Born of Vengeance

  "Not at all."

  "That Bastien was the only man who ever met you and Alura at the same time and then chose you. And that he was sexier than hell."

  "And the craziest lunatic ever born!" She definitely remembered saying that part.

  Kindel ignored her outburst as she continued. "Why do you think Alura did what she did to you and Bastien?"

  That was easy. She was a selfish bitch, but most of all ... "She wanted to be a visira."

  "In part. But mostly, it was to get back at Bastien for daring to love you and not her." With a gimlet stare, Kindel folded her arms over her chest. "You know why she testified against him?"

  And that was an even easier question to answer. "To save her own ass." It was what Alura was best at.

  "No." Fury glinted in Kindel's eyes. "Back then, she talked to me. Told me everything. Originally, she had planned to hide while Barnabas did his coup. What changed her mind, you ask? Bastien overheard you talking to Cinder about your breakup with Cedric. You remember that?"

  "Vaguely." He'd been an unimportant rebound. But it had cut her to the bone when he broke up with her after he found out about Rian. He'd been furious to learn she had a child and hadn't disclosed it to him on their first date.

  "Well, you can ask Cin to verify this. While talking to you, she turned around and saw Bastien's face. He looked as if he'd been gutted. At first, she thought he was feeling sorry for himself. Until she heard later that he'd gone to Cedric and beat the utter shit out of him for hurting you."

  Ember's jaw went slack. "You're kidding me."

  Kindel shook her head. "He made you cry so Bastien made him weep. When Alura found out who Bastien assaulted and he refused to tell her why, she put it together and was furious that he was still defending you. That he still loved you enough to care and go to jail for you. So she went to Barnabas and told him she'd do whatever he wanted to get back at her husband ... because he loved you, his ex-girlfriend, more than he loved her, his wife."

  Yeah, that sounded like something her sister would do. No one hurt Alura's feelings with impunity. "Does Bas know?"

  "I have no idea. But I thought you ought to, given what it cost him."

  She was right. And now she felt all the worse about it. "Thank you, Kiki."

  Leaving her sister, Ember headed for Bastien, who was laughing with a tall, dark-haired Qill who must be the Chayden Bastien had mentioned earlier. By his Tavali patch, she saw he was a Rogue pilot.

  "Psycho Bunny?" she asked as soon as she saw the name on his patch.

  He laughed good-naturedly over his call sign. "Chayden Aniwaya ... although, Psycho Bunny is much easier to pronounce."

  Bastien clapped him on the back, letting her know they were close, too. "They were just explaining to me how they blew our League friends out of the sky."

  "Yeah," Jupiter said with a wicked grin. "You missed one hell of a great dogfight, Cabarro. You should have been there, cade."

  "Well, my ship was, during one fight ... without me."

  Now it was Fain's turn to laugh. "You know, when I first heard that story from Drake, I thought you were in it, till I realized you're not quite that crazy. How much explosive did you load on it?"

  "I was hoping enough to take them all out. Epic fail to that."

  Ryn, who was even in height with Bastien, shook his auburn head. "You've been hanging out with my little brother too long. I thought only Darling was that reckless with explosives."

  "Really?" Bastien asked drily. "'Cause Dancer Hauk was the one who blew my base to smithereens. I'm still pissed about that."

  Fain snorted. "You? I still can't believe my brother did that, given how much he hates explosives and explosions. Says it all about how worried he must have been."

  "Given the fact that we were responsible for Nyk's beloved daughter at the time? I'd risk the explosion, too."

  "Truth to that." Chayden laughed. "You weren't there when I helped escort Thia here for her new assignment. I don't think any of us breathed until we were clear of Sentella-controlled space and made sure Nyk wasn't trailing after us, target-locked."

  "Speaking of being target-locked..." Fain glanced around the group. "Has Ryn told you?"

  "What?"

  "We've got intel on Barnabas from Syn. We're all planning to go with you to fight him."

  Bastien gaped. "Suddenly, I feel so loved." Then he grinned, but only for a second, until it melted into a frown. "I can't believe you'd risk your lives for me and mine."

  Ryn snorted. "You didn't think we were going to let you fight alone?"

  "Um, yeah." Bastien inclined his head to Ryn. "Don't you have a baby to tend?"

