Dead Ink: A Karma World Romance (Karma Series Book 4) (14 page)

He had that slight smile on his face that was so unbelievably charming and made her insides turn to mush. He was dangerous, and not just to people he didn’t like. She was fairly certain he could inflict a lot of physical damage if he wanted but she was more concerned about her psyche at the moment.

She knew she wasn’t the only woman he affected. She’d seen them around him. The way they got all giggly and flirtatious. He had an effect on them that was almost uncomfortable to be a bystander to, or at least she found it distasteful. They threw themselves at him and he barely noticed, as if it were so common he’d become immune.

But oh man, did she want to get out of here for a while, especially after yesterday. She felt claustrophobic knowing Keith had eyes on this place. It was getting to the point she didn’t feel comfortable taking a step past the door alone. The idea of getting out of this place, and miles and miles away was too much temptation.

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”

They’d driven most of the way in silence and he didn’t press her to talk. He knew she was coming to terms with her loss. He also knew there were no words found in spoken language that could soothe some hurts.

He glanced over at her, as he had done every so often on the drive. She’d hung Arthur’s ring, free of blood, onto a string around her neck. He watched as her fingers toyed with it, but she’d be okay. She was tough, more so than she even realized. More than he’d realized when he’d met her. There was this sheer force of will he felt in her, like she’d never truly give up on life, no matter what happened.

She finally spoke as they were driving through Charleston. “What did you have to do here? I don’t think you ever told me.”

“The ink I use for the special tattoos, it needs a specific base or it won’t work.”

“You don’t make it yourself?” she asked him.

“I have but I prefer not to. It’s a bit messy.” He looked over at her briefly. “You really don’t want to know,” he added, before she thought to ask. To be honest, he wished he didn’t know. He’d made it once and that had been plenty.

“You get it here?” She pointed to the grand old mansion on the waterfront he was slowing down in front of.

“It’s an old family business,” he said as they pulled into the drive. He got out of the car and stood looking at the place that made so many memories rush back.

This was where it had all started for him and the beginning of going rogue from the Universe. A fling with a girl who said she was a witch. It had been the first person outside the agency who he’d told the truth to.

Normally, hell would open up if he divulged those kinds of details to someone not like them, a person not in the employ of the agency. The consequences were steep for giving out that information. The person told would die, memory erased, and be shipped off to a new life.

This girl who called herself a witch said she wanted to know about him. He’d told her the risks and she said she still wanted to know. That she wasn’t afraid. He told her, fully expecting her to die. He hadn’t really cared. She’d been warned. It was her decision. Then nothing happened.

That’s when the experimenting started. He’d thought that he was the one keeping all the secrets but the black hole of knowledge this woman possessed was staggering. He’d learned most of what he knew of the arts from her. It’s what had led to him being able to quit the agency completely but quitting hadn’t freed him the way he’d hoped it would. The urges had persisted.

“Should I come in with you?”  Faith asked, walking over to his side.

When Lars had invited her, it had been a knee-jerk decision. He hadn’t thought out the possibilities. Larissa, the witch who helped him and also one of the only women he’d slept with more than a handful of times, might not be keen on meeting a female who was staying with him. Then again, she’d have no way of knowing that. He’d introduce Faith as the shop manager, which she was, and it would go fine. Why wouldn’t it?

It would have to, because even though Keith had no way of knowing where they were, the thought of leaving Faith out here alone made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Decision made. She was coming in. “Yeah, come on.”

He took another look at Faith as she walked beside him to the house. Did she have to wear that white lacy top today though?

Hell, it didn’t really matter. She looked good in anything she put on, but Lars’ unease grew steadily as he knocked on the door.

The unease exploded into dread the second Larissa stood there on the threshold. She looked as youthful as always but the face that was frozen in age didn’t have a problem expressing displeasure the second she saw Faith. It probably didn’t help that on at least half the trips he made here, he usually did more than just pick up ink. Why did he always forget how possessive women could get? He shifted gears immediately into damage control.

“Larissa, this is my shop manager. I thought it would be a good idea if you met her in case she needed to do a run by herself at some point.” There, problem solved.

