"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 f.u.c.king 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 b.a.s.t.a.r.d! 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 s.h.i.t what you do."
Bastien wrapped his arm around her and kissed her head. "My baby."
She elbowed him hard. "Don"t call me baby."
Coughing, he wheezed from the blow. "Okay ... forgot how much you hated that. Will never forget again."
"Good. Now, let"s get out of here."
The woman gestured at Quin.
He shook his head. "He"s my brother I told you about."
She gestured again and Quin laughed.
"Yeah, something like that." Sobering, he faced them. "Bastien, this is my wife, Myrna. She was a political activist Barnabas threw down here to die ... after he cut her tongue out."
Bastien winced. "I"m so sorry."
She gestured at him. While he recognized some of the signs she used, most were her own concoctions.
So Quin translated. "She says it"s a pleasure to meet you, and wants to know if you"re really planning to kill Barnabas."
"It"s why we"re here." Bastien gestured to Ember. "This is my wingman, Ember Wyldestarrin. Ryn Dane, and our half brother, Iskander Zeki or Xander as he prefers to be called."
Myrna gasped as she finally looked at Iskander. Then she glanced back and forth between them and gestured wildly.
"Yeah," Bastien said. "They look like father and son."
Quin gaped.
When he started to speak, Bastien cut him off. "He"s our theren, Quin. An incredible warrior and pilot. And a good man. Treat him better than you ever treated me."
The fire went out slowly in Quin"s eyes before he did the one thing he"d never, ever done before. He backed down to Bastien and nodded.
Xander stood slack-jawed until Ember reached up and closed his mouth. "Did he just compliment me?"
"I think you"re growing on him." She smiled.
"I think h.e.l.l just froze over."
Snorting, Bastien and Ryn began looking for a pa.s.sable way out. But it became obvious why Quin had given up. There was no easy route to the surface.
Not that that had ever deterred Bastien. Over. Under. Around. Or through. He always found a way. And he had too big a debt to settle. High motivation for not staying down here.
As they slowly and carefully made their way up, he tried to understand Quin"s mind-set. But then, he"d never understood his brother. Unlike Quin, he"d have never been able to live this close and not strike out.
And Quin had lost a lot more than Bastien had that night. It made no sense.
"People are different, Ba.s.sie. You shouldn"t judge them by what you would and wouldn"t do. What seems easy to you is impossible to someone else. And that"s what you should always remember and fear. For too often our prisons are the gla.s.s walls that we"ve fashioned for ourselves with the excuses we"ve made for why something is impossible when it"s not. And we"re held back by nothing more than the phantoms of our minds. Shadows that scatter whenever they meet the light."
His mother"s words had never seemed more true than they did right now. She was right. Quin wasn"t him. It was why they"d always fought. If someone said turn, Quin would go right and Bastien left. It was just how they were.
But that didn"t mean that Bastien didn"t love his brother. End of the day, he"d kill or die for him, and that was what he couldn"t lose sight of.
Or let Quin"s acerbic tongue make him forget.
They were brothers. And together, they would all get out of this.
Iskander patiently helped Ember and Bastien up. "I can tell by the light in your eyes that you have a new appreciation for me, GG."
Bastien snorted. "Don"t push it, Badger. But yeah, you are cute and fluffy."
And though it took them a couple of hours, they did make it to the top.
Bastien spread out on the ground and pulled Ember down over his body. "I"m just going to stay here for a few hours. Ryn ... go get the ship and pick us up."
"Ha, ha, ha. Not even. That would require I move, and I don"t think I can, either."
Xander rolled his eyes. "What a bunch of old men I got saddled with. Fine. I"ll go get it. Y"all stay here and whine."
But the moment he stood up, a shot rang out. It hit him dead in the chest and knocked him to the ground.
CHAPTER 16.
Bastien ran to Iskander to check his vitals while Ryn covered them. Choking and wheezing, Xander was bleeding profusely.
His eyes telegraphed his agony.
