Chapter Nine
Banshee
The moment Aspen walked into the clubhouse, I knew something had happened. She went straight to Diesel and snuggled up to him on the floor.
And she wouldn’t look at me.
“Baby girl, Diesel hasn’t been out in a while; let’s take him for a walk.”
If my brothers thought it was odd that I called her baby girl, they didn’t say shit. I walked over and held my hand out to her. She looked at me then. Fear and panic swirled in her eyes.
“Come on.”
She reached up and took my hand, and I helped her to her feet. She didn’t say a word as she let go of my hand and walked outside, Diesel right behind her.
I followed her as we walked in silence until we were far from the clubhouse. Further than she usually traveled, but she wasn’t alone. She knew I was with her.
“What happened?” I asked when she finally stopped.
“Did you know my mother named me after the goddess of peace? She named my sister Diana after the goddess of the hunt. I don’t know where my brother’s name came from. I guess he got a regular name because they knew once he joined the club, he would never use it again.”
She was babbling nervously, and I let her. I didn’t want to interrupt whatever she was working through.
Suddenly she threw her head back and laughed.
“Peace!” she shouted. “Peace?” She spun around and glared at me.
“My life has been anything but peace. The day I graduated college was the day my father told me he would find me a husband. Someone who would take care of me and protect me. He said he already had him picked out.”
She was talking about me. She was supposed to me mine, and I was a chickenshit who, even at thirty-five, wasn’t ready to settle down. Everything she had endured, every scratch, every hit, every mark on her body was my fault.
“Baby—”
“DON’T!” she yelled. “Don’t call me that. You don’t get to call me that. You didn’t want me.” She jammed her finger into my chest with every word. I grabbed her hand and pulled her against my chest. “You don’t get to have me. You can’t have me. Not anymore.”
She cried against my chest as I held her in my arms. This was where she belonged.
“I’m so sorry, baby girl. I’m so fucking sorry.”
She pulled away and slammed her fist into my chest. “Sorry isn’t good enough.”
“I know.” I pulled her back against me and pushed her head against my chest. She wasn’t quite tall enough to reach my shoulder, but damn if she didn’t fit perfectly against me.
“You will never know how much I hate that I walked away from you. But I couldn’t do it. You were so fucking sad sitting in that chair while your father talked about you like you weren’t there. You weren’t that sassy, defiant girl I saw the first time.”
Her head popped up. “What? What are you talking about? That was the first day we’d ever spoken.”
“That was the first day we spoke. The first time I saw you, you were only twenty. You came flying out of the clubhouse, Zeus hot on your tail as he told you to get back inside. You flipped him off and said you were meeting your friends.”
She chuckled as she wiped away a tear. “That could have been almost any day of the week. It was a constant battle to leave the clubhouse after Diana...”
Her voice trailed off. Everyone in the biker world knew about Diana’s disappearance.
But not a soul knew what happened to her.
After twenty years, I would have thought someone would slip up.
Someone would want to take credit for stealing the daughter of the Gods of Mayhem. But not a whisper had been spoken.
She fought against me as I tried to pull her back in. “Let me hold you.”
“No.” She backed away. “I’m not yours.” She closed her eyes, and I waited for her to speak again. I watched the war behind her eyelids as it traveled across her face.
Fear.
Panic.
Anxiety.
“What happened?”
“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head. “It was just a lot today. A lot of people in the diner. I had fun.” She looked up at me. “I needed this today. To get out of the clubhouse. To feel normal.” She threw her hands out hopelessly. “As normal as an MC princess hiding from her family can feel.”
“Baby—”
“Please don’t. You can’t call me that.”
“Why the fuck not?”
“Because I don’t belong to you. I won’t be here forever. Someday they’ll find me, and I’ll have to leave.”
“I can protect you.”
“No one can protect me. If he finds me, he’ll kill me.
If he kills me, my father will declare war.
If my father finds out what he did to me, he’ll declare war.
Either way, the Silver Shadows will be thrown into a war that isn’t theirs.
There are too many innocent lives that will be forever changed. I won’t be that selfish.”
Before I could say anything to dispel her belief or lack thereof in me, in my club, she turned and walked away. Diesel trotted along behind her.
“Baby girl.” She looked up at me, defeat in her eyes. “I need you to come with me.”
“Where?”
I ran my hand through my hair, reaching the back of my neck, and said, “Church.” I saw the moment the panic hit. “It will be okay.”
“It won’t be okay, Banshee.”
I held out my hand and waited. She stared at it as if it were a snake ready to strike. “I won’t leave you alone.”
She took a deep breath and looked at Diesel.
“He has to stay here.”
Her eyes closed tightly, and I knew this was killing her. Nav knew who she was. He’d known the whole time, and now it was time to tell King. I helped her to her feet and led her to the double doors.
I knocked on the door and waited for Nav to yell, “Come in.”
“What the fuck is going on?” King slammed his fist on the table.
“Prez, she needs to be protected. This is my fuck–up, and I’ll fix it,” I admitted.
