BIKER QUEEN AND HER HELLBOUND KING

CHAPTER NINE

Grace

I returned to the workroom after Kent's presence cleared out of the room and I had caught my breath.

I had the burning need to know even more about Kent now, he was just too cryptic and elusive.

The workroom smelled like chain grease and metal. Jinx was back at it, this time he was leaning over the engine of a neon green motorcycle. The color was offensive, a bright lime that screamed against the muted browns and greens of the town and its surrounding forest.

“You're back.” I didn’t know if it was my imagination, but he sounded happy. “What do you think about my baby?” He asked, hands buried in the guts of the bike.

"Is that color a choice or a dare?" I asked in response, looking around for a seat.

Jinx didn't look up, but I saw his shoulders shake with a quiet laugh. "It’s a lifestyle, Grace. Most people around here have no taste, so I figure I should give them something to complain about besides the weather."

"It looks like a radioactive grasshopper," I said and walked further into the room, kicking a stray wrench out of my path.

He let out a full blown laughter at that, “I've never heard that one before”

He was doubled over with tears in his eyes. Good. This meant he had let his guard down a bit beside me and I could ask now.

I made sure to stay in his peripheral vision, I’d learned early in foster care that you never sneak up on someone who looks like he had the upper hand, so I went in straight forward. "Jinx, I have a question.”

“Ouch. And here I thought you came back because you missed me” He said with his hand to his heart, feigning hurt.

“That's part of the reason I'm here, don't worry.” I said with light laughter “Besides, it's just one question."

"Only one? You’re falling behind. I expected a list with how fast you returned." He stood up, wiping his hands on a rag that was more grease than fabric. With how he has been playing around, he was covered in more oil than the rag. He looked at me with an easy, lopsided grin. "What’s on your mind?"

"Kent's tattoos, the dates. Jinx, I saw him tattooing today’s date on his skin earlier. He called it a marker. What is he actually recording?”

Jinx’s smile didn't vanish, but it changed. The warmth stayed in his eyes, but his posture went from relaxed to something more formal. He reached into a cooler sitting at the corner of the room and pulled out two beers, popping the caps with a flick of his thumb. He handed one to me. I hadn't even noticed the cooler even though this was my second time in the room today.

"Kent likes his history," Jinx said. He took a long sip of his drink. "He just keeps the things that matter where he can see them."

I realised he was just as cryptic as Kent.

“That’s not an answer and you know it," I said, grabbing the beer. "Two hundred and forty-three years of history? If every date on his arm is a 'beginning or an ending,' then he’s seen a lot of people die. Is that what Velmore is? A graveyard?”

“You said it yourself, two hundred and forty three years is quite a long time, it makes sense that he's seen a lot of people die, don't you think?” He asked with a pointed look, I suppose that made sense.

“But you said earlier that he doesn't let people in” He hummed in response and didn't say anything. I stood up, ready to leave because I was only left with more questions than I initially arrived with.

“Kent will tell you these things in due time” he said suddenly and I turned back to see him staring at me.

"Also, Velmore is a sanctuary, not a graveyard" Jinx corrected. He sat on a wooden crate and patted the one next to him. "Sit down, Grace. You’re making my neck ache looking up like that."

I sat, but I didn't relax. "A sanctuary implies people are allowed to leave. He told me I can't, he said the Collector is tracking my 'surge.' If this place is so safe, why does he look like he’s preparing for a siege?"

"Because he is," Jinx said simply. "Look, you’re a scientist, right? You like data. Here is some data for you. Velmore exists because Kent decided it should. Before this town was here, people like us— and people like you— were just targets, there was no middle ground. You were either a hunter or the hunted. Kent changed that math."

"By turning himself into a warlord?" I asked.

Jinx laughed, and it sounded genuine. "Kent isn't a warlord, he’s a wall. There’s a difference. He doesn't go looking for fights, but he’s the one who finishes them so the rest of us can sleep. He’s a complicated man, Grace. He’s seen things you can't even imagine.”

I opened my mouth to press further but then he stood up and crushed his empty can before tossing it in a basket.

““Kent’s tattoos aren't for you to worry about, he only lets us know things he wants us to know, Grace.” He said returning to his bike, “I'm sorry but I can't help with this” he said sounding apologetic.

I decided not to pry any further.“So what happens when he runs out of space for new ink? Don't tell me he can just regenerate new skin like an axolotl.”

“Who knows?” Jinx shrugged. It seems he has never thought of that. “He might just…” he trailed off, making a shaving motion on his skin. It was my turn to laugh now, he looked so silly doing that.

“What about the other one?” I asked, pivoting before he could shut down completely. “Rook. He looks like he wants to snap my neck just for breathing his air. Does he have a two-hundred-year-old backstory too?”

Jinx snorted and went back to his bike, the screwdriver clinking against metal. “Rook is Rook. Even I don't poke that bear. He doesn't talk about where he came from, and nobody is stupid enough to ask. He’s Kent’s shadow and right hand. If you see one, the other isn't far behind.” Great, just great. Everything about this town and its residents was mysterious.

“So he’s a mystery wrapped in a scowl,” I muttered.

He didn't answer that. Instead, he gestured toward my arm with his screwdriver, where the wound was still throbbing. “You really should go see Mara, you don't want that to get infected.”

My face seemed to have the expression of ‘who the hell is that?’ because he took one look at my expression and said, “The doctor? I told you about her on your first day here, remember?”

I didn't remember a single thing from that day beside the fact that something had found me right as he was giving me a tour. We never got to complete that tour, and I never got to meet the doctor.

I shrugged, feeling the familiar prickle of irritation. “I’ve had worse. I know how to clean a cut and take painkillers, I don't need a town doctor to tell me I’m wounded.”

“It’s been three days,” Jinx said, his brow furrowing. “You’re healing too slowly. It’s starting to look weird.”

I let out a dry laugh. “I’m healing at a perfectly normal human rate. That’s the problem, isn't it? You people are used to things that knit back together in five minutes. I’m technically human. My body takes time.”

Jinx looked at me for a long beat. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he just shook his head. “Touché. But still, go see Mara. She’s the closest to Kent besides Rook and I'm sure you don't want to have this conversation with Rook. If you want to know more about this place, she’s the one who actually has the records.”

“Records?” I asked, my interest peaking.

“Just go, Grace,” Jinx said, turning his back to me again. The conversation was over, the steel wall was back up.

I left the workroom and started walking back to Venom, I would see the doctor whenever I felt comfortable enough to.

Although Jinx was friendly and forthcoming, his loyalty lay with Kent, there was only so much I could get out of him.