Larissa’s gaze shot instantly to him, eyebrows raised, letting him know his last minute excuse ranked in the epic fail category. Faith looked at him with an expression that silently asked him why he’d even brought her here. How did they both know so damn quickly?

Faith held out a hand. “Keys. I’m going to wait in the car.”

Lars grabbed Faith’s arm and dragged her back several feet from the door, while Larissa leaned on the jamb, still looking quite put out at the unexpected addition to their normal afternoon.

“What’s the problem?”

“Your girlfriend looks a little territorial. I’m not going into someone’s house where I’m clearly unwelcome. I have more pride than that. I’d prefer to sit out in the car.”

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

“She thinks so. Keys?”

“No. Not a good idea.”

“Yes.” One hand shot to her hip and the other one shot out toward him, palm up. “It is.”

Why the hell was she pissed?

“No. You aren’t staying out here,” he said, ignoring her demand.

“Give. Me. The. Keys.”

“Keith’s not the only problem these days.” As he said it, he scanned the streets, looking for the gangs that had popped up everywhere. Charleston was among one of the safer areas. They’d instituted a private police force that was patrolling the area. Well, the wealthier area anyway. And no one, not even the crazies, would approach this house if they had even an inkling of who resided inside. Larissa’s family were witches way back even before the Salem days. He’d learned all his black arts from them.

“Lars, are you coming in or not?” Larissa whined from the door as Faith shot him accusing looks.

The car was in Larissa’s driveway. There was no way the perimeter of this house wouldn’t be warded. He cracked. He couldn’t deal with two pissed off females both giving him dirty looks at the same time. Guys were so much easier. If they pissed him off, he just punched them.

He dug out the keys and walked Faith over to the driver side of the car.

“Any sign of trouble, lay on the horn. I’ll come right out.” He leaned past her to the glove compartment and pulled out a gun. He took off the safety and laid it in her lap. “After you hit the horn, shoot anyone that comes near you in the eye.”

“I don’t know how to use this,” she said.

“Aim and squeeze.”

“Fine,” she said, with a snippy tone.

She’d gotten her way. Why was she still pissed? He shut his car door and headed to the house with a growl wanting to release from his chest.

Seriously? An hour? How much longer was he going to leave her sitting there? Faith’s toes were tingling from being in the same position, and although she had said she wasn’t going to step a foot in that house, after she saw the sour face on that girl, she’d had it. She would deem to step a foot on the porch long enough to ring the doorbell and get the hell out of there.

She stepped out of the car and didn’t have a chance to close the door before something slammed into the back of her head. She’d never seen them coming.

She was dazed but still alert as she fell to her knees and gripped the gun Lars had given her. She rolled over quickly and swung the gun up at the two men. They’d just been about to grab her when they saw the gun pointed up at them.

She recognized them both from that first night Malokin’s men had escorted her to meet him and Keith. One of the guys that had sat in back with her, and the other had driven.

“Back off or I will blow your brains out.” She was surprised at how calm she sounded. Maybe it was the knock to the head. She was too dazed to panic.

“Which one of us? You can’t get us both,” the larger of the two said.

“Shut up,” the driver said to the other guy before turning to Faith. “He’s going to get you. If you think about it, things will go much better for you if you just come willingly, because this is going to happen. Do you really want every person from your past ripped apart?”

“He already killed the only person left I loved. You can tell Keith to fuck off. That’s what you can take back with you.”

The other guy made a sudden movement toward her and she didn’t hesitate for a second. She aimed the gun at his head and pulled the trigger. She thought she hit closer to his cheek but blood and brains still exploded as the body collapsed on her and pinned her to the ground.

She shoved at the body holding her down while trying to hold back her breakfast.

When the body was suddenly flung off of her she jerked the gun, still clenched in her hand toward her second attacker.

“Do you not know how to work a horn?” Lars’ voice was near a scream as he leaned over her.

“Where is he?” Her eyes went immediately past him, looking for the driver who got away.

“Who?” Lars said, grabbing Faith’s hand and yanking her to her feet.

