Part 11 (2/2)

Fain heard the monitors a split second before he opened his eyes and saw them. That he expected. What he never thought to see was Galene holding his hand.

I have to be dead.

He grimaced at her as she reached to call for the doctor.

”Don't move, Fain. You have a ma.s.sive head injury.”

It must be bad. Even Talyn was standing in the doorway and had to move aside for the medics to come in and check him.

But honestly, to have them there, with him, he'd take the injury. For the tiniest moment, he allowed himself to pretend that he actually had a family that loved him.

He had a sort of brotherhood with The Tavali, but it wasn't the same as a real blood family and he knew it. End of the day, they wouldn't weep to see him gone. Wouldn't give his death much more than a pa.s.sing too bad thought.

The last time he'd felt like he truly belonged to someone had been in Galene's arms when they were kids.

Never since.

Even now, he could still see her young, bashful face as she pressed her cheek to his and held his naked body close to hers. ”I love you, Fain. I live only for the day of our unification when everyone will know exactly how much you mean to me. I shall scream it through the streets. Fain Hauk is my husband and I love him more than anything!”

Laughing, he'd rolled and pulled her body over his. ”And I shall tattoo your Batur lineage all the way down my arm so that everyone will know that you mean more to me than even my own revered family heritage. A War Hauk I may be, but it is a Winged Batur who owns me. Mind, body, and soul. Forever.”

Fain glanced down at his left arm to the hand Galene held. Heat stung his cheeks.

Galene ran her hand over the sprawling Batur tattoo that entwined around his Tavali markings before she stepped back to allow the doctor to treat him. She moved to speak in a whisper to Talyn, who nodded, then left.

Fain heard the Andarion doctor speaking, but paid her no attention. Not while he was watching the only female who had ever held his heart.

Galene pressed her lips together as she tried to sort through the conflicting emotions Fain stirred. Especially those that had ripped through her with serrated talons the moment she'd stepped into his hospital room and had seen her specific Batur lineage inked in bold blue and black hues down his entire left arm.

Shoulder to wrist.

Nothing had ever shocked her more. Not even the time Talyn had repainted her walls with her favorite and extremely expensive lipstick when he'd been a toddler.

Fain hadn't borne that tattoo the last time she'd seen him naked.

No, it'd been done long after they'd parted ways. And she could tell by the way the tattoo had faded that he hadn't done it recently, either. He'd been carrying her lineage with him for years.

But why? Why would he have marked that on his flesh after abandoning her? None of this made sense.

How could he both abandon her and honor her lineage?

Talyn placed his hand on her shoulder. ”You all right?”

”Not sure.” She glanced back toward Fain. ”Tell me, honestly. What do you think of your father?”

”You've physically or verbally spanked my a.s.s every time I've ever answered that question. Believe it or not, I can be taught.”

She snorted. ”You hadn't met him then. Now...” She gestured toward the male she wanted to both kiss and kill.

Talyn let out a tired sigh. ”What do you want me to say, Matarra? Like you, I'm still mad as h.e.l.l at him for what he did to us. But I don't really know him well enough to comment on his motives or decency. He's a complete stranger to me.”

But he wasn't a stranger to her. At least he hadn't been, and in the back of her mind, she saw the precious boy she'd once loved.

Cursed with an obnoxious, bullying older brother who'd been possessed of a severe drug and alcohol problem, Fain had spent the better part of his youth trying to cover for Keris. Or worse, doing his best to protect his younger brother from everyone who thought Dancer was worthless, and should have been left out to die as an infant. Only Fain had ever seen the good in his little brother, and any time Dancer had been threatened, Fain had thrown himself into the line of fire to protect him.

Just like he'd done today for Talyn.

Why do I have to love the very creature I hate most?

Emotions shouldn't be this complicated.

Talyn pulled his link out to check it.

”Felicia?”

He shook his head. ”I'm a little worried. I haven't heard from her since I left a message asking her to call, and that's not like her. She's not even responding to my nudges. You don't think anything happened, do you?”

”I'm sure she's fine. Did you contact her brother?”

”He said he spoke to her and that she's fine. Just really busy with work and the upcoming holidays.”

”Then don't worry so. She's ferocious.”

That finally made him smile. ”True enough.” He returned his link to his pocket. ”They need a battle report in the con. I'll go take care of it for you.”

She pressed her cheek to his. ”Thank you.”

”Call if you need me.”

Galene watched as Talyn walked toward the nearest lift bank. He really was the very image of his father. Something brought home a second later when the doctor and nurses scattered out of the room like insects fleeing an exterminator.

”No one took your d.a.m.n ring!” the doctor snarled before she and the others left him. ”Up his dosage!” The doctor handed her pad to the nurse on her right. ”And give him an enema while you're at it.”

Suppressing a smile at something that was far too similar to Talyn's soured demeanor whenever he was confined to a hospital bed, she slid into the room with a chiding tsk and used a phrase that Felicia normally said to Talyn in similar situations. ”You should be nicer to the ones who give you shots.”

”I can't stand a thief,” Fain snarled.

”Interesting words coming from the mouth of a Tavali pirate.”

Fain sneered at her words. ”Taking from a government drunk on its own power is one thing. Stealing from an individual-” His words stopped dead as she returned the ring to him.

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