Tattoos and Cupcakes (Amulet of Queens Book 1)

by Everly Taylor

  Stepping up to the counter he gave me a thin smile. “I’m looking to get a tattoo if you have an opening.” His eyes were calculating as they looked me over. “Have someone that can help me with that?”

  “Yeah, we can take a walk in, depending on what it is. What do you have in mind?” It didn’t matter how a customer made me feel, I tried to work with them if I could. I was on edge anyways from last night, so I knew I could be projecting my emotions from that.

  “I’m just looking to get a traditional dagger on my upper arm.” He turned a little and pointed to his right arm. That was when I recognized him. He was the man from the funeral home who had been staring at me from the hallway. Before I had been able to get a good look at him he had already disappeared around the corner, and I thought nothing more of it. Maybe it was a coincidence that he had shown up here today. If he had been friends with my uncle he couldn’t be that bad of a person. I just couldn’t shake this odd feeling I had about him though.

  “That shouldn’t be a problem at all. Take a seat and I’ll draw something up for you real quick, and be right back with a stencil. It’ll take me about ten minutes and then we’ll get started.”

  Drawing up a dagger took no time at all, it was something traditional with clean lines and a little embellishment on the handle, and I knew this would be something that he should approve of. The entire time I was drawing I felt his eyes on me, and I tried to pass it off as curiosity about what I was doing and what his tattoo looked like. I couldn’t help that it only served to make me even more uneasy with him.

  With the stencil prepped, I walked to the front of the shop. “Okay, are you ready?” Motioning to the back, I let him go in front of me and told him to sit in the first chair. I sat next to him and rolled my seat closer to the black leather chair he was reclined in.

  “Why don’t you go ahead and pull up your sleeves,” I instructed him, putting on my gloves. I shaved his shoulder and applied the transfer lotion. Once the stencil was on, I held a mirror up facing him. “How do you like where it is?” I asked.

  “It’s fine,” he replied in a monotone voice, not once looking at its placement.

  “Don’t you want to look? Make sure you like where it is?” I turned the mirror to the side a bit to make sure it was centered on the design so he could see. The man reached up and grabbed my upper arm firmly and pushed me back a little.

  “I said it’s fine,” he ground out.

  “Alright,” I said hesitantly, lowering the glass. Well I didn’t have to be friends with the asshole, I just had to get his tattoo done. Picking up my machine, I filled it with ink and started, wiping ink away as I went. Thankfully this one was pretty simple and wouldn’t take that long to finish.

  Most clients would do something, anything, while I tattooed them. They would sit and scroll through social media, read, relax with their eyes closed. A lot of them sat and talked to me, venting about life in general. This guy didn’t do any of that though. He remained quiet, not uttering a word, or even looking around, just sat there stoically and watched me. Every now and then his eyes would dart to the necklace on my neck as I shifted to get a slightly different angle on his shoulder. Maybe he was just a pervert and got off on watching women. He was probably harmless, I told myself, and I was still on edge from last night.

  I had reached the top of the hilt when the door of the shop rang again. “Give me just a minute and I’ll be right with you,” I called out over my shoulder. Where was my manager? She was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago.

  “No need, we’ll come to you,” a rough voice snarled from directly behind me. I turned to see two men standing behind me, both exuding that same creepy vibe as the man in my chair. These two reeked of something that was putrid and made me want to hurl.

  “No, it's fine really, you can wait on the sofa in the front. I’m just finishing up and I’ll be right with you.” I tried to smile, but I knew it was weak, these men creeped me the hell out.

  “Aww, now don’t be like that. We aren’t here for tattoos, are we? Just being supportive and coming to join our friend here.” The two pulled chairs up behind me and sat, pushing in a little too close for my comfort.

  I spun around on my chair and snapped at them. “Look, you’re going to have to wait in the front and support your friend from there. It won’t be long.” Glaring at them, hoping they would get the point, I waited for them to leave. They stood from their chairs and I had thought they were actually going to listen and sit in the front of the store, so I was surprised when they started moving toward me instead.