  "Not yet. And it was either I come to back Jory in this fight, or Mack would have come. So I docked her with my mom and flew right out as I don't want my pregnant wife doing something profoundly stupid while protecting her lunatic brother."

  Bastien snorted at the mention of Ryn's headstrong wife. "Gutsy."

  "Yeah, not really. Mack and my mom scare me, they get along so well. I keep waiting to get booted out of the family."

  "That's 'cause you married your mom."

  Fain and Jory turned to glare at Chayden for his comment.

  "What?" Chayden said innocently. "Oh, c'mon! I cannot possibly be the only one who's noticed that Mack and Hermione are basically the same person. They look alike. Dress alike. Even move alike."

  Jory slapped him hard in the stomach, then between gritted teeth said in a loud whisper, "We don't talk about that! Ach, cade, are you insane?"

  "They are nothing alike!" Ryn insisted.

  But Ember could tell by the expression on Bastien's face, as well as the others', that Ryn was being willfully obtuse about it.

  How much could they favor?

  Before she could ask for clarification, Cin and Tasi brought Rian out to them.

  "Do we really have to leave now?" Rian asked.

  Ember ruffled his hair. "Sorry, baby. We have to get back to our base."

  All of the men fell quiet as they noticed the fact that Rian was Bastien's clone. It was actually comical the way they glanced between them.

  "Yeah," Bastien said after a second. "I know. And yes, he's my son. Florian, meet Chayden, Jory, Ryn, and Fain."

  His jaw dropped at the massive size of Fain. "Are you an Andarion?" And before he could answer, Rian hurriedly added, "You know you look just like the Iron Hammer! He's an Andarion Ring fighter."

  Fain grinned, exposing his fangs. "Yeah, I know. Talyn's my son."

  "Really?"

  "Yeah," Fain said proudly. "You ever want an autograph, just let me know." Then he glanced back to Bastien. "Love your kid. He's adorable, now pick a ship before we all get into a fight over you."

  Bastien laughed at the thought. "Whose is largest?"

  "Jory's."

  Bastien turned to Ember. "Looks like I'll be taking the aptly named Ship of Fools."

  "All right." Fain stepped back to leave.

  "But my ship's prettier!" Chayden pouted.

  Fain growled at him. "There is something profoundly wrong with you, human."

  "Yes"--Chayden slid his gaze to Fain--"and he's standing on my left."

  Fain shoved him away from him.

  Ignoring them, Bastien said goodnight to Florian before Ember's sisters took his son to wait for them in the bay.

  As they headed out, Ryn pulled Bastien to the side. "Syn also came across some data while gathering those files you asked about that he wanted me to give to you personally."

  Bastien paused at the odd note in his voice. "What?"

  Ember returned to listen.

  A dark shadow haunted Ryn's blue eyes as Jory stopped by his side. "Go ahead, cade. 'Tis something he'll want to hear."

  Still Ryn hesitated.

  Ember knew Bastien dreaded the words. But both of them were completely unprepared for the bomb he dropped on top of them.

  "Your brother Quin? He's still alive."

  CHAPTER 15

  Basti
en couldn't breathe as Ryn's words slapped him. Hard. Unable to comprehend them, he shook his head. "No. I saw my brother die. In front of me."

  Ryn's expression darkened. "And I swear to you that he's alive. We would never play with you that way. There's not a one of us who hasn't been through hell for their family. And of all people, Syn isn't the one to take the death of a sibling lightly."

  No, he wasn't. It was common knowledge that he'd lost his sister to suicide. So no, he'd never toy with anyone about such a somber topic.

  "He's sure it's Quin?"

  Ryn nodded. "You and Ember come with me and I'll explain it."

  Bastien hated to let his son go back home without them, but if his brother was alive, he needed to find him.

  Sick to his stomach, he went to where Florian waited by the door.

  "I know." He flashed a grin at them. "Rian, go with Aunt Cin. Be good. Brush your teeth. Do your homework."

  Ember cupped his cheeks and kissed him. "Love you, precious."

  "You, too. Be careful."

  Bastien held his hand out. "When this is over, you and me, bud ... long camping trip. No one else. Male bonding. Uninterrupted. Lots of porn."

