| |
When Lou fought us, I looked up at Celia, worried for a brief second that he would actually be able to get out. She gave me the same look and just as it seemed like he might actually push us off, he went limp under our hands.
“He fainted,” Artie reported.
“He seems to do that,” Celia said but we both kept our hands on him for a moment, just in case.
“Done,” Azolata said and sat back.
Artie stood and they both surveyed the tattoo that now took up a good portion of Lou’s back. It was contained in one large rectangle with another smaller rectangle within that one. Intricate lines connected inside of the rectangle and I was surprised that Azolata was able to do all that in such a short time. It seemed like there was some kind of design there but it kept slipping out of the edge of my vision when I thought I picked it up.
“Did you add the outer edge?” Artie asked.
“Yes. The extra protection could not hurt, I imagine,” Azolata said and began packing his things away. “Bring your car around the back. They will be here soon.”
I looked up at Celia but she didn’t meet my eyes. That only meant that it was worse than I thought. I stood and went to the door that led to the front counter.
“Dante,” I hissed. He was resolutely staring at the floor and had his hands in his lap. For a man that looked like he could enter a bodybuilding competition that day, he looked remarkably small.
When he looked up, I tossed him the keys to my truck. “Bring it around the back of the shop.”
He looked like he was going to ask me a question but the look I gave him shut it down and he left out the front door.
When I turned back into the small room, Azolata was taping a square of gauze over Lou’s tattoo and Celia was pulling his shirt on over his head. He was still out.
With Lou dressed, we went out the back of Azolata’s tattoo shop to find Dante waiting with my truck idling.
“Here,” I said and passed Lou off to Dante. I slid behind the wheel and helped Dante get Lou inside the truck before I jerked my head to the passenger door. “Artie, come on.”
Artie got in on the other side and we managed to get a seatbelt around Lou’s limp body. He groaned when his back touched the seat and slumped over my lap.
I looked down at him and then up at Celia.
“Go,” she urged.
“See you at home,” I said to Celia.
She nodded.
“Come on, Dante. We got people to throw off the trail,” she said.
“Who?” He asked as they walked back into the shop.
“The Ascendancy.”
“Who?”
I gripped the wheel tight as I put it in gear and we drove down the alley. The last thing I saw in my mirror was Azolata, watching us drive away.