  “You’re a pretty thing, I bet you have a temper in there,” the second one sneered as they continued to move in on me.

  “I bet she’s a fighter. Are you, pretty thing? Are you a fighter?” the first one taunted, making me jump off of my stool, kicking it to the side with the motion.

  “You guys need to leave the shop now. I’m not asking you, I’m fucking telling you.” I could feel my heart start to race, they weren’t backing down. What the fuck had gotten into people lately? First last night, and now this shit?

  From behind me I heard a low, rough laugh making me glance back. My client had moved out of the chair and was standing on the opposite side, watching with what seemed like excitement in his eyes, rather than the boredom that was there previously.

  The back of my legs hit the edge of the leather, stopping my retreat from the other two. They grabbed my arms hard and pushed me back, forcing my legs to buckle beneath me, and I landed on the reclining chair. The rotten smell surrounding them filled the air again, making me nauseous.

  “Show us, pretty girl. Show us how you fight,” he mocked, holding my legs down while attempting to climb onto my lap as I kicked at him, lashing out. Somewhere in the back of my mind I thought I heard the door jingle but I wasn’t sure. My arms were grabbed from either side and I knew it was going to be useless, but I wouldn’t stop trying.

  Suddenly the weight on top of me was lifted, and there was a huge crash behind me at the same time my arms were dropped.

  Adrien came up beside me, lifting me from the chair effortlessly. “Can’t leave you alone for a minute can we, Cupcake?” He grinned as if it were nothing to run in and save me from these three assholes. Carrying me back to my office, he set me on my feet and placed a quick kiss on my cheek, stunning me even more. “Try not to get into trouble while I’m gone.” Winking at me, he left before I could even utter a coherent word.

  There was no way I could just stand in my office while sounds of crashing filled my shop. I walked out not sure what to expect, but my stomach sank and shock filled me at what was happening in front of me.

  Damien had one of the men picked up by the throat. He threw him across the shop into the opposite wall. The brick shook and one of the art prints fell behind him as he hit the ground. It didn’t seem to faze him at all. He bounced right back up and ran at Damien again. Another fought him already, trying to land a punch, but Damien was clearly the more skilled of the two. Damien kicked out, hitting him in his chest, and sent him flying through a row of workstations.

  What the fuck? How hard did he have to kick him to take out all five stations like that? Adrien was locked in his own fight with my client. Or I guess the man who was my client, since there was no way was I ever tattooing that fucker again. They were both ruthless, landing blows to their stomachs and heads. While the other guy looked like he was struggling, Adrien looked like he was only playing with the man.

  “You can’t protect her forever Adrien, we will have her,” he snarled, his long canines flashing, as he tried to grab his arm as he spun back around while circling Adrien. Wait, what the actual fuck right now? What the hell was sticking out of his mouth? Was this some kind of sick joke? I could feel the blood draining from my face, there was no way those things were real.

  “You can try.” Adrien mirrored his movements, finally looking like he’d had enough. He picked him up by his shirt and slammed him down onto the wooden counter. It cav
ed in the middle like it was a piece of cardboard. There was no way that was possible. That was a three inch thick piece of oak, you couldn’t just crack it.

  I was so focused on the fight and conversation with Adrien, that I didn’t see the man running at me. I screamed when he grabbed my shirt and he yanked me against him, my feet leaving the floor. I clawed at his arms. His long upper teeth gnashed in my face. For fuck’s sake, what was with their teeth tonight? His hand closed around my necklace and he tried to jerk it off my neck. I cried out again as the chain dug into my skin.

  A deep bloodred shone through his fingers. His grip loosened on my shirt and my feet fell back to the floor. I stumbled back and watched in horror—or I don’t know, maybe shock—at what was happening to him.

  He watched as the bloodred that had flooded his hand turned into cracks. They spread up his arm, moving across to the rest of his body. The light shone through the ruptures, emanating from them. They fractured wider and wider, the pain made him wail. When he opened his mouth to scream again the red light burst from his mouth and shot toward the ceiling.

