Born of Defiance

  The doctor didn't hear her. He was too busy calling to have Talyn arrested again.

  In that moment, Felicia lost every semblance of sanity. All she felt was the hatred and anger inside her over the injustice of what had been done to the one being she loved above all others.

  Reacting on pure instinct and defaulting to the defense classes that had been a mandatory part of her primary education, she grabbed the blaster from the human closest to her and angled it at the doctor's head. "You will treat him. Now! And you will save him, or I will paint the walls with your brain matter, so help me, gods."

  One of the security guards ran at her.

  She shot him without flinching, then returned her sights to the doctor's head. "That is the only warning I'm giving." With her thumb, she switched the blaster setting from stun to kill. "Tend him or you'll be the one needing a doctor and a mortician."

  "Felicia?"

  She glanced sideways to see Galene coming through the doors. "They won't tend him, Commander. They're trying to throw him out of here and have him arrested. I will burn this place to the ground before I let that happen!"

  Galene's face went white before her own anger ignited. "What?"

  "I can't legally tend an Outcast!"

  Galene growled at the doctor. "He's not an Outcast! I didn't do that to him."

  "He's marked as one, and as a convicted traitor!"

  "And he's an Andarion hero." A tense ripple went through the room at the sound of Tylie's regal voice. Everyone except Felicia, the doctor she held at blaster point, and the humans bowed to the tizirah.

  Tylie came forward to stand by Felicia's side. "Put the blaster down, child. I promise you, no one's going to turn your Talyn out."

  Only then did Felicia hand the weapon back to the human she'd taken it from. "Sorry."

  Laughing, he holstered it. "I get it. My wife would do the same ... only I doubt she'd warn them before shooting. I'm Hadrian, by the way." He jerked his chin at the shorter male. "He's Nero."

  Tylie glared at the doctor. "What are you waiting for? A grave injustice has been done to one of our soldiers. A hero. Snap to, or you'll face a far worse sentence than what was unjustly given to the major."

  Finally, the doctor and staff began treating Talyn.

  Still shaken and horrified, Felicia went to Galene. "How could they do that to him?"

  Tears glistened in her eyes as she choked on her sobs. "He was supposed to be safe at the palace. I was right there when they dragged him out under my nose. How could I let this happen to my baby?"

  Felicia pulled Galene into her arms. "I'm the one who got the orders to put him there. I'm so sorry, Commander. I just wanted to protect him. I never meant for him to be hurt like this." Guilt and remorse shredded her. If Talyn ever learned the truth, he'd hate her for the part she'd play in his arrest. And she couldn't blame him for it.

  She hated herself.

  There was no such thing as safety in their world, and honestly, Felicia was sick of it. Somehow, she was going to get back at the prince. Even if it meant her life ...

  No one would do this to Talyn and get away with it. No one!

  *

  Talyn came awake with a start. For a full minute, he was still in the pit, mired in entrails and blood. Only this smelled very different.

  It smelled clean.

  Best of all, it smelled like a delicate female whose face had haunted him, night and day.

  Blinking in disbelief, he focused his gaze on the most beautiful thing imaginable. A curly head of hair that was only a few inches from his face. Unable to believe it was real, he reached to bury his hand in the silken strands.

  The moment he touched them, Felicia looked up with a gasp. "Talyn?"

  Still, he couldn't speak. All he could do was marvel at the sensation of something that didn't hurt him. In all the time he'd been gone, this was what had seen him through. The hope that he'd be back here.

  With her.

  His hand shaking, he lifted her hair so that he could brush a lock of it against his lips and inhale her precious scent.

  Felicia couldn't breathe as she saw the agony in Talyn's eyes while he savored her hair as if it were the most sacred relic in existence. Tears choked her as she took his chapped and calloused hand into hers and held it tight.

  He pulled her against him and buried his face in the crook of her neck.

  An instant later, she felt his silent tears on her skin. Tightening her grip, she held him against her. "It's okay. I've got you."

  But in truth, he had her captured in an iron grip that was absolutely terrifying in its strength. His breathing ragged, he locked both arms around her as if she was his lifeline, and without her, he'd drown.

