Imprinted Tattoos (The Lost One's Book 1) Read online

  "I couldn't save her, I tried, I really did but he had already killed her" he crumples into my arms.

  I slowly lower us to the floor, leaning against the wall for support and cradle him to me. His arms wrap around me as he buries his head into my neck. His sobs rack his body and wet my t-shirt as my own tears join his, my heart breaking at his words.

  I don't know what his words meant but I know that it was the cause for his flashback. I won't ask, when he’s ready he will tell me. If that never happens then that's fine with me.

  We stay like that for a while before his sobs quieten down and he slips into a healing sleep. I can't help the smile that takes over my face as he lets out an almighty snore sounding exactly like a chainsaw.

  The others obviously seeing my smile slowly make their way towards us. Settling on the floor around us. I melt as each of them places a comforting hand on Kai and he snuggles deeper into me. I run my hand through his soft hair, humming a lullaby that I have known for years but can't remember where I learnt it.

  I glance up and abruptly stop humming. Maverick and Levi both have matching haunted looks on their handsome faces. I panic slightly thinking I've done something wrong.

  "Our mother used to sing that to us when we were younger" Levi explains his voice breaking slightly.

  I reach out my free arm to him and he comes willing as I hold onto his hand tightly and tug him next to me and Kai. He places his head on top of mine and wraps his arm around Kai. I turn to face Maverick and he immediately does the same as Kai and buries his head into my neck, wrapping his arm around me and Kai and holding tightly to Levi’s hand.

  Hunter and Jax both move as close as possible and lay comforting hands on both of them.

  "Please don't stop" Maverick says quietly.

  I thought I had long ago forgotten the words to the lullaby but as I begin to hum. I remember the words with ease and I slowly start to sing feeling my beautiful, damaged guys relax. After its finished, they both sit up and look at me.

  "How did you know that song?” Hunter asks.

  "I've always known it. I've always sung it when I was afraid or hurting it’s my automatic response to do it when someone else is."

  They all share a look.

  "How did you know Kai's middle name and our last name?" Levi asks curiously.

  "I have no idea. It just sort of whispered through my mind if that makes sense?" I cringe at the vagueness in my answer. “That makes me sound crazy, but I don’t know how else to explain it.”

  "Ok" Jax says simply easily accepting my answer, squeezing my knee. "Aren't you going to ask us why Kai was behaving like that?"

  "No, it's not your story to tell and if he wants me to know he will tell me." I say firmly.

  They all smile at me in approval and my heart warms.

  We've been sat here for just under an hour when Kai starts stirring in my arms, before he looks up at me, his grass green eyes apprehensive. I smile gently at him in encouragement trying to let him know that my opinion of him hasn't changed.

  "Thank you Sage" he smiles softly up at me before sitting up and placing a gentle kiss on my cheek.

  The electric sparks seem stronger than before and my new Imprint Tattoo seems to tingle as once again the Sparks accumulate there.

  I watch as Kai's eyes go wide like my own.

  "What the fuck was that?" He questions.

  "What was what man?" Levi asks.

  "Sparks, like electricity."

  "I don't know" Levi answers a quizzical look on his handsome face.

  "I've never seen someone be able to pull you out like that before" Maverick states, changing the subject.

  "It was different. When you guys have tried to talk me down before I've barely recognised you, forget about listening but with Sage I instantly knew her. She was just my Sage. Even then though, I couldn't bring myself back completely, but she managed to do it for me." He looks over to me. "How did you do it? How did you know we were down here?"

  I look around at them all watching me curiously. I can't lie to them; my body literally recoils at the mere thought, but will they believe me if I tell them the truth? I barely believe it myself and it happened to me.

  Despite my past I do trust them though and I need to let someone in. I'm so tired of struggling with everything on my own. I've already started by telling them a small amount of what my mother has put me through over the years. There is no point backing out now. It's time to take a leap of faith and pray to anyone that will listen that they catch me.

