It's okay. I've got you. No one's going to hurt you again. I promise.

How could he have let them down, too?

"Fain?"

He blinked at Galene's voice, but couldn't speak past the agony that choked him.

She brushed her hand through his braids as aid workers and Hadean Corps soldiers rushed around them to put out the fires and help survivors. "Come with me."

"I've got to search for them. Maybe they're trapped. Maybe-"

"Come with me," she repeated in a tone that brooked no argument or resistance.

He glanced past her to see Talyn watching them with a peculiar expression he couldn't read. "You want to listen to her, Hauk. Trust me."

Numb, he nodded and allowed them to lead him back toward Talyn's condo.

By the time they reached it, silent tears blinded him as guilt flayed him for having left the kids by themselves. d.a.m.n Venik and their laws. He should have kept the kids with him and screwed Tavalian law and custom. This was all his fault. And he would never forgive himself. Never get over the loss of two lives that were solely on him. Two lives he'd sworn to protect and take care of. He was all they'd had.

And he'd failed them. He would never forgive himself.

Talyn opened the door to his condo.

"Paka! Paka! Paka!" War came running to almost tackle Fain with an unexpected hug.

Fain's breath left him with a loud whoosh as War's small body collided with his and filled his arms with squirming spindly limbs.

"See! I told you he wasn't caught in it." Vega frowned as she approached and saw Fain's tears. "Are you okay, Paka? Was someone hurt?"

Unable to speak, Fain grabbed both of them into his arms and burst into tears as he sank to his knees and held them in a crushing embrace. Relief and love exploded through him while he rocked them, knowing they were safe and alive. That by some unexpected miracle they'd been spared the horror of the day, and consequences of his stupidity.

Thank you, G.o.ds, thank you! He would never miss temple again after this. He owed Ornul and Eri prayer lights for the rest of his life that They, in Their divine mercy, had spared his kids.

It wasn't until he'd thought they were dead that he realized just how much he loved them. How much of his heart he'd allowed the two of them to claim. Since the day he'd lost Galene, and his parents had callously thrown him away, he'd done his d.a.m.nedest to live the rest of his life without any kind of emotional entanglement. To keep everyone, even Omira, at arm's length.

Only Dancer and the memory of Galene had stayed with him.

Until the day War and Vega had wiggled their adorable little ways through his shields.

"Paka... I. Can't. Breathe," War choked out as if he were in absolute misery.

Snorting an irritated laugh, Fain let go of them finally.

"I think Paka went crazy," War whispered loudly to his sister.

Bug-eyed, she nodded.

Galene laughed at them before she stroked Fain's cheek with a gentle, understanding hand. "No. Paka had a bad scare. He thought you both had been killed in the explosion. I know from all the years of having your brother Talyn in similar situations that the only way to breathe again after such a horrible shock is to have the babies in your arms and feel with tangible proof that they're safe and whole."

Only then did Fain let go and take Galene's hand. "Thank you. But how did they get here?"

She jerked her chin toward Gavarian, who was watching him as if he was as crazy as War had proclaimed him. "Talyn sent Vari and his brother to secure them after the attack on us."

Fain finally saw that Felicia had been sitting at the table, doing schoolwork with them, on his arrival. "Thank you, Vari. And thank you, Felicia, for watching over them."

Before they could respond, Vega touched the tears on his cheek.

Fain met her haunted gaze. Her small hand trembled as she wiped at his tears.

"I'm sorry we scared you, Paka." Then Vega did something she hadn't done since she'd hit p.u.b.erty she sank down in his lap and laid her head on his chest to cuddle against him like a small child.

Closing his eyes, Fain held her and brushed his hand through her dark hair. "I'm just glad you're all right. And if you want to date, I promise I won't gut the little... male."

She laughed at that. "I can wait until you're ready. I don't want you in jail for it."

Fain smiled. "Very well. I'm told ninety is a prime dating age for a human female."

"Paka!" she snorted.

