Chapter Thirty-Eight
Banshee
We shuffled into church, and when I found my seat, I pulled Aspen onto my lap. Cash and Kronos did the same with their old ladies, while Mimic stood behind Indie, his hands on her shoulders.
King was the last to enter. As he walked to his chair, he looked around the room. Settling his gaze on Zeus, he asked, “Where is Eros?”
“Gone.”
“Gone where?” he asked.
I turned my attention to Zeus, and he simply shrugged. “I didn’t ask.”
King focused his angry gaze on Nav, a silent question flashing in his eyes. Nav shook his head slightly, and King blew out a frustrated breath. “No one should be out alone,” he said, directing hard eyes my way.
“Eros can take care of himself,” Zeus said.
“Something you want to say to me, asshole? Why don’t I take you out on the fucking plains and see if you can find a place to hide with no fucking trees.”
“Banshee, please,” Aspen whispered.
“Enough!” King growled. “When I left the hospital, I stopped to check on Maureen. She’s taking Hash’s death hard, and she’s due to have that baby anytime now. She wants to come to the clubhouse and cook. I tried to tell her no, and so did Dec, but you all know Maureen. She's stubborn as hell.”
Snickers rang out around the room. Maureen was more stubborn than King.
“I also talked to Dec. Grace wasn’t scheduled to work at the bar when it was attacked. Mary Ann called and said her mother had taken a fall. She asked Grace to cover her shift. Dec went over to talk to Mary Ann and found her body.”
Low whispers of “Shit” and “Fuck” came from the brothers. We all knew what that meant. Grace had been targeted. The question was, why?
“Banshee, tell us what the hell happened.”
“When we got to the bar, a truck pulled out from behind the building. I thought maybe whoever was in it had something to do with the shooting, so I followed.”
“Without backup,” Cash pointed out.
“There wasn’t time. He was heading north so I followed. When we got out on I-80, I sped up and got next to him. The fucker winked at me, then ran me off the road.”
“Did you recognize him?” Jingles asked.
“Is he working with the Death Dogs?” Colt asked.
“Yes, I recognized him, but I don’t think he’s working with the Death Dogs.”
“Who the fuck was it?” Kronos snapped.
I turned to Aspen. “Baby girl, you need to tell King—”
“I told him about the money, Banshee. I told him everything.”
“You need to tell him what happened that first night at the cabin.”
Aspen’s face paled. She shook her head—no. “I promised I wouldn’t.”
“If it’s who I think it was, King needs to know.”
“Someone was at the cabin?” King shouted. “And you didn’t fucking tell me?”
Aspen shrank back at King’s angry tone, and Diesel whined at her feet. She took a deep breath.
“The first night at the cabin, I’d planned to run. I waited until Banshee was asleep, and I closed Diesel in my room.” Her hands twisted together in her lap. “When I went outside, someone was there. He told me I had to stay; that you would protect me.”
“Who?” King snarled.
I kept my eyes locked on King as Aspen confirmed, “Chasm.”
King leaned back quickly as though someone had pushed him. “That’s not possible. Chasm is dead.”
“He’s not, King. Chasm was the man in the truck.”
“I watched that warehouse blow up. He was inside the fucking building.” King slammed his hand on the table, and Diesel ran over to him. He put his paws on the arm of King’s chair and barked.
King turned his head so he was eye to eye with Aspen’s dog and stared at him.
“Down,” he said, his voice low and deep.
Diesel quickly licked King’s face and set his paws back on the floor.
But instead of coming back to Aspen, he sat by King.
I was beginning to think maybe he should always be in church.
He had a way of cooling tempers quickly.
“If Chasm is alive, where the fuck has he been?” King asked, causing Diesel to bark again. King glared at the dog. “Enough. Go!”
Diesel whined, and when King raised an eyebrow at him, he tucked his tail between his legs and slinked back over to sit by Aspen.
“I don’t know. But he is definitely alive.”
The room was silent as King stewed over the information I’d given him. He and Chasm had been tight. We all knew, including Cash, that had he survived, he would have been King’s VP.
“What happened next?” Cash asked, moving the meeting along.
“I tipped my bike up, and that’s when the Death Dogs showed up.”
“And you don’t think Chasm set that up?” Gunner asked, winning a glare from King.
“I don’t,” I answered.
“What happened next?” Zeus asked.
“I sent the text to Mimic and dropped my phone. I knew they wouldn’t let me keep it knowing Nav could track it. And I planned on leaving at least one body.” I squeezed Aspen’s hip as I said the last part.
“You left two,” Jack said with a grin.
“And got shot in the process,” Aspen whined.
“When did they beat the shit out of you?” Blade asked.
I blew out a breath. “That came after.” I looked at King and waited until he met my eyes. “I know what happened to my sister.”
“How?” King asked, his voice soft, almost a whisper.
“The girl they took. Kyllian.”
“Firestride’s old lady?” Nav said, poking his head up over his computer.
I nodded. I never took my eyes off King when I said, “She’s my niece. And she Steele’s daughter.”
“What are you saying, Banshee?” King asked, sitting forward. I had his attention now.
“My sister didn’t run away. My fucking father sold her to Steele. Firestride’s old lady is Kyllian Ward.”
“Kaylah,” Kronos said. “I remember her.”
I held on tight to Aspen. Her presence on my lap was the only thing keeping me from knocking the shit out of her father.
“Kinsley and Kyllian. Titan loved those girls, and Kaylah ran off with them. He was devastated.”
