Chapter Twenty-Five
Banshee
The doors to church slammed open, and Aspen stepped inside. Brandy winked at me from the opening just before the doors closed behind Aspen.
I rushed to her side. “Are you sure, baby girl?”
“No, but I have to take back my life someday, right?”
“Aspen?” King called.
She closed her eyes tight, took a deep breath, and then turned to her family.
“Irene!” Rhea gasped before pushing through the guard that stood around them. She gathered Aspen into her arms and cried. Pulling back, she cradled Aspen’s face in her hands and said, “Both my girls!”
Rhea turned to King and snarled, “What the fuck, King? You have both my girls, and you don’t fucking call?”
Kronos stared at Aspen. He hadn’t moved other than to stand from his seat. Zeus had shot up right behind his mother and now held Aspen in his arms.
“Shuggy, thank God!”
I watched the men standing by Kronos. Asclepius had moved to stand behind Zeus, happy to see his niece, awaiting his turn to hug her. Apollo smiled; Poseidon stood stone-faced as usual. But Erebus… he looked a little too fucking interested in my girl.
“It was Aspen’s choice not to call you and tell you where she was,” King said.
“Who the fuck is Aspen?” Kronos demanded.
“I am.”
He looked at his daughter. “Your name is Irene.”
“Irene died. Her husband beat her to death. The husband you forced her to marry. The husband you chose for her.”
“Sugar, I—”
“Don’t try to make excuses. Own what you did. Take responsibility for the choice you made. The choice to sacrifice one daughter for another.”
“That’s not what I was doing,” he argued. Kronos looked at his men. “Get the fuck out, all of you.”
The Gods of Mayhem filed out of church; all except Zeus and Asclepius. Asclepius glared at his older brother. “Is she telling the truth? Did you force her to marry that son of a bitch?” he asked.
“I didn’t force anything.” He turned to look at King. “Could we have some privacy? This isn’t club shit.”
“This is club shit,” King said. “Your daughter’s husband’s club— a club you aligned yourself with—declared war on us. Aspen has been under my protection since she moved in here.”
King was careful not to tell Kronos why she had moved in here. Allowing Aspen to decide what she shared with her parents. Diana moved to Aspen’s side and put her arm around her.
“Daddy, you need to sit down and listen.”
“I will not have this conversation in front of others,” he commanded.
King looked at Aspen. “What do you want to do, Aspen?”
“Her fucking name is IRENE!” Kronos snarled.
Aspen took a deep breath. “It is probably best to have this conversation with just family first.” She looked at King. “There is more I need to tell you.”
King nodded. “Officers, out. Mimic, Cash, Bane, and Banshee, stay.”
“Why?” Kronos asked.
“Mimic is Aspen’s nephew. Cash is Kytten’s old man, and Bane is Aspen’s brother-in-law.”
“What?” Kronos, who’d left his seat to stand by his wife’s side, spun around and glared at Bane.
“Daddy, there is a lot to tell you,” Diana said.
Kronos focused his glare on me. His eyes locked onto the hand I had on Aspen’s waist.
“Why the fuck are you here?” he growled.
I moved Aspen to the side, closer to Bane, and stepped in front of her. I knew what I was about to say would incite Kronos’ wrath, but it was fucking worth it.
“Because I’m her fucking daddy now.”
Kronos roared as he lunged. His fist struck my chin with such force I was afraid he’d given me whiplash.
By the grace of God, I managed to stay on my feet—or maybe that was the help from the wall I’d crashed into.
Either way, before I could swing back, Mimic was in front of his grandfather, shoving him back with a gun in his face.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?”
Mimic was almost as tall as Kronos. And twice as stubborn and reckless. Family meant everything to Kronos, but I wasn’t sure being his grandson would save Mimic from the beatdown he was about to get if the rage pouring off Kronos was any indication.
“Boy, you better step the fuck back!”
“Or what?” Mimic snarled, cocking his gun.
“Mimic!” Bane moved quickly and grabbed Mimic by the arm, pushing it up toward the ceiling, then pulling him away from Kronos. He stepped up to Kronos and smiled. “You want to fucking hit someone?” he asked as he pulled his shirt up, letting Kronos see his chest. “Hit me. I fucking dare you.”
Cash’s whistle pierced through the room, getting everyone’s attention. Except Kronos, who continued to glare at Bane’s chest. His face got redder, and his knuckles turned white as he held his fists at his side. He panted through his nose like a bull ready to charge.
Rhea stepped between the two men, one hand on her husband’s chest and the other covering her mouth as she gasped at what Kronos had seen.
“Fuck!” she grunted, closing her eyes. “Would everyone please sit back down? King, your officers can stay.” She turned to Kronos. “Lucas, please.”
“Rosebud,” Kronos warned.
“I know. I see it.” She turned to Zeus. “Go get your brothers and bring them back in here.”
Zeus hesitated as he looked between Bane and his father.
“I’ll get them,” Asclepius said before stepping back into the main room, returning a moment later with the rest of the Gods of Mayhem brothers and Diesel, who snuck through the door to sit by his mother’s side.
Erebus again sought out Aspen as he walked in, and I growled.
Diesel snarled and bared his teeth, feeding off my emotions.
Aspen placed her hand on my chest and shook her head. I leaned in and whispered, “Don’t shake your head at me, baby girl.”
“Banshee, please. This is hard enough as it is.”
I placed my hand over hers, holding it against my chest. “I’m sorry.” I kissed her forehead. “But if he doesn’t stop eye-fucking you, he’s a dead man.”
“You can’t kill every man who looks at me.”
