"That I didn't aim at your head on your arrival."

Chapter 3.

T.

alyn drew up short as he left his mother's office to find his "uncle" waiting in the secretary's lounge. A few inches shorter than him, Dancer looked a lot like his father. Enough that it made him want to punch the b.a.s.t.a.r.d out where he stood.

But unlike his father, his uncle had red, glowing eyes, instead of the typical Andarion white.

It was a rare genetic defect that caused Dancer's eyes to glow red like that. One that meant his uncle was overly possessive and loyal to his female and family. A trait that was inside Talyn, too. Ironic, really, as that was a genetic mutation most Andarion females would sell their souls to have in their males.

And here all but Felicia had rudely turned him away.

If they only knew his true heritage...

Dancer raked him with a less than complimentary stare. One that turned into a stern frown as he finally focused on Talyn's features, which were very similar to both his own and Fain's.

Just as Dancer opened his mouth to speak, a tall Hyshian female swept into the office with a bright smile.

One Talyn returned immediately as she grabbed him into a fierce bear hug. At least she made his day better since she was like a second mother to him. "Jaynie? What are you doing here?"

Her back to Dancer, she cupped his face in her hands. "I heard Lena shot Fain on his arrival and had to tel-a.s.s immediately to see for myself." She frowned as she saw the bruise on his eye and split lip, courtesy of his father. "What happened to my s.e.xy baby?"

Talyn shrugged nonchalantly. "Same as ever. I b.u.mped into a fist."

Tsking, she continued to examine his face. "I thought you retired from Ring fighting?"

"I did. But not from a.s.shole fighting... So how's Hadrian and the kids?"

She snorted. "All good. Sway's been nagging me to let him go camping with you again. I don't know what the two of you did last time, but he really enjoyed it."

"Traded p.o.r.n mostly. You know... typical guy stuff. Kid gets tired of swimming in the mostly estrogen pool."

Chucking him on the arm, she laughed.

"You two know each other?"

Turning around, Jayne finally realized Dancer was in the room. "Hey, sweetie! I didn't see you there. Why you hiding in a corner?"

He jerked his chin at Talyn. "Keeping my eye on him."

She laughed. "I must have missed one h.e.l.l of a party."

"That you did," Hauk said drily. "Fain failed to explain to us exactly what a powder keg the commander would be. We were extremely ill prepared for her hot reception."

She turned back toward Talyn. "So, I have to know. Fain refused to tell me. What is this prank your mother supposedly pulled on him in school?"

"Mother?" Dancer asked incredulously.

Talyn ignored him. "On their graduation day, she shoved him naked into an auditorium full of witnesses."

She covered her mouth with her hand. "No, she didn't."

He nodded.

"Why does she hate him so much?"

"They were pledged," Dancer answered. "She's the one Fain left for Omira."

Jayne sucked her breath in. "d.a.m.n, Hauk. Why didn't you tell me that before I stuck them back together?"

"I had no idea until Fain opened the door on our arrival here. I was just a kid when he was disinherited. I didn't know anything about a previous pledge... but, in retrospect, his embarra.s.sing a Batur and breaking pledge with that prestigious lineage explains a lot about my mother's unforgiving hostility toward him." Dancer narrowed his suspicious gaze on Talyn. "I'm surprised your father married your mother, given that."

Talyn had to force himself not to roll his eyes at his uncle's dense stupidity.

"Lena's not married," Jayne said before Talyn could stop her. "She's never been married that I know of."

Dancer went pale as he mentally did the math and realized who Talyn's father had to be.

"Yeah," Talyn said drily. "So glad I inherited my intelligence from my mother's side of the family."

Seeing the look on Dancer's face, Jayne scowled. "What?"

Dancer looked sick as he struggled to accept the bitter truth. "Why didn't she say something?"

"To whom?" Talyn asked defensively. "Who in your family would have given a single s.h.i.t?"

Dancer raked a hand through his braids. "Does my mother know?"

"Know what?" Jayne asked. "What do you two know that I don't?"

Crossing his arms over his chest, Dancer jerked his chin at Talyn. "That he's my nephew."

She snorted derisively. "Impossible. Keris would have been..." Her voice trailed off as she finally put it together. "Oh my G.o.d, no wonder she shot him. I'm just surprised she didn't go for his head."

Talyn scoffed. "I'm surprised she didn't go for his crotch. It explains why he was holding a helmet there when he came off the ship. She must not have changed much since her youth."

Dancer approached him slowly. "I knew you looked like Fain. But d.a.m.n... I just thought that was why she'd picked you for a lover."

He screwed his face up in painful distaste. "That's my mother you're talking about. Do you mind?"

Dancer laughed. "No. No wonder you attacked us like you did. You were protecting your mother." He tried to pull him into a hug, but Talyn shoved him back.

