Born of Fury

CHAPTER 23

Sumi thought she was braced for the worst, but nothing could have prepared her for what awaited them in the landing bay of the massive ship. She felt as if she’d walked into a war-zone planning committee. There were creatures everywhere in battlesuits from more countries and organizations than she could identify.

Yet the weirdest feeling was seeing Andarions and humans working side by side without issue. Occasionally, someone might pass an irritated look at another, but they did that to their own kind as much as they did it to others.

A large number of the gathered beings pinned curious stares on her, which made her extremely uncomfortable.

Fain stood beside her with his hand on her shoulder to let her know he was there to protect her. “Just breathe, kisa. I’m with you.”

“What does kisa mean?”

“Little sister. Kiran means little brother.”

The word warmed her. But that feeling was fleeting as she saw the massive swarm of beings there to escort Dancer from the skimmer to the infirmary.

Thia hadn’t been joking. Their family was terrifying and huge.

“Sumi!”

She barely registered the call before she was practically bowled over by Darice. His entire face alight with joy, he seized her in a tight hug that left her breathless. Then he kissed her cheek and released her.

“We were so worried about you. Especially when Thia told me that Dancer and Bastien were down. We didn’t know if you’d been hurt or what… I’m so glad you’re okay.”

Shaking her head, Thia walked up behind him with a huge smile. “You must have performed an exorcism on Darice while you were on that mountain.”

He snorted before he playfully shoved at Thia, like any pesky little brother. He turned back to Sumi and sobered. “While we waited in the caves, we made these for you and Dancer.” He pulled a feathered necklace from his neck and placed it around hers. The other two matched perfectly. Each one had a single feather and bone.

Like father and son.

Darice bit his lip nervously as he showed her the one he’d made for Dancer. “You think he’ll like it?”

“He’ll love it, Darice. I can’t wait to see his face when you give it to him. And I can’t thank you enough for mine. It’s absolutely beautiful, sweetie. Thank you for the honor.” She kissed his cheek.

His eyes proud, he glanced from her to Fain, who tensed visibly.

For several heartbeats no one moved.

Darice fingered the feather around his neck before he finally spoke. “Did you slip and fall on your Endurance climb, Uncle Fain?”

Fain couldn’t have looked more stunned had Darice slapped him. He stammered for several seconds before he finally answered. “Um… no. Keris knocked me down a couple of times, but I didn’t slip on my own.”

“Were you scared?”

Fain was still casting his gaze about as if this whole conversation was terrifying him, and he expected someone to attack him for having it. “Not really. I was too pissed over being kicked in the head and face every time I got within striking range.”

Darice glanced to Sumi. “I slipped at one point and thought I was dead, but then I didn’t really fall. Sumi caught me and we climbed up and I stood by the nest. You could see everything for miles and miles. It was so awesome! I felt like I could do anything!”

Thia met Fain’s stunned, bewildered gaze. “Told you. She performed an exorcism. Weird, huh? She took a brat up the side of the mountain and came down with a sentient being. Who knew it’d be that easy?”

Darice cut an irritated glare at her. “You don’t understand. You didn’t make the climb. It was life-changing.”

Thia held her hands up in surrender. “I’m just grateful for your new attitude, kiran. You keep this up, and you’ll be my all-time favorite camping buddy.”

Fain offered his nephew a tentative smile. “You’re supposed to have your hair braided now that you’ve made your ascent into adulthood.” Hesitantly, he reached out.

Darice moved closer to him so that Fain could braid his hair.

If Sumi lived a thousand years, she’d never forget the sad yet proud look on Fain’s face that his nephew was allowing Fain to touch him for the first time in Darice’s life. Darice appeared unsure at first, but after a few minutes he relaxed and accepted Fain as family.

It touched her heart to see them like that.

Thia draped her arm over Sumi’s shoulders. “Don’t look now, but the others have noticed you… Heads up.”

Suddenly terrified, Sumi glanced past their small group to see the truth in those words. Syn had taken Dancer and Bastien to the infirmary and everyone who’d been focused on Dancer was now staring at them.

Or more to the point, her.

Never in her life had she wished herself invisible more.

A gorgeous, bearded male in a burgundy Phrixian battlesuit was the first to walk over to them. He had the same intense, predator lope that marked both Fain and Dancer.

His long black hair had a bright red stripe in it and was pulled back into a ponytail. “No one told me we were doing makeovers! Stand aside, Fain, you’re not doing that right.” Using his hip, he bumped Fain to the left and took over plaiting Darice’s hair. Then he flashed a bright smile at Sumi. “I’m Mari, by the way. Nice to meet you.”

