Chapter 45
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
WREN
When I was little, all I had was a voice talking to me from the clouds, or the trees, or the butterflies, or from Dolly, of course.
Folks thought I was crazy.
But I wasn’t.
I was just lonely and listening to God. She kept me company.
But now, a mighty voice lures from the pillow beside mine. “You need to tell me what’s going on.” Nash lies next to me in his guest bed. Brushing a curl from my face, he urges, “I never believed for a second he’d leave you.”
Nash is dressed and lying on top of the covers, while I’m buried underneath them with Onyx swatting at my curls. They’re my kitten’s chew toy, and I don’t mind.
I need something to keep me anchored to this world. If not, I’d slip away into my nightmares.
Vale is downstairs, cooking breakfast with Delphine. I can smell the bacon. Grant’s giving us privacy because I’m supposed to trust my second king. I’m supposed to let him protect me.
“I’m pregnant,” I confess.
“Congratulations.” His brown eyes glow, a sexy smile tugging at Nash’s beard. “And that’s another reason why I know he’d never leave you.”
“He’s helping others.”
“He’s sacrificing himself as usual, and I need to know why and where.”
Nash met Sire first. He became his brother first. They went from juvie to being married kings. He knows him too well.
The ink Nash hides under his starched white button-up peeks through. I spot the tiger, snarling at the lion on his carved chest.
All the kings are marked with lions. All the ways they honor their bond; all the ways they honor their queens; I’m losing track.
I wedge my hands under my cheek. Nash mirrors me, as if he’s trying not to scare me when I know the man has killed with his bare hands. Anyone who lays a finger on Vale has signed their death warrant.
And when he finds out about Axel with Alena?
There will be blood.
Lots of it.
“I’m protecting him,” I answer.
“You are, and you’re making him proud. But something’s happened.” When Nash is serious, he’s threatening, but not to me. “We know you, Wren. You’re our queen, too. We’ve felt you. We know you’re strong, and the only reason you’d collapse is if something is wrong.”
I can’t answer, but I feel our bond, too. All the ways I’m tethered to Nash and the kings.
And something is wrong, but what if I make it worse? What if I start an unnecessary war and get my family killed?
He cups my cheek. “Please. I love him, too.”
“I don’t know what to do.”
“Let me help you; that’s what you’ll do.”
Sire’s alive. I know. He has a fighting chance. I hope. He holds the only way to make this right, including Axel’s son in his arms, if I trust he’ll be okay. That Sire will come home.
Have faith, Angel. I love you. Always. It’s the last thing he said to me, with his kiss, before he left me in our hotel suite.
Okay.
Faith.
“Can you give me time?”
“I’ll give you my life, Wren. You know that.” Nash confronts my eyes. “Just tell me he’s okay. Tell me he’s alive and I’ll give you time.”
“He’s alive.”
Nash gives me a week, and I barely leave his guest bed.
Vale takes care of me. She knows asking only makes it worse, so she gives hugs. She makes me smile. We watch our kittens, Milo and Onyx, fluffy little orange brothers, pounce on the bed.
They’re a cute distraction from the daily texts I get from Yakov with updates about Sire. Each one, a translation. Each one, a daily newspaper. Each one, a picture of Sire looking dazed.
Delirium is one of the life-threatening symptoms of sepsis. I looked it up. I’ve scoured every online resource I can find.
Sire probably got it from a used needle. Or a contaminated instrument. Or his surgical wound. Organ donation is usually very safe. But trusting his father and associates to take care of my husband? That was the risk.
Deep down, that instinct tells me to hang on. To have faith as Sire asked me to. To take care of myself and our baby.
It’s news I can’t expect Nash to hide from The Queen.
With a gentle knock on the guest bedroom door, she enters wearing a blush Chanel skirt suit and carrying a giant bouquet of blue hydrangeas.
“Not that I assume you’re having a boy,” Nadine assures, setting the vase on the dresser. “I’d love a granddaughter to spoil. I just like spoiling you, too. And from your sweet engagement video, I know these are your favorites.”
I sit up, alone with Onyx, and smooth the sheets and my hair. “I’m sorry. I should’ve told you sooner.”
She sits on the edge of the bed, reaching for my hand. “Your body, your business; you know I believe that, dear. All I want is for everyone to be okay, but I need to know…”
She blinks back tears. She can barely whisper, “I need to know if my son is okay.”
I squeeze her hand. “He’s okay.”
“He’s with him, isn’t he?”
Sire always said I had no filter. But maybe I just couldn’t hurt good people. They deserved to know the truth.
I open my mouth to answer, but I pause too long.