Gavarian moved to stand in front of them. "Well, since you're here... if you'll give me the new key card to your half of the condo, I'll get the kids moved in for you."

Fain scowled as he finally realized that all of Vega's and War's personal items were packed in bags and lined up against the wall. He glanced over to Galene in confusion.

Her features softened into the kind of smile he'd never thought to receive from her again. She pulled out her link and scrolled through it for a minute before she handed it over to him. "It went through earlier. I was going to tell you about it but then all h.e.l.l broke loose."

Stunned, he felt his jaw go slack. "You legally adopted them?"

She nodded. "And named you as their paternal guardian. I found the loophole that allows you to legally be their father, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop it. It was the least I could do for you, after what you did for Talyn and Felicia."

Another tear slid from his control as he saw his own name listed as their father. He couldn't believe it.

A family of his own... The only thing he'd ever wanted in his entire life. A dream he'd been forced to give up so long ago that he'd refused to think about it. The pain had always been too raw and biting.

Now...

Rising to his feet, he pulled Galene into his arms and kissed her. "Thank you, Stormy."

She smiled up at him. "Don't thank me so soon, War Hauk. Parenthood is an equal share of awe and ah, c.r.a.p."

"Thanks, Mum," Talyn said drily. "Way to nurture that healthy ego in your son."

She laughed at him. "Oh please! As if you need any help in that regard. Your ego is granite. I've seen the way you dress when you're not in uniform."

Talyn staggered back and covered his heart as if she'd shot him. "Ah, now that's just painfully mean." He turned toward Felicia. "And you're the one who should really be offended since you buy most of my clothes."

Felicia let out the most feminine and strangely sweet snort Fain had ever heard. "True, but you seldom wear the ones I buy for you. Rather you live in those old things you've had since the day I moved in. Every time I try to throw them out, you find them again and return them to the closet."

Gavarian and Brach burst into laughter.

Until Talyn glared at them. That sobered them instantly. "Don't you hyenas have luggage to move?"

Gavarian pa.s.sed an irritated smirk to his brother. "Yes, sir." But no sooner had he neared the luggage than a demanding knock sounded on the door, at the same time Fain's link went off with Venik's alert tone.

"What fresh irritant is this," Talyn said under his breath.

a.s.suming it was about the attack, Fain started to answer his link while Galene opened the door. The moment she did, a full Hadean Corps squad burst in, with their arms held at the ready.

Gasping, Felicia shot to her feet. Vega and War screamed and ran to take cover behind Fain. They gripped at his legs as Talyn moved to cover Felicia.

"What is this?" Galene demanded.

Fain tried to calm the children. Something much easier said than done, since War was trying to scale him like a ladder. The boy had hands that could double for suction cups. And Vega's death grip on his thigh wasn't much better. He was starting to lose circulation in it.

The captain moved toward Gavarian and angled his blaster at him. "Major Terronova, you're under arrest. On your knees. Hands behind your head. Ankles crossed. Now!"

His jaw dropping, Gavarian held his hands out so that no one would mistake his intent and shoot him for it. "Whoa... What? Are you serious?"

When the captain went to grab the boy, Fain handed the kids off to Galene and shoved the captain back.

"Stand down, Hauk," he warned.

Fain refused. "This is bulls.h.i.t!"

Venik walked through the squad to join the fray.

Before Fain realized what Venik intended, he felt something cold snap around his neck. An instant later, a fierce shock went through his nervous system. Had he been human, it would have rendered him unconscious or flat on his back.

As an Andarion, it just seriously p.i.s.sed him off. Wanting blood, Fain growled at the pirate b.a.s.t.a.r.d who'd cuffed him.

"It's time you remembered your place, Slug-wart. I just lost three hundred people, and half of them were children. You brought the Andarions here. f.u.c.k with me and I'll hang you with them. We have footage of that little p.r.i.c.k walking in the area where the bomb was planted less than an hour before it detonated. And he had no business whatsoever on those decks. He's the only one who was out of place there."

