"Stay with Stormy. I don't want her left alone. And in the mood Jayne's in, she might clip something off you're attached to, just on principle. While I think I'm safe, you... she might use for a scapegoat."

Dancer laughed. "You got it."

Nykyrian and Syn wandered over to him while Galene, Sumi, and Dancer headed back toward Fain's ship.

"You know Thaumarturgus?" Nykyrian jerked his chin in the direction Ushara had vanished.

Fain turned to see her walking down the ramp of the Stygian Nightmare beside the most mysterious Tavalian ever bred. Dressed black-on-black, there wasn't an inch of Trajen's body left bare. Broad-shouldered, tall, and with an aura as lethal as any a.s.sa.s.sin to ever don a League uniform, Trajen carried himself with a predator's lope.

He wore no blaster, but the hilts of enough blades were visible to say he didn't need one to slay his enemies. And in a way, that was an even better testament to his sinister skills and willingness to take a life with his bare, bloodied hands. Not to mention, he had a crested Andarion Warsword strapped across his back. The only way for him to have such a weapon would be to have taken it in battle from the hands of a slain Andarion warrior.

No Andarion would have given that up without a brutal bloodbath. Andarions considered a family Warsword as part of a sacred heritage, and they were treated with extreme reverence. You didn't just go into a store and buy one of those. They were pa.s.sed down through families, or taken as war trophies.

Case in point, the one Fain owned had come from the first Andarion he'd killed in battle. Dancer's was the very sword that had once belonged to the founder of their lineage from centuries ago that their grandmother had bestowed on Sumi right before their unification. Talyn's had been earned in the Vested Ring.

While a handful could be commissioned from swordsmiths, those numbers were strictly limited and had to be approved by the tadara herself, and no off-worlder was allowed to order one, under any circ.u.mstance.

Fain had to give credit where it was due. Trajen seemed to be everything he'd heard, and then some.

He glanced over to Nyk. "Know him strictly by reputation. Ryn and Ushara are the only two I've ever heard of who know him personally. And of course Ven and Hermione... but only because of the UTC. Even then, I don't think they've met face-to-face more than a handful of times."

Nyk turned toward Syn, who shook his head.

"He's a ghost. No record of any kind, anywhere. I got nothing when I did a trace. I'm thinking he was either erased or he's something we don't know about."

Nyk rubbed at his jaw. "If he was erased, Syn, he'd have a record."

"Not if he was good enough." Syn sighed. "At any rate, he's OU."

Fain scowled. "OU?"

"Origin Unknown," they said in unison.

"And we don't like that," Syn said. He winked at Fain. "It's scary."

Nyk shoved at him. "Go get some sleep."

"I'd rather get a drink, but I don't want my wife to gut me for it. Later." Syn headed for his quarters.

"You going to sleep?" Fain asked Nykyrian.

"No. I think I shall try to learn a few things about our new arrival." Nykyrian hesitated. "Doesn't 'Thaumarturgus' mean 'warlock'?"

Fain shrugged. "Not in any language I know. But I'm not as fluent in as many as you are. That being said, Warlock is his call sign."

"Interesting," he mumbled, following after Ushara and Trajen.

As Fain headed out, he noticed that a lot more ships were landing. Both here and in other areas of the station. And when he saw that one of the ultra-lights that was being serviced and stored belonged to Ven's daughters, he sent a quick text to Ven to warn him that his wife was home, just in case Ven had wandered off somewhere he shouldn't be.

After all, they'd had enough excitement for one day. He was ready for a little boring.

Yet as he headed for the entertainment decks, he had a feeling that things were about to get lively again. Especially if Chayden was down in his cups with Caillen nearby.

"Hey, s.e.xy Baby T," Chayden whispered in a shout as he leaned across Qory to talk to Talyn. "The Tondarion Fire I drank wants to tell you a secret."

Talyn laughed at his friend. "You're drunk, Chayden."

"No, I'm not." He slammed his hand down on the table. "You still only have one head. So I'm still sober... ish." He belched, then ordered more drinks.

Qory signed at them, but Talyn couldn't make it out since Qory wasn't sober either and so his signs were slurred.

Chayden began chewing on a straw. "He says you should have a drink. See, I'm not so drunk I can't understand Qory."

Talyn scratched at his cheek. "We can't drink."

