His features softened. "I owe the commander a debt that can never be repaid. And I know how much he zealously guards his privacy. From everyone. The last thing I would ever do is hurt or upset him ... not out of fear, but respect."
"You love him?"
Gavarian inclined his head to Fain. "He's family to me. And where I come from, that term means something."
Family ... that word tugged at Fain's memory as he read the lineage name on Gavarian's formal dress uniform. While Andarion hard battlesuits and field uniforms had the names of high caste soldiers who could be used as political hostages by their enemies attached with patch strips that could be pulled off whenever they went into action, formal uniforms had their names stitched in. The assumption being that the formal uniforms were only worn in areas where their soldiers weren't as likely to be taken. "Ezul Terronova? Are you related to Lorens?"
"My father." Gavarian narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You know him?"
"He was friends with my older brother, Keris. Long time ago. Good male. I trust he's well?"
That succeeded in melting some of the polar ice caps from the major. "He is, indeed."
"Still in the armada?"
Gavarian shook his head. "Retired seven years ago."
That news surprised Fain and filled him with dread. "Why so young? He wasn't injured, was he?"
"No, sir. My grandfather retired as one of the tadara's advisors, so my father stepped in to replace him."
That made sense. As he recalled, Lorens's father had been a bit older than most Andarion males when he'd finally settled down and had his children. "Glad to hear it. Out of the males Keris ran with, Lorens was the only one I respected." He swept a gaze over Gavarian. "You must take after your mother."
Gavarian grinned sheepishly. "That's what they tell me."
Fain laughed as he realized how that had sounded. "Sorry. Wasn't trying to insult you. I meant in looks, only."
"It's fine. I'm used to being mocked and belittled. Had a steady diet of it from birth."
Shocked by those words from someone whose bloodline would rival the queen's, Fain stared at him. Unless Andaria had changed a lot since he left, no one should have dared insult someone with Gavarian's rank and caste.
Gavarian laughed at his confusion. "I have a younger brother. Three older sisters, and more male cousins than anyone should ever be cursed with. None of whom pull punches with me or respect my birth order."
"Ah. Got it. Siblings and cousins can be their own special kind of hell."
"You know it." Gavarian frowned and tapped his ear. "Major Terronova," he said, letting Fain know that he was answering a call.
Fain stepped back to give him privacy. While he waited, he went over the transmission and saw red. That was entirely too much private information for the wrong parties. He didn't like the thought of anyone knowing where his family was, at any time. Nothing good could come of it.
This was war and The League was after their lives. All of them. Especially anyone with ties to The Sentella's High Command, which was Dancer, Nykyrian, and Jayne.
His gaze went to Gavarian. Barely two years younger than Talyn, he was in the height of his youth. They were all too young to die. It was the one thing he'd always hated most about war. The young paid the steepest price for the pride of the old.
Too many years of saying good-bye to friends and family had soured him on the whole bloody business of it.
Gavarian returned to his side with a strange expression.
"Something wrong?"
"It was my brother. Apparently, he's been assigned to the unit that's escorting your brother and sister-in-law here."
Fain arched his brow, uncertain why that caused the ire in the major's voice. "Why does that upset you? Don't you like your brother?"
"Adore him. It's the other cargo he's been assigned to that I have to keep from the commander that concerns me."
"How so?"
Gavarian's gaze turned to steel. "You should be warned that the commander doesn't like surprises, at all. And if he can't get ahold of his female on a daily basis, he will panic. You should probably tell him that she's coming."
"That would spoil the surprise."
"Let me reiterate that the commander doesn't like surprises. And I doubt this one will endear you to him. You said you wanted to know your son better, Commander.... I can promise you this amount of stress isn't the best way to go about it. He won't appreciate it. You should tell him Felicia's en route. Save you both a lot of pain."
Before Fain could comment, the door opened to admit Talyn and Galene. She drew up short the moment she realized he was in the room.