  "I woke up feeling a lot better but I suddenly felt this tugging, it's hard to explain" I say exasperated, they all nod encouragingly so I continue, "I don't know how but I just knew that one of you needed me" their eyebrows all meet their hairlines but I continue before they can say anything else, "I followed the tugging and it brought me down here and to Kai. I just knew I could help him."

  "Well that's . . . unusual" Hunter says rubbing the back of his neck.

  "No shit" I reply, causing them to chuckle.

  Everyone is lost in thought and I feel my eyes growing heavy before I drift into a light sleep. I can't have been asleep for long when I hear Levi speaking.

  "Maybe it's not though? I need to go through the archives and see if I can find anything similar and anything about the electricity you felt Kai" Levi explains giving me a small shred of hope that maybe this isn't as unusual as I thought.

  "You could always ask Mr S; he might be able to help?" Kai suggests.

  "I don't want him to know before he has to. I know he's like family but at the end of the day he is still our superior" Levi replies.

  I have a feeling that they aren't supposed to be talking about this in front me. I don't think they realise I'm awake even though I'm not trying to hide it.

  Who is Mr S? Does he mean a superior, like a boss?

  "We can't forget the job either" Jax mentions.

  Well that answers the boss question then I guess.

  "We still haven't figured out who's behind it and how to get close enough"

  Maverick adds.

  "What do you guys do?" I ask quietly.

  All heads snap towards me, their eyes widening as they realise, I'm awake. I really look at them. Before I had been to be blindsided by their handsome looks but now that I'm paying attention, I can see that my earlier thoughts were right, they aren't my age. They are older. Too old for high school.

  Kai opens his mouth, but I hold up a hand cutting him off.

  "You're not high school students. You definitely aren't eighteen" I state simply, scanning them all quickly, no average eighteen-year-old has a body like any of them. "You are all well trained in first aid, more than a simple course. Kai can fight extremely well from what I saw, he wasn't simply punching and kicking. He was throwing uppercuts with precision, using flying back kicks as if it were normal and he was using his elbows to perform hits that would've knocked an opponent out. Moves that a highly trained mix martial arts fighter would know." I pause thoughtfully staring at the ground trying to piece more together. Not aware of their shocked faces and dropped jaws. "I should know. There are security cameras in the living room, that leads me to believe that they are more than likely in each room. You work together like a military team, but I don't think you are in the military, at least not anymore."

  Suddenly realising how long I've been talking and what I could've potentially revealed about myself, I look up.

  "How do you know there's a security camera in the living room?" Jax asks a hint of, I think, pride in his bright blue eyes.

  I sigh heavily.

  "I could see it in the vent." I state before continuing, "I have a feeling it's not the only one in the room. I didn't have long enough to scope out the entire room before I was pulled down here."

  "Why did you feel the need to scope out the room? Do you not trust us?" Kai asks hurt, evident in his voice.

  "No that's not it at all. It's a habit. I do it in every room or place I go into. I take note of th
e exits, security measures and the people. I catalogue everything."

  "Very interesting" Levi glances at me his eyes calculating.

  "How the fuck did you know the names of the fighting moves Kai was doing and what the fuck did you mean you should know?" Hunter asks impatiently.

  I glare at him.

  "You know what? I have been nothing but honest with you. How about you start telling me the truth, how old are you Hunter?" I shoot back at him.

  It's starting to frustrate me now. They've asked me multiple personal questions and I've answered every single mother fucking one honestly and they've given me nothing.

  I refuse to tell him about that part of my life if he's not going to be honest with me.

  "She's right" Maverick says calmly "we've invaded her privacy with our questions, and she's answered every single one. It's only fair that we be honest with her."

  I smile at him in appreciation, silently thanking him for understanding.

  "Ok I agree" Levi says turning to me, "we can tell you some things. However, we can't tell you everything. It's not because we don't trust you. We aren't permitted to."

  I nod my head in understating.