"Oh yeah, you're Andarions in uniform. Sucks to be you!" Chayden pulled a drink off the tray of a pa.s.sing waiter an alien who started to say something, then took one look at the ma.s.sive size of Qory, Gavarian, and Talyn, then changed his mind about it.

"Yeah," Chayden said in a surly tone. "That's right. I got an Andarion set of Ring fighters and a Qill, and I'm a Qill-born Tavali and you're not! Ha!" Then he realized Brach was with them. "Oh hey, I got another Andarion, too!" He scowled at Talyn. "How many Andarions is that? Oh yeah... three. Three Andarions and two Qills and one bottle of Tondarion Fire. Yum. See, I can... do math. Not drunk."

Gavarian scowled at Talyn. "Qillaqs are interesting when they drink, aren't they?"

"They are something."

"You're something. And I'm a belligerent a.s.s. Hole." Chayden guzzled the drink. "Hey!" He leaned against Brach. "You know what my greatest accomplishment was today?"

Talyn took a drink of his water. "Can't imagine."

"I kept... my mouth shut."

Talyn pa.s.sed an amused frown to Brach.

"What's that mean?" Chayden asked.

"Nothing."

"Sure it does, but I'm telling you, for me... that's a major accomplishment. And I deserve another drink for it."

Laughing, Talyn reached for the snacks, then paused as he caught Gavarian's and Brach's eyes bugging wide. Curious, he followed their line of sight to see three extremely scantily clad, highly attractive females gliding through the crowd.

Yeah, okay. That was definitely noteworthy. Especially since one of them had on an outfit that really didn't leave a lot to the imagination. She might as well be naked in the room.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Chayden snapped, pushing Talyn's chin away from the small group as they sat down across from them. "Put those eyes on the floor and get the blood out of the protruding parts of your body. Fast. That there is the crew of the Black Widow... and tell me, Chay," he said to himself in a falsetto, "why is their ship named the Black Widow?"

Talyn gave him a dry stare. "Why is it called the Black Widow?"

" 'Cause their father is Braxen Venik... you know, head of the Porturnum Tavali, and one of the most ruthless, bloodthirsty pirates who's ever lived. Any male who looks at one of them and decides he wants to take a ride, gets a visit from Daddy and leaves the room in little b.l.o.o.d.y chunks." He jerked his chin at the two large, muscled males who came in behind the females and evicted the people from the table closest to them. Unlike their sisters, they held more Andarion traits than human. "And those, my Andarion pretty, are Braxen's sons. Payne and Stain, which is exactly what you will quickly be in and become should they catch you looking at their sisters."

Talyn laughed. "As you said, I'm Andarion. Some deaths, my friend, are definitely worth it. But as beautiful as they are, they pale in comparison to my most precious Felicia. There's nothing there that appeals to me, in any way."

Gavarian snorted. "Yeah, but I see all kinds of happiness awaiting me." He got up. "What about you, drey?" he asked Brach.

"Ah, h.e.l.l to the yes. If I have to go out, I want it to be with a big bang."

"No!" Chayden grabbed them each by the arm. "Don't do it. Save yourselves."

"What in the Nine Worlds is going on here?" Jayne asked as she joined them.

Talyn sighed as he pulled Chayden away from Gavarian. "Our little Qillaq has imbibed a lot of Tondarion Fire. Honestly, I didn't know humans could have this much and not die from it. I think he pa.s.sed internally pickled an hour ago."

Chayden ignored him. "Jaynie! Tell Vari not to diddle the Widows. Quick, while he's still a male."

"Um... yeah. Drunk as he is, kid, he's right. You don't want a piece of Ven's daughters. And it's not Ven you have to fear. They're half Qillaq. You have to earn martial rights to their beds, and they take two lovers at a time."

Gavarian flashed a devilish grin. "I'm really good with that."

"Two males."

His smile faded instantly. "Oh... not so good with that. I don't share well."

She laughed. "Didn't think so. But I do have some good news."

Talyn arched his brow. "Yeah?"

Before she could speak, Payne Venik approached their table and raked a sneer over Gavarian, Brach, and then Talyn. His gaze narrowed on Talyn's name and rank patches. At first, Talyn a.s.sumed it was from his Ring fame. Most knew him from the years he'd fought as the Iron Hammer. Even though he'd been retired for almost a decade, he still held more t.i.tles and records than any other fighter in Andarion Ring history.