Nadine reveals, “I know more than you think I do, but dear Lord, I need to know that my son hasn’t betrayed me.”
“Never,” I rush, leaning forward. “He’ll die before—”
She gasps.
“I mean, he’s alive, but…” I start swiping my falling tears. It’s useless to stop them. “Ruslan found Sire years ago, through his criminal record, and he’s been threatening him ever since.”
She nods. “That man threatened to kill me, so my eldest son bent to his will to protect me. Am I close?”
“Yes, my Queen.”
She pats my hand. “Keep going.”
“Ruslan wanted an heir, so he told Sire to give him one. To get a woman pregnant, and give him the child, and he’d leave y’all alone. Sire agreed and secretly planned to never have kids. That bought Sire years until Ruslan sent Katya to get Axel and—”
“Say less.” Nadine rolls her eyes. “This wicked part I know.”
“You do?”
“Yes, darlin’. That man wants an heir. He wants my royal blood and believes his sperm is made of gold, when actually, it’s all gurgle and no guts. He thinks all of my boys are his, when probably, most belong to my second king, the man I truly loved.”
“Are you serious?”
“Deadly,” she clarifies.
Bombs couldn’t kill more than Nadine’s pissed off face right now.
“So, you know about Axel’s—”
“My sweet grandson, Lev? Yes, I know about Katya taking Axel’s son. And now, let me guess; that’s where my other son is, trying to get his nephew back.”
How did she know?
I don’t have the breath to ask while relief floods me. “Yes, my Queen. But he’s…” The fear, too. “But Sire’s…”
Dammit, I’m trying to be brave, but the tears won’t stop. Please tell me it’s pregnancy hormones and not premonition. Please tell me I won’t be a young, widowed mom. I will. I’ll live on in Sire’s honor, but I don’t want to.
“He did what, darlin’?” Nadine jostles my hand. “I need to know. That boy would sell his soul to save me or his brothers, so what did he do?”
“His kidney,” I sniffle.
Nadine closes her eyes. “I should’ve known. It’s in his family: a genetic kidney disorder.”
“He was going to take Lev’s,” I explain, “but his organs are too small, and Sire was a good match. He had all the tests done. The surgery was days ago, but then Sire got sepsis.”
Her pause scares me while calculations click behind her eyes. Her sons get that same lethal look. “So, he can’t be moved right now?”
“No, he can’t. The risk is too high. He needs to fight off the infection. He needs to get stronger.”
“Who is your contact over there? In Moscow, right?”
“Yes, and it’s Yakov, Ruslan’s new Sovietnik.”
She sits taller. “You let me handle this. Okay? I got more contacts than LensCrafters over there. We’ll get my medical team into that hospital. Our people who know what to do. He’ll be alright. You understand me?”
“Yes, my Queen. I understand.” I sit taller, too. “It’s just that…”
Sure, I had Nannie.
And I still have Dolly.
But I never had a real mom. I never had anyone tenderly shush away my tears after the kids made fun of me.
From the moment she wrapped a warm blanket over my shivering shoulders on the night I was rescued, Nadine has been the closest I’ve ever had to one. The only hug, smile, laugh, or tears I’ve ever shared with a woman who cared more about me than herself.
I don’t want to lose her.
I don’t want to lose my found family.
But I will protect my husband. Pinky for pinky. Soul for soul. Our love against the world. I’ll risk it all for him.
“You can’t tell Axel,” I demand. “You can’t tell anyone about any of this until Sire comes home. You’re not the queen in charge of this.” I lift my chin. “I am.”
Nadine pulls back, silent.
She wrests her hand away, leaving mine empty.
But I keep going. I keep risking. “I mean it. This is everything Sire has fought for, all by himself and for so long. He will be the one to tell Axel, and no one else. Give him the chance to make this right with his brother, to feel redeemed. You understand me? I’m handling this.”
With a stony face, she blinks.
Slowly.
Deadly.
Weighing my warning.
I sit up even taller, meeting her glare.
It lands on the diamond she gave me—the Monroe piercing above my lip. On the day of our initiation, Nadine gives a diamond to each queen. It’s her vow to us, before the kings forge their bonds with us, too.
“I don’t want to disrespect you,” I press, “but I will protect my husband, my king, the father of my child, and if this means I’ve lost my fam—”
“Hush.” She could silence a hurricane. “A queen expects; she does not explain.”
I swallow, nodding.
“I expect to bring my son home, and you can expect to protect his family.”
She offers her hand again, her fingertips always adorned with a flawless French manicure.
Formally, I take it, fearing a distance, a loss, but she tugs, gently pulling me into a hug.
With a choked voice, she whispers proudly in my ear. “Spoken like my daughter.”