*
Jullien came awake to a vicious pain in his skull, and a worse one in his leg and chest. Blinking slowly to try to clear his blurred vision, he found himself facedown on the floor of a filthy, overcrowded cell.
"Look who's finally coming to. Welcome back to Tophet, royal prick."
Someone kicked him hard in the ribs.
Jullien cursed as he tasted blood and bile.
Someone else stomped his arm and back, while another kicked his head.
"Stop it! Let the boy alone!"
"Let him alone? He and his kind are why we're in here." The speaker spat on him. "Anatole filth!"
"I say we hang the royal bastard!"
Dazed from the pain, Jullien forced himself to stand before they pummeled or stomped him to death on the ground. But it was hard. He stood in the middle of the crowd on shaky legs, especially the one he'd been shot in. That one really protested his weight.
He struggled to stay conscious as a male grabbed him from behind and another from the front. He kicked the one in front first, knocking him into the arms of another, then turned and backhanded the other. That male staggered away.
More rushed him from all directions.
Reacting on pure animal instinct, Jullien ducked the next blow, caught the male's arm and punched his throat, then head-butted him, causing him to stumble away. He caught the next attacker by his throat and snapped his neck.
Then they were on him like a pack of wild dogs. Fists, claws, fangs. They used whatever they could to bring him down as quickly and painfully as possible.
He shoved his attackers away as best he could, but the sheer number of them was overwhelming. He stumbled sideways, trying to escape them. Which caused his shirt to rip and temporarily bind his arms as he tried to free himself from their cloying grasps. Twisting, he pulled his arms out and moved to defend.
With a collective, audible gasp, they drifted away to gape at him.
Weak and bleeding, Jullien fell to one knee. Determined to see this through, he ground his teeth and forced his wounded body to stand again. By the gods, he wouldn't die on the ground. He would go out like a Samari.
On his feet. Fighting.
A shadow approached from behind.
Jullien turned, ready to strike with everything he had. Only it wasn't another attacker. It was an older nobleman.
Saren ezul Terronova. One of his grandmother's former advisors.
And the leader of WAR--Warriors Against Royalty. Back when his grandmother was tadara, it had been a resistance group that attempted to overthrow her.
With Jullien's help, they'd finally succeeded.
Jullien had once made weekly reports to this male. A male who now stared in total shock and dismay at the tattoo on his forearm.
"No," Saren breathed raggedly. "You can't be the one. It's just not possible. Is it?" He took Jullien's arm and brushed his hand over the War Hauk symbol. "You are Dagger Ixur?"
Jullien nodded weakly. "You were my main point-of-contact, even though my handler was technically Kerell eton Zeki."
"What's that mean?" one of the others asked.
Saren stared at the males around him. "It means that I will personally gut the next one who lays a claw or gives so much as a dirty look to this boy." He pulled his jacket off and wrapped it around Jullien's shoulders. "Find me something to bind his wounds with."
Jullien scoffed at his offer. "There's no need to waste valuable supplies on me. Eriadne won't let me live long enough for it to matter."
As if on cue, the doors of their cell slid open to admit a circle of guards. With trilassos, they collared Jullien and dragged him from the cell.
Laughing, Jullien grabbed the long pole and used it to ram the first guard into the wall. Then he whipped it around to trip the second, but before he could go after more, they opened fire on him with their service blasters.
Still Jullien tried to reach them before his nervous system gave out.
Relentless bastards stunned him to the ground. His breathing ragged, he coughed and wheezed in an effort to get air into either set of his lungs. Unfortunately, that cost him, as it drained his powers down to nothing. The pain was so great, he no longer had enough power to even disguise his eyes.
Saren gasped at the red color and stepped back. "You're stralen? How?"
"Sucks to be a mutant," Jullien choked. "Genes do all kinds of unexpected things." He had no power left in him at all.
"Little Julie ... you uncooperative bastard. And here we all thought you dead. You have the most inconvenient timing."
Still choking, he glanced up at Nyran and laughed. "I strive to be the bug in your ass, kyzi. Your own personal hemorrhoid."
