Ushara shook her head. "He"s completely celibate. He claims it"s how he maintains his wizard powers. As I said, he lets no one near him. Ever."
Nero scoffed. "He is Thaumarturgus. Old school."
While they fell silent, Saf came up to them to speak to Nykyrian. "Hey. I got Maris packed and stowed on Fain"s ship. I"ll run point. I figured he"d be carrying Felicia, Galene, and Sumi?"
Fain inclined his head to him. "You know it, drey. Wouldn"t trust anyone else... Maybe Talyn. But he only has a fighter."
Saf saluted him. "All right. I"m on standby."
Ushara narrowed her gaze on him as Saf walked off.
Fain arched a brow at the odd light in her eyes. "What"s wrong?"
"Are you sure we can trust him?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Strange feeling."
Syn glanced after Saf. "He is Kyr"s brother, but there"s no way he"d ever s.h.i.t on us for Kyr. His loyalty has been tested and proven."
"And yet there is still someone on the inside feeding information to our enemies."
"We caught her," Fain reminded the Tavali vice admiral.
Ushara arched her brow. "You sure?"
"Well, not now. Thanks."
Ushara laughed. "Just doing my job, Commander." She glanced to Galene. "I"ll send the specs to our base over to you as soon as I get on board." And with that, she headed off to prepare her own ship and crew.
Aggravated, Fain turned toward Nykyrian and Dancer. "I hate when they plant suspicion. Here I was all happy. Now..."
Nyk clapped him on the back. "Welcome to my world. I trust no one."
Talyn nodded in agreement. "I"ll go pack up our gear while you prepare everything else."
"Be careful." Galene kissed his cheek.
Fain watched as they split up to make arrangements. Alone with his wife, he took her hand and kissed it. "What a day, huh?"
Galene walked into his arms and savored the warmth of his long, muscled body that was alive and restored. His clothes were still torn and b.l.o.o.d.y from his fall. She couldn"t believe how close she"d come to losing him and Talyn only a short time ago. It terrified her. "I"m just glad you"re still here and whole."
"Me, too, Stormy. Me, too."
"Don"t you ever die on me again, Fain Hauk. I"ve lived too much of my life without you in it. You owe me at least sixty years."
"I don"t know what you"re talking about, Stormy. I"m planning on being immortal. So far, it"s working."
Nero hesitated as he entered his brother"s dark domain. The sleek, intergalactic cla.s.s speed-cruiser was as black as the powers Trajen had mastered. There was something on the ship that seemed alive.
As if the walls themselves were a living, breathing creature.
"Why are you here?"
The disembodied voice might frighten a non-Tri, but Nero still remembered what it was like to live in a world where such things were common. "I wanted to talk to you alone."
"There"s nothing to say. You chose the brother you wanted to save."
"That"s not fair, Tray. I didn"t choose Rian over you. He was seven months old. He could barely walk."
"Fine, then. You"re sorry you left me behind. Blah, blah, blah. Apology accepted. Please leave." His tone was flat and emotionless.
"That"s it?"
"That"s it. I"m not a social creature. I crave solitude in all things. Especially in so-called family gatherings."
"Then I shall leave you to it. But I want you to know that though our blood family is fractured, we are here for you. Rian, Jayne. Me. Darling. Drake and Annalise. We are all that is left of the Scaleras." Nero hesitated, but when it became obvious that Trajen had withdrawn, he let his brother"s bitterness hang between them as he made his way from Trajen"s ship back to the exit.
But as he left the ship, he realized something. Trajen had fostered in the Tavali under Ryn"s grandfather...
In that moment, he wanted blood.
Furious, he went to Ryn"s quarters and knocked hard on the door.
Ryn answered a few seconds later, completely disheveled and in a state that said he hadn"t been packing. Rather, he"d been appreciating the fact that he had his wife with him. He pulled his shirt on to cover the scratches and teeth marks she"d left over his back...
And other places.
"What is your problem?" Ryn demanded.
"Right now? You."
He widened his eyes. "What"d I do?"
"Did you know Trajen was my brother?"
The shocked expression on his face actually saved his life. "No. Honestly, I never thought about it. I guess I should have known if I had, but I never spent much time around him. He became Tavali when I was a baby and ran a crew for my granddad." He brushed his hand through his hair. "No offense, you guys are old. You don"t age like we do. In fact, I don"t even know how old you actually are. You"re what? Nine thousand or something?"
Nero playfully slapped him. "I"m not that old, a.s.shole. Barely three years older than your father. Who wasn"t that old when he had you. And I"m younger than your mother."
"Now you"re just being mean."
"Anyway," Nero said, trying to drag him back to the point. "I"m glad to know you didn"t keep this a secret from me."
"No worries." Ryn scratched at the whiskers on his chin. "He"s really your brother?"
"Yeah. I had no idea he was still alive." Nero cursed as his nose started bleeding again. He needed to rest. His head was killing him from what they"d done to save Fain and Talyn. After using that kind of power, he"d be weak for days. Rian would heal faster, but Nero had never been as strong as either of his brothers. "How did Trajen get to your grandfather, anyway?"
