“She wouldn’t have done that,” Kyllian argued. Her voice was hard. Anger radiated from her as she looked at Angel.
“I know. I looked for you. All of you, for two years.” Angel put his hands in his pockets and looked at Kyllian through hooded eyes.
“Do you know what he did? What she suffered? What we all suffered?” she snapped, her raised voice getting the attention of Firestride, who moved quickly to where we stood.
“I do now,” Angel admitted. I felt his shame. It was something he and I had in common now. We both loved my sister and neither of us had protected her.
Kyllian crossed her arms over her chest just as Firestride stepped behind her and pulled her back against him with an arm around her waist.
“Kitten?” he said into her ear. The single word held the hint of a question. One if answered incorrectly meant Angel would follow Steele into the kiln out back. She moved her arms down until they covered Firestride’s.
“And what are you going to do about it?” she asked Angel.
“Nothing I can do; Banshee already killed the fucker.” I elbowed Angel as my eyes sought Declan. Thank God, he hadn’t heard him. There would only be so much the sheriff could do if he’d heard Angel’s declaration.
Kyllian’s arms dropped to her side as she looked at me. “When?”
“Yesterday,” I said, my voice low.
Kyllian threw herself at me, and I held her close. Between killing Pepper and Steele, I’d finally gotten something right for the women in my life.
“Kyllian,” Angel said. “I need to ask you a question.”
My niece stepped back away from me, and Firestride was waiting to pull her into his arms. The way he held her, the way he looked at Angel, as if he was waiting for him to fuck up, gave me a little bit of relief that maybe she was safe. That maybe she was loved.
“What?” I watched Angel’s face fall at the tone of her voice. She hadn’t forgiven him. Maybe she never would.
Angel hesitated. He rubbed the back of his neck, and I knew he was afraid to ask the question. Once he knew the truth, there was no going back.
“Get the fuck on with it,” Firestride growled.
Angel looked at me, and I nodded. I needed to know the answer as much as he did, because if my sister had another child out there somewhere, I needed to find them. Make sure they were safe.
“When you all disappeared... Kay was pregnant.” Angel closed his eyes and swallowed. “Did she have the baby?”
Kyllian’s eyes widened as she leaned back further into Firestride’s embrace. The tightness and worry in my heart eased at the sight. She felt safe with him. Whether he loved her or not, he treated her well enough that he was a safe place for her to land.
Something she’d never had in her life until now.
Kyllian nodded. But she didn’t speak right away. Angel opened his mouth to ask a question, and Firestride glared at him.
“Sweetheart, can you tell me what happened to the baby?” I asked.
“I don’t know. It was a girl; Kaitlyn Grace was what Mama called her. But Knuckles wouldn’t let us keep her.”
“FUCK!” Angel shouted and turned around to slam his hand on the bar top. He leaned his elbows on the wood and held his head in his hands. “She could be fucking anywhere,” he muttered.
“We’ll find her,” I assured him.
His head snapped up, and he scowled at me. “How, Banshee? How the fuck will we find her? We have absolutely fucking nothing to go on.”
“I don’t know, but fate stepped in and brought me Kyllian.” I didn’t have the first clue how to go about looking for a child who might not even be alive. “I have to believe that fate will do its thing again. I never stopped looking for my sister, and I won’t stop looking for her daughter.”
“You’ll find her?” Kyllian asked.
I turned back to my niece. I wouldn’t touch her; not while Firestride’s arms were around her, but I wanted to hug her and assure her that I would look for Kaitlyn until my dying day.
“I will do everything humanly possible to find her.”
