Darling laughed and shook his head.
Sumi frowned over that comment. "Does it really matter what you wear to fight in?"
"Oh honey, of course it does. When you're going to fight you have to be dressed to kill."
They all groaned at the bad pun.
"Speaking of," Dancer's grandmother interjected. "I have commissioned Sumi the suit of a War Hauk for her match with Dariana."
Hauk let out a sinister laugh at his grandmother's actions. "That'll piss her off."
"As was my intent."
Sumi sucked her breath in sharply as she passed an amused glance to Hauk. "Remind me to never get on your grandmother's bad side."
His yaya smiled at her. "You keep that light in Dancer's eyes and you'll never see the wrong side of my blade."
"Okay, then," Sumi said, stepping back. "Maybe I should go bathe the sweat off. I've heard that stralen heightens your senses. How you can stand to be near me right now after the way I've been sweating is beyond me."
He nuzzled her neck playfully. "It doesn't bother me at all."
"Glad to hear it, but it offends me."
Laughing, Hauk reluctantly released her, even though it was the last thing he wanted to do. However, he didn't need an audience for the serious hard-on he was developing already. One that would only get worse the closer he stood to her.
He shifted his weight, hoping to disguise it before he glanced over to his cousin. "Does she need to continue?"
Fadima shook her head. "Honestly? No. We don't want her sore for the match, and she's amazingly honed for a human. I think it's safe to say that Dariana will have met her equal for this." She smiled at Sumi. "I can show her more moves tomorrow that will help. The gods know, she picks them up faster than anyone I've ever seen."
That made him feel a lot better about it all. "Then have your shower, mia. We'll have a hearty lunch when you get out."
"Hearty?"
"Yes," Maris said with a laugh, "you are correct to shudder whenever an Andarion uses that word with food. And it should be interesting. My husband is a chef who owns the premiere restaurant in Perona. Can't wait to hear his review of whatever it is Hauk plans for lunch. It's always fun, as long as you're not the one who cooked it."
Shaking her head at them, Sumi left and went to Dancer's bedroom alone.
She hadn't been kidding about her stench. Yuck! It was the only thing she hated about working out.
But she was glad that Dancer didn't seem to mind. As she started to remove her shirt, she felt a sudden shift in the air.
Turning, she gasped as she saw the figure coming out of the shadows.
It was Kyr. And he wasn't pleased to see her.
CHAPTER 31
A
t the appearance of Kyr in her bedroom, Sumi felt the heat of a rage the likes of which she'd never experienced before. There was no fear inside her. Only a need to tear him into pieces.
He glared at her. "You didn't really think you could escape me, did you?"
Throwing her head back, she laughed at his question. "You're a fucking idiot. You know that? And I can't thank you enough for saving me the time and effort it would take to hunt you down." She went for him with everything she had. With the full of her weight, she caught him about the middle and flipped him to the ground. "Where's my daughter?"
He gave her a blow that sent pain throbbing through her skull. But she didn't care. She'd hurt later. Right now, all that mattered was beating him until he told her where Kalea was. She tried to pin him, but he rolled out from her hold and stood up. With a growl, he slammed her against the dresser.
Grimacing in pain, she used her legs to kick them both back. Unbalanced, Kyr released her. She spun on him with her fists, then landed a solid kick to the center of his chest. "Where is she, you bastard!"
"You want her? Surrender to me and I'll release her."
How stupid did he think she was? "I don't believe you!" There was no way he'd release the only leverage he had.
He came at her with his knife. Sumi pulled her shirt off and used it to wrap around his wrist as she rolled into his body, bit his forearm, and pulled the knife from his grasp.
Cursing, he punched her, then pulled another knife and caught her a glancing blow to her ribs. She stabbed him in the shoulder, burying the knife to the hilt. He kicked her back and stumbled.
"Sumi!" Dancer shouted from the locked door.
Kyr turned back toward the window.
Knowing if he left, she'd never see Kalea again, she ran at him and slammed him to the floor. She stabbed him again, but not before he cut her arm. Dazed, she scrambled to hold him as best she could. The slimy bastard escaped and kicked her hard in the head.
She was still holding on to Kyr's arm, slashing at him, when Dancer came crashing through the door.
With a furious shriek, Kyr punched her in the throat and broke free.
In spite of the throbbing pain, Sumi headed for the window, fully intending to give chase. Until she felt strong arms wrap around her. She moved to punch her attacker, but stopped as she saw Dancer's face.
Hauk had never felt a greater rage than the one that ignited inside him as he saw Sumi's battered face and the blood smeared all over his bedroom. "Mia?"
With the exception of Syn, his friends ran after Kyr.
"Let me go!" Sumi cried, trying to get free. "He's getting away! I have to stop him."
"Sumi!" Hauk barked harder than he meant to, but she was hysterical, and probably going into shock. "Baby, there's a difference between heroic and moronic." He used her words, hoping to get through to her. "You're naked and about to bleed out." He wrapped his shirt around her to cover her bruised and bleeding body. "You can't go after him. Look!"