“The other guy.”

“There was only one guy when I came out and he was lying on top of you. What happened?”

“I got out of the car and was attacked by two of Malokin’s men here, trying to collect me for Keith.”

He turned and looked around the area, without a person in sight, and let out a string of curses. “Why did you get out of the car?”

“Why did you leave me sitting in it for an hour?”

“You’re the one that wouldn’t come in!”

She saw his eyes scan her body and she looked down. She was covered in bits of flesh and blood.

His eyes shot to the house he’d just left, the door closed.

“Absolutely not.”

He let out a loud sigh but then motioned her to the side of the house.

“I’m not going in there where you just banged your girlfriend.”

“The side! I want you to go to the fucking side of the house!”

She held her chin up but said, “Okay, I can do that.” She walked over, not sure what the point was.

“And I didn’t bang anyone. She didn’t have as much ink as I needed ready. I didn’t want to leave you out here to begin with. Do you really think I’d stay in there for an hour if I didn’t have to?” With an efficient yank, his shirt was over his head and he was holding it out to her.

“What am I supposed to do with this?” she asked, a little calmer.

“You won’t go in and borrow something of hers. Are you going to wear that the whole ride home?”

She looked down again and decided he had a point.

He walked a couple of feet away where he turned on a spigot for a hose. “Here.”

He laid his shirt she hadn’t taken on a bush nearby and walked a little ways back to the car, giving her privacy to clean up. She washed up in the freezing water while she had a strange feeling the girl inside was watching her. She wanted to stop and give her the finger but refrained, deciding getting out of here quicker was preferable to a catfight.

She turned off the water and threw his shirt on. She was surrounded by his smell, felt the warmth of his body lingering on it when she’d put it on, and it made her feel safer somehow.

The second she got close to him he started walking back to the car. He stepped over the body that was in his way, as if it were a puddle he was avoiding, opened the door and got behind the wheel.

She walked to the passenger side and opened the door but didn’t get in.

“What about the body?”

“It’ll disappear on its own,” he said not looking at her and starting the car.

“Then why did I change?”

“Because it wasn’t going to come off your clothes.” He looked her way now. “Get in.”

“Why are you so mad? I’m the one that just got attacked,” she said, as she got in the other side of the car. Fight or not, she wasn’t being left behind at this place. “Why is it every time something bad happens to me, you’re the one that gets all pissed off?”

“I don’t know,” he snapped.

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s all you’re getting.”

She looked at him, not knowing how to deal with him. He didn’t trust her, checked her phone and disregarded her countless times. But then he’d given her a job, when she knew he’d never had a shop manager before—ever. Made her breakfast in the morning and talked to her about the trivial things and acted like they were important because she thought they were.

And then there was the way he looked at her. She’d never had someone look at her the way he did, and it made her feel like she was something special. He looked at her like he thought she could do anything, and he made her feel like maybe it was true.

He gave with one hand and took away with the other. He’d protect her from others and yet insult her himself. Even when those guys had attacked her by the car, she hadn’t panicked because she’d known he was close by.

He was a constant contradiction. And she wanted him. She was starting to believe that he might want her too.

“Why do they all run from you? Why were you the top threat?”

“Because of who I used to be.”

“Which was?” He was looking straight ahead as they drove home and she waited to hear the rest of it. She knew there was something he wasn’t telling her.

“A guide of sorts, but with only one destination. Death.”

“So, you were like the grim reaper or something?”

“Exactly like the grim reaper. Does that freak you out?”

It should, shouldn’t it? And yet, as she sat there beside him in the small confines of the car, nothing in her feelings had changed. She felt just as safe as she had a few minutes ago, before he’d said anything about being the grim reaper.

It was crazy but the only time she really did feel safe was when she was with him, and that was the most minor of the feelings he produced. For someone who had died not long ago, she felt more alive with him than ever. And when he looked at her, she wasn’t her anymore. She was someone infinitely better.

“No. It doesn’t.”

He didn’t say anything else, and neither did she. But she felt it—the thing that was growing between them had grown a little stronger.