Page 109 of Haven

“Melody A. Her last name wasn’t disclosed because she was a minor. Zade is trying to see what he can find out, but it’s taking him extra time because of the security, but he’s good.”

I ran my hands through my hair, tugging my hair slightly as I let out a sigh. There was too much going on and not enough answers to the million forming questions. “Was she with Rory or was this before?”

“It looks like it was before Rory, but this girl is a ghost. There’s nothing on her. No medical files, no case files. It’s like she doesn’t exist.”

Jude had various princess dresses and torture equipment in his house, according to the reports and what Cinder saw. What if there were other girls, but he killed them?

“Did she endure what Rory did?”

“I don’t know. Did Rory ever mention anything about a girl with her?”

I glanced at the files once more. “No. She barely remembered the boy. Unless the girl wasn’t with her at the time, and she was their first victim.”

“Has anything happened in Crestview?”

“Widow didn’t want me to say much, but we had two bodies of teenage girls. Runaways. He dressed them up like princesses before killing them.”

Hades stiffened, crossing her arms across her chest. “Does Rory know?”

“No. If we tell her, she will be heartbroken. This is different from letting her see the case files. She can’t know about the girls.”

Hades nodded slowly, eyeing me suspiciously despite the tentative agreement. She knew that Rory would freak, it wasn’t worth it. We both just wanted to keep her safe

Ninety-One

Rory

Ariel was ready to start the eight-hour tattoo process to finish her back piece. I didn’t think it would take that long, but her scars might make it a little more challenging. It was painful going over scar tissue. I knew from experience, but Ariel had taken the outlining like a champ, and it was her first tattoo. I was honestly surprised.

I told my women I would be at my studio for most of the day and part of the night working on a big tattoo. I wanted to believe it wouldn’t take me long, but I added a couple extra hours just in case. Ariel was the only tattoo I scheduled today so I could focus on the details and not be in a rush to finish it.

Ariel knocked on my door, and I let her in. Since I was the only artist, I kept my door locked and only had clients through appointments. Sometimes I felt like I should have a few more artists, but I liked having my own space. It was mine, and I could work whenever I wanted. Ariel got comfortable on the tattoo bench. She would be lying here for the next few hours.

“Are you ready for this, girlfriend?”

“I took my gummies. I am ready.”

“I’m sorry about that delay.”

“No need to be sorry. I hope you are doing better.”

I jumped right in focusing on the intricate details of the dragon first since it was the main attraction, adding shading and fine details to it. I would add highlights once everything else was done. Dragons were one of my favorite things to create, even if they were one of the hardest when I started tattooing. I always drew when I was younger. Drawing was my escape, and then I learned to tattoo. It took a few months to perfect it, but I fell in love with it almost immediately. I liked challenging myself, and creating realistic dragons was one of the hardest things I’ve tattooed. Now the thing I was working on would be realistic portraits, but I wouldn’t be upset if I never perfected it.

It took three hours to complete the dragon, and the sun was starting to set. I let Ariel sit up and stretch her legs as I added pink ink to my table for the cherry blossoms. Ariel wanted mainly greyscale, but she wanted the cherry blossoms to have a hint of color in them. I thought it was a nice touch. I asked her permission to send a picture to Hades so she could see the progress, and she consented.

“How long have you and your girlfriend been together?”

“Me and Hades have been together officially for almost a month. Vesper and I are somewhat official, and Widow is still being stubborn.”

“You have three?” she asked, her eyes wide in disbelief. I laughed and nodded. Maybe dumping my life story on her wasn’t the best idea, but I was never one to keep my business to myself. “Wow. I can’t even get a text back.”

I laughed again, wrapping my tattoo gun in more hot pink tape. “I knew Vesper and Widow for years. My sister made it hard to date, but she’s gone now. I know she would want me to be happy. I met Hades a few months ago. I didn’t think much would come from our relationship.”

“Wow, that’s nice. I’m sorry about your sister.”

“Me too. I know she’s watching over me.” I wasn’t accepting anything, but it was too complicated to tell someone what’s going on with Cinder. “I think I have maybe another three hours, and we can start highlighting.”

Flowers were one of my favorite things to tattoo. They were delicate, yet so beautiful. The stray cherry blossoms scattered in random spots, added dimension and made the dragon stick out more against the pink. It was an impressive piece, and possibly one of my favorites to date.