Page 67 of Gratification in Gluttony

“Yeah,” Oliver agreed, before smirking at Rusty. “Alright, Rusty, let’s see it.”

Rounding on Oliver, Rusty quirked his head, ears twitching. “Huh?”

“The tattoo,” Oliver said. “Let’s see it.”

“I would also like to inspect it,” Zef said.

Rusty exhaled, rubbing the space between his pale eyes. “I got it removed.”

“No, you didn’t,” Quin said. “It happened a year ago, right? And you can’t remove a fresh tattoo. And your fur has grown out, and you haven’t gone back to wearing long shirts recently. Ergo, you still have the tattoo.”

Rusty’s face scrunched, but before he could retort, Oliver grinned widely. “Awesome, show us.”

“No!”

“Show us the tattoo,” Jude said.

Rusty flashed his canines. “Over my dead fucking body.”

“I can make that happen,” Toni said with a shrug. “I know people.”

“No.” Having finally composed himself, Gem stepped forward, half-shielding Rusty from the group. “This is my fault, and I’m taking accountability. And to earn back Rusty’s trust and forgiveness, I will defend his honor now. He will not be showing us his tattoo. Overmydead body as well.

“And you know I’m stronger than all of you,” Gem finished, crossing all of his arms over his torso. “Well, except for Willow.”

“Really?” Jude said, arching an eyebrow at the Dryad.

Toni nodded. “Willow’s a beast.”

With a rather smug smile, Willow preened.

“Wait,” Oliver addressed Rusty, brow furrowing as he hooked an arm around Liel’s neck. “I thought you didn’t drink?”

Jabbing his thumb over his shoulder—presumably, at his tattoo—Rusty said, “Why do you think I don’t?”

“It’s a real shame,” Gem said morosely. “He was a super fun drunk, not gonna lie.”

“I hate you with the heat of a thousand lakes of fire,” Rusty seethed.

“That’s a little harsh, don’t you think?” Gem whimpered.

“You have a lake of fire?” Jude asked.

Inspecting a tear in his thumbnail, Toni nodded. “Yeah, we got one of those. It’s way out in the desert, though. Takes forever to get to it, and it’s hot as balls. Lots of sand. And then you get there, and it’s, like, okay, cool. Lake of fire. What now? I can’t swim in that!” He finished his speech with a shrug, “It’s really not worth the trip, honestly.”

Jude was staring at him like he’d lost his mind.

“What? You wanna go?” Toni gestured vaguely out the windows. “I’ll take you if you wanna see it. I’ll take you all over. Whatever you want, baby.”

Shaking his head, Jude turned away with a laugh, his cheeks darkening in a flush. Toni reached out and pressed the back of his knuckles to the warm skin, listening to the trip in Jude’s heartbeat.

“You know what? I’m leaving,” Rusty said, but before he could make good on the threat, Gem grabbed his arm and hauled him back, making him chitter furiously.

“No one’s leaving, and we won’t speak another word about Hellahoola, Rusty’s tattoo, or the fact that we legitimately trafficked Tad. Like, for real. We should be in jail.”

“Don’t say that in front of the narc,” Tad said, pointing at Liel.

The Gymnot, who was much more preoccupied with whispering gross things in Oliver’s ear, turned to face the group. “Hmm? Oh, no. Attorney-client-privilege. I’m bound by law to keep it to myself.”

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