Carefully, I lifted Aspen off my lap. “She didn’t fucking run off. The son of a bitch sold her and those girls,” I snarled as I stood up. Diesel stood with me, ready for battle. He growled so low, I wondered if anyone other than me heard him.
Mimic moved with me. I wasn’t sure if he’d meant to help me or stop me. With him, you never knew what he was thinking.
“Who did he sell them to, Banshee?” Colt asked.
“Satan’s Angels. Where my sister was raped and beaten until her body gave out. According to Kyllian, after she was born, Kaylah couldn’t have any more kids. Steele felt she was worthless to him if she couldn’t give him a son. So he got rid of her.”
“And Kinsley? Where is she?”
“Kyllian believes she’s dead too. That girl is the only thing I have left of my sister, and now the Brotherhood has her.”
“How did she end up with the Brotherhood?” Rhea asked.
“After Knuckles died, Satan’s Angels sold her to the Death Dogs.” I looked at Kronos. “Sound familiar?”
“You son of a bitch,” he growled as he stood.
“Lucas, no.” Rhea placed her hands on Kronos’ chest and pushed him back into his chair.
“She married an enforcer named Pinch. Who, surprise fucking surprise, beat the shit out of her regularly.” I didn’t say a word as I glared at Kronos.
I didn’t have to. The look I gave him told him exactly what I thought of him.
“He owed the Brotherhood a debt, and when he didn’t pay, they took Kyllian as collateral. ”
“Is she okay?” Kytten asked. “Does she need a way out?”
“No, Kytten,” King said. “She left with Firestride, willingly.”
“Maybe because it would have been worse if she hadn’t. I can make contact—”
“NO!” Cash, Mimic, and Bane all yelled at the same time.
“Baby, if you want to call Magyk or Arsyn and have them make contact, fine. But you and my babies aren’t going anywhere near that fucking clubhouse.”
“You don’t know there are two,” she hissed.
“And you don’t know there aren’t. You aren’t going.”
“Asshole.” She pouted.
“Damn right,” Cash said proudly.
“I need to talk to her. I need to make sure she’s there because she wants to be. Not because she has to be,” I said.
“I’ll call Cerberus and ask him,” Nav offered. “If she isn’t there willingly, we’ll find a way to get her out, brother.”
I nodded at Nav.
“I’ll contact Morpheus, Banshee.”
“No, Rosebud, not yet.”
“Lucas, he can’t hold women against their will. I won’t let him be like my uncle.”
“Too fucking late,” Nav muttered.
“What?” Rhea asked, glaring at Nav.
“I said it’s too fucking late. He’s already like Kalden. If you’d said something when my mother was killed, Zephyr would be dead already. He wouldn’t have been able to drag Morpheus back when he left.”
“He left?” she asked.
“Yes, he left. Right after you did. He went searching for you. He met someone, and he actually fell in love. They had a son. But Kalden dragged him back to the club. Then his woman and his son disappeared, and he became Morpheus.” Nav’s voice got sharper and louder with every word as he explained to Rhea how the brother she loved became the man people feared.
“That was not her fault,” Zeus argued.
“Bullshit. She should have said something,” he shouted, slamming his hand on the table. “That was my mother!”
“Zachary, I’m so sorry you lost your mother. But I lost a friend. She was already gone. There was nothing I could do to stop that from happening.”
“Maybe you could have stopped it from happening to someone else. Me, Ravage, Eros, Indigo. None of us had a mother growing up because you kept your mouth shut and ran,” he countered, pointing his finger at Rhea for emphasis.
“Nav, enough. Now is not the time for this,” King said.
“When is the time, King? When Banshee’s niece ends up like my mother? Like your mother?”
“I SAID ENOUGH!” King slammed both hands on the table.
Nav’s phone rang, and he picked it up and looked at it. He dropped his head back and snarled at the ceiling, before putting it to his ear.
“What?” he snapped. Nav was silent for a few minutes as he listened to whoever was on the other end.
“Yeah, I’ll keep an eye out for him.” He pinched the bridge of his nose as the caller continued.
“Fuck you, old man.” Nav hung up the phone, and King waited.
There was a barely perceptible shake of his head, meaning he would tell King later when we didn’t have visitors.
King turned to me. “What do you want to do, Banshee?”
“I want to make sure my niece is safe. And I want Steele’s head on a fucking platter.”
“I think it’s time to do what Reaper suggested and call the damn vote,” Cash said.
King picked up his phone; however, before he dialed, he said, “Not a fucking word from anyone.” He set the phone on the table and hit the speaker button.
“What do you want, King; I don’t have time for your bullshit.”
“You need to get your ass up here.”
“What the fuck for?”
“Because I have your fucking daughter, and someone tried to kill her. I expect you in two fucking days.” He ended the call before Steele could respond.
“Think he’ll show?” Gunner asked.
“I do. He doesn’t know which of his three daughters we have, but my guess is, he won’t want any of them talking,” King said.
“Three?” Kronos asked. “Kaylah only had two.”
“He has another daughter who is older than both Kinsley and Kyllian. One he fathered before he married Kaylah,” I explained.
Cash’s phone rang, and he answered immediately. He looked at King. “I’ll be right out to get him,” he said before he hung up. He leaned over and whispered to King, who cursed just as Cash left the room.
Someone was here. It wasn’t Steele. Even if he’d been at the Death Dogs’ clubhouse, it would have taken him an hour to make it to us. A moment later the door opened, and Cash walked in with the visitor.
Rhea gasped as Kronos jumped to his feet. “WHAT THE FUCK?!”
THE END