Chains by Kristine Allen

“Every  Lie”—My  Darkest  Days

Four months later….

Ehria Angeline may have entered the world in the middle of a blizzard, but she brought sunshine to my life.

We had decided to name her after Nico’s mother and mine. The months flew by, and she grew more beautiful with each passing day.

“Where are my girls?” Nico called out as he got home from work.

“In here,” I called out from my office where I was finishing up the last project for the day as Ehria played with her toys on the activity blanket. At the sound of her father’s voice, she immediately stopped her movement and seemed to listen intently for his approach.

He stepped into the room, and she began to kick wildly as her chubby little arms windmilled in excitement.

“How’s your ink doing, babe?” he asked.

I grinned. “It’s good.”

After Ehria was born, Chains insisted on me getting his brand, and I had no complaints. Wearing the brand of a Royal Bastard was a deeper commitment than a wedding band. He had done the work himself, and I loved it. It was a chain in the shape of a heart. In the center it read “Property of Chains.”

To make it better, he had drawn a jasmine flower and had one of the other artists ink it over his heart. Then he had inked Erhia’s name and birthdate on his forearm. Surprisingly, he was able to squeeze it in with all the work he already had on him.

“Where’s Daddy’s girl?” he asked with a brilliant smile as he crouched by our daughter. “How was her check-up? I’m sorry I couldn’t make it,” he said.

“The doctor said she’s in the ninetieth percentile for height and the seventy-fifth percentile for weight. Hitting her milestones like she should, too. And no worries, it was only a check-up. Besides, I would’ve had to worry about the new nurse tripping over her tongue if you were there.” I laughed because the nurses flirted shamelessly but harmlessly with Nico anytime he went with us. He rolled his eyes with a chuckle and a shake of his head.

With a fond smile, I watched her antics as she waited for him to pick her up. He reached for her, and she cooed. I laughed, but abruptly stopped and studied her with narrowed eyes.

“Did you see that?” he asked as lifted her into his arms. Unsure if he was referring to the same thing I thought I’d seen, I blinked and remained silent a moment.

“See what?” I asked, trying to sound normal because I was a little freaked out.

“Her eyes,” he said as he held her up in front of his face. Completely unfazed by our disbelief, she batted at his face and grabbed for his nose and beard. “They looked like they had a silver ripple that ran through them for a second,” he said, and I swallowed hard.

“What could that be?” I asked, suddenly uneasy.

“I have no clue. You haven’t seen that before?”

“Not once. You?”

“Nope.”

“Maybe you should call Ogun or Madame Laveaux,” I said, my tone full of uncertainty.

“Maybe it was our imagination,” he tried to rationalize. Uncertainty was heavy in his tone as he pulled his gaze from our daughter to me.

“Both of us?” I questioned with a cocked brow. We stared at each other but neither of us said a word. Then he pulled out his phone and made a call.

“Bro, are you busy?” he asked, then listened.

“Can you come over afterward?” I could hear the other party speaking but couldn’t make out what they were saying. It sounded like Ogun, but I wasn’t sure.

“Yeah, bring whatever you think you’ll need. I want you to look at something for me.”

He ended the call.

“Was that Ogun?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Do you think she’s okay?” I asked, worry nearly drowning me. There were a lot of things I’d learned to handle. The thought of something happening to my daughter was completely out of that realm.

“I mean, she seems okay, but that was strange. Voodoo is coming over, and he’s going to try to do a reading.” He handed our daughter back to me, and I cradled her close.

“You don’t think it’s that stuff we drank, do you? What if it messed with her and we didn’t know? Nico, I’m a little scared.” Ehria squirmed because I was holding her tighter than she liked.

A gasp escaped me when she pushed against me and growled. The moment I loosened my hold on her, she was babbling contentedly.

“What the hell?” Nico asked before he crouched down to look in Ehria’s eyes. Oblivious of the concern she was raising in her parents, our daughter drooled as she smiled and reached for her father.

He played with her until Ogun arrived. When he went to the door, I followed.

