“C’mon, TB,” Steel interrupted. “You know there’s no truth to that crap.”
TB took a step in his direction. “I never believed in Midas’ hocus-pocus, either, until I watched him do it with Mouse.”
“That’s different. That’s hypnosis.”
“Uh-huh.”
Laughing, Daleyza shook her head at Steel. “Taking advantage of your friends like that is not nice.”
She was teasing him, but he still felt the need to defend himself. “Hey! They never asked. Besides, it gets boring waiting around for shit to happen. Once we bet on which direction a beetle would move if we put a stick in front of it.”
Her laughter rang out loud and long. “You and your friends need hobbies.”
“I do have a hobby,” he grumbled.
“Assassinating people is not a hobby. It’s simply something you’re good at.”
Startled, he whipped his head around. “What?”
“I’m not dumb, Fanso. I know what you can do with only a junk drawer at your disposal.”
“Leeza, I?—”
She put a finger to his lips. “You were a SEAL. You were an enforcer for your father. Now you do”—she gestured around the room—“this. I’ve always known. It’s never bothered me.”
He slung an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. He didn’t deserve her. Then again, who really got what they deserved? Bad guys had to be hunted down and justice served to them. Nice guys were too ethical to pursue what was owed to them. The world was an unfair place.
As he hugged her, she faced the television screen where Midas sat, once again talking to Demon. “What do all the marks next to the words mean? And why is he keeping a tally?”
“It’s another Kubrick thing. She’s got a creative swearing habit. Midas started keeping track the day we met her, and he’s never stopped. It’s just a joke.”
“You’re all a little bit in love with her, aren’t you?” she asked.
“What? No! She’s Waters’ woman.”
“I didn’t mean it in a bad way,” she said. “But what you’re doing here, it’s just as much for her as it is for Waters, isn’t it?”
He thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “She was… I don’t know how to explain it. We were all going about our lives, day in, day out, just sort of… existing in this weird stasis. We weren’t happy, but we weren’t unhappy either.
“Then she barreled through the door, and everything changed.” He snapped his fingers. “Like that. It was like she gave us CPR and put life back into us. She was also the reason all the rules changed. Why there are women now at Tribe, other than Cherry, that is. Why the guys dared to take something they wanted, in some cases, after a lifetime of not feeling worthy enough to have it.”
“Sounds like someone worth burning the world to the ground for.”
Putting his lips to her ear, he whispered, “So are you.” He kissedher temple, then gave her a gentle shove toward Loki and Gilgamesh, who were still poring over maps at the large table.
He watched as they greeted her with nods of respect. Not polite ones—genuine ones they would give to anyone else on the Tribe or Mythos teams. They accepted her.
God walked over to her at the table, said something Steel couldn’t hear, and she blushed as she nodded at him. When he left her, he walked past Steel to the kitchen and clapped him twice on the shoulder, continuing on to get himself coffee.
Several minutes went by as each of the Tribe members in the room greeted her in some way.
Demon gave her a smirk and a wink as she walked to the desk for pencils.
TB handed her a plate with breakfast food on it.
When Nemo had to pass her for another serving of bacon, he walked up to her and gave her a bear hug that lifted her off the ground.
Gem, following right behind him, pinched him to let go of her, the elfin grin on her face one of delight at whatever teasing thing he was saying. Then she cracked some sort of joke with Daleyza in response.