"You succeed. Now you can either come with me quietly or I'll have my brothers open fire on your entire family." Nyran turned the pad in his hands around so that Jullien could see a live feed at the Port StarStation.
Jullien went cold at the sight of Ushara and his daughters, who were blissfully playing, unaware that the Veniks were watching them through their station cameras. "You hurt them--"
"Save the threat for someone who gives a shit." He jerked his chin at his guards. "Cuff him and bring him."
Saren met his gaze. "You're not alone."
Jullien would appreciate the sentiment more if he wasn't about to die a horrible death at the hands of his grandmother. Unfortunately, the majority of doorways in life were designed to be walked through solo.
Death was the biggest of all. It was the one trip that everyone took alone.
And he wasn't a coward.
After the guards had him secured, they dragged him down the hall, to his grandmother's makeshift throne room. Oh yeah, fun times. He well remembered this. Brought back some thrilling childhood trauma he could have waited a lifetime to remember.
When Jullien refused to kneel before her, they kicked his wounded leg. Still, he remained standing, even though it was killing him.
Yeah, he was just that minsid stubborn.
Eriadne's nostrils flared as she glared at him. "Ever defiant, aren't you?"
He gave her a pleasant smile. "Hello, Yaya."
She backhanded him.
Damn, for an old bitch, her strength hadn't faded, at all. Nonchalantly licking the blood from his lips, he stood up slowly and acted as if she'd kissed him. He even flipped his hair back into place. Nothing pissed her off more than for him to act like her cruelty didn't faze him.
He knew exactly how to push her buttons.
And so he appeared completely bored. He even yawned.
Which caused her to shriek in fury. "You worthless, piece-of-shit bastard! I gave you everything, and how did you repay me?"
"With the same, exact treachery I learned at your cold, decrepit hands. Hard to be kind when I suckled venom from the withered tit of the ancient bitch of all evil, herself."
Shrieking again, she moved in to stab him.
But Jullien wasn't through with his surprises. He took a deep breath and used everything Ushara had taught him to pool the Samari blood inside.
As soon as they were close enough, he unleashed the hottest fire he'd ever spewed before.
Nyran screamed in agony as he stepped back and dropped to the floor to roll around in an effort to put out the flames.
Eriadne was harder to pin.
With a combination of his telekinesis and his cyber arm, Jullien broke the cuffs and gave chase to her as she fled the room. Her guards came for him, but he fought them off. His only goal was to finish this, once and for all.
He couldn't leave her alive. Not this time.
One of them had to die.
As they opened fire on him, he hit the ground and skidded on his knees, turning so that he could return their volley with his fyrebreath. At the end of the corridor, he rolled for cover into another nearby hallway.
Nyran continued to scream, letting him know the bastard wasn't dead yet.
"Come on, Eriadne," he called out for her. "You wanted a piece of my flesh. Come get
some."
"I should have killed you when you were born!"
"Probably. Would have saved us both a lot of trouble."
"I would have made you the greatest tadar Andaria has ever known!"
Jullien snorted. "I'd have rather you just left me alone, bitch. But I do have to thank you for one gift." He turned the corner to find her hiding there. "The ability to move and function while I'm in excruciating pain."
Her eyes widened as she realized he was about to spew fire all over her.
Just as he opened his mouth to release it, someone wrapped a wire-collar around his neck and jerked him off his feet. Wheezing, and kicking as hard as he could, he tried desperately to pull it off, but couldn't.
"You want me to kill him, Marastrada?" her guard asked as he put his foot on the center of Jullien's chest.
"Yes! There's no one left alive who matters enough to make his living worth our headache. Kill the bastard, and send his bloody heart back to his whore."
CHAPTER 40
Thraix felt sick as he came off the ship to meet Unira and the Altaans with no Jullien. The only thing that made him feel remotely better was the sight of Mary's happy face as she ran to him. He grabbed her into a fierce hug and let her warmth soothe the guilt and fear in his tattered soul.
She alone comforted him.