  "Talyn?"

  Instead of pulling away at his mother's voice, he held on even more tightly to Felicia.

  Unsure of what to do, she met his mother's gaze over the bed. The hurt in Galene's eyes made her ache in sympathetic pain. "Your mom's been terrified for you, Talyn. If not for her, we'd have never found you."

  That didn't seem to placate him in the least. Instead, he picked Felicia up with a frightening ease and put her in the bed with him. Without a word, he spooned against her back and held her with his face buried in her hair.

  Eyes wide, she stared at Galene. What do I do? she mouthed to his mother.

  "Talyn?" Galene tried again. She reached over Felicia to touch him.

  "Please, leave me alone," he whispered in a ragged tone.

  If Felicia lived for a thousand years, she'd never forget the anguished look on his mother's face. She wanted to take him to task, but how could she? He'd been through a nightmare.

  Besides, Nero had warned them both about how much psychological damage Talyn might have when he awoke.

  "Can I do anything to help?" Felicia breathed.

  Talyn tightened his grip. "Stay with me."

  "I've no intention of leaving you, keramon." Not that she could, given the way he was wrapped around her entirely.

  Talyn closed his eyes and let the warmth of her body ease the fury inside his heart. He kept waiting to wake up and find this a dream. To be back in that hole, covered in blood, fighting for his life, and what little sanity he had left. But as minutes passed and Felicia remained warm and soft against him, he began to realize the horror was over.

  Somehow, he'd made it back.

  And with that knowledge came a whole new terror. The Anatoles had ripped him out of his life without any effort at all. He, the strongest Andarion of his generation, had been erased in a matter of minutes. If not for Jayne and her Trisani husband, no one would have ever been able to find him.

  No one.

  His head spun with the new reality. Nothing was as it seemed. At any time, the tahrs could do anything he wanted.

  To anyone.

  "Talyn? Where are you?"

  He allowed Felicia's voice to pull him away from the darkness that was quickly swallowing him whole. "I'm with you."

  "Stay with me. Don't return to wherever you were."

  Nodding, he forced himself to relax and calm his breathing. He didn't want to be there, either. "I love you, Felicia."

  "I love you, too." She started to roll over.

  Talyn held her in place. "Don't look at me. I'm hideous."

  She tugged at his arms until he was forced to loosen his hold or hurt her. Then she did the last thing he wanted ... she rolled in the bed to face him. "You are gorgeous."

  But he knew the truth. They'd maliciously scarred him. Marked him as an Outcast. Shaved his head and dumped him like garbage. What little honor and standing he'd had was stripped from him along with his flesh and braids.

  He was nothing now.

  Just a piece of Outcast shit.

  She cupped his face in her hands. "Your hair will grow back. And your mother has already contacted a plastic surgeon to remove the scars."

  "They'll always be there." They had cut him deep enough to ensure it.

  "And I don't care. Would
you cease to love me if I were hurt?"

  "Never."

  "Then how can you doubt me?"

  Tears choked him as he stared into her silvery-white eyes and saw the sincerity. But with it came a fear so profound that it shoved him into madness.

  Jullien, Chrisen, and Merrell had suppressed him with almost no effort. He was a trained warrior. A Ring champion. And they'd broken him. He'd had no way to protect himself.

  The thought of them doing that to Felicia to get back at him ...

  "Talyn?"

  He couldn't breathe. He couldn't focus. Rage surged so violently in his veins that it made a mockery of what he felt in the Ring. Afraid he might hurt Felicia, he got out of bed, only to realize he was tethered to the equipment by monitoring devices and hoses. He snatched frantically at the lines.

  Felicia shot of the bed to take Talyn's hand. "Baby, you're going to hurt yourself."

  Honestly, he didn't care. He just needed to be free of restraint. He couldn't be tied down. Not again. Panic set in even more.

  Nurses ran in to sedate him.

  That only riled him more.

  Felicia motioned them back. "Talyn! Look at me!" She cupped his face in her hands. When that didn't work, she rose up on her tiptoes to kiss him.