  Finally, when I thought the light couldn’t come from anywhere else, it turned the deepest shade of red I had ever seen and faded to nothing. He stood there with deep crevices covering his body, a look of shock and pain frozen on his face. Suddenly, a blinding white light surged from his body, making me turn away from the intensity.

  When I twisted back to look at him, I gaped at the pile of ash remaining in his place.

  “You bitch!” came a yell from the other end of the store. I spun toward the shout. The other man that had come in with him ran at me as fast as he could.

  Damien darted after him and grabbed him by the arm. He flung him effortlessly back toward the front of the shop, his body flying through the display window and into the street. The huge sheet of glass crashed down around him, the tiny pieces shattered on the ground, tinkling as they fell.

  Adrien pulled my POS ex-client from the crumpled counter and threw him through the window to join his partner. “I think you have been sufficiently warned,” he called after them.

  Adrien reached over the back of one of the sofas and picked up a plastic box, and turning to me he grinned sheepishly. “I think your cupcake got crumbled.”

  Chapter Ten

  Selena

  “My cupcake? My fucking cupcake? I think I have a little more to worry about than a damn cupcake!” I yell, realizing I was really close to panicking. The two of them wince at my words. Damien ran his hand over his face, clearly not knowing how to handle this. For once Mr. Control Freak had nothing to say. Adrien, who was normally touchy feely, looked nervous and too scared to even approach me. Fuck, I would be scared of me too, I just blew up a man.

  Forcing myself to take a few deep breaths I continued, “The two of you have some explaining to do. Like a lot of explaining. Don’t even fucking try to bullshit me. I know you know what’s going on. Whoever the fuck those people were clearly knew you, and you knew what they were doing in my shop. So fucking spill.” I was still furious, but at least a little calmer and able to think more clearly.

  “We really didn’t want to have to explain it to you this way,” Adrien shook his head, looking sorry. Well it was too damn late for sorry. I just stared at him, yeah you know that look. I don’t give two fucks, keep talking.

  Sighing, he put down the cupcake and walked over to me, and he slowly took my hands. “When I first met you I knew you were different, I was attracted to you and I wasn’t expecting that. I came here thinking some butch, biker tattoo artist was going to do my work, and there you were. I wanted you as soon as I saw you, and as long as I have lived that’s never happened to me.”

  “What does that have to do with any of this?” I pulled my hands from his and I swung them out, motioning to my ruined shop. I paced back and forth between the fallen chairs and needles littering the floor. The bottles of ink leaking all over the hardwood floors around my feet.

  “I want you to realize that despite all of this, I wanted you before I knew who you were to us, to all of us,” Adrien said, exasperated. I didn’t understand what he was talking about, none of it made sense to me, what I was to who?

  “You’re special Lena, more than you can imagine, we just aren’t the ones to explain how or why to you. We didn’t even know you existed until recently and don’t have all of the details yet ourselves. If you can wait a little while longer, we will take you to the person who can explain,” Damien added, trying to convince me not to push further.

  I turned on him. “How can you ask me to wait a little while longer? You didn’t just turn a man to dust! To fucking dust, Damien! What if I accidently do that to Sam? To one of you?” A tear rolled down my cheek at the thought of hurting my best friend. I would never forgive myself if what had happened to that man happened to her. I would be devastated. She had been there for me through everything.

  “That’s not going to happen, Selena. I’m pretty sure that happened because he attacked you and the amulet. You were protecting yourself, not attacking him,” Damien reassured me.

  “Pretty sure, but you don’t know?”

  “I’m not going to lie to you, Lena. I don’t know for sure.” At least he was being honest with me. I sighed, resigned to the fact that he didn’t have the answer on how or why the man had gone poof, so I had to let that go for now.

  “Okay, so who or what the fuck were they?” These two knew something and I was going to get some damn answers.