For a full minute, Fain couldn't catch his breath as he saw her there in her tight workout clothes and glistening skin. Her braids were pulled back, exposing a wealth of sexy neck that had never failed to drive him crazy with lust as he ached to brush his lips down the entire length of her throat. Even as kids, he'd told her that on their unification day, he wanted her hair worn down, otherwise he wasn't sure he'd make it through the ceremony without embarrassing them both. And right now, he was rather sure he was drooling all over himself.
Galene froze as her gaze met Fain's. Honestly, she hated how hot and gorgeous he was in the dim light. How much his commanding presence affected her. It was getting harder and harder to remember why she didn't like him. Especially when he had that adorable bashful expression he only had around her. He was so arrogant and in charge with everyone else. Ruthless and powerful. Only she had the ability to take the cock out of his walk.
And that made him completely precious and irresistible.
Unable to meet her gaze, he handed the command band over to her. A tingle went up her arm as his fingers brushed against hers. Worse, it set her to trembling. In that moment, all she wanted was to taste those lips and have him hold her like he did all those years ago.
Stop it, Galene. You're not a child. You know better than to put your faith in hopeless sagas of heroes and fairy tales. And especially in the hands of a male who has already betrayed you.
Life was brutal. She knew that better than anyone.
And they had serious business to attend to. "Thank you, Fain." Dismissing her useless sentimentality, she snapped the band around her wrist and moved to review the transmissions Talyn and Gavarian had intercepted. While she did so, Gavarian had the two captains leave the room for their breaks and he jammed any unwanted signals or video that might be set to overhear their conversation.
Are you sure you trust the major? Fain signed to her out of his sight.
Galene smiled at his concern. "I consider Vari another son."
Gavarian took his suspicion in stride as he set the last of the jammers. "It's all right if Hauk doubts me, Commander. I'm a stranger to him. He knows nothing of our history together."
"Meaning what?" Fain asked.
Talyn passed a knowing smirk to Gavarian. "If you knew us, you'd understand the loyalty we have to each other. Out of the four of us, you're the one who's untested."
Fain went ramrod stiff at that.
"It's not a stab at you," Talyn said drily. "Merely a statement of fact. Now we have lethal matters to address. The League is after The Sentella and appears to be targeting your immediate families for murder."
Fain sighed heavily. "We knew that was coming."
"Yeah, but this..." Talyn handed him a chip. "Is detailed information on where they're located at present, and their upcoming schedules. Case in point, I didn't even know your brother was expecting a baby or that Caillen de Orczy just had a son a few weeks ago. Never mind that his wife, Desideria, is currently residing at the Andarion Palace with Darling's wife and Maris Sulle's son and husband, along with all of Nykyrian's children and current wife, as well as Syn's son and wife. Or that their rooms were moved earlier today to a more secured part of the palace."
Honestly, Fain hadn't known all that either. "That is highly disturbing."
Gavarian nodded. "There are also schematics for the Carones
e Winter Palace, the main Sentella base, and information on Syn's in-laws, and Cruel's brothers and sister. Even Jayne's grandmother and aunt are listed here, as well as her daughters' schools. It appears they're planning one massive blitz on everyone, all at once."
"So that if they don't get one of you, they'll take out enough of your families to gut you all. Period."
Fain winced at something that would definitely take down Sentella High Command. Even though the commanders weren't related by blood, they were united in a friendship tighter than any familial bond. "We have to let them know what's going on. I can fly out on my ship, which is secure to Sentella lines, and transmit. Tell The Tavali I'm doing a patrol. No one will suspect anything. Even if they pick up the secured transmission, they'll assume I'm talking to Dancer or Ryn. No one will question that."
"What if you can't reach them all?" Galene asked.
"I keep going out until I do. I'm not about to let them get blindsided by this."
Gavarian crossed his arms over his chest. "You'll need a wing with you. Otherwise, their traitor could turn you in for their crime. Use you to goat them. At this point, everyone needs to watch their ass and no one needs to do anything suspicious, without an alibi and a witness."