But that wasn't the cause of his notoriety with the Tavali.

"Batur..." Payne shoved him. Hard. A bully-looking-for-a-fight move. "You don't have the right to look at my sisters."

Talyn barely caught his temper before he laid the idiot in his cold grave. Not only did Talyn stand a full head taller, he also outweighed the Tavali by a good seventy pounds. Or more. He knew from his years of fighting that he could kill the hybrid being with one blow.

Tempting. Very tempting.

And this was why they were forbidden to drink. Especially while they wore the uniforms that represented their nation and race.

"I wasn't looking at your sisters." Talyn tried to step away.

Stain cut his path off. "What? You think you're too good to look at them? You think 'cause they're hybrid, they're beneath you?"

They were trying to draw him into a fight. As the b.a.s.t.a.r.d son of an Outcast, Talyn was well acquainted with s.h.i.t like this, since every a.s.s-wipe Andarion had felt honor-bound to bait and taunt him for it since the hour he'd taken his first breath. It was what had made him such a vicious Ring fighter.

He c.o.c.ked a brow at the Venik brothers. "Wait... I thought your whole problem with me was your fear that I was thinking so much of them that I was imagining they were beneath me already. No offense, but you really need to work on your communication skills. You're sending all kinds of mixed signals here."

Payne started forward, but Chayden caught him. "Hey, now... what's with all this... negative hostility, huh? We're all friends. Let's not be so nasty."

Stain curled his lip. "Stay out of this, moglidyte."

Talyn had no idea what that word meant, but by the amount of rage it awoke in both the normally easygoing Qory and Chayden, it had to be the Tavalian equivalent to giakon.

Or worse.

With a feral growl, Chayden launched himself over the table to go for Stain's throat.

Talyn caught him midair and spun about to ground him before he made contact and started another war between the Tavali clans. "Easy, Chay."

Chayden wasn't having it. In a mixture of Qillaq, Universal, and Tavalian, he spewed hatred and obscenities at them all as he did his best to move past Talyn.

d.a.m.n, he was like a tiny spider monkey. Or a fast-moving toddler.

Talyn literally lifted him up and set him down on a stool. "Sit your a.s.s down! Stay there! Suck your thumb if you have to. But if you jump off that one more time, I will make you limp. I mean it!"

Chayden started to stand.

Talyn growled and widened his eyes. And exposed his fangs.

Retreating back to his seat before Talyn made good on that threat, Chayden glared at him, but wisely stayed put.

"Commander! Help!"

He turned to see Brach and Vari struggling to keep Qory trapped with the table, and away from the Veniks. As large and strong as they were, they were barely able to hold back the mountainous Qill.

And while Qory was gesturing furiously at them, no one needed Talyn or Chayden to translate the physical gestures for the words Chayden continued to spew at them verbally.

Jayne took over babysitting Chayden while Talyn forced Qory into retreat. Even though Talyn wasn't quite as large as the Qill, he was still one of the tiny handful of beings Qory shirked from putting headfirst through a wall, so it gave him a degree of leverage when dealing with the irate mountain that others, such as Vari and Brach, didn't have.

After Talyn got him seated and away from Felicia's brave nephews, he stepped back.

Payne was in his face again.

Releasing a tired sigh, Talyn stared down at the Tavali male as Vari and Brach took up positions to back him in what was obviously going to be a fight. "Really? Do I have to kick your a.s.s? Is that honestly how you want this night to end? Don't you have a woman to curl up with? Boyfriend? Pet? h.e.l.l, anything would be better than nursing the busted ribs and broken jaw I will give you. And I would much rather be spooning my female in blissful peace than cleaning your blood out from under my claws, while she b.i.t.c.hes at me for not holding my temper."

Payne curled his lip. "You're not the bada.s.s you think you are, Batur."

Brach let out a hysterical laugh. "Are you s.h.i.tting me? Oh my G.o.d, it must hurt to be that stupid. You do know who you're taunting, right?"

Talyn slid his gaze past Payne to the boy. "Stay out of this, Brach."

Jayne stepped forward. "Payne, why are you doing this?"

He pa.s.sed a cold, steely look to Jayne. "Because if I don't finish this, she will." He snapped his fingers. "Hadean Corps? Arrest Lieutenant Commander Batur for treason, and anyone else who interferes."

Chapter 17.