Fain glared at Venik. "He was getting my kids to safety, after someone tried to murder my son in his sleep."

Venik shoved him back against the wall. "Get it through your thick, stupid Andarion skull, you don't have a son. You don't have kids. I. Own. You." He grabbed Fain by the throat.

The next instant, Venik went flying sideways.

"Get your hands off him!" Talyn planted himself between them. "My father's a War Hauk, you son of a b.i.t.c.h. You don't talk to him like that! And you don't ever lay hands to him!"

The expression on Ven's face made Fain's blood run cold, especially as every guard there aimed blasters at his child. Galene started forward, into the fray, but Fain waved her back and Felicia held her in place.

While it meant everything in the universe to him that Talyn had defended him, if he didn't diffuse this fast, it was about to go into total nuclear devastation. No one threatened Venik in his station.

No one.

"Stand down, Talyn. High Admiral Venik's correct. I'm not a War Hauk. I haven't been one since the day my mother slashed my lineage."

Ven straightened his clothes with an arrogant tug. "And who owns you?"

Fain had always hated it whenever Ven played this power s.h.i.t with him. It took everything he had not to put the b.a.s.t.a.r.d through the wall. But so long as he had a kill switch in his brain, he had to cow to him or have his brains become part of the landscape. And while that might not have been all that important to him in the past, he now had a room full of reasons to swallow his pride and let Ven feel like he had control of him, when really, they both knew the truth.

If Fain wanted his freedom, Ven would be forced to kill him. 'Cause that would be the only way for Ven to keep him leashed. No one hemmed a War Hauk down without their express permission and cooperation.

"You do, my lord."

"Who do you t.i.the to for your Canting?"

Fain felt the familiar ticcing start in his cheek. "You... my lord."

Venik nodded. "That's right. I am the one you answer to, for everything. And this little fantasy bulls.h.i.t you've been living ends today. Get your things and report to slag quarters. Now!"

Galene wanted to weep as she saw the bitter resignation in Fain's stralen eyes. This was killing him and there was nothing she could do. d.a.m.n Venik for it.

It was just like watching Fain with his family, all over again. Every time he'd ever tried to have pride in something or to feel good about himself, either Keris, his father, or mother would rush to publicly humiliate him.

And you did it to him on his graduation day.

Galene choked as she realized that. All these years, she'd been focused on her own pain. She'd never once considered what she'd taken from him in return.

His last chance at one untainted memory. How could she have been so selfish?

While her parents had been kind and giving until that moment in time, his hadn't. Fain had never had anything in his life he hadn't bled for. Not one.

What do I do?

Venik faced the captain of the Hadean Corps. "What are you waiting for? An accommodation, or applause? How about I just kick you in the a.s.s? Now arrest the major before I give in to that latter urge."

Fain scoffed indignantly. "No! I just told you what he was doing there. You've no reason to arrest him."

"And it still doesn't clear him of the matter. If anything, it makes it look worse, and implicates you."

He gaped in disbelief. "You don't really believe that?"

"Honestly? I don't know what to think anymore. Maybe I should arrest you both until I sort this out."

Was he serious? Stunned by his irrational logic, Galene shook her head. "I can't stay quiet any longer. This is insane and you know it. Fain would never do anything against you."

Venik turned on her. "No offense, Commander, this doesn't concern you. Blister is Tavali property. And until you can find me someone else who set those charges, I'm holding the major responsible. Now stand aside, or I'll haul all of you in for interfering with Tavali justice. That is my prerogative."

"You can't do that, Ven," Fain said from between clenched teeth. "C'mon. He's just a kid. You know what they'll do to him in lockup."

"He's older than you were."

She saw the involuntary flinch those words wrought and it made her wonder what had happened to Fain when they'd first taken him. It had to be beyond her worst horrific imaginings to make a mighty War Hauk of his caliber react like that all these years later.

And that made her sick to her stomach.