“It’s a queen size. It’s not dinky.” I smirked. Granted, it wasn’t as big as my bed at home, but it was far from tiny.
“You’re a big guy. You make it a small bed.” That was her drunken argument. I took her hand and led her back toward my room.
“Goodnight, everyone!” she called out with a big wave. “I’m gonna get him naked and take advantage of me. Um, wait. I mean I’m gonna take advantage of him.” Her confused expression was cute as fuck.
“Come on, drunk-ass. Move.” I swatted her ass and she then led me.
I needn’t have worried, because I’d no sooner gotten her in the room and undressed before she was zonked in the bed softly snoring. Maneuvering the blankets out from under her, I covered her up and kissed her head.
“I love you, Kira Baranov.”
She didn’t answer, but a sweet, soft smile curled her lips.
We’d been working dear ol’ Gambler over for about an hour. He’d admitted that he’d convinced his Louisiana chapter to allow him to make the jump up to South Des Moines when he got an anonymous tip that I was alive and well in the middle of Iowa. They had hoped to use my ability of precognition to their advantage. As if it worked that way.
Turned out, Grishka Kalashnik had hired them to do his dirty work with Kira. They’d been watching her and that was how they’d found me, but they didn’t want to mess with me here on my turf. They thought if they helped him get her up to Chicago, it would send me chasing after her—which it had. Then they were planning to grab me up there. Dumb shits hadn’t counted on my brothers going with me.
“How’s it feel, Dad?” I snidely asked as I held the cold steel of my pistol to his temple. “You think this is how Mom felt?”
“I doubt it. Because unlike your worthless mother, I don’t care.” He spat blood out onto the heavy-duty plastic under him.
“That’s a shame,” I crooned in his ear. “Because this isn’t how you’re going to go out. Maybe you’ll care after Squirrel has a little fun with you. See, I’m not the creative one. I’m just very good at cleaning up messes.” I’d already left the marks on him to trap his soul from reincarnation. Plus, I’d had my bit of fun with him strapped to the chair. My work was essentially done.
“Can you handle this piece of shit?” I asked Squirrel and Blade, who both solemnly nodded. Rael leaned against the wall. His face was painted black and white, much like mine was, and I saw the glimmer of his reaper in his eyes. It sent a shiver skating down my spine, yet I still grinned evilly. “Good, because I have my ol’ lady to get back to.” Then I returned my attention to my sperm donor. “You have fun now, okay?”
Rael walked with me out the door. “You sure you needed me? It seemed like you had shit under control.”
He was referring to my ability to “kill” Gambler’s soul.
“No. Because I wanted him to suffer for as long as possible, and I want it to be excruciating. Because of him, my ol’ lady nearly died, and my mother was forced to leave the only home she ever knew and endured more abuse than any one person should ever have to endure. I appreciate you and Patriot flying all the way out here to do this for me on such short notice.”
He gave me a wicked grin. “We don’t mind one bit. Hell, you’re the one who paid for the astronomically expensive last-minute flight. I’m just happy for you, brother. Having an ol’ lady is a wild ride.” He shook his head with a half-smile.
“So I hear.”
We shook hands, and I slowly made my way back to the clubhouse. Thoughts filled my head as I placed one foot in front of the other. After feeding him a story about Kira’s abduction, I’d arranged with Dr. Moran to get her a few more days off work. I’d planned to pick up Zaka and Sasha and take her to look for a new place to live.
After all, my duplex would never accommodate Me, Kira, Zaka, Sasha, and the changes I had seen coming in my vision.
Despite all the shit of the past couple of hours, I grinned.
Five months later…
My hand slid over the baby bump that Kira carried with her typical sexy aplomb. It was hot as Hades, yet she still managed to look beautiful. Hair twisted up in a bun, she pulled off pregnant elegance like no one’s business.
She’d also stayed active, busy, and refused to let me coddle her, much to my disappointment. She was carrying my baby, and I worried about her. It was my right, in my opinion. The one thing she did do for me was stop working so many hours. She no longer worked Saturdays at the clinic, and they’d hired another vet to help out.
