Page 28 of Princes of Carnage

Nico leans forward, resting his elbows on the table. “Trust me, Atlas,” he says quietly.

Atlas’s brown eyes shift from his drink to Nico, and he lets out a breath. “I do. Always.”

“Good.” Nico reaches over to grip his shoulder. Then he drops his hand and leans back. “Now we need to start planning our next move.”

That’s our cue to focus up and listen, so we do.

10

ATLAS

In the morning, I head out from the club.

There are still a few Carnage members hanging around, drinking coffee and chatting, and I nod as I pass them, heading for where my bike is parked.

I get on it, tug my skull-emblazoned helmet on, and peel out, the wind whipping past me as I ride.

The task I’ve been given for the day doesn’t sit well with me, and I’m sure as hell not looking forward to it. But I’d do just about anything Nico asked me to do, so here I fucking am.

I’ve got my doubts about this whole thing, and I’ve voiced them all to my brother. But aside from letting him know again that I don’t think this is a good idea, I didn’t argue with him last night, and now that things are in motion, I’ll do everything I can to make sure that this plan of his succeeds.

It’s more than just because Nico is the leader of our gang. More than just because I’m his de facto bodyguard, although that’s a part of it. The bond the three of us—Nico, Killian, and I—share is deeper than that. I owe Nico and Killian everything.

They’ve been there for me when I needed them the most, and that kind of loyalty is something I’ll always repay.

Even when I’d rather not be involved in the shit Nico comes up with.

I snort, shaking my head as I rev the bike’s engine coming out of a turn. It’s rare that I don’t agree with him, but this is one of those times where I wish he’d listen to reason.

There are so many ways this shit could go wrong.

About fifteen minutes later, I pull up outside the tattoo parlor that serves as the base for the Enigma gang. It’s still early enough in the day that there aren’t a lot of people gathered around outside, so no one gives me a hard time when I park my bike and walk inside.

The chimes over the door jingle, announcing my presence as I step in.

Quinn is there, her blue-green hair tied back into a messy bun. She’s straddling a low stool, bent over and working on a tattoo for some guy. From what I can see, she’s almost done, and the work is actually good. The tattoo shop isn’t just a front. She actually knows what she’s doing.

I watch her for a second, taking in the way she wipes away the excess ink with a damp cloth and then goes back in with her tattoo gun, doing more dot work to fill in a patch of shading on the guy’s arm.

When she sits back a bit to get more ink on her tattoo machine, I can see that the design is a large snake, wrapped around a blooming flower. The flower is done in bright hues, green and pink and orange, and the all-black snake stands out starkly against the color.

She looks completely in her element here, relaxed and focused. Her head nods along to the music that plays softly over the speakers in the shop, and she finally sits back with a satisfied look, spraying the tattoo down before wiping it completely clean.

Finally, she seems to notice me standing near the door. Her head jerks up as she registers my presence, and the relaxed look of concentration drops off her face as she scowls.

My shoulders tense too, an instinctive reaction to being in ‘enemy territory,’ so to speak. I guess we’re not supposed to think of it that way anymore, now that we have an alliance, but it’s gonna be a hard as fuck habit to break.

I close the distance between us, keeping my face neutral.

“That’s good work,” I tell Quinn, nodding at the tattoo. “Your line work is some of the best I’ve seen.”

“I don’t need your praise,” she snaps, her scowl only deepening.

Okay. She’s not in the mood to be flattered this morning. Noted.

She goes back to the tattoo, and for a second, I think she’s just planning to ignore me before she says, “What are you even doing here?”

“Carnage business,” I tell her shortly. “I’m here to make sure you get a wedding dress.”

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