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"His name is Michael. He"s punishing the Evil One," Halian told him. "Michael protects all of humanity. He hears prayers directed to him, too."

"Lotta work for one guy," Jules commented. He opened the box. It had velvet covering the contents, a peculiar and pretty shade of green. He thought he might save it, and carefully pulled it out of the way. Under it were three letters, a smaller box, and a satin, drawstring bag. The letters were from Isla, Adrian, and Keita.

He opened the smaller box. Inside, was a ring. The metal glowed in the lamp light, but not as brightly as the gem shined.

"She gave you a ring," Halian murmured. "I wonder why?"

"It"s pretty," Jules said.

"It ought to be," Halian replied. "It"s a flawless, brilliant-cut, two carat diamond sitting on a platinum band. It"s worth is enormous."

"It catches the light." Jules watched it sparkle. Halian"s words didn"t mean much to him. "I"ll open her letter so we can find out why she sent it," he said, carefully tearing the envelope.

"Jules, that is a personal letter to you, from my mother," Halian said slowly.

"I don"t hold any secrets over you, Hal." Jules pulled the heavy cloth content paper out, and cleared his throat. Wow, Isla had some ornate handwriting. All loops and swirls.

"?? ??????? ?????, ? ???? ?? ?????? ????? ??? ?? ???? ?????? ??? ???? ???????," he read aloud. "???"?? ?? ??????? ?? ???? ???? ??? ?? ?? ??? ????. ????? ?? ?????????? ????? ??? ??????? ???????? ?? ? ??. ????????? ??????, ??? ?? ??? ???? ???????? ? ????." Jules paused to smile. Yeah, that was good. Keita had a smart brain, and it needed exercise.
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"????, ???? ?????," he went on. "?? ?? ?? ??????????? ??? ?????. ? ???? ?? ????? ??? ???? ??? ???? ?? ??? ????? ??? ???????? ??? ???? ??? ????. ?? ???? ???"? ????????, ?"?? ???????? ?? ????? ??? ??? ????. ?? ???????? ? ???, ? ???"? ??????? ?????????, ??? ? ???? ?? ???? ????? ???? ? ???? ??? ???? ?? ?????? ???????."

Jules looked up at Halian, suddenly so peeved he couldn"t contain it. "I ragged on that kid endlessly," he complained. "He wouldn"t learn!"

"You are not my mother," Halian said, enunciating each word fully.

Jules grinned. "Yeah. I see your point." He lifted the letter up again.

"?????? ???????? ???? ???? ???? ??"? ???? ?? ?????? ?? ?????-????," he read aloud. "?"? ???? ????????. ?? ????? ??? ??? ?? ??? ???? ? ???? ????, ????. ? ???"? ???? ?? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???????? ??????. ???????, ?? ???? ??? ?? ???? ??? ?? ???????? ????? ?????? ?????????. ?????? ?? ?? ???? ?? ????? ? ?????."

Jules eyeballed Halian. "You had the finger strength to write your mom? I can barely hold a spoon right now, with all the d.a.m.ned knitting."

"It"s fortunate you only need hold a spoon when I"m not here," Halian commented airily.

Jules rolled his eyes, and Halian chuckled.

"?? ???? ??????? ???"?? ???? ? ????," Jules read. "? ??? ?? ???? ??? ?? ??????? ???????, ??? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?? ???????, ?? ???? ? ????? ?????? ?? ????, ????? ??? ????."

Oh. Isla"s true love. She"d given him the ring once worn by the woman she"d never forget. Jules"s lower lip wobbled. He felt tears welling up. He forced himself to keep going. "?? ?????? ?? ???? ??????? ?????? ???????? ?? ??," he read. "?? ???? ?? ???? ?????? ??"? ????? ????. ? ???? ??? ?? ???? ??, ?????? ??"? ??????, ??? ???????? ?? ? ???? ?? ?? ???? ??? ?????. ???, ????, ?? ??"? ??? ????? ??? ???, ? ???? ??? ?? ???? ??, ??? ??? ??? ????? ??? ??? ??? ???."

"Oh, Mother," Halian said lowly. "Wise and turbulent, and deep like ocean water, but giving ???? a choice. I"m sorry, Jules."

