Page 19 of Legion
“All good,” Raini assured her.
As she rested her tattoo gun on her shelf, Piper’s pale-green eyes flitted to Naomi.“I bumped into your mom the other day.She said one of your exes was bothering you.Is that a thing of the past yet?”
“Whatever his Prime said seems to have gotten through to him,” Naomi told the dark-haired nightmare, not wanting to get into specifics in front of a shop full of strangers.“The guy has stayed off my radar since then.”
“Good,” said Devon, skidding her wheeled chair a little closer to the recliner at her station.“Weirdos areeverywherethese days.Including behind the reception desk near you.”
Khloë frowned at the hellcat.“I might be quirky—”
“ ‘Insane’ would be a better descriptor,” muttered Devon, using her arm to knock her ultraviolet ringlets over her shoulder.
“—but I’m not even half as weird as your homicidal spawn.”
“Hey!”
“What?Anaïs is a death dealer.Which I love herbecauseof, notin spiteof.”
Raini snickered.“Of course you do.”
“Whatevs.”Khloë turned back to Naomi.“We should just ignore them.It’s so enjoyable.Let’s talk about something else.Ooh, by the way,” she went on, lowering her voice, “I haven’t found out anything interesting about the clerics yet.”
“Unsurprising,” said Naomi.“Theyweren’tinteresting.”
The imp planted a palm on her desk.“You know, we could show a picture of the emblem to one of the Black Saints,” she suggested, referring to a local motorcycle club whose president was mated to Luka’s anchor.
“Why would we do that?”
“They’re fallen angels, Nome.They might know of a monkhood that wear clothes bearing that particular emblem.”
Naomi pulled a face.“I don’t think we need to go asking the Black Saints about it.They’ll only wonder where you saw the emblem, and I’d rather outsiders weren’t poking their noses into this.You’ll find the answers without them.”
Khloë inched up her chin proudly.“Of course I will.I’m awesome that way.”Her gaze shifted to a guy who’d materialized beside Naomi.“Yo, what can I do for you?”
Stepping away, Naomi glanced over at Harper, to find that the sphinx was heading her way.
Casting her an apologetic look, Harper sank her fingers into her dark hair tipped with gold.“I’m really sorry, Naomi, but I need five more minutes.”
“I don’t mind waiting, it’s fine.”Considering that Naomi consistently lost track of time and had to often apologize for making others wait, she had no room to complain anyway.
Her smile one of both relief and gratitude, Harper said, “Thanks.I’ll be as fast as I can.”Then she was gone, putting her phone to her ear once more.
Naomi took a seat on the leather sofa and swiped a tattoo portfolio from the coffee table.Crossing one leg over the other, she hummed to the music playing on the TV as she idly flicked through the portfolio.
Someone sank onto the sofa beside her.“Cool place, right?”
Naomi looked up to see the guy who’d entered the studio only moments ago.Average height and wide-shouldered, he had a scruffy appearance, but it seemed deliberate.Gel kept his ash-blond hair in an unkempt clump.His short beard was wiry and uneven.Wrinkles graced his clothes, but they were designer and otherwise high-quality.
His smile was friendly, but it didn’t fully reach his brown eyes.They were fixed on her, a little glazed over with a sleazy, objectifying lust.
Naomi handled the moment the same way she handled any guy who did that.She pasted a haughty, disinterested look on her face and gave a superior sniff designed to fracture his friendly act.And it worked—his smile faltered, and a hardness slid into his eyes.
“Right,” she agreed before turning her attention back to the portfolio, essentially dismissing him.
He cleared his throat.“This your first time getting a tattoo?”he asked, all ease and pleasantness, except for the note of irritation in his voice.
Without looking up, she gave a slight shake of her head.“No.”
“What should I expect?”