“What’s up with Angel?” she asked as she glanced in his direction. He was pacing as he spoke on the phone and making wild gestures.
“I only know a little of it, and it’s not my story to tell. He’ll be okay.” I hoped I was right.
“I hope so.” Kira’s words mirrored my own worry. She chewed on her lip as she watched Angel pull at his hair. Then she sighed, turned to me, and looped her hands around the back of my neck. Her hard belly pressed against me, preventing her from getting too close. “Are you ready to head to the airport?”
“Only if my fiancée will give me a kiss first.” Those beautiful lips of hers curled, and her hazel eyes twinkled before she stood on her toes and kissed me.
She tasted divine, and I was one second away from carrying her off to my room in the clubhouse to ravage her pregnant body. Because pregnant sex was the fucking bomb. No, we hadn’t been planning a baby, but with all the shit that went down with her father, then my father, she’d missed a few pills.
Ask me if I cared.
“We have to go,” she said against my lips as she broke the kiss.
“I thought you two had to get to the airport?” Chains asked as he walked in the door behind us. “Now, if you want to put on a show for me, I’m all about watching.”
Kira’s face flamed as he chuckled under his breath. Between the three of us, we all knew it was a secret little reminder that Kira had been transfixed by him getting sucked off all those months ago. That had led to hot monkey sex in my room and the beginning of the end, so to speak.
A door opened, and nails clicked on the concrete floor before Zaka and Sasha burst out of the back hall. A frazzled prospect came running after them. “I’m so sorry! I think they sensed that you hadn’t left yet, because they opened the damn door!”
We both laughed as we gave them love. “I’ll help him,” said Venom as he clasped both dogs’ collars. “But get out of here before you miss your plane.”
After saying our goodbyes again, we headed down the road.
“By this time tomorrow we’ll be in New Orleans!” Kira said with excitement. She’d been over the moon when my grandmother insisted we visit.
“You know my grandmother is going to insist we stay with her, right?” I asked as I took a second to glance in her direction.
“Are there alligators out there?” she asked with wide eyes and a furrowed brow.
“Maybe a few, but I’d wrestle all of them for you.” It was corny as hell, but it made her laugh, and that’s all that mattered.
The rest of the trip to the airport was filled with her chatter that kept a smile on my face. The flight was more of the same. By the time we’d switched planes and finally landed at Louis Armstrong, she was almost jumping up and down.
She was like a kid, and I doubted I’d smiled more at any point in my life. Her childlike enthusiasm was adorable.
As soon as we stepped out of the security area, my grandmother was standing there waiting with open arms. I hugged her tightly. “Granmé,” I murmured fondly before I broke away to make introductions.
“Kira, this is my grandmother, Adelaide Laveaux. Granmé, this is Kira.”
Her pale blue eyes took Kira in from head to toe as she held Kira’s hands, and a soft smile tipped her lips. “She will bear you strong sons and a lovely daughter. You’ve chosen well.”
Rolling my eyes a little at my grandmother’s teasing, I fought the laughter that threatened to erupt at Kira’s saucer-like eyes.
“We decided not to find out the sex of the baby,” she whispered in awe. My grandmother laughed and scoffed.
“Madame Laveaux needs no ultrasound,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand before she chuckled. She hooked her arm through Kira’s and began to lead her off toward baggage claim. The look Kira shot over her shoulder at me when my grandmother started talking about what she believed the baby’s abilities would be was hilarious.
Once we gathered our bags, the three of us made our way out to the car. A huge grin broke out when I saw who was leaning against it with his arms folded.
Jameson pushed off from the vehicle and met me halfway. We embraced, and I made my introductions. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Couldn’t let Madame Laveaux drive herself. The entirety of New Orleans would be in danger.” He raised a brow as my grandmother stood with arms akimbo, glaring.
