Chapter 8 Part 1 - Revised

      Skye felt the sudden shock, and confusion ripple through her. Why would Deacon have been looking for her and why would Dom want him to look for her? She tilted her head is such a way as to say that she didn’t understand what he was saying at the same time trying to shake the cobwebs from the memory of that night. She remembered being wet and cold, ducking into the club to use the bathroom and get warm but the images were still not quite there and she couldn’t quite make things out.

   “I don’t understand…” she began slowly “how were you looking for me when I didn’t even know you?” Cyrus lightly put his hand on his mother’s shoulder. She didn’t understand anything that was happening at all but she could see that he didn’t either and yet he wanted to be her rock for this situation and protect her.

   Dom let out a deep sigh. “I know you, because we have been through this before.” He paused and ran a big hand through his dark hair “we have been doing this for a very long time Skye.” He said as he held her gaze and yet had sympathy in his eyes. Skye opened her mouth to say again that she didn’t understand but Chase held up a hand to stop her and she shut it. Dom sighed and reached across the table to take her hand but Skye pulled away afraid of everything suddenly, especially him.

   “Dominic, please just tell me what’s going on!” she begged wringing her hands together, still too tired and drained to move but she could feel her energy level rising and her temperature in her cheeks as well but not wanting to lash out with all of the strangers in her house. “Okay calm down,” Dominic raised his hands in submission.  “You would figure that with as many times as we’ve had this conversation it would be easier by now.” He sighed. From behind him a nameless man with scruffy blonde hair answered “This is different this time… there were never kids before boss.”

   Skye’s angry stare would have bore a hole straight through that man if he had said one more word so she turned her anger back towards the man with the story and Mr. More Confusion shut up and stepped back.

    “Dominic, please just spit it out…” She was exasperated already and he put both hands flat on the table in front of him so he could look her in the square in the eye. “Fine but I’m ripping off the Band-Aid off here…There will be no pussy-footing around it even though the children are here.” He grumbled as Cy did the same mumbling, “I’m not a child.” under his breath. “You my sweet niece-in-law, the reason I was looking for you is because… you are not really who you think you are.”

Skye laughed and shook her head. “Ya sure Dom, who am I then exactly?” It felt good for her to laugh after this past few days in crazyville. “Come on Dom can we be serious here please?” She stared at him hard and as he stayed serious you could hear a pin drop in the room and she started to worry as fear began to crawl up her spine. Sensing her fear Dominic continued. “Simply put you are the vessel for a goddess that we…” he gestured to the men behind him then continued “are sworn to protect. For hundreds of years we have guided and protected you while your goddess spirit slept” He tapped his fingers on the box but said nothing more while he tried to gauge Skye’s reaction.

  Skye’s rage had hit the roof and boiled over. “This is ridiculous! Are you all crazy?” She screamed, “Get out of my house unless you’re going to tell me the truth!” she ordered and with a sideways glance at Chase, the twelve men standing in the kitchen dropped down to one knee and dropped their heads from hers to the floor. Dominic stayed where he was and cocked and eyebrow in a way that said SEE?

   The children said nothing. Savannah didn’t understand and clapped her hands at the display. Kyra sat wide eyed and looked around the room as Cyrus shook his head slowly from side to side. “She’s right you’re crazy all of you!” he said boldly to Dominic. “How could you come in here and tell my mom all that bullshit!” Skye could feel Cyrus getting very tense and when he began to stand up she gently placed her hand on his arm and silently urged him to sit back down. After her initial outburst she felt like something Dom was saying rung true even though she didn’t really believe what he was saying.

   As she looked into his eyes, the same deep serious eyes that Deacon had she gathered her emotions and nodded for him to continue his story.

   “You never remember where you were or what you did or who you were when you come back but, you always know to trust us when we find you.” He shifted a little in his seat and motioned for the men to rise. “That particular time you were a bit more lost than usual and Deacon had to really convince you that you just had too much to drink and he would take you somewhere to sleep it off.” He paused and let out a heavy sigh, “He was not supposed to fall in love with you…Usually he would find you and bring you back into the fold whether it was give you a job or be your friend or even watch you have other relationships with other men. I guess he couldn’t take that anymore.”

Chapter 7 Part 3 - Revised

          The paramedics were leaving just as car after car began to pull up to the house. Maury was leaning up against the front door frame shaking each man’s hand as they approached but not letting them enter the house until Dom gave the OK. Dominic hadn't prepared Skye and the family for what was coming yet, so he made them wait.

    Inside Skye was sitting at the kitchen table now, still looking very pale but the confusion that was at the forefront of her mind now was why Chase and Dom made the kids sit at the table with her to get settled in to listen to some story. She didn’t have much to do with the man, that was Deacon’s territory but she figured that she understood why he was here now with the way she had collapsed and all. Couldn’t blame him for that, he had already lost his nephew.