Sumi returned his smile. So this was Safir and Kyr’s brother. She could see the resemblance between him and Saf, but not so much with Kyr. Maybe because he and Saf still had a soul.

And Mari didn’t appear crazy.

“Mari?”

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “What, love?”

“Your brother, Safir —”

“Is at home, being taken care of, even as we speak.”

“He’s no longer in Kyr’s custody?”

Maris paused to meet her gaze. “He’s safe.”

“Thank the gods,” she breathed.

Thia grinned at them. “By the way, Aunt Mari’s the one who’s going to be grumpiest with you from now on.”

That made Sumi’s heart stop. What had she done? “Why?”

Thia wrinkled her nose. “He’s Uncle Hauk’s late-night gaming partner.”

Mari winked at her. “It’s okay. Hauk is one male I don’t mind sharing. Besides, my son and hubby will be delighted to have more undivided time with me.”

Sumi started to respond when she realized they were now surrounded by numerous strangers who were eyeballing her with way too much interest. She knew some of them from Dancer’s photos, but she didn’t know all their names.

Fain placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as he took up the introductions. “You know Darling and Ryn already. The Kimmerian assassin between them is their brother Drake.”

She shook arms with the man who looked almost identical to Darling, except he had dark hair instead of Darling’s and Ryn’s red hair.

They stepped aside for the next wave.

“Caillen whatever he’s calling himself this week and his wife Desideria. They are two of the ones, along with any of Darling’s family, I told you to stay near for a while.”

Handsome and irritated, Caillen glared at Fain’s introduction. “Nice meeting you, Sumi.”

“You’re the Exeterian prince and heir?” she asked, trying to keep them all straight in her mind.

Caillen nodded.

And as Sumi’s gaze fell to Caillen’s tiny, pregnant wife, she realized that she bore an amazing resemblance to the little girl Dancer had been holding. “You have a daughter?”

Desideria smiled proudly. “We do. Lillya.”

“Dancer has a picture of him holding her that he carries.”

Her smile widened. “It’s adorable, isn’t it? She thinks her uncle Hauk hung the very moons, he’s so tall.” She stepped aside for another Tavali to step forward. “This is my brother, Chayden. He flies a lot with Hauk and Ryn, and is an old friend of my husband’s.”

Chayden held his hand out to her. “Pleased to meet you.”

“You’re the one who dropped Dancer off on Oksana.”

“I am.”

She grinned. “I’ve heard you’re quite the pilot. Nice meeting you, Chayden.”

After that, the faces and names blended together until an extremely intense, frightening redheaded woman came up, holding a small boy in her arms. While all of them held the stances of trained soldiers and assassins, there was something particularly deadly about this one.

She eyed Sumi with suspicion. “I’m Shahara Dagan-Wade,” she said before Fain had a chance. “Syn’s wife.”

Ah… now she understood why everyone was so terrified of crossing this woman. A famed bounty hunter for the Overseer, she’d hauled in some of the worst criminals in the Nine Worlds.

Alone.

“You’re the one who shot Dancer for pretending to drop, I assume, this little guy.” She tickled his belly.

A miniature copy of his father, Devyn laughed. “I’m this many years old.” He held his hand out with all five fingers spread wide.”

They both laughed at him while Shahara kissed his cheek. “This is our little Devyn Devil.”

Sumi shook his tiny hand. “Pleased to meet you, Devyn.”

He screwed his face up thoughtfully. “So are you my new Aunt Hauk?”

Unsure how to answer, she exchanged an uncomfortable stare with Shahara before her gaze went to Darice. For once, he didn’t seem to mind that she was with his uncle.

She suspected part of it was that he was too thrilled to have Mari braiding his hair to match Dancer’s and Fain’s to be agitated over her relationship.

“There we go.” Mari patted Darice on the shoulder and stepped back to admire his handiwork. “Like a true Andarion warrior.”

Fain pulled out his sword so that Darice could use the blade as a mirror.

Slack-jawed, Sumi met Shahara’s unamused gaze.

Shahara sighed. “They’re like feral animals. You really can’t home-train them. I’ve been trying to for years.” She glanced back at Fain, who had a what’d-I-do expression as he noticed Shahara’s censure. “I give up.”

Thia let out a “heh” sound. “At least he didn’t hand him a loaded blaster and tell him to check the perimeter at night.”

“And was that so bad, daughter?”

Sumi turned to see Nykyrian standing directly behind them. Dang, he moved as silently as Dancer.

Thia patted her father on his cheek. “It’s fine, Dad. Scarred for life. But fine.”

Nykyrian wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her back against his chest. There was no missing how much he loved and adored his daughter. How fiercely protective he was of her.

Nor did she miss the way Thia savored her father’s loving embrace.