"No, it"s okay," Jules hastened to say. "She"s helping me, Hal. And, getting rid of something that"s too heavy for ???."

Halian breathed out, and nodded.

"?????? ??? ???? ??????? ?? ???? ??? ? ????? ?? ??? ??????"? ???????," Jules read aloud. "???? ??, ?? ?????? ?? ???? ??? ????????? ?? ????? ?????, ??? ??? ???? ?? ??? ??????? ??????. ?? ????? ??? ????? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???, ??? ? ?????. ??? ??? ? ????? ???, ?????, ????. ? ???"? ???????? ??? ???? ??? ??? ???? ??? ??????, ??? ???? ???"?? ? ?????, ???"?? ? ?????. ??? ???? ?? ??."

"Oh, she comes on like a charging elephant," Halian bemoaned, holding a hand over his eyes. "Jules, you should know that both of my parents are Novars. My mother is my father"s fifth cousin. I"m inbred."

"Can"t argue with it with you as the example," Jules joked. "Seriously, though?"

"Yes." Halian lowered his hand to look at him. "Often, the only way two mated alphas can have children at all is when selectively inbreeding. That is why a quality omega was so important to my parents, for me. Fresh blood untouched by the name Novar. On the plus side..."

"What?" Jules asked when Halian didn"t finish.

"Well..." Halian moved his lips with an emphatic little "smack". "I"m not tooting my own horn, but facts are facts. My bloodline ????? produce splendid offspring, but not with a Novar. I ??? to be paired with an omega. It couldn"t be done another way."

Jules slowly smiled. "We haven"t even tied the knot, or ???? knot, and I"m totally the savior of the Novar line, aren"t I?"

"Yes, you clever thing," Halian said, blushing a tiny bit. "You see? Not only is your blood exceptional, but you are ????????. My mother would eat ground gla.s.s if it meant keeping you."

Jules let his hands drop, and he sagged backward with the force of his unmanly giggling. "Oh, ????," he said. "That"s... That"s so... I don"t have the words."

Halian gave a silent laugh. He tapped the letter. "What else?"

Jules straightened up and took a bracing breath. "??, ?????, ?? ?????, ?????? ?? ?? ?????? ??? ???? ?????? ?????????. ??? ??? ???? ?? ?? ??? ????? ???? ?? ????. ???? ??????? ?? ???? ????? ??????? ???? ??? ?????? ???? ??. ? ???? ????? ??? ??? ??????? ?? ??????? ???? ??? ??? ?????? ???? ?? ?????? ?? ???. ????? ?? ????, ???? ?? ???? ?? ??????, ??? ?? ?? ??????? ????, ??? ???? ?? ???? ??? ???????? ?? ??????, ??? ????? ?? ?? ??????. ??????, ???? ?? ???? ??? ????????, ?????. ???? ? ????? ?? ???, ? ?????? ?????. ????."

Jules folded the letter back up and carefully tucked it into the envelope. "A moment of complete honesty, Hal," he said.

"Okay," Halian agreed.

Jules held the letter to his lips a second, because it was so precious. "I love your mother," he said. "I respect your father, but it"s different. Your mom is strong, bold, and kind. ???? ???? ???. You take after her. You"re both so smooth-sailing and calm, until wind hits you back-sail, and then you both turn into something else, something like lightning."

Halian"s smile slowly took his face and transformed his beauty into golden sunrise. "That you would love my mother is nothing more than all I could want," he said. "If it wasn"t blasphemy, I would worship her. Nearly everything I do is with an eye to her approval."

Nodding, for Jules still loved his own mother exactly that way, Jules gently swiped his thumb over Halian"s cheekbone. "Nothing in the world like Mom," he said. "You understand that so well that you gave poor little Sky the best mother you"ve got on hand. You didn"t give her your own, because you wanted Keita to reap the benefit of Isla"s complete attention. Thank you for that, Hal."

They ignored the rest of the box, mutually and silently agreeing to curl up together on the bed and breathe each other"s air. Jules slid Halcyna"s ring onto his right third finger as a vow of family acceptance. And, they both watched it sparkle in the lamp light until falling asleep.