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“Never you mind, little miss. I know you’ve got lady cramps.”
“Okay, who is teaching you this bullshit?” Sister Sass asks and looks around.
Though Jules shrugs, I catch her smirking at Mabie. Zoey and Evie snicker at Sister Sass’s anger while Jester just stares at my sister. Their harmless antics unfortunately don’t distract from my tension about Texas.
I step outside to get myself centered. Feeling edgy, I consider having one of the kids join me. Or I could wrap Jules against my body and let her beauty calm my fears.
Instead, I go alone and look up at the starless night. My mind races with the problems that might arise in Texas. Maybe sensing I’m at a moment of weakness, Jester appears to give me shit.
“Seems about right you’d send Emma on this Texas thing,” Jester says and rubs at his wild beard. “You were always putting Talon in danger, so why not her buddy.”
“Don’t let Ominous hear you talk shit about her daughter.”
“Emma isn’t Ominous.”
“And Sister Sass isn’t Betty Boop,” I reply and narrow my eyes. “She won’t baby you and pretend you’re just a big kid in need of love.”
Jester goes still, like a predator planning his attack. “Don’t talk shit about your mom.”
“Betty Boop had a big heart. Sister Sass’s got far less patience.”
“You’d be surprised what your sister is capable of.”
“That’s rich coming from a guy who wants her locked down at the Sanctuary at all times.”
Jester’s instantly in my face, trying to intimidate me with his size. Having stared down a crazy Apex, I see no reason to bow to Jester.
“You didn’t protect her,” he hisses, nose to nose with me, “and she nearly died.”
“You’re going to lose her,” I reply, ignoring his accusation. “If you expect us to act like her warden, Sister Sass will get tired of your shit real quick.”
Jester breathes down on me. His size and crazy vibe intimidate most men, but I earned my rank by taking on men like him. Besides, Jester isn’t particularly frightening when he’s in lovesick-puppy mode.
“What’s this?” Sister Sass asks as she steps outside. “I better not hear any shit about how you just want the best for me. I’m past sick of that speech.”
Glancing at Sister Sass, I don’t see her strapped down to the hospital bed. I’m not thinking of the months of physical therapy she needed to walk again. Or how she cried when anyone tried to get her to leave the house that first year.
When I look at my sister now, I see a young woman with options. She’s no longer a broken victim.
“Jester was busting my balls over Dire going to Texas,” I explain to my sister who circles us.
“She’s just sitting in the RV, running the drones,” Sister Sass says, stepping closer. “It’s kid stuff, but she was so proud of herself. I’d have gone, too, but I needed to babysit Jester.”
His gaze turns hostile until he realizes she’s poking at him. Settling down, Jester lets his gaze wash over her body. I feel him mentally tearing off her clothes and leaving her bare. She must feel it, too, because her eyes narrow.
I step back and shake my head. “I don’t need to watch this.”
Sister Sass wants to give me grief. Her mouth is dying to splash word vomit on me. But she’s too flustered under Jester’s gaze. Though a speechless Sister Sass is a blessing all people should relish, I still want to get inside and check on the mission.
Papa Bear stands in the kitchen with Scout who shows off her new earrings. My father hides his fears so well. He seems completely oblivious to anything beyond the seven-year-old’s smile.
Then, his dark gaze finds mine, and I feel him stressing things, too.
Every twenty minutes, Dire sends a quick “green light” message. We know things are on schedule. At one point, she texts a “yellow light,” leaving me coming out of my skin.
“Luca is ice cold in these situations,” I tell Papa Bear who nods. “She’ll burn down all of Primrose to get her people out alive.”
Lady Bug and Jules join Papa Bear and me in the kitchen. We don’t dare speak until we get that next text from Dire.