  They looked at each other as if having their own conversation, trying to decide how much they should tell me. I could practically hear the thoughts going through their heads, the looks on their faces were that clear. “I’m a big girl, just tell me who the fuck they were. Why they had teeth like that.”

  “That’s kind of part of what isn’t our place to explain to you. We want to tell you everything, but it’s not our story to tell. You deserve to know the whole truth, and it’s easier to hear it all at once instead of bits and pieces, and then trying to put it together yourself,” Adrien explained calmly.

  I wanted to be mad, I wanted to demand answers, but was he right? Would getting answers all at once be easier than trying to put it together bit by bit?

  “Look, let’s help you get this place cleaned up and we can go from there. Does that work for you?” Damien stretched his hands out, offering to help me over the fallen storage chest. Even having been scared of him in the alley, everything in me told me I could trust him. He had protected me from the people here who were trying to hurt me. When I asked him about the necklace, amulet he called it, he didn’t skirt around the truth and was honest with me. I felt like he was someone I could trust.

  Taking his hand, I stepped over the chest and he surprised me by pulling me into his arms and hugging me close. What was with these men? No one other than Sam hugged me. These two had been more touchy feely with me than anyone had been my entire life. I held onto him, needing the comfort after everything that had happened. There were things that needed to be taken care of right now so I wouldn’t allow myself to cry, but I would allow myself one moment of comfort.

  He felt so good pressed against me, cool and hard. I was able to feel his muscles pressed against me, making me wonder what they would feel like if I ran my hands across his chest. His strong arms wrapped around me, dwarfing me in comparison. I had never wanted one man as much as I had in the past two days, let alone two.

  When the thought hit me I flushed red, embarrassed that I was clinging to someone in front of Adrien. I backed out of his arms slowly, disappointed he was no longer holding me. Adrien stood grinning in the rubble. Cocky bastard.

  “Right, well I guess we should get started, and then you can find me some answers,” I said, walking to the utility room to grab supplies. I could use a minute away from them anyways and get my lady bits under control. It was going to take a while to clean up this mess, and I didn’t need my nether regions making this more difficult.

  I paused for
a minute in the utility room to message the store manager, since she hadn’t shown up for the day. I copied the message and quickly sent it to the rest of the employees as well, letting them all know that we would be closed until repairs could be made. I didn’t need anyone showing up to work and walking into this mess.

  I shuffled two brooms and an armful of bags in my arms, and left the small room. At the front of the shop Adrien and Damien were standing close together, waiting for me.

  “She’s going to find out sooner or later why they want her, you should have at least told her that much,” Adrien scolded.

  “It’s not our place and you know it. Valentina will explain it when we see her—” He stopped when he saw me out of the corner of his eye and turned the rest of the way to face me. I didn’t know if I should pretend I like hadn’t heard anything they had said, but if they hadn’t wanted me to know what they were talking about, then they should have been quieter.

  “Who’s Valentina?” I asked, watching them closely for any sign they were lying to me. Their eyes widened in surprise, but when they answered I knew it was the truth.

  “She’s the one that has the answers for you. We’ll take you to her when we’re done here.” Adrien and Damien glanced at each other, still unsure how to address it. The best way here was just to plow forward.

  “Alright, let’s get moving then.” I moved to one of the stations and tried to upright it again. It was so damn heavy, full of equipment and supplies, that I doubted I would be able to lift it. Stepping around it I tried again from a different angle, and I easily lifted it back to all fours. I frowned at the stand, there was no way it was that light. Maybe more of the supplies had dumped out on the floor than I had thought.

  “So where did you get your amulet?” Adrien inquired, picking up another workstation and moving it against the wall with the others so we could clean the floor.

  “Amulet’s a fancy name.” I laughed. “It’s definitely nothing fancy. Just a piece of costume jewelry my birth mom left me with on the doorstep of an orphanage.” I shrugged, turning over a chair. “Really it’s nothing of value, I have no clue what they wanted with it. I have always kept it with me, but I think it’s just because it’s the only thing I have left of her.”