Toronto, Canada, 2006. A few months after the worst year of the Iraq war. Gabriel Navarro splits his time between his job slinging ink at the Atlantis Ink tattoo parlor, and working on his master’s degree in fine art. Gabe is twenty-two, sure of his beliefs and his artistic integrity, and na?ve enough to think he’ll never have to compromise. And then one night Jake MacLean walks into the shop and changes everything. Jake Maclean is twenty-eight and a veteran American Army pilot. He's been staying with his ex-pat sister in Toronto while he tries to get his life in order. The problem is, he can't. After his disastrous final mission in Iraq, he's overcome with anger and survivor’s guilt, trapped in a losing battle to atone for a failure he’s sure can never be forgiven. Left without hope, he decides to have his memory of the mission tattooed on his back, with the condemning words: God Will Judge Me. He doesn't expect to fall for the tattoo artist. Gabe falls just as quickly and deeply for Jake, though Jake's reluctance to talk about what happened frustrates and worries him. Gabe knows Jake isn't doing well, but accepting Jake’s claims that he's "fine" is far easier than dealing with the frightening truth. But soon it’s horribly clear Jake can’t control his panic attacks or flashes of violence, and he's getting worse. If Gabe can’t help him face his demons, Jake is headed for a crash -- and there’s every chance he’ll take Gabriel down with him.

Black Hawk Tattoo

They stood there for a weird moment just smiling at each other. Gabe wanted to kiss him, but Rob’s presence and Jake’s own skittishness kept him back. Maybe Jake wasn’t into PDAs. Or maybe he just didn’t want anyone to know exactly what had happened in Gabe’s apartment any more than Gabe did.


“See you later,” Gabe said, trying to inject some promise into it. He stepped back, effectively giving Jake permission to leave.


Gabe watched him go out into the rain, thinking Jake would be soaked to the skin by the time he got halfway to the subway station. He hoped he wouldn’t get cold.


The small woman with the glittery blue sun on her chest squeaked in dismay when she got a good look at all the rain, then went through the door and started running, pressing her hands over her tattoo. Gabe wondered if she knew that the glitter was in more danger of being rubbed off by her hands.


And then Gabe was alone in the shop with Rob.


Chapter 48