Petran scowled at the royalty they had in tow, but didn't really comment on their presence. "Did Dagger divert to meet up with Ushara?"
Sick to his stomach, Thraix tightened his hold on Mary. Damn, this was the last thing he wanted to do, and it was a lot harder than he'd anticipated. In spite of their gruffness, Petran and Vidarri both loved and respected Jullien. They'd already lost too many members of their family in this war.
He hated bringing more bad news home to them.
But delaying it would only make it worse.
So he drew a deep breath and braced himself for the fallout. "Jules was captured during our escape."
Katira gasped and covered her heart with her hands. "What?"
"You let them take my son?" Unira gave each of Jullien's parents in turn a shaming glare. "What happened?"
"Your son?" Cairistiona arched a haughty brow. "I beg your pardon?"
Unira refused to be intimidated even by the tadara of Andaria. "Beg pardon all you want, Ixurian. You are the one Andarion I will never give it to. Not after what you've done to my child. How dare you abandon him yet again! What kind of mother leaves her child behind to seek her own safety? You're not worthy of motherhood. How could you be so cold?"
"Where's Basha Dagger?" Nadya came running with her sisters up to Thraix, Axl, Dimitri, and Davel. "You can't let him get hurt! Go get him back! Now!"
Jay and Oxana stepped forward. "We can have a strike team assembled immediately."
Thraix flinched. "We don't know where he is. Or where to begin looking."
"What do you mean, you don't know?" Katira stalked toward them. "Track him."
Thraix pulled Jullien's link out of his coat. "Little bastard dropped it in my pocket while he said good-bye. I didn't discover it until after we'd launched. He must have done it to keep the Andarions from using it to locate his family."
Katira choked on a sob. "I can't bury another child. And I refuse to watch Ushara go through the pain of losing her heart. This will kill her!"
His old eyes steeled by determination, Vidarri scratched at his chin. "Rally every member of this Nation and Jupiter and Chayden. This is Dagger we're talking about. We will find him if we have to bomb that damn planet and her effing Ixurian race into oblivion! No one will take our Dagger from us! No one! Damn them all to Tophet!"
Darling stepped forward. "You have the full backing of my army. I have no intention of leaving him stranded after what he did for us. The Sentella, too. Tell me what you need, and I'll have it assembled immediately."
Vidarri clapped him on the arm so hard, Darling actually staggered sideways. "Good man, you. Come, Majesty. We've much to do to get our Dagger back."
*
Ushara knew the instant she landed at her Cyperian base station that something wasn't right. The bay was too active, and everyone appeared to be upset and out of sorts. Short-tempered. Even Sheila was more cross than usual.
More than that, there was a strange mood in the air. A deep sense of foreboding. She watched as The Sentella and The Andarions she'd brought with her from the Port StarStation disembarked from their ships. They seemed as skittish as she did.
Until a herd of unknown children came rushing forward with happy cries.
"Daddy!"
"Mama!"
"Dada!"
Suddenly, the whole place exploded with activity as Nykyrian's, Caillen's, Darling's, Syn's, and Maris's families ran into the hangar bay to greet them.
Ushara was completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of them, especially since they merged with the already large number of Sentella family she'd been escorting.
It was truly impressive.
Dancer Hauk's daughter Kalea ran from her father's arms to embrace a little blond boy named Jayce while Dancer's other son, Darice greeted Nykyrian's eldest daughter.
Seeking her own family in the mix, Ushara scowled. Darice walked past her with Fain Hauk's son and daughter, War and Vega, to introduce them to the rest of The Sentella's children. Apparently, Fain Hauk's brood had never met their cousins before.
Before long, they were mixing like old friends.
Ushara wasn't sharing their happiness. In fact, she became more worried as each second went by and she saw nothing of Jullien or his crew.
Determined to kick his rear section for this undue stress, she headed to Darling Cruel. He was the only one currently here she knew on sight who had been with them. "Where's Jullien?"
That sobered his happy group instantly.
