Page 84 of Banshee
“We can go outside. There are chairs all around the backyard.” I looked at the church doors. “There’s no telling how long they’ll be.” I had never seen King as mad as he was. I wondered what shape Nav would be in when he finally emerged.
Banshee went over to tell Gunner where we were going. And I followed my sister and her family outside. Mimic led the way to the backyard, and my brother’s men grabbed the Adirondackchairs that were spread out and put them close together in a circle.
“Shug, think your hell beast could stay inside?” my brother asked.
“Absolutely not. Where I go, he goes.”
I brushed past him and grabbed a chair. Banshee took my hand and pulled me out, taking my place and pulling me down on his lap, and Diesel laid at my feet.
I sat quietly as my sister shared everything with my parents. My father and brother both cussed and shouted as she told them about George Stone and everything he had done. Diesel growled when they got too loud, and they quieted quickly, not willing to risk his wrath.
They didn’t know he was really a teddy bear.
When it was Kytten’s turn to tell her story, she took a deep breath and looked toward the front of the clubhouse.
“You can wait for Cash,” I told her, knowing he was her rock.
Diesel, hearing my voice, stood up and walked over, climbing on top of Kytten. He was almost as big as she was, but he settled comfortably on her lap, his head on the flat arm of the wooden chair. Kytten laughed through her tears as she told her story, all the while running her hands over Diesel’s body.
My father stood from his seat and walked away as Kytten finished telling them about Valhalla and Syrena. She’d excluded the part where Valhalla and Dakota Stone had kidnapped her. Bane reached over, taking Kytten’s hand as my mother assured her that he would be back in a moment.
“He’s having a hard time.”
I scoffed, and Banshee squeezed my hip.
“Irene—”
“Mom, she wishes to be called Aspen,” my sister corrected.
“But her name—”
“It doesn’t matter,” Diana said. “Her name is now Aspen.”
My mother inhaled deeply and nodded. We sat quietly and waited for my father to return. When he did, he sat down and pulled my mother onto his lap.
“And you, Thorne?” my mother asked. “Would you tell us your story?”
“No.”
That was all he said, and I smiled. I’d gotten to know Mimic since living at the clubhouse. Well, as much as he let anyone know him; he wasn’t easily swayed. Even Kytten had a hard time getting him to open up, and she was his favorite person.
Aside from Indie, of course.
“These are your grandparents, Mimic,” Indie whispered to him.
“So?”
“They’re family,” she hissed.
Mimic looked at me, then Zeus and then my parents. “I’ll add Aspen and my mother. The rest can fuck off.”
“Disrespectful little shit,” Bane cursed, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“I’ll take you too, Mimic.” I smiled at him, knowing he wouldn’t smile back. It was enough that he counted me with his mother. I wouldn’t push for more. I understood Mimic more than most people did.
“Thorne, would it be alright if I shared your story with them?” my sister asked.
“No,” he answered.