  "Bastien!" Ember snapped at him.

  Florian smiled. "Promise?"

  "Absolutely ... minus the porn, though, as I don't want your mom to hurt us." He hugged his son. "And a Cabarro never breaks his word."

  "That's what Mom says."

  Bastien held him a little longer even though he knew time was of the essence. It was hard to let go. But he had no choice.

  Kissing the top of his son's head, he forced himself to do the last thing he wanted.

  He released him to Cin's care. "Thank you."

  She hugged Bastien. "Don't worry. We adore little Bastien as much as we do big Bastien. It was Alura we voted out of the family."

  He laughed. "I always loved all of you. Really missed you."

  Cin kissed his cheek and hugged him. "We missed you, too, little brother. And just so you know, Tasi and I told Alura that we'd take you up on that threesome any time you wanted."

  He burst out laughing until he realized that his son might have heard her. A quick check told him that Florian was thankfully out of range. "You're lucky you didn't find yourself in jail alongside me."

  That sobered her. "No. We found ourselves left for dead and under assault by the Eudorans and under friendly fire. Trust me, there's no love for Alura among us anymore. She killed it the day she betrayed us all for your uncle. Go kick her ass, with our compliments."

  "Don't worry," Ashley said as she came up behind Bastien. "I plan to cut her head off and hand it over to all of you to play ball with before everything is said and done. Just like our ancestors did."

  Bastien had to do a double take since they were both dressed up for the party. When they were in battle clothes, it was easy to forget how much Ashley and Cin favored. When they were dressed up and not standing side by side, it was hard to tell them apart. He'd gotten into trouble a couple of times for mistaking them. Which he'd felt terrible about until Tasi had told him that she'd accidentally groped Ash by mistake a time or two herself, for the same reason.

  With a curt nod to her sister, Ash and Cin took Florian out, and Bastien and Ember followed Ryn to get the details he had.

  Ryn led them to the North Bay, where he'd docked his ship. Without a word, they went to the flight deck. Ryn's first officer, Yra, materialized in front of them, ready to shed blood. Though not very tall, the blue-skinned, red-eyed Starken was tougher than nails and more than capable to take down an entire League hit squad.

  Until she saw Ryn. Then she relaxed into a smirk. "One day, Ambassador, I'm going to shoot you, thinking you're here to steal your own ship. When are you going to start warning me?"

  "Probably one day after you shoot me for not doing it."

  She rolled her eyes.

  Bastien laughed. "Your crew is a little paranoid, Dane."

  "And with reason."

  "How so?"

  "It's how he met his wife," Yra said drily. "She took our entire shipment while he had his pants down."

  "I really wish you'd quit telling everyone that story!" Ryn snapped.

  "Why? Mack tells it more than I do."

  Grumbling, Ryn went to his con to power up the ship to basic maintenance level. "I curse the day I chose to surround myself with lippy women."

  "Yeah, 'cause mouthy men are so much better."

  He snorted at Bastien. "Good point."

  Bastien swept a hot look over Ember. "And they're not nearly as much fun to ogle."

  "Now that's sexual harassment," Ryn reminded him.

  "Not if you do it right." Bastien grinned.

  Ember sighed. "I'd be offended if I thought for one second he was serious. But I know he's joking. I've never been around anyone more respectful than Bastien."

  Ryn laughed as he brought up a map and files. They hovered in the air in front of Bastien. "This is the prison where Syn found him. Apparently, he was only wounded during the coup, and hauled here while you were taken into custody."

  Bastien's jaw dropped as he saw the old abandoned prison that had been condemned by his great-grandfather. "Are you sure?"

  Ryn shrugged. "Wade doesn't normally make those mistakes." He pulled up more files for Bastien. "Syn's theory is that Quin was to be held so long as you were on the run, in case you came home. He's a pawn Barnabas plans to use against you."

  "Can we get to him?"

  "That will be tricky. It's a treacherous area of Kirovar and he's down in a hole. Wade said it appears they drop food in to him from time to time. But mostly he's left there to wallow."

  He glanced over at Ember. "I'm an expert climber and I've been rappelling my whole life. I can get to him."

  Ember nodded in agreement. "I can testify to that."