  Talyn calmed the moment her lips touched his. She was the only thing in this life he would never hurt. Holding her against him, he reveled in the scent and taste that was his Felicia.

  Until a nurse neared them. Tearing away with a growl, he was ready to kill her.

  "Stop!" Felicia motioned the nurse away. "He's all right. Can we get the monitors off him?"

  "He needs the IV."

  "I'll keep him hydrated. I promise." Felicia slowly and carefully began removing the monitoring devices and IV, and handing them to the nurses, until he was free.

  She smiled up at him. "Better?"

  He nodded.

  With a tender hand, she led him back to bed and placed him in it while the nurses withdrew from the room. Felicia tucked the covers around him. "You're safe, Talyn. Do you remember Nero?"

  "Yes."

  "He's right outside the door, along with six royal guards and your mother. Tizirah Tylie has an order signed by Tadara Eriadne that you're to be protected at all times. No one's going to remove you from this room without a brutal fight from all of us." She kissed his cheek. "Do you want me to get your mother for you?"

  Tears gathered in his eyes. "I can't."

  She sat down next to him. "Why? What is it?"

  He hesitated before he answered in a whisper. "I don't want to hear her tears. And I don't want to see the guilt in her eyes that will make me feel like an asshole for having caused it. Just one time in my minsid life, I want to be selfish. I'm tired of eating my pain and hiding it to protect her feelings. I'm sorry she feels guilty for my life. But just once, I want to feel sorry for myself, and fuck everyone else!"

  She stroked his cheek. "Okay. You're allowed. The gods know you've earned it after what you've been through."

  His breathing ragged, he looked away from her. "I ran away once, Felicia. Right after I graduated. I had this stupid idea that I could find peace, somewhere else."

  Felicia's jaw went slack at a secret she was sure he'd never shared with anyone else. "What happened?"

  "I learned that as much as the Andarions hate me for my birth, the rest of the universe hates us even more. For a month, I tried to find work. I went system to system, looking. Everywhere it was the same. Humans hate us. Phrixians don't trust us. I couldn't even find housing. No one would rent to me. Not even for a night. I had to sleep on the street, in alleyways. Had to travel in cargoholds." He swallowed hard. "I came back home and my mom didn't even know I'd been gone. She was at a summit meeting with the tadara. That's how irrelevant I am."

  "You're not irrelevant, Talyn. Have you any idea how important you are to me?"

  He scoffed. "I've ruined you by having you in my life. Tainted you. Forever."

  "No. You've given me a life and home the likes of which I never thought I could have. Until you, I felt worthless and irrelevant. Unwanted. But every time I hear your voice, my heart sings."

  Talyn brushed the back of his index finger down her cheek. "I don't ever want you to regret me, Felicia."

  "How could I?"

  Talyn started to smile until a dark shadow appeared in the doorway. He expected it to be his mother.

  It wasn't.

  Tadara Eriadne of the Most Sovereign Blood Clan of eton Anatole stood there with a royal contingency of guards. Well over six feet, she was the epitome of a bloodthirsty queen, who'd murdered half her family to take her throne. And she eyed him as if he was the next to join them in their graves.

  Felicia jumped up with a small squeak before she bowed to her queen.

  "Leave us," Eriadne said without even looking at her.

  That pissed Talyn off. And the way Felicia hurried from the room didn't help his mood even a little.

  How dare the bitch treat Felicia that way. Even if she was queen. In his world, tadara meant nothing.

  She was nothing.

  Once the guards had withdrawn, the tadara approached his bed. "You're not afraid of me?"

  He curled his lip. "Should I be?"

  "I could have you killed."

  Good luck with that, bitch.

  Even though it was illegal, he met her gaze without flinching. "Death doesn't scare me. And neither do you."

  "You are a bold one, aren't you? Full of that great War Hauk spirit. It must be hard-coded into your DNA."

  Just as ruthlessness must be coded into hers.

  "To what do I owe this pleasure, Tadara?"

  The tic in her jaw said that she noted that his delivery of her title was more insult than obsequiousness. "You should watch your tone, boy. You have assaulted members of my direct family. You're lucky you're still alive."