  "That's fair enough. So how old are you?" I reply with a small smile.

  I understand the need to keep things private and I will respect that so long as they show me the same respect.

  "Me, Kai and Levi are twenty-three" Maverick tells me immediately and I grin.

  "I'm twenty-two" Hunter says gruffly.

  "And I'm the baby of the family" Jax sighs dramatically" I'm twenty-one."

  I giggle at his theatrics.

  "Jax man, you aren't the baby anymore. Sage is younger than you!" Kai grins at a now hyper Jax.

  My heart beats faster at his words, he included me. Butterfly's start swarming in my stomach.

  Family? I think I like that.

  "That's true!" he says excitedly until his face falls, he turns to me his eyes wide and grabs both of my hands. The others begin chuckling at his theatrics and I soon join in. "It is true isn't it, Little Star? You are younger than me, right?"

  As soon as we all realise the reason behind his actions the chuckles turn into full belly laughs, mine included. I don't think I've laughed this much for years, if ever.

  My laughter is brought to an abrupt halt when pain shoots through my side. I had forgotten about my ribs. The painkillers that Maverick gave me must be wearing off.

  I suck in a sharp breath wrapping my arm around my middle and wincing. The guys all stop immediately and glance at me in concern.

  "Come on Titch, it's time for more pain meds. I want you to eat first this time. You don't eat enough as it is, and I don't want the meds to give you stomach pain because you haven't eaten anything. It didn't matter so much earlier, I was too worried about you being in pain and one dose will be okay. I’m not giving you another dose without eating something though so don't argue" Maverick states firmly.

  I stare at him for a minute trying to figure out why on earth he thinks I would turn down a meal and then it clicks. I look around at the others and see they all think the same.

  "Fucking hell. You guys think I don't eat on purpose?" I shouldn't find this amusing, but my sense of humour is warped.

  They all nod.

  I sober up quickly realising they are genuinely worried about me and don't know that if I had the means I could and would mostly likely out eat them all. "I couldn't afford groceries this week, I had to buy my mom’s booze with what little money I had. It's a hell of a lot easier to go without food for a couple of days and with only small amounts here and there than it is to deal with my mother."

  "You haven't . . . And she? . . . For booze? . . . Fuck!" Hunter is so angry he's not even making sense.

  I walk over to him feeling confident and lighter than I think I ever have been. I love that he cares about me. I know he's about to blow so I distract him. I stand up on my tip toes placing my hands on his chest. He lowers his head for me, and I gently kiss him on the cheek.

  Electricity once again ignites.

  "I see what you mean about the electricity" he grunts at Kai and Kai just grins back at him.

  Grabbing Hunters hand, I pull him towards the door. The others trailing behind me chuckling and muttering about how I "handled" Hunter. I turn around and stick my tongue out at them causing Kai and Jax to snort in laughter.

  "Wait! You never told me how old you are?" Jax rushes up to my other side and takes the hand not already entwined with Hunter’s. He turns giant puppy dog eyes towards me.

  "Not going to work on me Jax" I chuckle. "I'll tell you anyway though, I'm eighteen."

  He whoops and high fives Kai behind him before we all make our way up the staircase in search of food. I look towards the front door as we enter the hallway and see that it's already dark.

  "Fucking hell, my mother!" I say panicked "I need to get home.

  "No" Kai states firmly. His arms crossed tightly over his wide chest. All signs of the playfulness that was there just minutes before wiped clean.

  "Excuse me?" I question in a hard voice.

  "You aren't going back there. She hurts you."

  My blood boils. I know he means well but he doesn't understand. I have no money, no place to stay and I need to finish my education, so I at least have a small prospect of getting an ok job.

  "I have to go back" I state firmly.

  "Kai, calm down. Look if Sage wants . . ." Maverick starts before he's rudely cut off by Kai.

  "No, do you guys not fucking get it?" He glares at them, his jaw clenched, "she hurts her. I couldn't save our mother but over my fucking dead body will Sage be harmed again."

