And watch it I am. These two circling each other, throwing punches, has my ovaries pinging like a slot machine. Sean’s not as ripped as Atlas yet, but he’s six-two and glistening with sweat. Gorgeous. It’s been over a year since I’ve had sex. The hunger. The ache.
Sage bumps her hip against mine again. She winks at me like she knows what I’m thinking.
As our potential recruit hits the mat one final time, Jett shouts, “Time! Go get cleaned up, Sean. No, don’t argue. That’s it for today.”
Newbie clicks his jaw, blood dripping as he nods. The urge to refuse is there, and we all see it. As he heads inside, all eyes are on him and nobody is talking.
Luna slips her arm around Jett and tucks her hand in his back pocket as he lowers his voice. “The guy has a blaze in here.” Jett thumps his chest. “But this isn’t just me deciding. Weigh in on what you just saw.”
Fuse, a member of Dad’s original crew and Melodi’s husband, says, “Agreed. I watched him like a fuckin’ hawk. He would’ve kept going if you hadn’t called it. That’s fine by me.”
My dad nods, “He’s not an evil fuck. He’d have lit into Celia. But he hesitated.”
Luna agrees, “That’s what I thought, too. Had he attacked her without that pause, we wouldn’t want him here. He needs to start with humanity. We can train him when to use it.”
Jett glances to Honey Badger. “He handled your boy pretty well.”
“Atlas was guiding him.”
“You know what I mean.”
“He did okay.”
Luna rolls her eyes, “When are you two going to get past this?”
“When my boy comes home,” Honey Badger growls on his way into the house.
Jett shouts, “You were part of the decision to give them space!”
“Doesn’t mean I didn’t hate it!”
Atlas surprises us by raising his voice against his father. “Stop making Jett pay for it then!” All heads turn to him. The Badger’s eyes go red, but Atlas holds his own. “It was my fault. It wasn’t Jett’s. He’s your best friend. I shouldn’t have said anything. There! It’s out! I fucked up.” He storms off toward the garage, “Shouldn’t have done what I did to Luke. It was a mistake.”
Sage is staring after him.
Tonk Jr., our resident philosopher and my weird brother, announces, “Hard for a man with that much testosterone to admit when he’s wrong. Takes a great deal of courage, and commitment to a better life.”
We stare at him in silence until Honey Badger heads after Atlas. “I’m gonna go talk to my boy!”
Jett’s barely holding it together. In an attempt to calm him, Luna strokes his chest. “Give him some space to come around.”
“I’ll give him all of Louisiana, Tennessee and Timbuktu! I’m gonna take a shower.” Passing me he grabs my forearm. “Great work, Celia. I’m gonna send you on more jobs like Sofia Sol promised. You did good.”
Staring after him, my chest swells with pride. “Thank you!”
“You earned it,” he mutters, swinging the old screen door so wide that when it shuts it’s a thunderclap.
As everyone heads inside, Mom drags my father over. “Tonk, tell Celia!”
“No, Carmen, baby. We talked about this.”
Luna hangs back a second, wondering if she should intervene. She’s the only Cipher mom who goes on missions. Her and her daughter, Sofia Sol, are fierce. Equally as dangerous as the men. I’m the third and last woman who fights from the Louisiana house, and it’s a known thing that I don’t have what they have. There’s a softness in me I get from my mother, Carmen Lewis, who is one of the kindest, gentlest souls to ever walk on Earth. I tend to worry, have too much empathy, and voice it. But that’s over now. I proved myself on a mission recently, showed them I can handle anything that comes my way. Always could have, just didn’t seem like it.
And I’ll be damned if my mother will take that win away from me.
“Why are you trying to stop me, Mom? With three women we’re the highest number any of the houses has in female fighters. That means something. There are no trained women in the Brazil House. All wives, mothers and daughters!”
My brother hovers nearby, and we lock eyes. He gives me a nod that he’s with me. I blink away, the complicated layers of our relationship too much for me right now. I just want my mother to get out of my way.
Dad pleads with her. “Carmen, what are you worried about?” The guy is as wrapped around her pinky as Mom is around his. He just wants her happy, but I’m the child who can follow in his footsteps—not my brother. He’s proud of me. “I’ve been going on missions our entire marriage and you never had a problem!”
“Celia’s different. Luna, help me!”
But Luna Cocker crosses her arms. “I’m sorry, Carmen, but Celia is right. There is a deficit of women who do what we can do, and we are needed. There are some missions only we can go on, to be most effective. Our men are too obvious and sometimes that’s a detriment. We can blend in. That’s valuable. And Celia has proven herself. To leave her at home is illogical when there are so many innocent people she could help.”
Tonk Jr. runs a hand through his dark hair, struggling to stay quiet. “Mom, if you’re worried about her getting hurt, don’t be. It’s not like she’s me. Celia can handle it.”
My mother cries out in hysterics, “That’s not what I’m worried about! I don’t want her to like it too much!” Turning to Luna she bends her body to convey what words can’t. Some sort of
