Page 63 of Banshee
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and looked up at him. “She’ll tell them where I am. She’ll tell them I’m here.”
He pulled me up off the floor and held me against him.
“I will always protect you,” he whispered, as a soft knock filled the room.
“Aspen, are you okay?”
I shook my head. I quickly brushed my teeth and met Haizley and Banshee in the room. I bit my lip as I played with the hem of my shirt.
“What happened?” Haizley asked.
“Her sister is here,” Banshee supplied, knowing I couldn’t speak yet. He cradled my face in his hands and tilted my head until I was looking into his eyes. “I’m gonna go downstairs and find out what’s going on. Talk to Haizley.”
I nodded. As he left the room, I looked at Haizley and burst into tears. She quickly drew me in close. We sat on the bed, and she held me against her as I cried.
Chapter Twenty-One
Aspen
I spent two hours with Haizley, talking about my sister and my family. How her being here would affect my life, and the life of the club.
When Banshee finally came back upstairs, he explained everything. Mimic and Kytten were her children. I had been living with my niece and nephew and never knew. Not to mention my brother-in-law.
I had her whole family here with me.
Diana had met Bane when she went to college in New York City. They’d fallen in love and gotten married without telling my parents, or our brother.
Zeus would be devastated when he learned Diana had gotten married without him. Though I understood why she’d done it. Our father would never allow her to marry a Soulless Sinner.
I’d thought Bane and Valhalla were soulmates. They had children together. Children they hadn’t raised, but they had been together before he met my sister. There was so much in her story that was missing, and the only way I would understand it all was if I spoke with her.
But that meant telling her my story. Telling her about what our father did, what Pepper had done. What I did. How it was Valhalla who’d gotten me out; given me a new life.
I wasn’t sure I was ready for all that. But I knew Diana. She wouldn’t wait long. I still needed to tell King about the money.
I lay on the bed with Banshee’s arms around me. Here I was safe. In our bubble, no one else had access. I wanted to live in this room forever.
“You have to talk to her.”
“I know,” I said with a dramatic sigh. “I just don’t know how. She’s been gone so long. Neither of us are the same people we were the last time we were together. I was eight years old, for crying out loud. Now I’m an adult. And she has adult children.” I sat up and looked at him. “How do I do this? How do I tell her what happened? She’ll hate him.”
“You aren’t responsible for her emotions.”
“It’s not that simple, Banshee. She was everything to my father. And he was everything to her. I can’t be the reason there is a wedge between them. I can’t give him another reason to hate me.”
“Baby girl, first, he doesn’t hate you. Don’t get me wrong, I want to punch him in the fucking throat for what he did, but he doesn’t hate you.” He pulled me back against his chest. “Second, I’m pretty sure Bane will be the reason there is a wedge between your father and your sister. Kronos will lose his shit when he finds out they’re married.”
I turned my head back to look at him.
“Why does that make you smile?”
“Because he fucking deserves it. I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he learns the truth.”
“I can,” I muttered. “It means he’ll be here. And he’ll know everything.”
“Baby girl, the war has already started. It had nothing to do with you.”
I knew he was right. But I knew my father. Or at least, I thought I did. He knew Pepper had put me in the hospital, and he did nothing. I was foolish in thinking he would go scorched earth for me now.