She tilted her head down to see the blood flowing from a severe gash. Her legs buckled.
Hauk swung her up in his arms and carried her to the bed, then stepped back so that Syn could treat her. His heart shattered at the sight of her like this. He should have come into the room with her. He should never have left her alone.
Gods, she'd been assaulted in his own home, where she should have been safe.
His breathing ragged, he wanted Kyr's life with a ferocity that defied description.
Syn glanced at him over his shoulder. "Go, Hauk! I've got her."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. I'll call in a few."
Without hesitating, Hauk climbed up on the opposite side of the bed. Unable to speak, he pressed his cheek to hers and took a moment to hold her.
When he went to pull away, Sumi held him against her. "I stabbed him in his right lung before he escaped, and his shoulder... I want to be the one who kills him. Bring him to me."
Nodding, he kissed her carefully on the lips and then ran after the others.
Sumi groaned as the full weight of her injuries bore down on her. For whatever reason, in a fight, she never really felt pain. It was only afterward that she regretted it.
And right now...
She really wished she'd killed him before he beat her to a pulp.
"Damn it," Syn growled as he tried to stop the bleeding, "you need a transfusion." He scanned the code on her wrist that The League had embedded with her brand mark that held her medical information. He frowned as he read it. "You're part Qillaq?"
"No."
He gave her a doubtful stare before he took a sample of her blood and ran some kind of test on it. "Um, yeah, you are." He glanced to the door where Dancer's grandmother stood, watching them. "Ger Tarra, could you please ask Desideria to come here as fast as she can." Then he tapped the mic in his ear. "Chayden, forget Kyr. Get your ass back here, double time." He kept pressure on her stomach wound. "You are so lucky we happen to have Qills on tap, girl. You've no idea how rare your blood type is. And no other race has it. Not even I can give blood to you, and Rits are basically as universal a donor as you can get. Even Nyk's taken my blood before."
Sumi could barely follow what he was telling her as her thoughts ran over the fig
ht, and how she should have gone after Kyr.
Desideria came in huffing. "What's up?"
"Hold on." He tapped his mic again. "Chay, ETA?" He paused before he spoke again. "All right. Head on. I'm going to take some blood from your sister, but I can't take much. I really need you." He looked over to Desideria. "Can you hold this for a minute while I get set up?"
"Absolutely."
Syn showed her where to keep it compressed, then left.
Sumi began shaking uncontrollably.
"Oh, sweetie," Desideria gasped. "Don't die on us, okay? I've already lost one sister in my arms, I don't want to do it again. Just stay with me."
Sumi laughed bitterly. "Trust me, I'm too mad to die. I'm going to live, if for no other reason than to have the pleasure of choking the life out of Kyr myself."
Someone took her hand. Ignoring her body that protested the movement, Sumi tilted her head to see Dancer's grandmother on the bed, beside her.
She tenderly brushed Sumi's hair back from her forehead and offered her a kind smile. "You don't cry?"
"Not when I'm angry. And physical pain I can handle."
With an astonished expression, she swept her gaze around the room where Sumi and Kyr had all but destroyed it. "You put up quite a fight."
"And she seriously wounded Kyr," Syn said as he rejoined them. "He's leaving a hell of a blood trail the others are following, and she took out one of the prime commander's lungs."
His grandmother gaped. "It was the League prime commander you fought?"
Sumi nodded.
She lifted Sumi's hand to her lips and kissed her knuckles. "My great-grandchildren will be the fiercest of all their generation. No one will ever defeat them."
Sumi tightened her hand on Dancer's grandmother's then met Syn's gaze. "Get me on my feet, Doc. I want my daughter back, and that bastard is too close for me to yield."
"Um, yeah. You're not going anywhere for a little while. Just lie there and relax."
Sumi couldn't. At least not until Syn snuck something into her system. She fought against it as hard as possible, but in the end, she lost, and everything went black.
Hauk cursed as their trail turned cold. Neither electronic nor physical tracks remained.
Kyr had evaded them. Completely.
He bellowed with rage.
"That is the scariest effing thing I've ever heard or seen."
Hauk pinned his glare on Bastien as the human slowly approached him. "Where have you been?"
"Recovering. When I heard Kyr was on-planet, I really wanted a piece of him."
"Take a number." His breathing ragged, Hauk had never wanted to gut anyone more. It was all he could do to keep himself together as every fiber of his being begged for vengeance. "How did he get into my house?"
"He's an assassin," Nyk said coldly. "They're like cockroaches. They always find a way in."
Hauk arched a brow at those words.
Nyk shrugged. "I'm a cockroach. Yes. But that's okay, I know how we think and where to search."
"Yeah," Hauk said drily, "but he wasn't there. I already looked."
"So you're a cockroach, too?"
Hauk clenched his teeth. "My humor is currently out to lunch. Check back in a few days. If I have his heart in my fist, it'll return... as I eat it."