“Don’t make me put a hex on you, beau diable! I’ll make it so your wee willy refuses to stand upright for a month.” Jameson’s hands both covered his junk as he gave her a disbelieving, concerned stare.
“Now, no need to get drastic here,” he argued darkly, as we all laughed and he glared at me. “Jesus, Voodoo! Do something.”
“You’re on your own with this one, brother!” I chuckled. “She already blessed me with a passel of boys and a girl!”
“God help us all,” he muttered as he shook his head.
What I didn’t tell Kira, because I doubted she was ready to hear it, was that my grandmother’s predictions for children were uncannily accurate. In fact, people came from miles away to seek her out for exactly that.
Laughing, we all got in the car and headed to a part of New Orleans few people who visited actually got to see.
Back in the swamps, deep in the bayou off the east side of the river, there was a quiet cabin.
You had to know where you were going to get there, and you could only get there by boat. Dark as pitch when the sun went down. Frogs, creatures of the night, and the beasts that dwelled under the murky water were your travel companions.
If one was lucky enough to be welcomed, you’d knock twice. No more, no less, and wait. Those were Granmé’s rules.
Jameson quietly guided the boat through the swamp. Kira held my hand tightly the entire way.
“Come inside, children. I must read her cards,” my grandmother instructed when the boat hit the dock. We followed her in after I promised Jameson we’d swing by the clubhouse to see everyone the next day.
“This is amazing,” Kira whispered to me as we trailed behind my crazy grandmother with a flair for the dramatic.
Through a doorway at the back of the house, behind red and black beads, was her sanctuary. She welcomed us in, and we took a seat at the other side of her table.
While voodoo was a very serious belief system, this was fairly new to Kira. I’d only briefly shown her my sanctuary in my basement. She’d been fascinated, but skeptical.
My grandmother lit candles, then mixed herbs and roots in a dish before lighting it as well. Then she picked up her tarot deck. The delicate silver knife went in her right hand, and the silver rings on her fingers glinted in the candlelight.
She’d taught me as a young boy that silver restored stability in a person’s spiritual energy and protected from the dark energy that tried to get in. I’d taken every lesson to heart.
Finally, she cut the deck and motioned for Kira to touch the cards. Slowly, she revealed each card, one by one, studying them as she laid them down. It was the same process every time. One that I’d been taught and cultivated.
As she studied them together, she absently whirled the small knife through her fingers.
She prayed over the cards, and I knew Kira was experiencing the peace that washed over us as she completed her ritual. Then she spoke.
“You have been through much, but there is someone new in your life. Not Ogun. Someone new but old.” My grandmother frowned. “A father that is not a father, and one that is but couldn’t be.” Though my grandmother seemed slightly confused, Kira gasped. We both knew what my grandmother didn’t about Grishka and Aleksandr.
“The one that couldn’t was thought to be dead, but he isn’t. You must find him, because he’s the father of all.” She appeared confused, but Kira sobbed. She hadn’t mentioned to her mother what Grishka had told her, because we assumed Aleksandr had been killed.
It almost sounded like her other brothers may belong to Aleksander as well.
“But how? If Grishka knew immediately that you weren’t his, how did he not know your brothers weren’t his? And how did Alexsandr still have access to your mother?”
“Viktor and Dmitry look like my mother. I always assumed I looked like someone else from the family. Maybe Grishka lied or only assumed my brothers were all his.” Kira appeared thoughtful.
After the reading, Kira called her mother, who was tearful when she found that the man she’d had a passionate affair with might still be alive. I promised to help her find answers and sent a text off to Facet with the information I had.
We enjoyed every day that we spent in my old home.
Kira had been welcomed into the family by the brothers and the families of the New Orleans chapter. She couldn’t believe that all the way across the country, I was as loved and accepted as in my home chapter.
Before we knew it, it was time to head home.
My grandmother cradled Kira’s cheeks in her beringed fingers as we stood outside of the security checkpoint saying our goodbyes. “You take good care of my Ogun. He’s a good boy, and you’ll never find a soul more loyal, for the love between you two is strong.”