    As they were seating themselves, Cyrus was strong on Skye’s right, Kyra on the left and Savannah right on her lap with her head resting gently on Skye’s chest. Dom surveyed the faces in front of him, looking at each one of them with a degree of concern what Skye thought was love. He tried to lighten them up with humour “Damn what a good looking bunch!” he boasted and that was the truth. With Skye’s looks and Deacon’s eyes Cyrus was classically handsome while Kyra had her father’s blonde hair and blue eyes and looked just like him. Little Savannah had dark hair and green eyes just like her mother but her father’s regal nose and full lips. Looking at Dominic now Skye could see where the nose came from and now that she was looking at them Chase had the same nose too.

   Skye looked tired but smiled as she gathered her scattered thoughts together and because Dom could always make her laugh no matter how big and scary he was trying to be. Even though they were not close like he and Deacon were the effort still made the smile that she showed him genuine.

    Dominic sensed that things needed to move quickly as he didn't want to keep Skye from resting but he knew that without the information he had to give her, there was someone else that wouldn’t be resting much longer either and that was going to be put off as long as possible. At the same time he felt that after she heard what was happening to her she might not rest again anyway. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and looked at the white oak box that still sat ominously on the table in front of him and with a slight nod at Chase he went and stood with his back against the island right behind Skye and Savannah.

     A golden twinkle caught the corner of Chase’s eye, he lowered and tilted his head towards the glint. When he saw where it came from he rolled his eyes but kept his composure and shifted a look over to Dom in silent conversation. Dom leaned down and the statue was sitting pristinely underneath it. When he looked under the table again all the eyes at the table followed suit and he knew that this particular statue was moving towards its host bit by bit. He cursed and looked back at Chase.

    “Savannah honey?” Dom said softly. “Can you pick that up for me please and bring it here?” Eager to help Sav hopped down off of her mother’s lap and crawled under the table. Skye bent sideways and held her hands out. “Give it to me sweetie and I’ll give it to Uncle.” At the same time Dominic and Chase yelled “NO!”

    Successfully scaring the shit out of everyone at the table, Skye jacked up and glared at Dom. “What the fuck!” she yelled. Sadly she was ignored at the moment as Chase placed the box on the table directly in front of Dominic and he opened the lid. “Good Girl Sav, can you put it in the box for me?” the little girl did as she was told without hesitation. Skye’s frustration was about to shoot through the roof when she saw Chase pick up his cell phone and hit the speed dial. With both hands spread before her on the kitchen table, fingers splayed she took a deep breath. “Dominic…you better tell me what the hell is going on…right NOW!” Her heart was like a jackrabbit in her chest and she wanted answers as well of some kind of a normal day.

    Outside, without needing a full ring Maury answered his cell because he already knew who it was. “Ready?” Maury asked.  Chase glanced at the family at the table and replied “Ya we’re good to go now.” As he hung up the phone the front door opened and a gust of fresh air spilled into the house. Skye’s first thought was that of course, Maury was coming in and then she heard footsteps…lots of them and took another deep breath and put her forehead on the table lightly banging it on the wood. In the back of her mind she thought all this breathing was bullshit but the fresh air did succeed in making her feel much more steady and despite the trail of men entering her house she felt surprisingly calm.

   One after another they kept coming until 13 of them stood in her kitchen making it seem so much smaller, their size sucking up the space. Skye raised her head and looked at Dom with raised eyebrows. “Do you mind telling me now why you have a bunch of strange men in my kitchen?” Skye recognized a few of them as they had been around for what seemed like forever but she had never really spoken to any of them except for Dominic, Chase and Maury. Carl and Max were brothers that had helped Deacon renovate the space for the antique shop and that was as much as she knew about them.

   The rest of them she didn’t know and didn’t seem to care to know right now about who they were as much as why they were there. Dominic tapped the top of the box and took a breath before he spoke. “Skye…do you remember when you met Deacon?”

    She was somewhat thrown by the question not knowing what this had to do with her late husband so she spoke carefully “Yes, I met him on the Island in that bar with the big purple neon sign.” She was vague on purpose and paused in thought for a moment before continuing. “The Shades...I think that’s what it was called. Why?”

   He tensed slightly but Skye caught it but he asked anyway without pause “Do you know why he was there that night?”  Thinking of Deacon wasn’t helping her, Skye was getting more agitated and didn’t like the feelings she was having along with the over abundance of testosterone in her house, not to mention the topic of her meeting Deacon at all. She did know however that if Dom was asking these questions then there was a reason for it. 

   One of the men at the back of the room started to fidget with one of the kitchen drawers. She inclined her head just a fraction and shot him an annoyed glare and started tapping her fingers on the table just to keep herself moving. He stopped immediately. Thoughts began to run through her head of that night. Images circled but stayed just outside of her periphery in her mind and she couldn't seem to pull them in.

   “Skye!” Dominic’s voice interrupted her train of thought and was loud enough to make everyone at the table jump. “Do you remember?” He repeated and she forced herself to take hold of the memory. It hurt but she tried put the faded edges together.

    “He was looking for someone...” she said with some uncertainty. “He was there because you sent him to find someone… I think." The memory of it hurt but she felt confident in that reason but unsure of why it was so hard to remember it. “It was funny though, I don’t think he ever found them.” Her eyes began to well up and a lump was forming in her throat but she looked at Dominic and the force of the sadness in her gaze made him sigh. "Yes Skye..." he began.  "He was looking for someone for me, he was looking for you."