Fain shook his head. "I'll chance it. The only one I trust with my life is my brother, and he's not here. No offense, but I'm not revealing Sentella hailing codes to anyone."
"I'll go with you, then."
They all turned to stare at Galene.
"Ah, hell no," Talyn growled.
Smiling, she caressed her son's cheek. "It's fine, keramon. If he behaves inappropriately, I'll let you know."
Talyn curled his lip in distaste. "I still don't like it." He narrowed his gaze at Fain. "Don't you dare crack a smile about this."
"Wouldn't dream of it." But inside, Fain had to admit he was grinning ear to ear at the prospect of being alone with her. He just wished the circumstances were less dire. That was the only thing that allowed him to temper his joy.
A tic started in Talyn's jaw. "I need to get back to work."
Fain inclined his head to him. "We'll head out to hail my brother and as many of the others as we can."
Talyn glanced over to Gavarian. "Major, go with the commander and--"
"No," Galene said, cutting Talyn off. "Vari, stay with the commander and guard his back."
By the stony expression on Gavarian's face that somehow managed to convey his sudden onset of irritation, Fain could tell this wasn't the first time he'd been caught between them.
The major let them bicker for several minutes before he cleared his throat. "Can I grab a sandwich and bathroom break while you two discuss the rest of my shift?"
That succeeded in cracking the sternness from Galene's features. "You're both awful. Keep your major, Talyn. I don't want you alone on this station until we know who our enemies really are. I trust Fain with my safety. If you don't want to think of my sanity where you're concerned, think of Felicia's. Don't make me put a call in to her about your reckless behavior. You know I will." She wagged a warning finger at him.
Gavarian burst out laughing, then quickly covered it with a cough when Talyn glared at his adjutant. "Sorry, Commander."
"Fine..." Talyn ground his teeth as Gavarian took up his seat on the other side of Talyn and began monitoring the scanners.
Galene wiped at the sweat on her neck. "Can I grab a shower on your ship?"
Fain had to force himself not to react to the image of her naked in his room that question evoked in his mind. Yeah, she was a cruel Andarion. "Sure."
She passed the command band over to Talyn. "I'll grab a change of clothes and meet you in the hangar in a few minutes."
Before Fain could regain enough brain activity to do anything more than sputter, she was gone and he was facing his son's furious glower.
"Don't you dare make her cry."
That boy was never going to see anything but the worst in him. Sadly, he had a bad feeling there was nothing he could do about that. "I have no intention of it."
Talyn sighed in aggravation as he watched his father leave. Alone with Gavarian, he was torn between his military obligation and the need he had to make sure Hauk kept a respectful distance from his mother's heart. If Hauk said or did anything to her ... he'd paint the walls with his father's blood.
"This is strange."
"What?" He turned back toward Gavarian.
He held the earpiece out for Talyn. "It's about Commander Hauk. Did you know he was renting space on the station for a female and her male dependent? Someone named Vega Jaswinder."
Talyn went cold at those words. "Excuse me?"
His features stern, Gavarian nodded. "It's in the latest transmission out to The League. According to this, Hauk has a long-term relationship with the woman, and makes regular visits to her living quarters for about an hour at a time, twice a week, whenever he's in residence." Gavarian screwed his face up. "I don't want to gossip about someone, T, but to me, that sounds an awful lot like Andarion rec time."
Yeah, it did. And as Talyn reviewed the transmission, he cursed under his breath. Gavarian was right.
If this was correct, Fain Hauk had a Tavali mistress. And Talyn was going to kick the male's ass all the way back to Andaria for it.
CHAPTER 7
Fain slowed as he neared his ship and saw two female Andarion pilots coming in from patrol. A group of six Tavali males were trailing after them, catcalling and harassing them as the females did their best to ignore the unwanted attention.
"What? You think you're too good for us?" The largest man cut the females off.
By the look on her face, she wasn't amused. Fain waited for her to tear the human male apart. But the Andarions were under strict orders not to start any incidents while here. And the one thing about the Andarion military ...
They followed orders. Come hell, high water.
And even stupid humans.
