Bastien refused to let them go.

"Mama! Help! I'm being molested! Stranger danger! This is making me uncomfortable!"

She laughed at her son's misery. He was so tall now that the top of his head reached her chin, but he barely reached mid-chest on Bastien. "He's your father, Ri. Give him a moment to hold you."

Florian stopped moving instantly as his jaw went slack. He leaned his head back to stare up at Bastien. "Papa?"

Bastien cupped Florian's head in his hands. The anguish and love on those chiseled features brought tears to her eyes and reminded her of his face when he'd learned his family was dead. That restrained agony that wrung her heart. This was the man she'd fallen in love with. Irritating. Hostile. Reckless. Capable.

But most of all, he was loving to the depths of his soul. Bastien never did anything halfway.

He loved as he lived. With a breakneck speed that was impossible to keep up with.

His lips trembling, he smiled proudly. "Hi, Florian."

Florian looked from Bastien to her and back again. "Mom never told me you were gigantic."

Bastien laughed. "Not as big as my Andarion friends or my cousins, but I was taller than my brother."

Iskander scoffed. "Not as tall as I am. Nor as muscled. And I'm the youngest."

Ember slapped him playfully on his hard, muscled abdomen. "Now, now, no jealousy!"

"I was just saying..."

She rolled her eyes at that Cabarro compet.i.tive spirit.

Bastien ignored them as he tried to think of something to say to his son. Love, pride, disbelief, and fear tangled inside him, leaving him speechless.

What did someone say to a half-grown kid they didn't know they had?

"It's an honor to meet you." Even Bastien cringed at the stupidity of that statement. Why don't you ask his age and remind him of all the years you've missed while you're at it?

Great intro ... moron.

Florian laughed. Then he reached up to touch the cleft in Bastien's chin. "Everyone says I take after you. I do, don't I?"

"G.o.d, I hope not." Bastien grinned. "'Cause if you do, your mother has a whole other reason for wanting me dead."

Her features softened. "You have no idea. Curse you at least three to four dozen times a day."

"Oh my G.o.d! Bastien!" That shriek was even more ear-piercing.

Turning, he saw Tasi, Cin, and Brand as they came running.

And grabbed him into hugs so fierce, they almost knocked him over. It was like being dragged under by a riptide.

But he loved it too much to complain.

"We thought you were dead!" Tasi balled her hand in his hair and held him close as she rained kisses over his face.

"I saw The League report where you'd been killed!" Brand pulled Tasi away so that she could hug him.

He laughed at the unexpected exuberance. It was more than he'd ever hoped to experience from them. Honestly, he'd expected them to hate him as much as everyone else did. "My cousin Jullien did that for me so that they'd stop hunting me."

Cin leaned against his back, making him the middle of their sandwich. Which reminded him of what he'd suggested to Alura that had sent her spiraling into a special level of p.i.s.sed off she probably had yet to come down from.

Florian made a rude noise. "Not so fun when you're the one getting squished, is it?"

Bastien laughed. "I disagree. This is awesome! Sign me up and leave me here."

Pursing his lips, he glanced over to Ember. "You failed to tell me my father was mental."

Iskander laughed at that. "I could have told you, kid."

"And speaking of..." Tasi glanced to Ember. "By the two of you being here, I'm a.s.suming this isn't a social call."

"No." Bastien stepped back so that he could touch his son. "I'm going after Barnabas. We're here to meet Florian and then I'm going to finish this."

Iskander's eyes widened at those words. For the first time, he looked at Bastien with something other than contempt. "Brother! Good friend, buddy, oh pal of mine! You are my new best friend. Where you go. I go."

Bastien took another step away from him at those peculiar words. "What kind of distemper do you have?"

"The same one you do. Barnabas Cabarro. He killed my mother too, and he d.a.m.n near killed me. You're going after him ... I plan to help."

"You know that this is most likely a one-way trip."

Iskander shrugged. "So long as he goes with me to the grave, I can die with that."

Florian gasped at his words. "No. No, you can't! Neither of you can die." He turned to Ember. "Mom! Stop them!"

How she wished. Sadly, she'd never been able to stop either of them from being stupid.

Bastien opened his mouth to rea.s.sure him, but before he could, an alarm sounded. He grimaced at Ember.

Suddenly, there was a voice over an intercom. "League ships are sighted and heading in. Battle stations!" Then it switched over to an air raid siren.

Confused, Bastien watched as members of the Dread Reckoning came out of the hallways at a dead run to prep their ships for a scramble. "I'm not tagged anymore. How are they..." His voice trailed off as a sick feeling went through him. "Anyone have a scanner?"

"For what?" Tasi asked.

"The ship. I think it could be tagged."

Ember arched her brow. "What are you thinking?"