“Thanks for coming so soon,” Nico said as Ogun ran a hand through his dark hair. Before he came inside, he paused. With a furrowed brow, he cast a slow, sweeping glance around the neighborhood.

“Yeah, no problem,” he said, shaking off whatever had made him pause. He came in, and Ehria got excited. She loved all her uncles.

A brilliant grin lifted his cheeks as he swooped up my daughter and raised her over his head. “Hey, pretty girl! Did you miss Uncle Voodoo?”

Of course, she giggled. Then swear to Christ, her eyes flickered silver again. Ogun’s brows shot up, and I knew he’d seen it too.

“That’s, uh, new?” he questioned as he cast a sidelong glance our direction. We both nodded.

“Huh,” he said, then handed her back to me and went straight for my coffee table. He carefully unrolled a worn flannel cloth, then pulled several items from a small pouch that he arranged on the table. Next he lit several herbs that he let burn on a small dish.

He motioned for me to sit across from him with Ehria. I had to be extremely diligent because she kept trying to grab the items. Once he was set up, he swept his hand over the table, indicating I should cut the cards he’d set in the center.

“Hmm,” he said with a frown as he laid out the cards. Then he emptied a small sack into his hand and gently tossed the contents to the table. With great concentration he studied the small bones, coins, stones, and shells.

Finally, he rested his hands over the cards and the items he’d thrown and closed his eyes. A low humming preceded a murmured chant, but still he didn’t speak directly to me. Eyes closed, he appeared completely still.

Ehria used that moment to lean over. Her chubby hand swiped a small stone. Before I could remove the item from her fingers, Ogun’s hand shot out and held hers. His eyes shot open, but they were unfocused. Though it looked like he was staring at Ehria, he was more staring through her.

Minutes ticked by, still we remained silent. Surprisingly, my daughter was quiet. Then he blinked several times, frowned at Ehria, and shook his head. She immediately dropped the stone and gave him a grumpy look.

He inhaled a long, deep, shuddering breath, then slowly exhaled.

“I saw the wolf again,” he said with a confused glance to each of us. “It’s not dangerous, yet it is. It’s frustrated and impatient. Jasmine, maybe you and Ehria should go stay at the clubhouse for a bit. The feeling I got… it was off. Something is coming, but I don’t know what.”

“No, Ogun. Absolutely not. This is our home. It’s secure. Nico and Facet installed the security system themselves. We’re in a gated community. This is as safe as it gets. I’m not taking my daughter to stay at the clubhouse,” I insisted.

“Babe, I still have to go to work. I’d feel better if you at least went to the clubhouse during the day. You can work in my room.” Nico sent me a worried gaze. “For Erhia.”

Irritated, I huffed. Though I hated the idea of hiding away at that damn clubhouse again, there wasn’t much I wouldn’t do for Nico and Ehria. “Fine. If it makes you feel better, I’ll go there when you leave for work.”

Nico breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. I will absolutely feel better.”

Ogun began packing his things and then stood. “I’m going to call my grandmother on the way home. Maybe see if she can give me more insight.”

“Would you like to stay for dinner?” I asked. “Sabre, Raptor, and Ghost are coming.”

He smiled. “Much as I’d love to stay for your cooking, Kira made her Stroganoff for me. I need to get home.”

“Heck, if I’d known she was making that, I would’ve invited us over for dinner at your house.” I gave him a cheeky grin, and he chuckled.

“I’m sure she made plenty,” he offered, but I waved him off.

“I’m teasing. I have a casserole in the oven, and the guys are probably on their way. Not that I wouldn’t love her Stroganoff, but I can’t see wasting ours and standing the guys up.”

He pressed a kiss to my head. “I’ll see you at the clubhouse tomorrow.”

I nodded.

Ehria pulled at my hair as I tried to make sense of everything that had transpired since Nico had arrived home from work. As I sat there, I could hear Nico and Ogun quietly conversing at the door, and I wondered if there was something they weren’t telling me.