“Wanna fucking bet?” I grinned, loving the smile on her face. I hated that this was so hard on her, but I needed her to know that I would burn the fucking world down for her.
“Banshee, Aspen, please take a seat,” King ordered. “Maybe try to contain your beast.”
Aspen called to Diesel, and I guided her to a chair and stood behind her, my hands on her shoulders. Kronos glared at me, and I grinned back. Try me again, motherfucker. That was your one free shot.
“I don’t even know where to begin,” Rhea said. “This is such a clusterfuck.”
“Mom.” Zeus scowled.
Rhea put a hand on her son’s shoulder and sighed. “Let me start with my full name. Gabriella Amelia Baudelaire Cooper.”
“Fucking hell,” King groaned.
Nav’s face paled as he glanced at Eros, before locking his eyes on Rhea. “No fucking way,” he whispered. “Does he know?”
Rhea looked his way. “He does not. The treaty Lucas signed with my uncle was to ensure he never found out. How my uncle even found me I have no idea. But he showed up one day and demanded I stay away. Lucas told him that as long as the Brotherhood stayed out of Texas, we would never tell him.”
“This has nothing to do with the fucking treaty. Do you know what he’ll do when he finds out?” Nav said.
“I don’t plan on telling him.”
“You can’t fucking do that. Why the fuck did you come in here and tell us this shit and expect us to keep it quiet?”
Nav’s voice got lower the more he spoke. He didn’t show his anger often. Usually, it was directed at his computers. But his reaction was uncharacteristic.
Kronos stood and glared at Nav. “Watch the way you talk to my wife, motherfucker.” Diesel growled low beside Aspen, his fur standing up on his back, and his eyes on Kronos.
“Kronos, sit the fuck down,” King ordered. Kronos opened his mouth to speak, and King stood. “I am the king of this motherfucking castle, and you will show me the respect I deserve. Or you can fuck off back to Texas.”
Kronos’ hands tightened into fists again. It took a lot of self-control to keep his temper under wraps, and he was on the verge of losing the fight.
“Lucas, sit.” Rhea grabbed his arm, and he finally sat down.
“Nav’s right. This isn’t information we can keep hidden,” King confirmed.
“You had no problem hiding my fucking daughters,” Kronos grumbled.
“Daddy, King wasn’t hiding me. I just got here a few days ago, and I have been spending time with my kids. Making up for the time I lost.”
Kronos turned his head. “And you?” he asked Aspen.
“I’ve been living in Diamond Creek for two years. I’ve been living in the clubhouse for almost six months.”
“Why didn’t you come home?” he asked.
“Why didn’t you fight for me?” she countered. “Why didn’t you storm into Arizona and demand to see me? Why did you wait so fucking long before you started looking for me?”
“I did fucking fight for you!” He slammed his fist on the table.
Diesel stood up, and Aspen quickly grabbed his collar.
“When I found out Skinner had lied, I fucking fought to bring you home. Do you know how many fucking men I killed trying to get to you? You said you were happy. You said you didn’t want to come home. ”
“What?” she whispered.
“Shuggy,” Zeus said, “we tried to get you back. Dad stepped down after he realized what he’d done, but you kept saying you were happy. You kept insisting everything was perfect.”
“That should have been your red fucking flag,” I snapped.
“Maybe if you had fucking stepped up, none of this shit would have happened,” Kronos hissed. “What was it you said to me? ‘I’m old enough to be her fucking father’?”
Kytten stood up and walked around the table. “Rosie, where are you going?” Cash asked.
“I can’t do this,” she said, shaking her head. “I can’t listen to this anymore. It’s too fucking much.”
“Rose, Torment is in the main room if you need to talk to him,” Bane told his daughter.
“I’ll come with you.” Cash stood, but she stopped him. “No, stay here. I’ll go talk to Dr. Dunaway.” Kytten walked out, and when the doors closed, Diana turned on her father.
“You need to get that fucking temper under control.”
Kronos stared at his daughter. “Don’t think you can talk to me—”
“I will talk to you however the fuck I want. I am not a child anymore. I am a mother.” She took a deep breath.
“Daddy, I love you. I have missed you more than you will ever know. But that girl who just walked out has been through hell and back. Both of my children have, and so have I. I will not let your uncontrolled temper trigger her. Get it under fucking control, or I will make sure you have no relationship with her ever. And if you don’t have her, you will never have him,” she said, pointing at Mimic.
“Lucas, she’s right.”
“Rosebud—”
“We’ll talk about it later. Let’s deal with the issue at hand.” Rhea turned toward Bane. “Morpheus doesn’t need to know who or where I am. You’ve kept it quiet this long.”
“I’m sorry, Gabriella; I really am. But it doesn’t work that way, and you know it,” Bane responded as we all turned to look at him.
“You knew?” Diana asked.
Bane looked at Atlas, the Gods of Mayhem’s SAA, and said, “My father told me.”
Zeus followed Bane’s gaze to Atlas. “Something you need to tell me, brother?”
“I didn’t fucking know shit,” Atlas said, his hands in the air. “I didn’t know about Rhea, and I didn’t know shit about Diana until I joined the club. I was only sixteen when she disappeared. I never talked to August—he was old as fuck. And technically, Albert is not my uncle.”
“What the fuck am I missing here?” King said.
“Atlas is my cousin,” Bane admitted. “His father is Barbara’s brother.”
“How did your father know, Bane?” Cash asked.
Bane looked at Rhea with a sad smile. “Because he was the one who helped Gabriella get away from Kalden Baudelaire.”