Then she turned to me with a soft smile. “Godspeed and safe travels.”
One last lingering hug and promises to visit again after the baby was born were exchanged. My grandmother was tearful but trying to act tough.
“Go on! Get, before you miss your airplane.” She made a shooing motion, and I kissed her wrinkled cheek.
Right as we were getting ready to pass through the gate, she called out to me. “Remember what I told you? Love always wins, Ogun.”
I grinned as I wrapped an arm around my beautiful woman.
Hell, yeah, it did.
The End
Demented Sons Series—Iowa
Colton’s Salvation
Mason’s Resolution
Erik’s Absolution
Kayde’s Temptation
Straight Wicked Series
Make Music With Me
Snare My Heart
No Treble Allowed
String Me Up
Demented Sons Series—Texas
Lock and Load
Styx and Stones
Smoke and Mirrors
Jax and Jokers
How fitting is it that my thirteenth full-length published book is titled Voodoo? It must’ve been destiny. I hope you all enjoyed him and are ready for his brother, Angel. Yes, this series has been a tiny bit darker than my norm and I hope you can forgive me for that.
This part usually gets a little out of hand. So I’m thanking you all.
With a special shout out to my family who has hung in there as I religiously pounded out this story. Wow, that sounded dirty. Eh, go figure.
Thank you to the authors who have been part of the Royal Bastards MC group. This has been an experience I will never forget. It has cultivated friendships I will treasure forever, made me laugh, made me cry, and been all around badass. Especially to Crimson Cruz and Nikki Landis for organizing it and Kristin Youngblood for keeping us in line. Y’all are my idols.
Thank you Kristin for being my Beta reader, too. You kept me motivated and ensured I was on the right track with this one. Not to mention, you’ve been a lifesaver of a PA! Love you bunches, babe!
Thank you to my street team, but especially Wynter Raven, Stracey Ishwar, and Pam Schultz who always go above and beyond! Y’all have been amazing.
Penny. Where do I even begin? My friend, co-worker,
soon-to-be nurse, I love you bunches! I said this same thing before, but you’re actually starting the nursing program now and I’m so proud of you. You and you alone, are responsible for the courage I found to publish Colton’s Salvation in May 2017. You were beside me the entire way. You shared in the heartache of rejection, the perseverance to self-publish, and the elation when that first book became a success beyond my wildest dreams. So thank you for always believing in me. Even when I didn’t believe in myself. <3
Lisa and Brenda, my two book-loving friends, turned part-time PA’s. What would I do without the advice, support and encouragement from you both? You’ve been lifesavers. Your knowledge of the book world and signing events have been a Godsend. I’m bummed that the stupid COVID ruined our book signing plans for this year, but next year is gonna be wild.
Jay Aheer, Thank you for putting up with me through this cover design process. I promise I wasn’t trying to be a diva. LOL.
Eric McKinney, thank you for your incredible image of Gus Smyrnios. Eric, you are a photographic genius and a sweetheart. Gus, thank you for gracing my cover!
Stacey, as usual, you’re a goddess. You always make the inside of my books look beautiful, professional, and badass! I could never convey the amount of thankfulness I feel for you. You’re the best!
Ladies of Kristine’s Crazy Fangirls, y’all are the motherfreaking bomb! I thank you for your comments, your support, and your love of books. Come join us if you’re not part of the group!
As I often do, I found a way to spin the military into the storyline. I feel drawn and compelled to do this often because the military has had such a huge impact on my life. From being a military brat, to a military spouse, and working as a nurse in the military system. With that being said, my last-but-never-least, is a massive thank you to America’s servicemen and women who protect our freedom on a daily basis. They do their duty, leaving their families for weeks, months, and years at a time, without asking for praise or thanks. I would also like to remind the readers that not all combat injuries are visible nor do they heal easily. These silent, wicked injuries wreak havoc on their minds and hearts while we go about our days completely oblivious. Thank you all for your service.
Voodoo (Royal Bastards MC: Ankeny IA) Page 20
