“I thought the Circle expects it,” Jen said, somewhat bitterly.
“ButIdon’t expect it, especially when we’ve barely started your training.You put yourselves in danger for us, repeatedly, and I should have acknowledged that more than I did.”
“You didn’t even want us there,” Kimmie said softly.“In Tartarus.You told us to leave.”
“I didn’t want anyone there,” I said.“But you wouldn’t go.”
“Fortunately,” Jen said, staring me down.“Look what happened at HQ, when we weren’t there!”
It looked like Sophie wasn’t the only one upset at being left behind.
“You’re not my bodyguards,” I pointed out.
“No, we’re clan—supposedly.”
“We are!”Sophie broke in.“Especially now—”
“Then why did she take only the boys with her to HQ and leave all of us?”
“She wasn’t thinking—”
“And the next time?Or is this ‘clan’ status still lesser, still aux in all but name, still meaningless?”
“Jen!”
“I just like to know where I stand,” she said stubbornly.“If I’m supposed to sign on to this thing—”
“It’s an honor!”Sophie hissed, looking mortified.And afraid, like maybe I’d resend the offer if they weren’t properly appreciative.
“Okay,” Jen looked skeptical.“But it would be nice to have things spelled out.”
“There are agreements for aux,” I said.“Not that we actually got around to writing any yet, but that’s the usual way of things.Kind of a cross between a contract and an oath of loyalty, where both sides have clearly defined responsibilities and rewards.And we can still do that if you want, sit down and hash it all out.I’m not trying to circumvent that by giving you a different status—”
“How different?”Jen demanded, her eyes intense.
“Like the difference between an employee and family,” Kimmie said softly, making the other girl flinch for some reason.
“That’s… not exactly right,” I said, wondering who she’d been talking to, and why.“Auxiliaries are more… well, not employees.They are trusted retainers, like a medieval lord’s knights.They give service and expect certain rewards in return.But there’s loyalty there, often affection, trust…”
It was hard to put into words for people still trying to understand what a clan was, and I got the impression that I wasn’t doing so great, because Jen was not looking happy.“And clan?”she demanded.“Like full clan status?What’s that?”
I blinked at her, confused.“Family.It’s… some clan members might actually be farther removed from the locus of power than highly ranked auxiliaries, living their own lives and doing their own thing.Especially in the bigger clans, where everybody doesn’t live together and, in some cases, might be pretty far flung.But…”
“But family is family,” Sophie said flatly.“Cousin Joe might not be as trusted as a long-term employee, but he’s blood.It matters.”
“Auxiliaries aren’t employees—” I said again, but she waved it away.
“Explain it to me,” Jen said with crossed arms, but she was looking at Sophie.
The blonde shrugged.“Easy.Who are you going get a call from, if somebody lands in the slammer overnight, after plowing his drunken ass into a telephone pole?Your employee or Joe?And who are you gonna go bail out, even if it’s two A.M.and snowing, and you have to work in the morning?And who are you gonna bitch the hell out of all the way home, but also hug and stop at a drive-through for, so he can get McNuggets ‘cause all they had in jail were moldy baloney sandwiches?
“Here’s a hint, it ain’t the employee.”
“That’s not fair,” I began, but Sophie snorted.
“Tell it to a norm, which I’m not.It’s totally fair.Aux’s are like trusted friends of the family—at best—while clanarefamily.You don’t want to be family?”she asked, turning on Jen.“To belong somewhere, finally, after all these years?To not be the foster kids who could be sent back at any moment, butadopted?”
“No one is sending you anywhere,” I protested.
