one-one. Lars saw her and shrugged as the client threw his shirt back on. She watched the guy leave through the back exit while she wondered why the phone just kept ringing.

  Lars walked over to the window as she continued waiting.

  He leaned a hand on the wall as he watched the fight but then spoke to her. “They aren’t going to answer, no matter how long you wait.”

  “Why not?”

  She thought about how many times it had rung and realized he was right. If they hadn’t picked up by now, they probably weren’t going to. She put the phone back on the cradle and stared at it for a second longer before she got her mind to give up on the police.

  She walked back over to where he stood, watching the fight that was still in full swing, minus a few combatants who were lying unconscious on the ground. The sight made her fidgety but he was leaning against the wall still, not a tense muscle to be found. “Doesn’t this bother you?”

  He pointed out the window. “As long as they kill each other o
n that side of the sidewalk, nope.”

  “Why?”

  He looked at her as if it was obvious but then explained. “Because from the sidewalk in is my land. Nobody fucks around on my land.”

  She nodded, deciding to let that conversation go for now. “And this is all because of Malokin?” she asked, even as she got the distinct impression Lars wasn’t in the mood to speak. Or hear her speak? She wasn’t sure which.

  “Yes.”

  “But how?”

  “We don’t know how it works exactly, but his presence here is making people angrier. They aren’t in their right minds anymore. Not all of the humans but enough to cause utter chaos.”

  “So him simply existing spreads anger?”

  She thought back to what Malokin had wanted, how he’d introduced the other one, and shivered.

  “I told you, it’s safe here.”

  She nodded. Better to let him think she was scared of the fighting outside than what had really made her shudder.

  A black Mercedes, with windows tinted so dark you couldn’t see anything inside, whipped into the lot, parking twenty feet from the fight in progress, and in clear view of the gang. Cutty got out and paused to look at them, unconcerned for his safety, and then strolled into the shop.

  He walked in, shaking his head in disgust as he did. “Bunch of amateurs. They don’t even know how to throw a punch correctly.” He looked at Faith. “You ready to go?”

  She nodded and grabbed her purse from the back, all the time thinking of how odd this situation was and how weird the guys were.

  Chapter Eight

  It was her second night at Cutty’s. She’d gone to the shop again that morning; the only difference this time was there was even less talking with Lars than yesterday. She knew there were two other tattoo artists as well but she hadn’t met them yet. So she’d straightened up some more and tried to appear useful, even though she didn’t feel like she was doing much of anything.