Part 48 (1/2)
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 s.h.i.+p. 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 s.h.i.+p 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 s.h.i.+p 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 s.h.i.+p back to the exit.
But as he left the s.h.i.+p, 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 s.h.i.+rt 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 s.h.i.+p 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.”