She raked a horrified look over him. "You wouldn't dare."
"For my brother, there isn't anything I would not dare. I would defy the gods themselves to keep him happy and safe." He moved to stand right in front of her. "I saw his eyes, Sumi, and I know that wasn't from Dariana. And unless I need to keep Nykyrian from ripping Dancer's spine out through his nose, there's only one female who could have done that to him on this trip. The one he was clutching when I arrived. It would devastate him to wake up without you."
Those words choked her even more. But still, she didn't want to hurt him. Or cause him harm. How could she buy her happiness at the expense of his entire life and family? "I'm a threat to him."
"So am I," he said with a bitter laugh. "Every time he speaks to me, he runs the risk of losing everything he has." Fain glanced back toward the skimmer. "Dancer's never done anything the easy way. And he never will. It's part of the little bastard's charm." He held his hand out to her. "C'mon. I'll be with you the whole time. Nothing to fear. I will keep both of you safe."
In that moment, something inside her shattered and sent a wave of uncontrollable sobs through her.
She wanted to hate Fain so much. But this was the brother she remembered having. The brother who had meant so much to her.
Just like Dancer, Fain swung her up in his arms and carried her into the skimmer.
"Damn, Fain," Jayne snapped as she saw them. "What'd you do? Break another human? I swear we can't leave you alone for five seconds."
Fain shrugged. "I don't know. Human women look at me and burst into tears. I'm kind of used to it."
Another Tavali who looked a lot like Darling snorted at him. "I'd burst into tears too if I had to look at your ugly ass." He took her from Fain and set her down on a small bench seat. Kneeling in front of her, he handed her a handkerchief. "I'm Darling's brother, Ryn."
Sniffing back her tears, she took his handkerchief and wiped at her eyes. "Thank you."
He patted her knees then looked up at Fain. "How's the beast?"
"He looked pretty beat up. But I've seen him worse. Hell, for that matter, I'm sure I've beaten him worse. And that was for just wearing my boots without permission."
Snorting, Ryn stood and clapped a hand on Fain's shoulder. "Syn would sooner kill himself than let anything happen to him. You know that."
"I know. It's why I'm not freaking out and going on a killing rampage. "
Still nervous and unsure, Sumi glanced around the small group of men standing in the main cargo area - Darling, Fain, Ryn - and of course Jayne. Syn must have taken Dancer and Bastien into the small infirmary somewhere else on the skimmer.
"Where's Nykyrian and the kids?" she asked them.
Darling pointed to the link in his ear. "They took the other skimmer and are already on board, waiting for us."
"The kids were all right?"
Darling pulled the link from his ear and held it toward her. Even without it being in her ear, she could hear Darice's and Thia's excited chattering as they told Nykyrian everything that had happened while they'd been with Dancer.
She smiled. "Thank you."
He inclined his head respectfully as he returned it to his ear.
Syn opened a door to their right. "Sumi? Get in here and let Hauk know that you're okay. I can't do anything with this unreasonable, surly bastard."
"He's not unreasonable. He's just fierce." She went into the small room where Bastien was now unconscious. But Dancer was fighting Syn as he tried to pull monitors off his body and get up from the lift.
It was actually rather comical to watch the two of them swat at each other like children, as they traded insults.
She tsked at him. "What are you doing, sweetie?"
Hauk calmed as soon as he heard her voice and saw her whole and unscathed. While he trusted his friends, he also knew how protective they were. And given Jayne's actions to Zarya over what her men had done to Darling, he didn't want to chance a similar occurrence with Sumi. "I wanted to make sure you were all right."
Her eyes tender, she cupped his cheek and rubbed noses with him. "I will be, if you let Syn treat you without fighting him. Now be a good boy and I'll give you a reward later."
He grinned at her teasing. Holding her hand, he allowed Syn to put the monitors back on him. "By the way, Syn, Sumi has a League tag we need you to remove."
"Okay. You're not going to punch me for cutting into her to get to it, are you?"
"Don't you hurt her," he growled in earnest.
Syn rolled his eyes then looked to Sumi. "Gah, are all Andarions this ridiculous? Oh wait... Nyk and Kiara. Got it. Never mind." His gaze dropped down to Sumi's abdomen and he scowled. "Is that your blood on you?"
She glanced at it. "I was attacked by a tourah a couple of days ago, but it's a flesh wound. I'm fine."
"She's not fine. She also has a blast wound to her arm."
"Flesh wound," she repeated. "I'm really not hurt."
Hauk gave her a droll stare. "Now who's being unreasonable?"
"Still all you, baby."
Gods, how he loved her teasing. Only she could get away with being this flippant with him. I am a sick bastard.
Syn moved to put a mask over Hauk's face. "If he pulls this off," he said to Sumi, "beat him."
Hauk made an obscene Ritadarion gesture to Syn.
"Not on your best day, Andarion. I don't care how much you look like a woman." Syn tilted Hauk's head to one side so that he could examine the bruise above and below his eye.
