Ink & Bone

by Skyla Madi

  Ink & Bone

  NEW YORK CRIME KINGS

  Round Five

  Skyla Madi

  Ink & Bone

  Copyright © 2016 by Skyla Madi.

  All rights reserved.

  First Print Edition: November 2016

  Limitless Publishing, LLC

  Kailua, HI 96734

  www.limitlesspublishing.com

  Formatting: Limitless Publishing

  ISBN-13: 978-1-68058-875-0

  ISBN-10: 1-68058-875-3

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.

  Dedication

  For my readers,

  who always put up with my last minute changes.

  You are appreciated.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  ONE

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

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  Prologue

  * * * *

  What defines human weakness? Some measure it by fear. Others by strength. Me? I define it as a particular quality―or qualities―that prevent someone from being effective.

  Example? You don’t join a group running for their lives when you have a child to take care of. You don’t aid the group and then turn them in once you realize you’re in too deep.

  That is weak.

  Caving under the pressure and turning someone in when you were the one who wanted to be a part of the thrill in the first place is weak.

  Jordan Hustel is the weakest man I’ve ever met, and I hope Jai peels the meat from his bones.

  Because of him, Skull has me.

  Because of him, my worst nightmare is about to be realized.

  ONE

  Jai

  Suffering

  The night of the compound attack…

  “Here. Here. Pull in,” Huss orders, waving his hand in front of my face. “That’s her house.”

  Why is he still here? How can he sit beside me? I should have left him back in the forest. I pull the car to the side of the road. The country shack is the only house for at least three miles, and it sets me on edge. I’m following Huss’s directions? After he betrayed me? How do I know Skull isn’t waiting for me inside? How do I know this isn’t an ambush?

  Out of the corner of my eye, I see him reach for the door handle. Moving quickly, I slap the lock button and trap him inside.

  “Jai—”

  I snap my hand to my hip and draw my gun, pressing it between his eyes. He flashes me his palms as he purses his lips, his eyes softening with regret. The gun feels too good in my hands. If it were alive, the bullets would be trembling in anticipation, like my fingers are. If I shoot him, would it ease the burn of revenge in my stomach? Would it shrink the black hole of retribution in my chest?

  “This place better be what you say it is.”

  He swallows, his lower lip trembling. “It is. It’s Hannah’s place.”

  My finger twitches around the trigger. Any more pressure and I’ll bury a bullet deep in his two-faced skull.

  “Jai, Ted is dying,” Joel says from the backseat. “If we waste any more time…”

  “Once Ted is inside and stable, I want you gone,” I demand, digging the tip of the gun into his skin. “If I ever, ever, see your face again, I’ll reshape it with a golf club, understand?”

  Huss clenches his jaw. “Fine.”

  Lowering my gun, I unlock the doors and slide from the car. Joel opens the back door, and I move around to grab Ted’s top half. Slinging his lifeless arm around my neck, I pull him from the car, grunting as I take on his deadweight. Joel helps Monique out of the vehicle, their shoes crunching against the gravel underneath their soles, before helping me.

  “He’s a heavy bastard,” Joel groans. “When he wakes up, I’m gonna tell him to lay off the mass gainer.”

  When he wakes up…if he wakes up.

  My jaw trembles as my ribs press down on my lungs. I shake my head, unable to think about tonight, about Ted.

  Huss.

  Skull.

  Emily…

  Up ahead, Huss bounds up the worn wooden stairs that are supported by stacked cinder blocks. He bangs on the worn screen door with rapid knuckles until the thick wooden one behind it opens up. Huss murmurs to the person behind the screen, and not a second later, she tears from the house, pulling her white robe tighter around her. Her panic becomes airborne, and it’s like a defibrillator against my chest.

  “Ted?” The moon reflects off her black hair as it whips wildly behind her, her bare feet hitting sharp stones. “Oh my god.” She swallows the distance and cups Ted’s face, lifting it level with hers. “What happened?”

  “He was shot,” I tell her.

  Hannah’s wild, dark eyes meet mine, and I see it…she blames me. Why wouldn’t she? “Get him inside.”

  She whirls on her feet and sprints for the house. We follow her, the steps onto the front porch wobbling and creaking as we storm up them.

  Inside, Hannah throws a white sheet over the kitchen table and gestures for us to put him on it. As Joel and I scoop him up and lay him on the table, Hannah opens up the third kitchen cupboard, the one on the bottom, right next to the oven, and whips out a large medical bag. Dropping it on the floor, she looks at Huss, her cheeks damp with tears. With angry hands, she swipes them away. “Grab my surgery bag out of my closet, and hurry.”

  Huss disappears as Hannah makes her way over to Ted, nudging me out of the way.

  “Do you think he will—”

  “I don’t know,” she snaps. “I don’t know if he will die. I don’t know if I can save him.” A single tear leaks down her cheek, glistening on her smooth, dark skin. She turns to Monique, who stands awkwardly at the entrance to the kitchen. “You’ve never assisted a surgeon before by any chance, have you?”