"He was cargo on a ship that my uncle raided. It was one of Varys"s first takes and Varys was the only one who survived it. When he came home, he had Trajen in tow. That"s all anyone knows. Neither of them would ever talk about it. And all my mother"s ever said is that Trajen was like a rabid animal in those days. He didn"t even speak to anyone until after he"d earned his Canting. Only then, to issue orders. He worked for my grandfather long enough to earn his t.i.the, then he challenged for the command of the Gorturnum and became a hermit."
Nero winced at what had become of his brother. Having survived his own rounds of h.e.l.l, he could only imagine how much worse it"d been on Trajen, who was much younger. And in the back of his mind, he saw that horrid night with crystal clarity.
"Where"s the baby?" His mother had been frantic as Nero had come on board the shuttle with Trajen.
He"d glanced at his beautiful sister who"d been quietly sobbing, but trying her best to hold it together. Younger than Nero, but three years older than Trajen, she"d taken Trajen"s hand to comfort him.
"I thought you had him already."
"I told you to get him! He was with Tray!"
"No. The nursery was empty." Frantic, Nero had cringed as more explosions had sounded from the fighting.
"It was Augustan you told, Mother," Julia said. "Not Nero."
"Where"s Augustan?" She"d started for the ramp.
Nero had caught her. In her formal gown and heels, she wasn"t dressed for searching and she couldn"t run through the a.s.sa.s.sin squads who were looking for royal family members to slaughter. "Let me go get them. I"ll be right back."
"No!" Trajen had screamed, running to latch on to Nero"s leg. "You promised to stay with me!"
Nero had pried his brother"s grip off and returned him to Julia"s arms. "I know, sprout. But I"ll be right back. I have to make sure that Auggie and Rian are safe, too."
Tears had welled in Trajen"s eyes. "Don"t leave me. I"m scared."
"We"re all scared. But I won"t let anyone hurt you. I swear it."
Sobbing, Trajen had stared up at him. "You promised to protect me, brother. Don"t go."
"I have no choice." Nero had gone down that ramp and into a future that still haunted him.
Maybe Trajen was right. Maybe he had chosen one brother over another. But had he not gone back, Hadrian would have been slaughtered.
Just like Augustan. The a.s.sa.s.sins had been on top of his brother and were in the process of killing him when his older brother had used the last of his powers to teleport Hadrian to him.
Run!
And Nero had. With everything he had inside him. Only Hadrian had escaped the horrors of the downfall of their race intact. Too young to remember anything, he"d been hidden away and knew nothing of it.
Meanwhile, he and Trajen couldn"t forget.
Nero had been there to see the death of their father and older brother. Trajen to see the death of their mother and Julia.
"You okay?" Ryn asked.
"Yeah." But that was a lie and he knew it. He hadn"t been okay since the night his family had been brutally executed.
Trajen had been five. He"d been eleven.
And both of them had been lost ever since.
Nothing and no one would ever bring them home.
"You were harsh on your brothers, don"t you think?"
Trajen paused as he heard Ushara enter the flight deck while he ran the last of his safety checks. "You"re questioning me?"
"Always."
"Brazen, little girl. When did you become suicidal?"
"Your mistake for not killing me when you had the chance."
He didn"t comment on that. It had been one of the very few acts of mercy he"d shown anyone in his lifetime, and he still didn"t understand why she"d evoked that peculiar emotion from him when no one else ever had. "Shouldn"t you be preparing for launch?"
"My crew"s on it. I came to tell you where we"re heading."
"I already know." He turned around in his chair to glower at her. "Another suicidal act of defiance on your part."
She approached him slowly. "Which is why I came in person. I knew it would anger you."
"Yet you didn"t run from my wrath."
"It"s not in me to do so."
One corner of his mouth lifted in bitter amus.e.m.e.nt. "No, it isn"t." She was brazenly stupid with her courage. And that was what he admired most about her.
She paused to c.o.c.k her head. "You"re hiding something from me. What is it?"
And that was what he hated most. She, alone, could read his thoughts better than any Trisani ever born. He had no idea how, yet her powers were undeniable. "You will find out soon enough. For now, you need to focus on our evacuation."
Ushara frowned at him. She opened her mouth to speak at the same time his ship"s security was breached.
Normally he"d have vaporized the miscreants. But the moment he started to attack them, he pulled back and opened the doors to give them unfettered access to his flight deck.
Instead of enemies, two adorable little girls came running in and jumped on him with giggles and hugs as they climbed up his body like feral monkeys. "Uncle Tray! Uncle Tray! Vasi said you were here!"
"Can I fly your ship?"
"No, I want to fly it!"
"Let me!"
"Let me!"
Smiling, he scooped the twins into his lap and held them. "I swear, I think you both grew a foot since you left home. What has your mother been feeding you? Fertilizer?"
Viv leaned into his chest and squeezed him tight.