Hauk focused on Sumi as his vision blurred. He didn't want to be unconscious until he was sure she was safe from the reach of Dariana and The League.
His mother.
There was no telling what any of them would do to her. It was his job to protect her, but as he felt the medicine kicking in again, he knew Syn wouldn't leave him awake much longer.
"Mia?"
She took his outstretched hand. "Right here."
Panic set in as he struggled against the drugs. He tried to take his mask off, but neither of them would accommodate him. "Stay safe." He wasn't sure if she understood those badly slurred words as everything turned black.
Syn scowled at Sumi. "Why the hell is he so afraid of letting you out of his sight? He has to know we're not going to hurt you."
"It's not you he's afraid of."
She looked past Syn to see Fain in the doorway.
"Then what?" Syn asked.
"She's a League assassin in the middle of a Sentella-Tavali-Andarion and Caronese strike force that is at war with them. By going after Dancer when she did, she endangered a member of the royal Andarion family, and the last heir of a family the Andarions view as a national treasure. Queen Cairistiona can legally demand her head for this. As can Dariana, and Dancer's mother."
Sumi went weak at his words. "What?"
Fain nodded. "When we get to the ship, avoid anyone wearing a red-and-black battlesuit or uniform. Those are members of the Andarion Queen's Guard."
Syn scoffed. "Nykyrian won't let them hurt her."
"He can talk to his mother about Thia, but he can't stop Dariana if she calls out for Sumi's blood. And given how much she hates Dancer, she's liable to do it just for spite. That's what he's afraid of. If she evokes her right of death over Darice, there's nothing the queen can do. The law is the law. Sumi would have to die for endangering Darice's life."
Syn put his hand on Sumi's arm. "We won't let her touch you. Believe me, there's not a one of us who doesn't want a piece of that bitch's hide for what she's done to Hauk over the years."
Fain nodded. "He's right. Make sure you stay with one of our royal family members at all times - Caillen, Ryn, Darling, Maris, Nyk, Desideria, or Drake. They alone can keep you safe from her."
She felt the skimmer landing on board the mothership. Fear gripped her. But she was an assassin and assassins never showed their fear.
To anyone.
With her head high, she would face this. Bracing herself, she mentally prepare
d for the worst that was waiting for her.
CHAPTER 23
S
umi thought she was braced for the worst, but nothing could have prepared her for what awaited them in the landing bay of the massive ship. She felt as if she'd walked into a war-zone planning committee. There were creatures everywhere in battlesuits from more countries and organizations than she could identify.
Yet the weirdest feeling was seeing Andarions and humans working side by side without issue. Occasionally, someone might pass an irritated look at another, but they did that to their own kind as much as they did it to others.
A large number of the gathered beings pinned curious stares on her, which made her extremely uncomfortable.
Fain stood beside her with his hand on her shoulder to let her know he was there to protect her. "Just breathe, kisa. I'm with you."
"What does kisa mean?"
"Little sister. Kiran means little brother."
The word warmed her. But that feeling was fleeting as she saw the massive swarm of beings there to escort Dancer from the skimmer to the infirmary.
Thia hadn't been joking. Their family was terrifying and huge.
"Sumi!"
She barely registered the call before she was practically bowled over by Darice. His entire face alight with joy, he seized her in a tight hug that left her breathless. Then he kissed her cheek and released her.
"We were so worried about you. Especially when Thia told me that Dancer and Bastien were down. We didn't know if you'd been hurt or what... I'm so glad you're okay."
Shaking her head, Thia walked up behind him with a huge smile. "You must have performed an exorcism on Darice while you were on that mountain."
He snorted before he playfully shoved at Thia, like any pesky little brother. He turned back to Sumi and sobered. "While we waited in the caves, we made these for you and Dancer." He pulled a feathered necklace from his neck and placed it around hers. The other two matched perfectly. Each one had a single feather and bone.
Like father and son.
Darice bit his lip nervously as he showed her the one he'd made for Dancer. "You think he'll like it?"
"He'll love it, Darice. I can't wait to see his face when you give it to him. And I can't thank you enough for mine. It's absolutely beautiful, sweetie. Thank you for the honor." She kissed his cheek.
His eyes proud, he glanced from her to Fain, who tensed visibly.
For several heartbeats no one moved.
Darice fingered the feather around his neck before he finally spoke. "Did you slip and fall on your Endurance climb, Uncle Fain?"
Fain couldn't have looked more stunned had Darice slapped him. He stammered for several seconds before he finally answered. "Um... no. Keris knocked me down a couple of times, but I didn't slip on my own."
"Were you scared?"
Fain was still casting his gaze about as if this whole conversation was terrifying him, and he expected someone to attack him for having it. "Not really. I was too pissed over being kicked in the head and face every time I got within striking range."
Darice glanced to Sumi. "I slipped at one point and thought I was dead, but then I didn't really fall. Sumi caught me and we climbed up and I stood by the nest. You could see everything for miles and miles. It was so awesome! I felt like I could do anything!"