  Monique shakes her head, her wiry blonde hair falling in her face. “No, ma’am.”

  “That’s okay. You just do what I tell you, all right?”

  Monique backs up, wrapping her skinny arms around herself. “I don’t think I can—”

  “I can help,” I cut in, stepping toward Ted as Huss enters the room, carrying a large black bag with his good arm.

  “You’ve done enough.” Hannah places her hand on Ted’s chest. “First Jordan and now Ted? How many more people are you going to rope into your problem?”

  I flinch as Joel steps forward. “Relax, lady. Nobody forced them to—”

  “She’s right.” I turn around and stalk toward the front door. “I’ll be outside.”

  “You two go with him. I don’t want the distraction.” Hannah clicks her teeth. “Not you, girl. I need your help.”

  I shove the screen door, and it whips open, slapping against the house. I step out onto the porch before it slams back in my face. Cold, sharp air whips at me. It freezes the hairs on my arms and minimizes the oxygen I’m able to inhale into my lungs. My heavy boots are loud against the decaying wood, but they’re a soft whisper when compared to the headache thrumming over the surface, every surface, of my brain.

  “Don’t worry about her,” Huss mutte
rs, slipping onto the porch. Exhaling, he crosses to the far side and drops into a rickety rocking chair. “Ted’s her childhood sweetheart.”

  “They’re together?” Joel asks, closing the wooden door behind him.

  Huss shakes his head, kicking his feet up onto the wooden banister. “Nah. She loves him. He loves himself.”

  Folding my arms over my chest, I lean against a thin wooden pole that supports the weight of the tin awning above us. Look at Huss. Look at him with his feet up all relaxed like he has no care in the world. “You sure you want to be here when Ted wakes up? When he finds out what you did…”

  Huss lowers his legs and sits forward, narrowing his eyes at me. “You wouldn’t do the same?”

  Fuck no. “Betray my friends?”

  “Protect your family.”

  Joel looks at me, and I can see it in his face. The compassion. The understanding. He doesn’t hold Huss accountable for what happened to Emily…but I can guarantee, if it were Monique, he’d have shot Huss dead by now. That’s a fact.

  “You can hate me all you want, Jai, but this isn’t about some broad I met in a fucking tunnel. This is about my son. A piece of me that I raised from birth. I’m sorry to say it, but he trumps your little girlfriend. Say whatever you want to me. Do whatever you want, but I would kill her myself if it came down to her or my boy. Every. Single. Time.”

  I clench my jaw. My ego wants to fight him, and my heart wants to crush every bone in his body, but my head…well, my head is trying to convince me that Huss had to do what he had to do. Anger seeps out of my pores, and my blood cools. He has a kid…he did what I would have done if it were me. Pushing off the pole, I move to the steps and sit down. Without anger, without someone to blame, my hurt turns inward, attacking the only person I can hold accountable for losing Emily…

  Me.

  Damn.

  ***

  Sighing, I swipe at the itch that dances on the tip of my nose and drop the back of my head against the wooden beam I lean against. My ass is numb. How long have I been sitting here?

  I open my eyes and glance down the long, narrow dirt road, toward the horizon. Strips of orange paint an otherwise inky sky, and the stars have long since faded. I shift forward, groaning as my muscles tighten. I haven’t been this sore since my first few weeks of cadet training at the academy. That was hell.

  I rest my forearms on my knees and let my head hang. Tiny, invisible weights are hanging from my eyelashes. I should sleep, but I can’t. Every time I close my eyes, I’m bombarded with Emily’s face…her sad lips…the curve in her eyebrows that told me how worried she was about me not making it back to her. I shouldn’t have brought her along. I shouldn’t have left her with Huss.

  “How’d you go?” I flinch as Joel slides down the beam beside me, groaning with his own pain. “Didya get any sleep?”

  I didn’t see him move from his spot against the rusting barrel on the other side of the porch.

  I shake my head. “Nah.”

  Silence falls, and the sound is unbearable. Or at least it is until Joel’s teeth click on and off as he chews the inside of his cheek. That’s worse. “I know you want to go back for her, Jai, but—”

  “There are no buts,” I tell him. “I’m going back soon as I know Ted’s okay.”

  “And what are you going to do when you get there?” Joel snaps, air rushing from his nose. “You have no weapons, no back up. You’re as good as dead.” He scratches his head. “I have a plan, all right? You’re not going to like it, but it’s all you’ve got.”

  I turn my head.

  “Who is the only person, the only crew, that can go toe to toe with Skull?”

  I frown. The only crew? What is he…oh. “No. Absolutely not.”

  He’s out of his goddamn mind if he thinks I’m going to ask the Twisted Sons for help. Again.

  “They’re all we’ve got.”

  “You promised Joker New York. Remember that? You told him you’d deliver the city to him on a silver fucking platter.”

  “And?”

  “You don’t have shit. He’ll kill you for wasting his time tonight.”

  “Let me worry about Joker.”

