"I have no idea who’s talking to you," Rex said, "but he isn’t wrong. I read Harry Potter to Rain when he was younger. I know all about Azkaban. It doesn’t really exist, honey."
"I know it doesn’t. But I just… places like that do exist. I know they do. I know Quin was in prison—"
"There were no Dementors there," Rex teased softly. "Assholes, for sure, but no Dementors."
"I know he got hurt bad."
Rex heaved a sigh. "Didn’t think I’d be talking about allegories today. Look, Cy, you don’t have to worry about your mom and dad sending you away. If anything, that’s why I want to talk to you."
"You do?"
I didn’t think Rex would lie to me. Rex was straightforward. Everyone knew that, and that was why they looked up to him.
Mom said they weren’t going to send me away, but parents did that. Didn’t they? Told you one thing and then did another. Mom and Dad weren’t terrible for doing that. They were usually honest with me, but that was before I’d grabbed a gun and fired it.
"Yes. I wanted to see how you were doing?"
I swallowed. "That’s all?"
"That’s all. It was pretty intense what you went through."
"It was horrible," I whispered, turning to look at the kids in the yard again while Kelly wandered over to the other side of the family room and started filtering through the board games stored in one of the toy chests.
I was glad he gave me some privacy. Gladder still that he stuck by me.
"Do you know what Rain’s doing?" I asked, out of the blue.
"Rain? He’s getting ready to enlist."
Brow puckered, I asked, "What does that mean?"
"It means he wants to be in the Army."
I’d seen Captain America. "Are we at war with someone?"
He cleared his throat. "No. I mean, not on American soil. But technically we’ve been at war for the past sixty—" He sighed. "Never mind."
"Then why does he want to join the Army?" He’d be putting himself in danger. I didn’t like that.
I thought about his arms, the protective shelter of them the last time I’d seen him…
The idea of him getting hurt had my eyes watering with dumb tears.
"It’s what people do." I heard the shrug in Rex’s voice. "He was going to college, but then he changed his mind."
"Why?" I asked, my voice raw with pain, like I knew—
No.
I didn’t know that.
I didn’t know that he’d get hurt.
He wouldn’t. Sinners didn’t get hurt. They got knocked down, but they always got back up again. Rain might not be a full-blown Sinner, but that didn’t take away from his heritage.
If I was a biker princess, well, he was a biker prince, wasn’t he?
"I don’t know. Things have been different for everyone since you were taken that day, Cyan."
"You mean, since I got into that car with Martin."
Shame whispered through me. Shame and self-loathing. I raised my legs and pinned my knees to my chest. Hauling one arm around them, I huddled in on myself.
Rex grunted. "I knew a man like Martin before."
"You did? One who wanted to hurt little girls?"
"Yes. Unfortunately. I wish I didn’t know him. I wish that I’d never known him. He was Nyx’s uncle."
"He’s dead?"
"Yes."
"Like Martin."
He hesitated. Seeming to sense what I meant. "Yes, he’s like Martin."
A small puddle of relief filled me. "So he can’t hurt anyone anymore?"
"No." Rex sighed. "Would you say I’m smart, Cyan?"
"I would. I think you, Daddy, Maverick, and Mommy, oh, and Star, and Stone, too, are all super smart. I think Alessa and Amara are as well. They talk two languages! How cool is that?"
"Very cool. But… You mentioned me, and your dad, Maverick, too, Stone as well… we knew Nyx’s uncle. We knew him, and he hung around the club a lot, and my dad, he was so smart. He was smarter than me, but he didn’t know that Nyx’s uncle was like Martin. That he was hurting Nyx’s sister, Carly. You know how much cunning that takes?"
"A lot."
"Exactly. A lot. But he did it. He pulled the wool over my dad’s eyes. Now, honey, I have a feeling that when you’re older, and when you’ve finished school and you’re ready to take on the world with whatever you want to do, you’ll be as smart as my dad.
"But, and it’s a big but, you’re only eleven, Cyan. You’re not supposed to think that a man would want to hurt you like that. You wanted to see your dad. Martin was going to take you there. That was what you believed."
"I’ll never believe it again," I mumbled.
"Good! I should hope you wouldn’t."
It shamed me to admit it, but I whispered, "I thought he loved me. I thought he wanted to be my uncle."
Rex blew out a breath. "You don’t need uncles outside of the club, Cyan. Whenever you need to talk, I’m here."
"Really?" I frowned. "No, you’re too important—"
"Never too important for you. You’re like my niece anyway. Did you know your dad and I grew up together?"
"Of course, I did, silly. You all did."
"Well, we did, but your dad lived in my house with my mom and dad and me."
"Why?"
"Because his mom, your grandmother, used to get into a lot of trouble and he needed somewhere to stay."
I stared at Kelly who was fiddling with a jigsaw puzzle, and murmured, "Do people do that? Take in kids that don’t belong to them?"
"They do. Storm and I grew up fighting and having fun. We’re brothers in more ways than one. Sometimes, you can feel more attached to a person you choose to love than one who’s tied to you by blood."
His words had me blinking. "I think I know what you mean."
"Cyan?"
"Yes, Rex."
"Your dad told me that yesterday, you didn’t want to speak to your psychologist. So, I want you to know that whenever you need to talk, I’m here. You can tell me anything. Anything at all. Good, bad, ugly."
"Really?"
"Yes. Really."
I didn’t know why, but my eyes prickled with tears. "You won’t think bad of me?"
"No. I won’t. I promise."
I wasn’t sure why, but I knew we were talking about the other day. Not Martin, anymore.
"She shot my dog."
"I know she did, sweetheart," Rex said softly.
"I-I wanted to shoot her. Make her hurt like he hurt." I licked my lips. "He got better and now he’s sick. Kelly says that infections are normal. Do you think Fraction will make it?"
"I don’t know, Cyan. I don’t know, but we can hope so, can’t we? And if not, well, my dad and mom probably need a pet in heaven. So they’d look after him for you."
My throat was thick. "You think they would?"
"I know they would."
"I’d still prefer him to live."