His uncle took the rejection in stride. "Fain's going to s.h.i.t when he finds out. I can't believe he has a son."

Jayne's evil laughter joined his. "Who's going to tell him?"

Stepping back, Dancer shook his head. "Not me." He reached to cup Talyn's cheek in his hand so that he could examine his features.

Talyn slapped his hand away. "I'm not your wh.o.r.e, giakon. Get your hands off me."

Again, Dancer shrugged his insult away. "The guilt from this is going to destroy Fain."

"Good." Talyn stepped out of his uncle's reach. "I hope he chokes on it."

"Careful. That's my brother you're talking about, and he's a good male. He's stood by me when no one else has."

"Nice to know he can be loyal to someone. The G.o.ds know, he never showed that side of his character to my mother."

Jayne came between them. "Whoa, guys. Breathe and stop before you say something you're going to regret. You both are ent.i.tled to your feelings. But Dancer, you don't know how hard their lives have been. I love every one of you. You're my family. That being said, Fain hurt them. Badly. And Talyn... you've no idea what your father's been through. Trust me. Fate got him back. With interest. He hasn't lived a fairy tale, either. There's a reason he's in a Tavali uniform."

"And I don't really give a s.h.i.t, Aunt Jayne."

The door to his mother's office opened. His father came storming out.

Fain curled his lip at Talyn, then turned his attention to Jayne and Dancer. "I cannot work with that..." His voice trailed off into a choked sound as he gestured at the door. "She's impossible!"

Talyn grabbed him. "Did you hurt her feelings? What did you say to her?"

As his father went to punch him, Dancer came between them. "Stop it! Both of you!"

"Talyn!"

He froze at his mother's sharp tone and withdrew from the fight.

"Yeah, you better keep walking, whelp."

"Fain!" Dancer snapped through gritted teeth. "Bite it!"

He held his hands up in surrender. "Call Nyk. I'm out of this." With long, furious strides, he quit the office.

Dancer let out an elongated breath as he locked gazes with Galene. "I know you hate my brother and I'm sure you're ent.i.tled to it. But you should both know that while you had each other, he had absolutely no one. He didn't even have a country to call home."

Galene curled her lip. "What about his human?"

Dancer's gaze turned sharp and biting. "Let's just say that out of the two years they were together, his happiest memory is probably you shoving him naked into an auditorium full of family and friends, and locking the door behind him." And with that, he followed after Fain.

Galene couldn't breathe as those words echoed in her ears.

Two years?

What?

She looked at Jayne for an explanation. "What happened to his wife?"

"Before or after he caught her s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g a human male in their bed?"

Bile rose in her throat. "You're serious?"

Jayne nodded, then pulled her into a comforting hug. "I had no idea Fain was the one who left you."

"I had no idea you were such close friends with his brother." Because of her less-than-legal activities and a.s.sociates, Jayne never talked about her friends or family in anything more than the most abstract of terms or nicknames. She never mentioned anyone, other than her husband and children, by their real names. And only if you were really close to Jayne did you get that much.

Without commenting, Jayne glanced to Talyn. "How are you holding up, sport?"

He shrugged. "I'm Andarion."

"That's really not an answer."

"For him, it is." Galene rubbed his arm. "Notify the team that we'll try this again tomorrow with The Tavali. I need the day to mentally regroup."

"Yes, ma'am." He gave her a sharp salute before making an about face and leaving them to carry out his orders.

Jayne snorted. "I'm so used to him as a civ that I forget how military our boy really is when he dons that uniform."

Galene smiled proudly. "I'm far more likely to break protocol than he is."

Jayne let out an elongated breath. "I'm really sorry about this, Lena. I'm the one who suggested you for the position. I had no idea what I was getting you into."

Sadness choked her as she thought back to the day she'd first learned she was pregnant with Fain's child. It had been one of the tiny handful of perfect moments in her life. They had been pledged on his sixth birthday. Only two days apart in age, they'd been raised together and had gone to the same schools. Since he was to be her husband, she hadn't even looked at other males.

Back then, Fain had been her entire world. A renowned and regaled athlete and champion, he had been destined to become a war hero like his father, and she'd planned on med school like her parents. Their wedding had been set for the fall following their graduation.

And Talyn had been conceived on Fain's birthday. Her virginity a gift to her beloved fiance.

Instead of becoming a delighted father and devoted husband as she'd expected, Fain had shattered her heart and thrown her love away as if it were meaningless. She'd never recovered from his betrayal.

He was her one and only.

And she was nothing to him... just discarded garbage he'd left in the past and never looked back for.

"I hate him so much," she whispered. "But he did give me the greatest gift of my life. I couldn't ask for a better son."

"He's just like his father."