  "All right, then. Operation Suicide. Tell me what you need and we'll scramble."

  *

  Bastien should have specified a body double as a parameter for this mission. Damn, it was tight, squeezing down to get to where Syn had said they were keeping his brother. Forget rappelling, this was caving, with them having to drill their way down at times.

  "I take it you're also a caver?"

  He smiled up at Ember, who was apparently determined to make their son an orphan, as she kept joining him for his suicide runs. "Little bit. Usually with Quin. Lil never had much taste for it."

  "I can see why," Xander groused. "Not my idea of fun."

  Ryn snorted at him as he continued to dig down. "Stop whining. This isn't so bad. Besides, you never know when the skills will come in handy."

  "Like now." Bastien returned to chiseling.

  "Exactly."

  By the time they reached the bottom, they were exhausted and covered in dirt and grime.

  Grimacing, Bastien scratched at his neck and adjusted the light on his helmet. "I'd stay upwind of me if I were you," he warned Ember.

  With a gentle tsk, she kissed his cheek. "Your smell doesn't offend me."

  He grinned at that. Until he caught a sound off to his left. They drew blasters.

  It stopped.

  "Quin? That you?"

  No one answered.

  Bastien walked closer to where the noise had originated. His heart pounding, he tried to peer into the darkness. "We should have brought an Andarion."

  Ryn snorted. "We'd have had to blast to get the opening large enough for their body mass."

  That was true, but they didn't need a lot of light to see.

  "Quin?" Bastien tried again. "You here?"

  A whistle rent the air. One he was all too familiar with.

  This time, Bastien ducked and twisted out of the way as the paralytic dart shot toward him. It landed harmlessly in the wall.

  He lunged at the shooter.

  It was a tiny woman. Hissing, she sank her teeth into his hand so hard, she let blood.

  Bastien cursed.

  "Let her go!"

  His h
eart stopped at that deep, dark voice. A voice he'd never thought to hear again. "Quin?"

  Turning his head, he expected to find his ever elegant, impeccably groomed brother. But the man there bore little resemblance to the Kirovarian heir. Dressed in rags, Quin looked worse than Bastien had on Oksana. His brown hair was long and shaggy--and his grimy face had been painted with symbols.

  Bastien's jaw went slack. "It's Bastien, theren. I mean you no harm." He let go of the woman, who scrambled to Quin's side.

  It was only then that Bastien saw she was in the beginning stages of a pregnancy.

  Quin still had his blaster trained on Bastien. "What are you doing here?"

  "I came to get you free." Bastien held his hands out so that his brother wouldn't mistake his intentions.

  "No! You're here to kill me."

  When he went to shoot, Ember disarmed him. She flipped Quin to the ground while Ryn and Xander covered the woman. "Don't you dare harm him. Not after everything he's gone through to get to you!"

  "Ember?" Quin scowled up at her.

  "Yeah." She jerked her chin toward Bastien. "Your theren was convicted for your murder. You want to explain how it is you're alive and breathing?"

  Rage and pain mixed in his eyes with such force it was tangible. A tic started in his jaw. "Barnabas," he growled. "I woke up down here, alone. He told me that Bastien was on my throne."

  Bastien opened his coveralls to show his Ravin mark. "Here's a big fucking surprise. He lied."

  That drained the anger out of Quin. "You were really convicted?"

  "Yeah. For killing all of you. I've been hunted for almost a decade. Thank you for that. You bastard! All you had to do was climb up out of here and you could have told someone the truth!"

  "Told who? They'd have killed me."

  Bastien scoffed bitterly. "You could have tried, theren. Did you?"

  "To what end? Everyone but you was dead."

  When Bastien lifted his blaster to shoot him for that statement, Ember disarmed him. "Stop it! Remember how upset you were when you thought him dead?"

  "Yeah, well, I got over it. Now I remember why I couldn't stand him when he was alive."

  Sighing, she shook her head. "We never could leave the two of you alone in a room. I swear." But with that determined glint in her eye that made Bastien's gut tighten, she turned on Quin. "You're both coming with us. We will exonerate your brother, and then if you want to return to live down here, feel free. First, we kill Barnabas and restore Bastien's freedom. Then I don't give a shit what you do."