Vasili came to stand at her back while Trajen picked up Mira and held Viv's hand. And that alone told her this wasn't going to be something she wanted to hear.
She glanced at him, but he refused to meet her gaze. Suddenly, Cairistiona approached her.
Bad timing, bitch. Because all she wanted right now was to punch the tadara for all she'd done to Jullien. And if he'd been hurt while rescuing her ...
"It's an honor to meet you, daughter. You are as beautiful as Jullien said you were."
Like that matters? What is wrong with her?
Ushara swallowed hard. "Where is he?" she growled, fighting every part of her being so that she didn't jump an old Andarion in front of her children and start beating on her like a Ring fighter.
The tadara bit her lip as tears welled in her eyes.
"He's here ... right?" Ushara looked past them. "Jullien! This isn't funny!" she snarled. "Show yourself! I mean it!" Approaching her slowly, Aros cleared his throat. He tried to speak, but he couldn't.
It was Nykyrian's wife, Kiara, who took Ushara's hand. "He distracted our pursuers so that we could get safely away. He said to tell you not to worry. That he wouldn't break your heart."
I'm going to kill him! Beat him until he bleeds!
Aros finally found his voice. But he didn't speak to her. Only to his son. The one he'd chosen over Jullien, who he'd thrown once more to the dogs.
The one he'd left to die.
"He saved Kiara's and Zarina's lives, Nykyrian. And mine. None of us would be here without him."
And how did you repay him? You abandoned him! Again! Ushara's vision clouded as those words lodged themselves in her throat. She glanced to her son and daughters. Only they kept her calm on the outside. Otherwise, she'd have already blasted every person in front of her.
Starting with her wretched in-laws.
His eyes telegraphing anger, Nykyrian kissed Kiara's hand as he stepped back. "Ready my fighter!" he announced to the nearest ground crew member.
Kiara visibly cringed at those words, but she didn't try to stop him.
Dancer's blond, human wife, Sumi, who was almost as far along with her pregnancy as Ushara, turned to face her A
ndarion husband. "I know..." She kissed him. "Do not get hurt. If you do, I'm naming your son something awful in your absence."
He laughed.
Shahara handed her sleeping son to Ture and kissed his cheek. "We'll be back."
Syn kissed his son's head before he took Shahara's hand and headed after Nykyrian and Dancer.
Maris Xans-Sulle hesitated at the tormented look on Ture's face. "I'm sorry, baby. I have to go."
Ture nodded. "I know. Be careful what you wish for. I wanted a soldier. I should have said I wanted an artist. Just remember, it's really hard to get blood out of your uniform."
Maris kissed him, then Shahara's young son, Devyn, and his own son, Terek. "I'll be home soon. I promise."
"I know you will. Otherwise, I'll send Zarya after you, and you won't like that."
The Caronese empress, Zarya, kissed Maris's cheek before he left. She held Darling's hand when he started to leave, keeping him by her side for a moment longer. "I hate for you to fight without me."
"I know. You're the better shot, but you haven't been cleared for battle yet. And you're still nursing. If I could feed Cezar in your stead, I'd let you go, but I think our son would be seriously pissed at us both if I tried to suckle him."
"You're not funny."
With one last kiss, Darling left them to join his brethren. Desideria growled in equal frustration at her brother and then her husband. "It's not fair!"
Caillen Dagan kissed her and then his daughter and infant son. "Don't worry. Shahara will nag me to death before I ever get hurt. She still thinks I'm five years old."
Chayden gave his sister, Desideria, a light hug. "I know, sis. Guard your man-meat from harm. Don't worry. If anyone kills Caillen, I want the honors."
Ushara almost laughed at something that Jullien would have said about the male himself.
Before he left, Chayden came over and gave her a light kiss. "Don't worry, we'll bring the Dagger home."
A large mountain of a Qill male signed to her something Ushara couldn't translate. Then he ran after the others.
"I love all of you!" Desideria called after them. "Come back soon!"
Another human male, Hadrian, began protesting, but Jayne Erixour forced him to stay with their kids so that she could leave with the others to find Jullien.