Page 12 of Daughters of Chaos

Reaper glares my way. "I have more important things to do right now than babysit you, Princess." Before I can pop back, he disappears through the door and down the driveway to his bike. I send him away with a proud middle finger, still angry about the nickname he stuck me with.

The guys chuckle as I stalk up the stairs to find my sister.Why does every man in this house make it his mission to piss me off?

Phoenix greets me with a smile as I plop down on the bed. "I hate this," I inform her. "We're being treated like prisoners."

Nix frowns. "We aren't Rae. They're being protective. Elias just found out he's our dad. Imagine how hard it is for him to adjust to his new reality."

"What aboutournew reality? What does that even look like?"

"I don't know," Phoenix sighs, "but our lives are different now. I'm not sure what that means yet, but I'm kind of excited."

"What if our new lives are filled with danger? What if we have to spend every day watching our backs because of who ourfatheris?"

"It's not going to be like that, Rae. We'll figure it out, all of us. Plus, I don't think Elias and the club are involved in anything dangerous. What could possibly happen?"

I know she's wrong. I can feel it in my bones. Elias and his club are definitely doing some illegal shit; I just don't know what. And I'm not interested in sticking around to find out. "We should think about going back home, Nix."

My sister tenses beside me. "What if I don't want to?"

I stare at her, dumbfounded. "What are you saying?"

"Maybe I don't want to go back. That place is full of sad memories, Rae. Mom dying, her last days being so sick and run down, us missing a big part of our family."

"I'm your family, Nix. You, me, Mom—we were a family. We didn't needhimto be one before. We still don't."

Phoenix watches me through sad eyes. "He never knew we existed. Didn't you see how happy he was when he saw those results today? He never had a chance to be part of our family."

"He left, Nix. He left her and never looked back. We don't even know him. What if he's some psychopath who wants to sell us to pervs on the black market?"

"He's not," Phoenix insists.

"How do you know?" My voice is laced with anger, making my sister flinch.

I take a moment to calm myself as Nix replies, "Rae, I can't explain it. I just know he won't do anything like that. All the things Mom told us . . . All the stories she shared about him. I feel it. I know he'd never hurt us."

I shake my head, considering her words. "So what? You want to stay here? Be some biker's old lady?"

Nix shrugs, but I swear I see the hint of a smile on her face. I know who put it there, and I can't help but wonder if her attachment to Raptor is clouding her judgment. I watch my sister for several long minutes, weighing our options and debating how serious she is about staying. She can be almost as stubborn as me sometimes, and I doubt she's going to be willing to budge on this if her heart is set on staying here.

"Let's say, hypothetically, that we stay. What then? What about your schooling? The house?"

"I can start school here. I never really got to start in Albuquerque anyway, not after Mom got sick. We can call the landlord and tell him we won't renew the lease. Go over one day, and grab our things. We can start over, Rae. We can get to know Dad—"

"I'll never call him that!"

Nix sighs at my outburst. "I know this is hard for you. And I understand if you don't want this, but Ineedthis. I can't explain why; I just do. I need to know him, know where we came from." She pauses, looking at the ground, avoiding my eyes. "I have to stay, Rae. I understand if you can't, but I do. I'm sorry."

I let my sister's words sink in, knowing there was nothing I could say to change her mind. She needs this for whatever reason, and I'd never abandon her. She's my family, and I can't turn my back on family.

With a heavy heart, I take her hand, hoping my words won't come back to bite me one day. "Okay. We'll stay."

Phoenix smiles and launches herself at me, wrapping me up in a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Rae."

I return her hug as the smallest smile forms on my lips. "You're welcome, but if things get dicey, we're out of here. Deal?"

Nix nods. "Okay."

I hold her tightly as a heaviness settles in my gut.I hope I don't live to regret this.

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