“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 staringthroughher.
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.