  I startle as the heavy wooden door to the house is tugged open. The sound of its rusty hinges screeching through the silence sends my heart launching into my throat. My skin crawls as Hannah steps out, scratching at her forehead, her thumb brushing against a dark smear of blood by her eyebrow. Exhaling, she inches onto the front porch as she wipes her bloodied hands on a stained white towel. The door slaps shut behind her, and despite the tremble in my kneecaps, I push myself to my feet and step toward her.

  “He’s stable for now,” she mutters, and a gush of relief rushes from my lips. He’s stable. He’s still here. “I’m going to need more blood. I used the last of the o-negative.”

  I nod. “Where do I get the blood?”

  Sighing, Hannah tucks the dirty towel under her slender arm. She’s ditched her white robe. The only thing protecting her slender body from the icy whips of the wind is a thin, black nightdress. It’s darker in some places, soaked with blood and God knows what else.

  “Have you slept?” she asks, and I frown.

  “What’s that got to do with anything?”

  “If Ted doesn’t get a blood transfusion in the next two hours, he'll die.” She shifts her weight onto her left leg and narrows her stare. “Quite frankly, I don’t think you’re in any shape to drive safely.” She turns to Joel, who settles beside me. “I’d send you, but I feel like your presence is the only thing stopping your brother from completely imploding.”

  What the fuck does that mean?

  Joel steps forward, campaigning on my behalf, apparently. “Jai is more than capable—”

  “Jordan can go.” She points at him, and I divert my attention. He’s curled up on the ratty cane chair, his face tucked into his hoodie. “He’s been to my clinic before and knows my passcodes.”

  Frustration bubbles in my blood. Who does she think she is? “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Huss is pretty busted up,” I tell her. She wants to risk sending him? What if Skull is watching him? What if Huss brings back the enemy to ambush us?

  “I can see that, but at the moment he’s the only one here that I trust wholeheartedly.”

  I laugh. “Oh, you trust him wholeheartedly? That’s fucking hilarious. He betrayed us.”

  “He had no choice.”

  I get in her face. I shouldn't, but I do. “He’s had plenty of choices! You think we forced him into our mess? No. He chose to be here.”

  “Regardless.” Hannah swallows hard and clears the fear from her throat. “He’s the only one I trust with the keys to my clinic.”

  Whirling on my heel, I throw my hands up. Just fucking great.

  “And what are we supposed to do?” Joel asks her as I drop onto the first step, shaking the entire house.

  “Leave.”

  I turn around, scowling. “Excuse me?”

  She pins me with her dark-eyed glare. “You heard me. Take your brother and his little girlfriend and leave. I don’t want you here. I don’t want you around Ted, and I don’t want you around Jordan.” She steps closer. “They’re the only family I have left, and you’re going to get them killed.”

  Look at her. She thinks she knows the whole story. I chuckle. “You don’t know a damn thing.”

  “I know enough. Skull? Joker? Crow? You’re messing with three of the most dangerous men in New York.”

  “And so far we’ve survived.” I step onto the porch. “Maybe they’re not the ones you should be worried about.”

  Hannah clenches her jaw on and off. “Are you threatening me?”

  Joel glances at me, warning clear in his eyes, and turns back to Hannah, his hand outstretched, his palm exposed. “No, he’s not threatening you. He’s had a stressful night—”

  “Stop with the bullshit, Joel.” I swallow the distance with a large stomp. “Look, lady, we’re only here because
Huss brought us. You’re not the only doctor in the world. We can take Ted somewhere else.”

  She leans forward, baring her teeth. “You can try, but it’ll be over my dead body.”

  Without thought, I grab my gun and press it against her forehead. Hannah doesn't flinch. She barely blinks. Even when my fingers twitch and my bicep spasms. I could kill her. I could. Easy.

  “You think this is the first time someone has pulled a gun on me?” She smirks. “I work in a clinic in the slums of New York. I’ve stared down the barrel of a gun more times than I can count. You don't scare me, Jai Stone.”

  “I don't scare you?” I flick my thumb over the hammer and pull it back. She holds her breath as she purses her full lips. She’s fierce, I’ll give her that.

  “Jai, you need to relax and put the gun down.” Joel glances at me, his eyes full of warning as he extends a hand to Hannah. “We’re gonna go, Hannah, all right?”

  I grit my teeth. “We’re not going anywhere.”

  “There’s nothing for us here. Ted and Huss need to recover. They’ll only slow us down.” Joel steps around Hannah and reaches for the door. “I’ll get Monique, and then we’ll go home.”

  I wait, my gun still pointed at Hannah’s smooth forehead, until Joel returns with a sleepy Monique under his arm. He tilts his head at me as he steps out onto the porch, his eyes pleading with me to just go with the flow for once. I don’t know if I can. What happens when Ted wakes up? What if she makes him think I abandoned him?

  Joel nudges me with his shoulder as he passes by, and I withdraw my gun. What choice do I have? I kill Hannah and then what? Maybe she’s right. Maybe Ted would be better off without me here. Exhaling, I turn around and mindlessly follow Joel and Monique to the car…where we’ll go back to the lake house.

  Without her.

  Two

  Emily