Then the man did the worst thing he could--he took her arm. While humans might freely touch each other without invitation, that wasn't done in Andarion culture. It was considered a vile intrusion of personal space, and punishable with harsh sentences in their law courts.
If you lived long enough to be reported for it, that was. And as bad as it was to touch a male uninvited, no male ever touched a female he wasn't related to. Even doctors and medical staff had to ask permission before they treated patients of the opposite sex.
"Hey!" Fain snapped as he quickly closed the distance between them. "What is this?"
The Tavali turned on him with an angry snarl, then relaxed. "Hey, Hauk," he said, mistaking Fain's words as a greeting. But at least he let go of the female's arm. "Want to join us for some fun?"
Both females eyed Fain with stoic curiosity. Since he was fully clothed and his Outcast scars were covered, they had no way of knowing he'd been thrown out of his family or what specific blood lineage he was tied to, since Hauk was a fairly common surname on Andaria. They treated him as any Andarion would one of unknown origin--with cool deference. They would do so until the proper family and lineage pecking order was established.
Their names, rank, and caste were on their battle helmets, which gave Fain a distinct advantage over them. Had he not been disinherited, he would have outranked them both socially and militarily. But that being said, they were both aristocrats from high-lineaged families and most likely pledged or married to males who were even higher ranked than they were.
Not that it mattered. No one should be subjected to this kind of hazing. Male, female, or unspecified.
"You're not in a bar and they're not slags trolling for creds. Show the taras respect or I'll show you a side of me you don't want to meet."
The tallest man stepped around the Andarion pilots to rudely invade Fain's personal space. A human move for intimidation. However, it was his eyes that widened as he realized he only reached Fain's shoulder and that Fain's height wasn't augmented by his footwear choice.
He was just that
damn huge.
With a sneer, he glanced to Fain's sleeve, where Tavali wore their National flags of allegiance, personal Canting and rank.
As a Rogue, Fain's uniform bore the UTC flag, and his Tavali Canting of a fanged skull, sickle, and commander's ribbon rocker.
"You should remember that you don't have a Nation backing you, Rogue. Rather, you rely on the good will of us all to keep you flying."
Yeah, right. That was a vast oversimplification of his status in their world. And highly untrue. The Tavali had a lot of money invested in their Rogues that they didn't have in the others. While not bound to the UTC the same way as the others, they were still extremely valuable to all the higher-ups. And not as easily replaced as the rest of the Tavali pilots.
But these Baits were too stupid to know that.
Fain snorted. "I don't rely on Jack or Shit. Least of all a human piece of waste. You want to try and strip my Canting, go for it. I'd love to have you in a Calibrim." Calibrim was a test of arms in a Tavali law court, overseen by their officers, and fought to the death. Very similar to the Andarion Ring fights Fain had literally cut his fangs on. Only difference was that the human pirates weren't nearly as fierce in battle.
They surrounded him.
"Why wait?" the shorter human goaded.
To Fain's shock, the two Andarion pilots took position at his back to let the humans know they would fight with Fain. Orders be damned.
"What's going on here?"
The sneer on the human's face turned salacious as he saw Galene in her workout clothes.
And that set off Fain's temper to a dangerous level. He grabbed the human by his jacket and slammed him hard against the ship nearest them. He struggled against Fain's iron grip only to learn just how strong an Andarion male really was.
"Let me educate you about Andarion culture," Fain growled at him in lethal warning. "Commander Batur is the blood mother of an Andarion prince, slag. That means you don't look at her. Ever. It's a death sentence to do so. On Andaria, females are venerated and you do not speak to a female until you have been deemed worthy and properly introduced to her by one of their males, or she speaks to you first. Furthermore, it is a male's place to ensure an Andarion female's safety, and we will rip the throat out of anyone who doesn't show our females their due respect. And while you might not like it, they are here under Venik's truce and at the behest of the UTC. All Nations. You will respect them and abide by their customs or so help me gods, I will force-feed your innards to every last one of you. Understood?"