Thia met Fain's stunned, bewildered gaze. "Told you. She performed an exorcism. Weird, huh? She took a brat up the side of the mountain and came down with a sentient being. Who knew it'd be that easy?"
Darice cut an irritated glare at her. "You don't understand. You didn't make the climb. It was life-changing."
Thia held her hands up in surrender. "I'm just grateful for your new attitude, kiran. You keep this up, and you'll be my all-time favorite camping buddy."
Fain offered his nephew a tentative smile. "You're supposed to have your hair braided now that you've made your ascent into adulthood." Hesitantly, he reached out.
Darice moved closer to him so that Fain could braid his hair.
If Sumi lived a thousand years, she'd never forget the sad yet proud look on Fain's face that his nephew was allowing Fain to touch him for the first time in Darice's life. Darice appeared unsure at first, but after a few minutes he relaxed and accepted Fain as family.
It touched her heart to see them like that.
Thia draped her arm over Sumi's shoulders. "Don't look now, but the others have noticed you... Heads up."
Suddenly terrified, Sumi glanced past their small group to see the truth in those words. Syn had taken Dancer and Bastien to the infirmary and everyone who'd been focused on Dancer was now staring at them.
Or more to the point, her.
Never in her life had she wished herself invisible more.
A gorgeous, bearded male in a burgundy Phrixian battlesuit was the first to walk over to them. He had the same intense, predator lope that marked both Fain and Dancer.
His long black hair had a bright red stripe in it and was pulled back into a ponytail. "No one told me we were doing makeovers! Stand aside, Fain, you're not doing that right." Using his hip, he bumped Fain to the left and took over plaiting Darice's hair. Then he flashed a bright smile at Sumi. "I'm Mari, by the way. Nice to meet you."
Sumi returned his smile. So this was Safir and Kyr's brother. She could see the resemblance between him and Saf, but not so much with Kyr. Maybe because he and Saf still had a soul.
And Mari didn't appear crazy.
"Mari?"
He cocked an eyebrow at her. "What, love?"
"Your brother, Safir --"
"Is at home, being taken care of, even as we speak."
"He's no longer in Kyr's custody?"
Maris paused to meet her gaze. "He's safe."
"Thank the gods," she breathed.
Thia grinned at them. "By the way, Aunt Mari's the one who's going to be grumpiest with you from now on."
That made Sumi's heart stop. What had she done? "Why?"
Thia wrinkled her nose. "He's Uncle Hauk's late-night gaming partner."
Mari winked at her. "It's okay. Hauk is one male I don't mind sharing. Besides, my son and hubby will be delighted to have more undivided time with me."
Sumi started to respond when she realized they were now surrounded by numerous strangers who were eyeballing her with way too much interest. She knew some of them from Dancer's photos, but she didn't know all their names.
Fain placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as he took up the introductions. "You know Darling and Ryn already. The Kimmerian assassin between them is their brother Drake."
She shook arms with the man who looked almost identical to Darling, except he had dark hair instead of Darling's and Ryn's red hair.
They stepped aside for the next wave.
"Caillen whatever he's calling himself this week and his wife Desideria. They are two of the ones, along with any of Darling's family, I told you to stay near for a while."
Handsome and irritated, Caillen glared at Fain's introduction. "Nice meeting you, Sumi."
"You're the Exeterian prince and heir?" she asked, trying to keep them all straight in her mind.
Caillen nodded.
And as Sumi's gaze fell to Caillen's tiny, pregnant wife, she realized that she bore an amazing resemblance to the little girl Dancer had been holding. "You have a daughter?"
Desideria smiled proudly. "We do. Lillya."
"Dancer has a picture of him holding her that he carries."
Her smile widened. "It's adorable, isn't it? She thinks her uncle Hauk hung the very moons, he's so tall." She stepped aside for another Tavali to step forward. "This is my brother, Chayden. He flies a lot with Hauk and Ryn, and is an old friend of my husband's."
Chayden held his hand out to her. "Pleased to meet you."
"You're the one who dropped Dancer off on Oksana."
"I am."
She grinned. "I've heard you're quite the pilot. Nice meeting you, Chayden."
After that, the face
s and names blended together until an extremely intense, frightening redheaded woman came up, holding a small boy in her arms. While all of them held the stances of trained soldiers and assassins, there was something particularly deadly about this one.
She eyed Sumi with suspicion. "I'm Shahara Dagan-Wade," she said before Fain had a chance. "Syn's wife."
Ah... now she understood why everyone was so terrified of crossing this woman. A famed bounty hunter for the Overseer, she'd hauled in some of the worst criminals in the Nine Worlds.
Alone.
"You're the one who shot Dancer for pretending to drop, I assume, this little guy." She tickled his belly.
A miniature copy of his father, Devyn laughed. "I'm this many years old." He held his hand out with all five fingers spread wide."