"Nykyrian mentioned that he thought they might have a spy in The Sentella who's working with The League. I'm wondering if they tagged the ship."

"Yeah, it is." Iskander showed him the readings on his link. "It's hotter than a dwarf star."

"Oh, it gets worse." Tasi pulled her link out of her ear and turned it to speaker.

They heard The League commander addressing Tasi's mother, who was the leader of the DR.

"While we don't condone the Dread Reckoning, we are willing to overlook your unsanctioned, criminal base of operations. But only if you hand over the felon we're after."

"And who is that?"

"Bastien Cabarro. Return him to us and we'll leave peacefully. Protect him or allow him to get away and we'll level your base and leave no survivors."

CHAPTER 12.

Bastien cursed at the confirmation of a spy. "There you go. As far as The League knows, I'm dead and buried. My file showed termination two years ago. Only people who knew I was still around were in The Sentella."

Minus the guard he'd told when they rescued Kalea Hauk. But that had been weeks ago. Had the guard filed a report outing him, The Sentella would have picked it up and warned him to run. No one got past Syn Wade's alerts or bypa.s.sed them.

No one. He was the best tech in the Nine Worlds.

Not to mention, The Sentella had their own crew of spies who would have instantly relayed that intel.

This definitely came from the suspected spy Nykyrian had warned him about.

And with the thought of his hidden enemy, his old familiar battle calm came over him. There was one way to stop this and protect what he loved.

"Where's a comm link?" he asked them.

Ember went cold at that tone of voice she knew a little too well. Bastien had a battle plan. And while his plans were always innovative, they were usually highly risky, and often explosive.

If not downright stupid.

"What are you thinking, Cabarro?"

That old charming grin that had melted her heart more than once split his face. "Not sure I want to disclose it at this time, Major."

Yeah, stupid for the win.

Her stomach knotted to a sickening level at the thought of what he might do. "Don't even."

But Tasi, who had no idea what level of carelessness Bastien was capable of, handed her link over to him.

Ember cursed her silently.

Bastien turned to Badger. "Load my fighter with enough explosives to detonate whatever they have. Tonde!"

Her jaw dropping, Ember arched a brow at that last order, which was the Kirovarian military term for tel-a.s.s.

"Bastien..."

And still the irritating beast ignored her as he activated the link. "Put me on with The League MCO."

She gaped even wider as he demanded to speak to the mission's commanding officer. Was he out of his Kirovarian mind? This cannot be good. Bastien and commanding officers didn't mix. And she said that as one of his former commanding officers.

A bad feeling went through her. And Rian must have felt it too, because he came to stand beside her so that he could whisper, "What's he doing, Ma?"

"No idea. Now you see why I tell you not to act like your father?"

Rian ignored her.

Just like Bastien.

When the MCO picked up, Bastien didn't flinch or show any emotion whatsoever. "h.e.l.lo, Dumba.s.s ... back your troops off this station. I'm coming out and turning myself in. But only if you withdraw."

"No!" she gasped before she could stop herself. Surely he wasn't planning to commit suicide.

But to protect them, he might. Bastien had a fanatical need to do the wrong thing for the right reasons. And with a son to protect, his suicidal level would be ratcheted up even more.

Bastien turned on the mute and glared at her. "Do you mind not interfering with my n.o.ble act of extreme stupidity, Major? Please?" Then he turned the mute off so that he could continue his conversation with The League. "Yeah, I'm on my way as soon as you pull back. I'll be in my fighter. You can't miss it. Sentella ship. Has The League flag with a big X going through it on a black field. Will need clearance to land it, though."

Holding on to Rian, she ground her teeth, wanting to thrash Bastien. If he thought for one minute that she was going to allow him to do this, he was even more delusional than normal! Which was saying something.

And still Bastien ignored her as he made plans to die.

Her sisters were all gaping, too. But they didn't speak until he had the coordinates and cut the link.

He blinked innocently at all of them while Ember made a sound of supreme disgust in the back of her throat. "What are you thinking, Bas?"

With a devilish wink, he headed straight for his fighter. "Not thinking at all. According to you and my father, I never do."

"Bas! I'm not letting you do this!"

He gave her a coy glance. "Does this mean I'm forgiven?"

"No, it means you're an idiot!"

He tsked at her vim. "You know, that's what I missed most all the years we were apart. Your unfailing support and sweet-talk. It humbles me."

"Don't be an a.s.s."

"See! That's what I'm talking about. No one else could ever insult me the way you do. And I still have one t.e.s.t.i.c.l.e left you haven't kicked."

"Mom?"

Only then did Bastien take pity on them. "Don't worry, champ. I've got this." Without a word, he jogged to the fighter and shot up the ladder, but instead of getting inside it to launch, he opened the engine bay.