  Actually, they were lucky he wasn't dead. Had he not survived, he had no doubt his mother would have gone on a royal killing spree.

  Starting with Eriadne.

  But he refused to be intimidated by her. "Why are you here, Majesty?"

  She swept a withering glare over him. "When I leave, my secretary will enter with forms for you to fill out. The pardon your mother and my daughter lobbied for comes with certain conditions."

  He quirked a brow.

  "You are never to speak of anything that happened to you. Should anyone ask, you were off on an official assignment."

  Yeah ...

  "And my hair?"

  "You were disciplined for your behavior."

  For his behavior. Priceless.

  "Failure to fall in line, Captain, will have most dire consequences for you."

  "I'm a major, Majesty."

  A sinister half smile curled her lips. "Were. Again, let me reiterate how lucky you are to be let off so easily." She slid her gaze toward the door. "Next time you assault a member of my family, it won't be you we throw into a pit on Onoria."

  And with that, she walked out.

  Talyn sat in bed, barely controlling the rage inside him. And when the secretary handed him the nondisclosure and he read through it, the lies and injustice scalded his throat and branded his soul even worse than the abuse he'd survived.

  "Is there a problem, Captain?"

  Talyn gripped the stylus and reminded himself that it wasn't the secretary's fault she served a whore queen. But really? He wanted to stab her with it. "No problem."

  He signed his name to the document and saved it. They thought they had him.

  They were wrong.

  Yes, he was a Batur, but more than that, he was a mighty War Hauk. So named for their willingness to bleed in battle and take the life of those who threatened their family.

  This wasn't over. He would have sucked up what they did to him and taken it.

  Their mistake? Threatening his mother and Felicia. For he was a stralen War Hauk. No one, not even the fucking tadara of Andaria, threatened his family and got away wit
h it.

  That bitch was going down, and by all the gods, he was going to be the one to bind her in chains.

  Or personally send her to her grave.

  CHAPTER 17

  Lorens ground his teeth as he read over Talyn's medical report and saw what Jullien and the others had done to the poor kid. It disgusted him.

  Talyn was barely older than Gavarian. At that age, Lorens had just been entering the military under his father's direct tutelage and fierce protection.

  He hadn't been tortured for the pleasure of a demented tahrs and his court. Sadly, he hadn't realized just how young Talyn was when they'd had dinner together. The warrior had seemed a lot older and far more worldly than he should be. That, too, said a lot about Talyn's upbringing and past treatment.

  "You summoned me, Commander?"

  Lorens looked up from his files to see Colonel Anatole. In that moment, he wanted to put his fist through the bastard's smug face. "A disturbing report has come to my attention. I want you to explain to me what happened to Major Batur."

  "Pardon?"

  "Major Talyn Batur. Don't play stupid with me, Colonel."

  More calm than anyone had a right to be, Chrisen met his gaze fearlessly. "As you know, Lieutenant Batur was transferred from my command. I know nothing about him beyond that."

  Bullshit.

  "Fascinating. Your log reports show that you've spent weeks at the palace and not at your duty station."

  He shrugged nonchalantly. And why shouldn't he? Chrisen thought himself above reproach and discipline. "The palace is a big place and the tahrs, my cousin, wanted extra security. Seems he feared an assassination plot from someone close to him."

  "So you know nothing about Batur's arrest?"

  "I didn't know he was arrested at all."

  Lying sack of shit. But then, Talyn hadn't technically been arrested. He'd been seized and tortured.

  "Get out of my sight."

  Anatole paused. "You might want to rethink your tone with me, Commander. While you do outrank me in the military, you'd do well to remember that socially, I outrank you. It is my blood family that has ruled us all for thousands of years. Be a shame for your children to grow up fatherless."

  "Is that a threat?"

  Anatole smirked. "Just a friendly reminder."

  Lorens ground his teeth as he watched the bastard glide out of his office. Honestly, he was sick of the Anatoles. Sick of the fact that none of them respected Andarion life or the values their civilization had been founded on. He'd suffered it for years, but as his children came into their own, new fears haunted him.