Page 28 of Property of Mako (Kings of Anarchy MC: Louisiana #1)

Bloodlines

Lyra

Two days later, Lily and I were sitting outside the clubhouse, the late afternoon sun dipping low, throwing golden light across the stretch of grass behind the fence.

The neighbor’s horses grazed lazily off to one side, their calm presence easing the knot in my chest. For the first time since I’d been dragged into Calix’s world, I almost felt… safe.

Then the air shifted.

Calix had told me we would be safe behind the building as long as we didn’t leave the enclosed compound. There were two prospects standing guard just in case.

The armed security fence that circled the property hummed faintly, its wards shimmering just beneath the surface. But in a swirl of smoke and shadows, a tall figure simply stepped through as if the barrier were tissue paper.

Haidyn.

The horses galloped away, neighing nervously. My stomach dropped. Lily stiffened beside me. When I glanced toward the prospects, I was stunned to see them both standing there as if they were frozen in a block of ice.

“Well,” he drawled, brushing a speck of ash off his immaculate coat. “I must say, the Kings’ security is adorable. Fences. Guns. Charms. Like a toy fort children might build.” His smile was wolfish and sharp enough to cut glass. Then he chuckled darkly. “But they don’t stop me.”

I stood, pulling Lily slightly behind me, even though I knew it was useless. “What do you want?”

His eyes slid over me, hot and knowing, before settling on Lily with a faint smirk. “Relax. If I wanted either of you gone, you’d already be ashes on the wind. I came to deliver a message.”

Lily swallowed hard. “To us?”

“To him.” Haidyn’s gaze locked on me again.

“But I like the poetry of letting you carry it.” He stepped closer, his presence curling around me like the smoke that peeked and swirled over his shoulders, intimate and suffocating all at once.

“Tell my dear Calix this: debts always come due. His will cost him something precious. Something he won’t want to give.

And when it’s time, he won’t have a choice. ”

My throat tightened. “What does that mean?”

He chuckled low, almost pityingly, as he patted my cheek like I was a small child.

I jerked away from his cold touch, but instead of punishing me, like I was sure he could’ve, he slyly smiled.

“You’ll see. But for now, be a good little messenger.

” He tilted his head, eyes gleaming. “And watch out for monsters… Oh! And maybe remind him that I’ve been far more generous than he deserves. ”

Then, with a snap of shadow, he was gone.

The wards around the fence still hummed, as useless as ever.

Suddenly not feeling as safe as Calix had said we would be, I stood there, trembling, Lily clutching my arm.

“Is everything okay?” the prospect I thought they called Thing One asked as he observed us with a confused frown. They obviously didn’t see a thing and had no clue they had been like suspended puppets.

“No, we’re fine. Just emotional,” I fibbed with a forced tilt of my lips. “I think we’ll go inside now.”

He glanced around uneasily but didn’t challenge me.

Though I wasn’t sure that we were any safer inside. Hell, I wondered if we were safe anywhere .

Except when Calix came looking for us later, I told him everything. Every word. Every look.

His face darkened, his jaw hardening like stone.

And for the first time, I wondered if the monsters Haidyn was warning about weren’t the Covenant—but what Calix might become when that debt was called.

“Stay inside. I’m sorry you had to deal with this,” he apologized as he kissed my forehead reverently. “Haidyn won’t hurt you. He just likes to fuck with people’s heads.”

I prayed he was right.

* * *

I sat cross-legged on the bed, the phone tucked against my shoulder as I sifted through the bag I’d hauled from home. Clothes tumbled in a wrinkled mess, along with stray receipts, an old brush, a small tin of horse balm.

“Abby, I owe you about a hundred trail rides and twice as many drinks,” I murmured, smiling faintly as I pulled out Lily’s sketchbook. Unable to leave it behind, I’d grabbed it.

Her laugh warmed me, even through the crackling line. “They’re fine. Bonnie’s still moody, but I bribed her with carrots. But seriously, Lyra… when are you coming home? The barn feels empty without you.”

I swallowed hard. “I don’t know yet. Things are… complicated.”

“Dangerous, you mean.”

Unsure how much I should say, I hesitated. “We found Lily,” I finally whispered.

Abby went quiet. Then, softly: “You did? Is she safe?”

“Yes,” I said, relief thickening my throat. “She’s with me now. She’s safe.”

“Good.” Abby sighed, shaky but sincere. “That’s all that matters.”

We said our goodbyes, with me promising her at least two bottles of her favorite wine. When I set the phone down, my fingers brushed something cool in the corner of the bag. I pulled it free and froze.

A golden sun and moon pendant dangled from its chain, glinting in the dim light.

Lily’s necklace.

The one Lily had left behind when she went missing.

The same one I’d hidden away years ago, when I was barely more than a child myself.

My chest constricted as memories clawed up—my father’s cold face, my mother’s tight smile as they told me the story we’d sell to the world, the “sister” they would raise as their daughter while I lived in silence with the truth.

The note. The necklace. For the baby, when she ’ s old enough .

The sketchbook, I remember packing. I didn’t remember shoving the necklace in my bag, but then again, I’d been in a hurry.

I’d given it to Lily for her sixteenth birthday last year. After she’d been clean for a year. It had seemed to ground her, thinking it was from “our dad.” I closed my fist around it, shaking, as the door creaked open.

Calix stepped inside, his dark presence filling the space. His gaze caught the pendant immediately, and something raw flickered across his face—shock, recognition, something sharper.

His voice was a blade. “Where did you get that?”

I blinked, clutching it instinctively. “It’s Lily’s. I found it in my bag.”

He moved closer, tension rippling off him. Without a word, he opened a drawer in the dresser—a hidden panel I hadn’t noticed before—and drew out another necklace. Identical.

My breath caught.

“This belonged to my sister,” he said, his voice ragged, eyes locked on the twin pendants.

The world tilted beneath me, and I grabbed the headboard to steady myself.

“I… don’t understand,” I whispered, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might crack my ribs.

His eyes narrowed, suspicious, searching. “I’ll ask again—where did you get it?”

I swallowed hard, heat crawling up my neck. “It came from Lily’s father.” The lie trembled, my tongue tripping. “I mean… our father.”

Calix’s stare pinned me to the spot.

By some miracle, I forced my face to remain still, but inside I was shaking. Because what I’d just said wasn’t the truth at all.

The truth was a secret I’d carried for over sixteen years.

The truth was that Lily wasn’t my sister.

She was my daughter.

And no one—not even Lily—knew.