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

The girl he was yelling at looked like his shorter twin at first glance, since they were both wearing nearly identical black T-shirts over black jeans so tight they could’ve been leggings. She was standing there under the verbal onslaught like a reed in a tornado, with her fists clenched and her face set in defiance and rage. And then Jake saw the bow and the dyed black hair, and he realized the girl the ugly boy was calling a “shit-sucking cunt” was Hype


Jake was stalking forward to beat the boy’s fucking head in when with a last hollered “Fuck you!” the kid turned around and clomped away in his worn leather boots.


Jake purposely shoulder-clipped him, and the guy whirled with his mouth snarling open, only to shut it again when he saw Jake’s expression and how Jake outweighed him by at least thirty pounds. He turned away and kept walking, glaring over his shoulder until he disappeared into the crowd.


Chapter 59