LUKE

As soon as I enter the house I know something’s up. It’s way too quiet. “Something I missed?” I ask Scythe, the only Cipher on the couch, and the game is oddly on silent.

He eyes me from under his brows. “Your sister come get you?”

“No.”

“She was supposed to.”

Stepping around to face him, I ask, “What’s the deal?”

“Talk to your parents.”

My pulse quickens as I head away. If he’s making me get information only from my immediate family, we have an issue for sure. What I want to know is if anyone’s hurt. My first thought goes to Celia because of the trouble we’ve had, and suddenly I’m positive the cops have come for her.

The sitting rooms bring me more of the same—talk to your parents.

Now I’m freaked.

My footsteps are showing it.

Hurried.

Impatient.

Mom and Dad aren’t in their room. Sage and Atlas aren’t either.

As I search it dawns on me that if this was about Celia I wouldn’t need to hear it from my folks, since she’s not my sister. And I know Sage is okay…Scythe said she was sent to get me.

Oh shit, it’s Atlas.

Something’s happened to my brother.

I bang on their door, clawing at it. “Soph! Open up!”

Celia cracks it, “Luke…”

“What’s goin’ on? Nobody will talk to me. Soph, you in there?! Soph!”

Celia opens the door to show me, “She’s not here, Luke.” I can tell she’s not supposed to tell me, but our years of friendship demand it. “They’re sending you away.”

“What the fuck?! Why?”

She peeks down the hall and meets my eyes to whisper, “They know something happened with you and Sofia.”

Now I’m even more confused. Soph would never tell them what I said to her out there tonight. No way in hell. So what the hell is their problem? Are they mixing me up with Atlas? Someone see something, his long hair with hers, mistake it as mine? The thought sickens me on every level.

Celia gently touches my arm, “And you shouting her name at her bedroom door at night doesn’t look good.”

“Fuck, thanks,” I mutter and run to the stairs, heading to the one place I haven’t looked.

Exploding onto the front porch, I freeze, and slowly close the door, scanning the faces of Dad, Mom, Sage, Jett, and Luna. I come to stand before them. Atlas and Sofia aren’t here, that’s the first thing I notice and dammit if jealousy doesn’t spike all over again. It fuels my anger as I growl, “What’s this I hear about being sent away?”

Jett’s frown gets deeper, “Who told you that? Sofia?”

“Nah, and I’m not snitching on who did. But I can tell you one thing, if I had seen Sofia Sol I know for a fact that she would have told me, unlike the rest of these turncoats.”

Dad rumbles, “Nobody’s betrayed you, they’re just doing as we asked.”

“Why the big secret? You want me on a job, send me! Or is there something else I should know about?”

Sage is staring at the porch like I’ve already been hung.

Our father stands up. “Luke, you and Sofia Sol crossed a boundary. Broke a house rule. Gave in to your baser instincts—”

Luna interrupts, “Just to satisfy the need for rebellion you both have.”

Jett grates, “And of course you didn’t tell us about it.”

Mom is upset as she finally speaks up, “We had to hear it from your brother!”

I lean forward like I didn’t hear her. “What did you just say?”

Dad squares off with me. “Atlas told us you and Sofia had sex.”

Confused beyond any feeling I’ve ever known, I croak, “What?!”

He rubs the bridge of his nose like his head is killing him. “He told us about the sex, Luke.”

“There’s no way Atlas said that to you!”

Mom nods like she understands. “Because you expected him to keep your secret? I’m sure this must be very hard for you to understand, but he did the right thing. We saw through Sofia’s tirade tonight and it was obvious something had happened between you two. We questioned Atlas after Sofia Sol vanished, and he was reluctant, but he felt it was best for the Ciphers as a club, that he tell the truth.”

I want to shout, the truth about him not me!

But that’s not how I’m made.

I stand here, beaten up more than I’ve ever been in my whole life, realizing that Atlas not only made me the scapegoat, but he also got rid of me so he could win Sofia while I was gone.

He removed the competition.

Biting back cuss words, I shake my head and control myself. “So, you need me to go, just like that? You think that’ll solve it?”

Jett stands up. “The two of you need space, Luke, that’s all we’re asking.”

I turn to him. “You worried there’s something you can’t control?”

Luna flies from her chair and slaps me across the face. “Watch yourself!”

Jett eases her back, patience steadying his voice as he locks onto me. “Luke, you wanna fuck girls on the road, do things casual-style, I’m all for it. I was young once. We’ve all done some shit out there. But in this house, it won’t fly. We’re family. The people who…shack up…are married, teammates for life. Not like what you guys have done, sneaking off, keeping secrets. There are no secrets in club life. We can’t afford them.”

Mom’s voice is gentle, filled with compassion, “You’re both very attractive, young, sexual people. Of course it’s natural that you gave into that—”

Dad interrupts, “We’ve been out here for a half hour, talking about this. We know how it happened. Why it happened. We threw a couple punches. Let’s stop rehashing it.” I realize suddenly that there’s a fresh bruise forming on his face, and a matching one shining fresh on Jett’s jaw. “Sage was right when she said it was bound to happen at some point. She saw how you look at Sofia.”

My sister glances up, eyes dulled by sadness. “Dad, if you’re sending Luke away, don’t bring me into it.”

“You know what?” I snap, losing my temper. “Fine. It’s a stupid fuckin’ rule but fine, I want to go. I need to get the fuck out of here.”

Jett grabs my arm as I head off, growls, “Rules keep this club together. We’ve lasted a long time, happily, because of our ‘stupid’ rules. And forgive me for not wanting you inside of my daughter!”

Dad lunges at him, grabbing his shirt and spitting in his face, “My son isn’t good enough for your daughter?”

Luna groans and covers her eyes with one hand, “Here we go again.”

Sage stares at me, whispers, “You had to know this would happen.”

As they manage to shove each other around Luna’s locked arms, Jett shouts, “If he loved my daughter that would be one thing, but having his fun under my roof, no fuckin’ way!”

“Just your roof, huh, Cocker? I’ve saved your ass more times out there on the road than you know how to count!”

“Oh, twice I’m being called stupid now? The other day when I said we wanted to go to Paris for our vacation, because Sunshine’s never been, you said Paris, Texas?! A place we’ve been so many times they named a park after Meg’s toenails!”

Dad roars back, “Now, that doesn’t make no sense!”

Luna shoves them both so hard and so fast, it successfully creates distance. “That’s three times you’ve been at each other’s throats in thirty minutes! I’ve had it! You’re best friends. Calm your shit down!” Locking onto me, she shouts, “This is why we keep things platonic!”

“I gotta get out of here.”

Mom flies up. “Luke! Please come down and talk to me once you’re packed, okay?”

“Yeah, sure,” I mutter, blinking hard.