Part 7 (1/2)

Maybe. And maybe it was because Talyn favored him so much that it was her love of her son that made her more sympathetic to the man he took after.

Yeah, she'd go with that, for now.

Fain tapped at his ear. ”Hauk, go,” he said to whomever was calling. He waited several seconds before he spoke again. ”We'll be right there.” He met her gaze. ”Your guard is on board and waiting with my crew. If you two are ready, we can be on our way.”

As they started for the door, Talyn tapped his ear. ”Hey, is something wrong?” He placed his finger against the link and frowned as he listened intently. He led them out to the hallway. ”You need me to call for you?”

Fain duplicated Talyn's frown in a disturbingly similar manner. ”Is he okay?”

Galene nodded as they headed for the lifts. ”He's talking to Felicia.”

”How do you know?”

”The warm concern in his voice and the amount of concentration he's giving the caller. The gentleness of his tone. He only talks to her like that.” She led them into the lift.

Talyn checked the time.

Fain was stunned by the difference in Talyn's demeanor while he spoke to his Felicia. Everything about Talyn was different now. For the first time, he seemed vulnerable.

”Honey, listen, if you need me to, I don't mind. I've still got a few before we're hit the bay.” Talyn completely ignored everyone else as he followed them into the lift. ”Yeah, okay. But if they give you any more lip at all, you let me know and I'll deal with them. I mean it. No one disregards you like that. Ever. I will totally bust their a.s.ses for it.”

His features softened and he closed his eyes as if he was savoring whatever she was saying to him. ”Yeah, me, too. I'll check in when I can. Stay safe. Love you.” He lowered his hand and turned instantly stern again.

”Is everything all right?” Galene asked.

Talyn gave a curt military nod before he elaborated. ”The pool monitors went out and the new company I hired was hara.s.sing Lish because her name isn't on the account. She just wanted to make sure it was okay to add herself to it.” A fierce tic started in his jaw.

Rigid and p.i.s.sed, Talyn headed out of the lift and toward their transports as if he wanted to commit murder.

Fain pulled Galene aside in the lobby while the others followed Talyn. ”Why's he so angry about a pool company?”

She gave him a dry stare. ”Why do you think, Fain? He can't legally pledge marriage to the female he loves more than his life. So he, who is the second highest ranking member of the Andarion military, is forced to be bound by curfew and barracks restrictions that won't allow them to live together. The only way to keep him out of a barracks is if he lives with the commander he serves... his own mother. Meanwhile, the mistress he's contracted with is left to tend his home with companies that don't want to deal with either of them because neither of them is fully Vested and their contract isn't through a traditional agency.” She barely whispered the next words to him. ”Rather it's one that could get them both arrested if anyone ever investigated it fully.”

”Why doesn't he get out of the military, then?”

”And do what? He's the b.a.s.t.a.r.d son of a disinherited War Hauk. Who would hire him or deal with him in the private sector? He's a lack-Vest, Fain. The fighting schools won't even allow him, the Iron Hammer, to train other fighters. Can you imagine how humiliating that is?”

”Then allow me to adopt him. I know Cairistiona would approve it for us. As his father, I can give him full protection of the royal house. He'd be an eton Anatole and a Winged Batur then, and no one would dare to look him in the eye, never mind say anything unkind to him.”

”I will gladly allow it. But it's not up to me, is it? And it won't undo all the humiliation he's been put through since birth. You were raised with two of the most prestigious bloodlines on all of Andaria flowing through your veins. Andarions gravitated toward you in school. Everyone wanted to be your friend.”

She jerked her chin toward Talyn, who was waiting for them on the curb. ”With my family lineage and yours, he should have been a higher caste than even you were growing up. Instead, he was spat on and laughed at. Denied and degraded by those who aren't even fit to be speaking directly to him. I'm not the one you need to win over, Fain. He is.”

Fain ground his teeth as Galene left him to join their son. She was right. He could see the way the other Andarions looked at Talyn. Even though he was a t.i.tled champion and their commander, they still showed their smug contempt for him. Something they would have never dared to do to a War Hauk or a fully Vested Batur.

That was what made Talyn so stern and reserved around everyone. Why he showed no emotion whatsoever.

”You okay?”

Fain nodded as Dancer joined him. Then he shook his head. ”I can't believe I screwed over my own son.”

”You didn't know.”

”It doesn't change anything, does it?”

Dancer sighed. ”I'm sorry, Fain.”

So was he. ”Can you do me a favor, little brother?”

”Anything.”

”Find out who this Felicia is that he's contracted with.” Maybe she could give him some insight into Talyn.

The one thing he'd learned over the years was that any male's weakness was always the female he loved. Especially when that male was a War Hauk.

Talyn might hate him, but his son would listen to his Felicia.

If Fain could win her over, he might be able to start building a relations.h.i.+p with Talyn. It was at least worth a try.

”Do you have her full name?” Dancer asked.

”No. She's living in Talyn's condo. That's all I know about her.”

”Oh, well, by all means, make it easy on me, why don't you?”

He gave his brother an irritated smirk. ”If I knew more about her, I wouldn't be asking you for information. I'd find it myself.”

Dancer fanged him. ”You really suck as a brother.”

”Yeah, well, you should have to deal with mine. He's a stellar a.s.shole.”

Rolling his eyes, Dancer left Fain and got into the transport behind Talyn, who sat beside his mother.

Fain sat across from them.

While they rode, he noted the way Talyn kept checking his link and biting back a smile while he covertly texted with his female.

Yeah, his son loved her. Dearly. She was the way to his heart.

And sadly, both Galene and Talyn the two beings who hated him most were the keys to his.

While he'd regretted much of his life, there was nothing he regretted more than having walked away from them. But he'd had no choice. Had he stayed, Dancer, like their brother Keris, would have been mercilessly killed.