“Someone better start talking right fucking now.”
Gunner stared at Aspen. “Does Haizley know, Gun?” Cash asked him.
“If she does, she didn’t fucking tell me.”
“Haizley doesn’t know,” Aspen quickly said.
“Sit down, baby girl.” I pulled out a chair for Aspen, then stood behind her, my hands on her shoulders.
“You all know that Kronos approached me about marrying Irene.” Aspen flinched at the use of her real name. “When I refused, it caused tension between the clubs. Steele was pissed, and so was Kronos. It was why I asked to join you here. When I didn’t back down, he found someone else.”
We heard scratching at the door before a loud bark.
“Christ, let the fucker in. I don’t want him breaking down the damn door,” King whined.
Jack grinned, then stood and opened the door for Diesel. He went right to Aspen and laid his head on her lap. Her shoulders immediately loosened.
“Aspen, honey, can you tell us what happened?” Cash asked.
Aspen looked up at me, and I nodded. There was no getting away from this. Nav knew who she was. It was only a matter of time before he told King.
Aspen told her story about Kronos, about Pepper. The motherfucker put her in the hospital. He was a dead man walking. But I could tell she was holding something back.
Cash looked at Sypher. “You did this? You put her here?”
“Yes, I work with the Nyght Nymphs, helping women and children get out of abusive relationships. We pull them out, and we give them a new identity.”
“That’s why she’s fucking here,” Cash mumbled, running a hand through his hair.
King narrowed his eyes at me. “Who?”
“Kytten,” Cash sighed.
“Who the fuck is Kytten?” Ghost asked.
“She’s a member of the Nyght Nymphs, and she’s been in town for weeks.”
Hearing what Cash said, I looked down at Aspen. That was what happened yesterday. She must have seen Kytten.
“Irene isn’t the reason she’s here,” Sypher countered quietly.
Everyone at the table looked at him, waiting for an explanation. When it was clear he wouldn’t be forthcoming, King asked, “Then why the fuck is she here?”
“She followed Melissa and Danika. On the orders of Dani’s grandmother.”
“Fucking Valhalla,” King huffed. Standing from his seat, he paced the room, muttering to himself.
“Jesus Christ, when will this shit end? I moved to the fucking Midwest for a quiet fucking life.” He shook his head and continued muttering, “I guess it was good while it lasted. I had three fucking years before the shit hit the fan.”
“Why was Kytten following my old lady?” Ghost asked, his hands clenched into fists.
“Val had asked Kytten to go to Oklahoma City and watch over Dani when Dante showed up in New York. When Melissa left to bring her here, Kytten followed.”
Cash looked at Aspen. “You talked to Kytten yesterday.”
Aspen nodded but still refused to look up at anyone. “She said she wasn’t here for me. She said I was still safe.”
“Until she got back to the motel yesterday, she thought you were. Last night, she saw a dozen bikes lined up on the side of the building and had an altercation with two of them this morning,” he said, once again glaring at Nav.
“I didn’t fucking tell anyone!” he shouted, slamming his fist on the table, causing Aspen to jump and Diesel to growl.
“She’s staying at the fucking motel?” Cash shouted, standing to his feet.
“Not anymore. When she came to see me this morning, she’d packed her shit. I’m going to talk to Grayson about her staying on the ranch.”
“Fuck that,” Cash said as he pulled out his phone. “Get your ass to the clubhouse, now!” There was a pause before he growled, “Yes, he’s fucking here.” Cash glared at Sypher. “I want you here, too, Kytten,” he growled. “Your ass better be here in an hour,” he barked before hanging up.
“Something you want to tell us, brother?” King asked.
“No,” he clipped. He sat back down in his chair and waved his hand for everyone to move on. “Let’s start over. Sypher, why are you pissed at Nav?”
“The Death Dogs are here because of Irene. Someone told them.”
“It wasn’t fucking me!”
“You’re the only person who knew.”
I rubbed Aspen’s shoulders. The tension was so tight as the men argued about how the Death Dogs knew she was here.
“I’m not the only one who knew. The whole fucking Nyght Nymphs club knew she was here and who she was,” Nav clipped.
Sypher’s head snapped back as if he’d been hit. “You think someone from the Nyght Nymphs told them? I’ve been working with those women since I was sixteen fucking years old. They wouldn’t do that.”
“Well, someone did,” Nav pointed out.
“Alright, enough!” King yelled, causing Diesel to growl again. “She can’t stay here.” He held his hand up when everyone objected. “It’s not safe.”
My eyes snapped to King. I dropped my hands from Aspen’s shoulders. I’d be damned if I hurt her because of my anger at my president.
“Given the way you’re looking at me, you can’t stay here either, Banshee.
I’ll call Grayson. Have him set you both up in one of his cabins.
” King rubbed his chin. “Banshee, pack your shit. Aspen, you too. Cash, call Win. Tell him to go home until further notice. Banshee, you can explain to him what’s going on. But no one else.”
“Come on, baby girl.”
Aspen stood without a word, and I led her upstairs to pack.