  By the end of his speech his breathing is laboured, and his fists are clenched so tight that his knuckles have gone white with the pressure of it.

  The anger bleeds out of me. It was his mother he couldn't save. Questions swarm inside my mind but I push them all away.

  "I have to go back Kai" I say gently.

  Kai starts to say something but Levi interrupts.

  "I do not like this, not at all." He starts.

  I open my mouth to reply but Levi holds his hand up making me pause.

  "But I can't force you to stay. You haven't known us for very long. However I do ask that, for our own peace of mind you let us put our numbers in your phone along with a specially developed app that means all you have to do is tap and hold one of the buttons on your password lock screen and it will immediately call one of us, the app allows you to override the lock screen" he continues. “All we want to do is keep you safe."

  I think it over. The app isn’t invasive at all and it would make me feel safer.

  "Ok I can deal with that.” I agree.

  “Thank you, Darling.”

  I can tell that none of them are pleased that I'm going back to that house, but they feel better now that I've agreed to the app. Even Kai's tense posture has relaxed slightly.

  "Actually I can't agree to that" I say as something occurs to me.

  They all start protesting loudly and I shout over the top of them, "I don't have a phone!"

  Silence falls and they look at me.

  "You don't have a phone?" Hunter repeats.

  I shake my head.

  "No problem we keep spares, that are already loaded with the app. Someone," Levi shoots a glance towards Jax, "breaks his on a daily basis."

  Jax’s cheeks turn pink, "they hate me, it's a conspiracy" he offers by way of an explanation and I giggle.

  His face lights up at the sound and I look at him confused.

  I think about arguing about them giving me a phone but from the looks on their faces I would lose and I did agree to their safety measure. I sigh and nod my head at Levi and he smiles his lazy, beautiful grin back at me then runs up the stairs to grab me a phone.

  "Can you stay for dinner? You're late anyway?" Kai asks hopefully.

  He's right, I am late anyway and if I wait long enough, I might get lucky and she m
ight have drunk herself to sleep again. Plus, I haven't had a hot meal in what feels like forever.

  "Yes, I should be ok. What are we having?"

  Kai grins widely at me and gently slings his arm around my shoulder. Maverick comes up on the other side and takes my hand bringing it to his lips and placing a small kiss on the back. The electric sparks buzz through me and Maverick's eye widen.

  "Damn, so those are the sparks" he tells Kai who just grins and shrugs.

  We follow Hunter and Jax into the kitchen.

  Jax hands me a glass of water and some more painkillers, my others definitely have worn off now, so I take them gratefully. I get an idea. They have helped me so much and are going to do more, making sure that my mother can't hurt me and that I have help if she does. I want to do something for them.

  "Can I cook?" I ask nerves fluttering through my stomach.

  They all turn to me studying my features. They must see that this means something to me because they all nod and smile. Well Hunter smiles his teeny tiny smile that he thinks counts. I vow to myself, then and there, that I will get Hunter to smile properly one day. I have a feeling it will be breath-taking. I grin at them all. I love cooking and I haven't had a chance to cook properly in so long.

  "Are you sure your ribs are going to be ok with you standing up for that long?" Levi questions coming into the kitchen.

  "Yes, I'll be fine, the pain meds are kicking in now and if I need to, I'll sit down or ask for help" I smile at him and he nods in response.

  "Does anyone not like anything?" I question not wanting to feed any of them something they won't like.

  "We aren't fussy Sweetheart" Hunter shrugs.

  I start to search the kitchen looking for the ingredients I need.

  "Can we help Beautiful Girl?" Kai chuckles and I blush.

  "Tell us what you need Little Star and we will get it" Jax says.

  "Ok, I need hamburger meat, tomatoes, onions, garlic and mushrooms" I carry on listing the items I'll need to make homemade spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread and a salad. I may have gone slightly over the top but who knows when I'll have this opportunity again!