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Qhuinn pointed to a door "Does that open into his bedroo, ladies"

Vishous walked into the room, and Qhuinn&039;s eyes weren&039;t the only ones that flared In the Brother&039;s hands were a length of heavy chain with a tag on the end, a pair of pliers, and a tackle box

"Sitchass down, boy," V said

"Go on" Wrath nodded at the bed "Tiler has John&039;s crest on it You&039;re also getting tattooed This is for life, like I told you"

Qhuinn sat without a word, and V caht around his throat, and then cranked the open link closed Thejust a little lower than his collarbones

"Coet fired" V knocked Qhuinn in the shoulder "By the way, if you get fired, under the old laws, your pink slip&039;s a guillotine, true? That&039;s hoe get the chain off If you just kick it, though, we&039;ll break one of the links &039;Cuz defiling the dead&039;s tacky Now for your tat"

Qhuinn started to take his shirt off "I&039;ve alanted one¡ª"

"You can leave that on" As V popped open his tackle box and took out a tattooing gun, Qhuinn pushed one sleeve up to his shoulder "Nope, I don&039;t need your ared in the cord and snapped on two black latex gloves Over on the bedside, he opened one little black jar and one little red one and a larger container that had a clear solution in it

"Turn around and face me" The Brother took out a stretch of white cloth and a sterilizing pack as Qhuinn swung his New Rocks around and put his hands on his knees "Look up"

On his face? John thought as V wiped off the top of Qhuinn&039;s left cheek

Qhuinn didn&039;t budge Not even when the whirring needle ca inked and couldn&039;tused He&039;d heard that black was the only color that was allowed¡ª

Holy shit, John thought as V pulled back

It was a single red teardrop outlined in black

Wrath spoke up "Sy to shed your own blood for John Also lets everyone know, in no uncertain terms, what your position is If John dies, it will be filled in with black ink, signifying you served someone of interest honorably If it doesn&039;t work out, it will be boxed with an X to show your shame to the race"

Qhuinn stood and went to the ," V said dryly as he came over and smoothed some clear ointment over the ink

"Can you do one other for ed "Whatchu got?"

Qhuinn pointed to the back of his neck "I want ¡®August eighteenth, 2008,&039; in the Old Language here And don&039;t ht

V nodded "Okay I can do that shit Hafta be in black, though That red is only for specials"

"Yeah Good" Qhuinn went back to the bed and shuf fled around so he was sitting cross-legged on the edge of thehis head, he bared his nape "And spell out the nu"

"Yup"

V laughed "I like you, true Now hold your chain up and let et to work"

It went relatively quick, the whine of the ink gun fluctuating like a car engine, revving and settling, revving and settling V added a nice artistic swirl underneath the design, then ran it all around, so the tattoo looked like a fancy plaque

This ti The three lines of text were gorgeous, and given how long Qhuinn&039;s neck was and how short he kept his hair, they would always show

John wanted one But ould it be?

"You&039;re solid," V said as he wiped the skin with the once-white cloth, which was now covered with ses

"Thank you," Qhuinn said as V sainst his golden skin "Thank you very much"

"You haven&039;t seen it yet For all you know, I could have inked ¡®jackass&039; back here"

"Nah I never doubt you," Qhuinn said, grinning up at the Brother

Vishous s approval "Yeah, well, you aren&039;t a flincher Flinchers get fucked The steady ones get the goods"

V clapped paluy, then packed up and took off while Qhuinn went into the bathroom and used the hand mirror to see the work

It&039;s beautiful, John signed from behind him Really beautiful

"It&039;s exactly what I wanted," Qhuinn murmured as he looked at the ink that covered the whole back of his neck

When the two of them returned to the bedroom, Wrath put his hand in his back pocket, took out a set of car keys, and gave theo anywhere with hiet you other wheels The thing&039;s bulletproof, and faster than anything else on the road"

"Can I still take him to ZeroSum?"

"He&039;s not a prisoner"

John staned, I&039;h "Never said you were John, give hiates"

"What about classes?" Qhuinn asked "When they start up again, do I stay with John then, even though I&039;m kicked out?"

Wrath went over to the door and paused "We&039;ll cross that bridge e get to it Future&039;s kind of unclear As fucking usual"

After the king left, John thought about Blay The guy really should have been with theo to ZeroSuned

"Why? &039;Cause you think it&039;s going to get Blay out?" Qhuinn went over to the briefcase and loaded the other gun, the clip sliding into place with a whisper and a click

You need to tellNow

Qhuinn put on the holster and plugged the weapons in under his armpits He looked powerful Deadly With his cropped dark hair and those piercings in his ear and that tat underneath his blue eye, if John hadn&039;t known the guy, he would have sworn he was looking at a Brother

What happened between you and Blay?

"I cut him loose, and I was cruel about it"

Good God Why?

"I was on the way to jail forabout me It would have ruined his life Better that he hate me than be lonely for the rest of his days"

No offense, but are you really that important to him?

Qhuinn&039;s mismatched eyes drilled into John&039;s "Yes I am And don&039;t ask any questions about that"

John knew a boundary when he saw it: Conversationally speaking, he&039;d just run into a concrete ith barbed wire around it

I still want to go to ZeroSuive hiht jacket froather himself as he put it on When he turned back around, his characteristic smart-ass smile was back in place "Your wish is my command, prince of mine"

Don&039;t call me that

As John headed for the exit, he texted Blay, hoping the guy would show eventually Maybe if he was bugged enough he&039;d relent?

"So what should I call you?" Qhuinn said as he leaped ahead to open the door with a flourish "Would you prefer ¡®e&039;?"

Give it a rest, would you

"How about good ol&039;-fashioned ¡®lared over his shoulder, Qhuinn shrugged "Fine I&039;ll go with fathead then But that&039;s your daave you options"