Syn stepped around Nykyrian and handed a small jar to Sumi before he took his son from his wife and squeezed him until Devyn protested.

Sumi lifted it to see a small electronic chip. “What’s this?”

“Hauk’s TD. I killed the signal, but can’t peg where it came from. I can’t even ID the chip’s DOM or origin. Thought you might have better luck.”

Nykyrian gaped at Syn’s disclosure. “You? You couldn’t trace it?”

“Yeah, I know. Right? It’s really pissing me off that I got nothing. I’m sure Hauk can do something with it when he wakes up though.”

Sumi studied it carefully. “It’s not a League tag. Any ideas?”

Syn shook his head. “I hit a wall.”

Mari took it next to study it. “Never seen one like this before.”

“Looks Andarion.”

They stared at Fain, who was peering over Mari’s shoulder.

Fain took it from Mari’s hand. “It’s an older model, but I swear it’s similar to what we used when I was in the infantry corps.”

His jaw ticcing, Nykyrian narrowed his gaze. “You think it’s Jullien who tagged him?”

Shrugging, Fain handed the chip back to Sumi. “I don’t know. He’s had a hard-on for Dancer since he saved you at school. And the last few years definitely haven’t endeared my brother to him… It’s possible.”

“And speaking of…” Syn handed Devyn back to Shahara. “I need to borrow our lovely new friend and remove her tracker before it’s turned back on.”

Darice stepped forward like a respectful guard. “Do you need me to go with you, Sumi?”

She hugged him. “I’ll be fine, sweetie. Thank you for offering, though. It means a lot to me to have such a fierce and noble protector.”

When she started to release him, he held on to her. “Kimi asyado.”

She glanced to Thia for the translation, but it was Fain who explained it. “He says that he loves you tremendously.”

Sumi tightened her arms around him. “I love you, too, baby.” She placed a kiss on his cheek. When she pulled back, she saw the tears in his eyes.

“I’m an adult male now, Sumi. Not a baby.”

“Yes, you are, Darice. And you’re a strong, beautiful male. You honor your ancestors and all of Andaria.”

Darice smiled happily.

“Damn,” Darling breathed as he joined them. “Whatever she has, we need to bottle it in droves.”

Nykyrian scowled at him. “What are you talking about?”

“First Hauk, now Darice. I’ve never seen anyone tame so many rowdy Andarions with nothing more than a smile. Just think, if we had that, we could rule them all.”

Nykyrian pinned him with a wry stare. “I already rule them all.”

“Oh yeah, there is that.”

Syn gave his son one last squeeze before he turned to Sumi. “Come on, let’s get you deactivated.” He led her toward the infirmary.

Sumi hesitated. “Can I see Dancer before we do this?”

“Sure.” He took her to a small room where Dancer was hooked up to several monitors.

Her heart wrenched at the sight of him like that. He was so strong and vibrant that, like his friends, it was easy for her to forget that he was a mortal being who could be brought down by something as simple as a well-placed small shot or infection. “Is he all right?”

“The compound they used to stun him isn’t playing well with his system. He had something similar to an allergic reaction to it – which is more serious for an Andarion than a human. But he’ll pull through. I’m only keeping him unconscious because I know he won’t stay down if he’s awake. The bastard thinks he’s invincible.”

He was right about that. “Andarion TAM.”

Syn laughed. “He told you, huh?”

“Yes, he did.”

“Well maybe now that he has you, he’ll be less suicidal.”

“Meaning?”

Syn pinned her with a grim expression. “Instead of having something to live for, he now has someone to live for.”

Sumi wasn’t sure of the difference. From what she’d seen, Dancer had lots of people he lived for already. “I still don’t follow.”

Syn moved to check one of the monitors. “Since the day I met him, Hauk’s fought the world with one foot already on the other side of eternity. Like he’s fighting a ghost. He’s had no real sense of self-worth. No regard for whether or not he returned from a mission. I know, ’cause I was like that, too. We all were. We fought because it’s all we knew. But it’s different when you have something to fight for. Someone to come back to. Someone you know will be destroyed if you don’t make it.”

That she understood. She’d been there as far back as she could remember – not really caring whether or not she made it through the day or the mission. And he was right. Now that she had Dancer, it made things much more complicated. Made her want to hold on when she’d already relegated herself to letting go.

Suddenly, the door behind them opened. Sumi turned to find a full unit of Andarion soldiers there.

Syn put himself between her and Dancer and them. “What’s going on?”

“Stand down, Doctor. We’re here for the woman.”

“She’s a patient of mine.”

He disregarded Syn entirely. “She’s under arrest.”

Sumi’s stomach shrank as she took a step back. “For what?”

They didn’t answer as they pushed past Syn and seized her, then hauled her from the room.