The midday sun is jarringly bright as I step onto the porch with her. My soul-sister is staring at the school, hugging herself.
I tuck my fingers in my back pockets, gun between them under my belt. “I owe you an apology, Ceels.”
“Why?” She glances to me.
“I asked for you to be prohibited from our missions, that’s why you don’t come with us very often.” She stares at me, and my returned gaze is unflinching. “Thought you couldn’t handle it. I just wanted to say I was wrong.”
Her shoulders relax. “Oh Soph, I can’t believe you did that.” Long eyelashes slide to the porch. “I’d rather be with you than stay home and worry, okay?”
“From now on, I promise.”
Her frown drifts back to the school. “From now on.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want to sit at home when these bastards are out there hurting people.”
“Believe me, Ceels, I understand.”
CHAPTER 9
L UKE
O h shit, here it comes.
Jett and my father barrel down the old porch with their crew, wooden steps creaking under the collective weight.
To protect the girls I shout, “We had to make the call!”
Grey eyes lock on me, then slam onto his daughter as he bellows, “Less than two weeks ago cops are sniffing around our home and now you guys fuck this up so bad we gotta answer more questions? What part of staying under the radar do you not understand about what we do?”
The four of us are circled. Soph and her father square off. She’s controlling her temper, lips twisting to the side, boots kicking the broken pavement like a bull about to charge. Her arms explode out. “Nobody is going to miss that pervert!”
“You were supposed to get in, see if the tip had merit, then get out!”
She cocks her head. “Celia was in danger. She reacted. What would you have her do, sing him a lullaby?!”
“Daughter!” Jett roars, “You’re so much like your mother, it’s scary.” As he switches his attention to Celia, she bites her lip. “Were you in danger?”
Her eyes drop to the ground. “No.”
Soph hisses, “Celia!”
“He didn’t have a gun. I did.”
“Bullshit! He grabbed Celia. We were in the basement, found the bodies, and she was up there…” Sofia Sol realizes her error and clamps her mouth shut.
Tonk fucking loses it. “You left my daughter alone when there were four of you on the mission? Two go downstairs! Two stay up! Didn’t we teach you anything?!”
“Dad, I can take care of myself!”
“You shouldn’t have to!”
My brother and I exchange a look. We’re supposed to protect the women at all times, that’s our calling even before hunting the evil of this world. We have nothing if we don’t have our family. It’s family first, then the mission.
I raise my voice to join the conversation even though it’s not my place. I’m not the one being addressed and the President calls the shots in confrontations among the club. Especially when it comes to fuck-ups.
“Look, I can’t stay quiet and let the girls take the heat. This was all us, me and Atlas. We were too sure he wasn’t coming back. We got too comfortable.”
Atlas nods, “Recent missions have gone smoothly, last four in a row. Didn’t occur to us he might come back.”
Our father is shaking his head as he grunts, “We taught you better than this.”
Like soldiers we nod.
Sofia is gritting her teeth. “It’s my fault, too, I was down there with them. I didn’t say go back up. I should have.”
Scythe and Fuse stay watchful but silent, since our fathers are responsible for us. Through the screen door I can see our moms, waiting. What a nightmare. Soph glances over to me. I nod that this sucks, but it’s all on us. She closes her eyes.
Jett points at the house. “You four get in there and stay outta my sight until I figure out how to handle this.”
We have to walk around the older crew to get by. They don’t move, one big wall of muscle and experience reminding us we have a lot to learn no matter how good we think we are.
My father says at our backs, “Never get soft. Always sharp. It’ll save your lives.”
Soph turns around on the first stair of our porch. “Dad, we told the cops he looked like he was pulling out a gun. They think it’s self-defense, that Celia was protecting herself.”
Jett counters, “What we don’t want is the cops asking why we were there. How we knew. We stay invisible so we can help more people.” He faces Tonk and mutters, “Last thing we need is Celia on a witness stand. The girl can’t lie.”
Tonk glares at me, Atlas, and Sofia Sol—we let his daughter down. Celia shakes her head and walks inside with us right behind.
Carmen and Luna, best friends all these years just like their daughters, stand waiting next to each other for our arrival. Opposite them are Melodi and our mother, Meg. Mel is here to support Mom because they’re super close—have been since Mom almost died from Pneumonia when she gave birth to Sage. Controlling-Type-A-personality, Melodi stayed by her, and never left.
Carmen is the first to grab her daughter’s face with loving hands. “Celia, you okay?”
“I’m not sorry I did it. He killed those poor kids!” She melts into her mother’s arms, tears falling for the children and their families.
Our mom stays put, knowing better than to baby us. “Your father was hard on you,” she gently says.
“He has to be,” I shrug.
Atlas nods.
Mel puts her arm around her and says, “They’re fine, Meg. Probably hungry. Let’s go fix ‘em up something to eat.”
They head away and don’t see the surprise of the century as Luna reaches out to push a lock of dark hair behind Sofia’s ear. “You’re pretty messed up over this, huh?”
Atlas and I cross our arms, heads tipped down even though we can’t stop watching.
Soph mumbles, “I should have been with her, Mom.”
“Yeah, but we make mistakes. Nobody in this house is perfect.”
Nibbling her bottom lip, Soph