For the first time, Bastien realized how right Ember had been. This was his brother. The fact that they were half-blooded didn"t matter for s.h.i.t. Especially right now.
In fact, he liked Badger a h.e.l.l of a lot more than Quin. At least he got along with him. He could put him at his back and trust him to protect it. And somehow over the last few months the sneaky little b.a.s.t.a.r.d had carved a sacred place in his heart and life. Yeah, Badger was a smart-a.s.s, and crabby ... a lot like Bastien.
But none of that mattered.
"I"ve got you, blyt theren. Hold on. Don"t you dare die on me."
Xander met his gaze. "Are you high?"
Bastien cracked a grin. "Love you, too. And if you die, I"m going to h.e.l.l so that I beat your a.s.s for it. You hear me?"
He nodded.
"Bas! We"ve got to move!"
He wrapped his arms around Iskander while Ember took his blaster and offered cover fire for them. As fast as he could, he carried his brother to Ryn"s ship, trusting in Ryn to see to Quin and Myrna.
As soon as they were onboard, Ember went to help Ryn with preflight checks. Bastien took Iskander to the infirmary and tended him as best he could.
"Man, I should have paid closer attention in those field dressing cla.s.ses."
Iskander coughed again. "Yeah. I"ve seen the scars on your body. You should have."
"You ha.s.sling me? Seriously? In your condition?"
"Can"t help it. I take after my older brother."
Bastien paused to meet his gaze. It was the first time Xander had said that with any kind of affection in his tone. "Family?"
Iskander nodded and held his hand out toward him. "Family."
Bastien took his hand and held it. "I"ll never leave you, blyt theren."
"That, I believe. You"re too stupid to have any self-preservation."
"I wouldn"t need any if my little brother could learn to not walk into a sniper"s kill zone."
They were still trading insults when Ember came to check on them after launch.
She paused in the open doorway to take in the sight of her beautiful man with the warrior who"d stepped in to be a role model for her son, even though he wasn"t that much older. Because Xander had known how hard it was to not have a father around when he was young, he"d made sure that Florian never missed out.
It warmed her heart and soul to see the two men who were so important to her getting along.
To see them finally as brothers.
Her eyes teared at the sight. "I take it he"s okay?"
"Unless I reconsider stabbing him, he"ll live."
Iskander tossed a wadded-up piece of gauze at Bastien. "What hit me?"
"League. They"re everywhere. What the h.e.l.l?"
"It"s war."
Ryn snorted as he turned on the monitor. "It"s more than that. I"m thinking we"re tagged. They"re following us, so I need all of you to lock in. It"s about to get hairy."
"Where"s Quin?"
Ryn turned the camera to show him and Myrna buckled into seats on the bridge. "Taken care of. Now batten down. Precious cargo at the helm."
Iskander rolled from the bunk. Bastien helped him out to the hallway, where crew chairs were anch.o.r.ed to the wall. He buckled him in and checked Ember"s belt before he took his own seat. He"d barely fastened the harness before Ryn banked a hard starboard.
His crew opened fire on their pursuers.
"d.a.m.n, that man can fly." Bastien pa.s.sed an amused stare to Ember.
She nodded. "It"s in his blood. And if you think he"s something, you should see his mother in battle. There"s a reason they dubbed her Kirren as a call sign."
If her abilities were anything like her son"s, he could imagine. The Kirren were mythological birds of prey from Qillaq folklore. It was said their G.o.ds would unleash them against their enemies and that no one could stand against them. They flew in with a flash of lightning and a scream of thunder, with tails on fire, raining down their acid breath until nothing was left except smoldering remains.
From what Bastien had heard about how Hermione reacted against anyone who threatened her only child, that sounded about right.
However, at the moment, they were being hammered.
Bastien glanced to Iskander. "You hanging in there, kid?"
He nodded, but appeared a little green and wan.
Bastien reached out for Ember"s hand. "You with me?"
"To h.e.l.l and back."
He smiled at what she used to say back before Alura had driven a wedge between them. And it gave him hope.
"You know, Ember, in my life I"ve only loved three women."