Maris tsked at Hauk. "Oh, sexy, there are two problems with that. One, my brother has no heart. Two, you don't need the indigestion. I've seen what you call food. Trust me. Not even your stomach could handle Kyr Tartar. But I do know something that will bring a smile to that beautiful face of yours."
While Hauk appreciated their attempts to lighten the mood, he didn't want to hear it right now. "I doubt it."
Maris rose on his tiptoes to whisper in Hauk's ear. "I know where Kalea is."
Hauk's breath caught in his throat as his heart stopped beating. "Don't play with me, Mari. I really might hurt you."
Maris handed him his PD. When Hauk couldn't read the Phrixian alphabet, Maris switched on the translator.
He had to read it twice to make sure he wasn't wrong. "Seriously?"
Maris nodded. "I've already got them prepping the ships. We're ready to fly out and bring her home."
Hauk picked him up and hugged him tight. "Gods, I love you, Mari!" He kissed his cheek.
Maris beamed. "Well, if I'd known this was all it'd take to get a hug and kiss from you, I'd have gotten you a woman years ago."
Laughing, Hauk clapped him on the back.
"Ow!" Maris whined as he stumbled.
Nyk and Darling inclined their heads to him.
"Let's go get your daughter," Darling said. "Jayne and Ryn are already doing preflights."
They hailed transports and rendezvoused at the main city port where Jayne had a battlecruiser ready. Hauk ran up the ramp and grabbed his unmarked black battlesuit. But before he started attaching the exoskeletal suit to his body, he paused to look at the men and women around him. Darling, Maris, Drake, Nyk, Shahara, Fain, Bastien, Caillen, Kasen, Nero - and Jayne and Ryn, who were piloting them.
Funny how he'd never thought twice about the fact that when they needed him he'd dropped whatever he was doing to run to their sides. Of course in his case, there was never anything that important to pull him away from. Gaming, maybe horsing around with his electronics. Nothing serious. But all of them had left their spouses and children to join him on this quest.
Never had he loved them more as he finally understood the sacrifices they were making to be here. The risk each of them took.
For him and Sumi.
And for their daughter.
"You okay?" Darling asked.
Hauk pulled him closer and pressed his forehead to Darling's. "Thank you."
"For what? Being family?" Darling shoved him away. "It's what we do. You know that."
"Just don't get me killed," Caillen said as he suited up. "My wife would follow me to hell and I'd never hear the end of it."
Hauk laughed. "You're not right, are you?"
Kasen sighed heavily. "No, he isn't. I blame Shahara totally. I tried to beat it out of him when we were young, but she always took the baby brother's side, instead of the sister's side."
Shaking his head, Hauk pinned a stare on Nyk. "How do you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Love such a tiny little woman who can't defend herself?"
Nykyrian cracked a very rare grin that exposed a set of dimples identical to Thia's. "Don't let her meek manner fool you. There's a lot of fire and courage in Kiara. You'd be amazed at how fierce she is. But I know what you're really asking. And the size of the person or their abilities doesn't matter. It's the size of the love you hold for them that keeps you up at night, terrified of losing them. In many ways, I'm grateful Kiara's not a warrior." He passed his stare to Shahara. "She doesn't put herself in harm's way. Since she's not trained to fight, she calls for help."
"What are you implying?" Shahara asked.
Caillen snorted. "That you can kick the shit out of us. And I have the boot prints on my ass to prove it."
She passed an irritated scowl to Nykyrian. "If I flushed him out the airlock, I trust the rest of you would back me in telling Desideria it was an accident, right?"
Kasen growled at her sister. "Now? Now, you agree with me that he needs killing? Where was this twenty years ago? You'd have saved us all a lot of time, money, and misery!"
Fain placed himself in front of Caillen. "It's all right, boy. I'll protect you."
Caillen postured at all of them. "Ha! Got my own Andarion bodyguard, bitches!"
Shahara looked at Kasen before the two of them charged. Fain drew himself up tight and covered his head while they ran past him to get Caillen.
"Hey!" Caillen snapped at Fain. "What kind of protective move is that shit?"
"Protecting my own ass, human. I don't know what I was thinking. Your sisters are terrifying. They can have you."
Caillen was playfully fighting them while they tickled him. Until Shahara swatted him hard ac
ross his butt.
"You're lucky I love you, boy."
Caillen kissed her cheek then ran behind her as Kasen lunged at him. "Help!"
Laughing, Shahara stepped between them. "All right, you two, we've got a real battle to prepare for."
"What is going on back here?" Jayne asked from the flight deck door. "I have never heard such in my life, and I have three kids at home."
"They started it," Darling said, pointing to the Dagan siblings.
"Of course they did. Do I have to separate you people?"
"Not people, human," Fain and Hauk said simultaneously.
"Not human, Andarions. I'm Hyshian. Learn the difference." Jayne sidled up to Hauk. She scowled at him before she tested his brow for a fever. "You look a little pale. You all right, buddy?"