“A lot actually seeing as she’s going to be moving in with us.”
The news leaves Sailor reeling. Her face falls and she looks like she’s about to pass out. She gets control of herself by taking a few deep breaths.
“I have to go,” she says.
“Yes, that’s a good idea. We’ll talk about this at home,” Adam says, mistakenly thinking Sailor is talking to me.
“What? I’m not coming home, Dad. I have things to do,” Sailor says.
She turns to me.
“Come on,” she says.
She storms toward the warehouse. I take a few steps after her and then I stop and turn to Adam.
“Don’t worry about her. She’s safe here with us,” I say.
Adam sighs and the fight goes out of him.
“That came out all wrong,” he says.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Raven isn’t moving in exactly; she’s just staying with us for a while as her house is getting some renovations done.”
Raven puts her hand on Adam’s arm.
“Let me go talk to her,” she says.
“No,” I say quickly.
Both Adam and Raven frown at me and I force myself to smile.
“No offence, but you’re the last person she’ll talk to. I’ll talk to her and make sure she’s okay,” I say.
“Thank you.” Adam smiles. “And please don’t be offended by what I said about her needing time away from her friends. I’m really glad she’s got friends like you lot who clearly have her back.”
I smile because I really don’t know what to say to that. Raven touches Adam’s arm again.
“Come on. Rye is right. We’re making this worse by sticking around. Sailor needs some space to get her head around everything.”
She leads him back to her car and I breathe a sigh of relief as they pull away. I head out to the warehouse, where I see Sailor sitting in the middle of the floor staring into space. I can see the hurt in her eyes and I want so badly to wrap her in my arms and never let her go.
“Sailor?” I say.
She looks up at me.
“Don’t,” she says.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t try to convince me to go home and play happy families.”
“I wasn’t. Look, your dad said it all came out wrong. Raven isn’t moving in with you long term. It’s just while she gets some work done on her house.”
I reach down my hand. Sailor looks at it but she doesn’t take it.
“I’m serious, Rye. Don’t try to send me back there right now,” she says.
“I’m serious too. I’m not sending you anywhere. We have the dagger now and we need to be ready for the fight of our lives. We’re going to train.”
Finally, she takes my hand and lets me pull her up to her feet.
We train hand to hand. Sailor is laser focused and she’s not missing a beat. I don’t go easy on her, and yet she repeatedly knocks me on my ass. I’d be ashamed if I wasn’t so proud of her. I have an idea and I hold my hands up to call an end to the fight.
“Had enough?” Sailor grins.
“More than enough.” I laugh. “Seriously though, I have an idea. Wait here a moment, okay?”
Sailor nods and I hurry back to the cabin. I round up Aziza, Sunday, and Ya-Ya and head back out to the warehouse.
“Ready for some group training?” I grin.
Sailor nods enthusiastically.
“Bring it on.”
I nod to Aziza to take over. Sailor and Aziza go to hand to hand. Sunday, Ya-Ya, and I hold back at first, but then we start throwing in sneak attacks, going toward Sailor when she’s focused on Aziza and trying to catch her unawares. Her instincts are good and she anticipates every move, managing to duck and dodge away from us and take us all down.
After it becomes clear that Sailor is more than holding her own, I call a halt to the proceedings again. I go over to the shelves and get a bunch of dummy weapons.
“Let’s kick it up a notch,” I say. I look at Sailor. “You game?”
She grins and holds her hand out. I throw her a sword, the weapon she has trained with the least. I keep one for myself and give Aziza, Ya-Ya, and Sunday theirs. We start training again. Aziza gives Sailor tips and directions and she soon masters the sword. I shouldn’t be happy to get my legs kicked out from under me and the blunt tip of a sword pressed against my throat, but I have to admit I am.
I lie on the ground laughing as Sailor makes equally short work of Sunday and Ya-Ya. She and Aziza face off against each other for a little longer and then Sailor leaps into the air. She vaults over Aziza and before Aziza can react, Sailor knocks her to the ground and flips her over and runs the tip of her sword over her throat.
A noise behind Sailor gets her attention and she whirls around quickly, grinning when she sees Jinx behind her with a dagger. She fights him and within minutes, he too is lying on the ground with the rest of us, Sailor’s sword pressed to his throat. Jinx holds his hands up.
“No mercy.” Sailor laughs.
She moves her sword and helps him back to his feet. That’s when I notice something that sends me to my feet, a burst of anger filling me.
“Are you for real, Jinx? That’s not a training dagger. It’s real,” I shout.
“Yeah it is. But believe it or not, I know how to use it and how not to use it as well.”
“You fucking idiot. You could have killed her,” I yell.
“Rye, stop,” Sailor shouts. “I don’t want you guys to go easy on me.”
“That dagger was too close to cutting you,” I say.
Jinx ignores me and turns to Sailor.
“You were never in any danger, Sailor,” he says.
“I know,” she replies. Her
