Page 6 of Blue

“Cheer up.” Her aunt patted her arm. “I don’t think I’ve seen anyone so bummed walking into a tattoo shop before.”

Ink Assassins.

Uck.

The name was god-awful. Not that Mooky’s original shop name was any better. Before he ran it, it’d been called “Drilling Ink.” Everything with the Roughneck Riders had to do with drilling.

When Odin’s Fury took over, Mooky got the tattoo shop. He changed the business’s name. Rune the Skin Tattoos. She enjoyed the play on words. The new logo consisted of Viking runes, which made sense. The cleverness far outweighed Ink Assassins.

But there she was, being shoved through the door by her beloved aunt.

“Hello and welcome to Inked Assassins,” the woman behind the small counter greeted with way more energy and enthusiasm than Blue felt necessary.

Neon green walls. Pop-punk played softly from the hidden mounted speakers. The buzz of a tattoo machine. Somehow, it felt familiar, yet wrong. Her skin crawled with unease.

“Do you take walk-ins?” Aunt Elaine asked as she dragged Blue forward.

“Sure,” the woman said as she glanced down, presumably to look at the appointment book.

“Gizmo has some time before his next appointment,” she said, and picked up her phone. “Let me get him out here for you.”

“Fabulous,” her aunt said as she patted Blue’s arm. “We’ll look through his book.”

“Perfect, they’re over there on the table,” the counter woman said cheerfully.

Two tufted sofas made an L shape with a large wooden coffee table in the middle—between the entrance and the counter. The table had a few black binders on them. Each had an artist’s name on the cover.

“Here we go,” her aunt proclaimed as she held up a thick binder. “Gizmo.”

The couch and Blue sighed as she flopped onto it. “Who goes by Gizmo?” She grumble whispered.

Her aunt chuckled. “This guy, apparently. I think it’s kind of cute. Hopefully, he lives up to the hype.”

Aunt Elaine waggled her brows playfully.

Blue wasn’t sure what sort of hype she meant. Was it his tattoo skills or his cuteness? Either way, Blue couldn’t wrap her brain around it. She shouldn’t have been there.

“He should be out in a minute, just finishing his lunch.”

“Thank you!” Her aunt called back.

Blue folded her arms over her chest as she continued to take in the merch in the case beneath the counter, the art on the walls, and eventually the tattoos in the book. There were different styles—a koi, a dragon, some gothic lettering, tramp stamps, American Tradition, and other things.

He was okay, but nothing in his book wowed her.

The idea she may have judged him harshly unfairly tickled the back of her mind. This was her reality. She would need a new mentor. Her heart pinched at the thought of cutting Mooky out of her life in another way.

Losing her security, her social life, and profession—her feelings of loss mingled with a bit of resentment toward the woman who came between them. She wasn’t sure how she should feel. Sadness warred with her need for vengeance as she sat there.

Pushing it all down, she closed her eyes for a moment. She needed to move forward with her life. With a tight-lipped frown, she tried to look over his work objectively.

“Are you really going to get tattooed?” Blue asked.

Her aunt lifted a shoulder. “Maybe. This really isn’t about me, but if it greases the wheels for you, I’ll do it.”

“Why haven’t you let me tattoo you?”

Aunt Elaine flipped the page. “You never offered.”

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