"I know. You're the better shot, but you haven't been cleared for battle yet. And you're still nursing. If I could feed Cezar in your stead, I'd let you go, but I think our son would be seriously p.i.s.sed at us both if I tried to suckle him."

"You're not funny."

With one last kiss, Darling left them to join his brethren.

Desideria growled in equal frustration at her brother and husband. "It's not fair!"

Caillen kissed her and then his daughter and son. "Don't worry. Shahara will nag me to death before I ever get hurt. She still thinks I'm five years old."

Chayden gave Desideria a light hug. "I know, sis. Guard your man-meat from harm. Don't worry. If anyone kills Caillen, I want the honors."

Qory signed to her that he'd take care of them both.

"I love all of you!" Desideria called after them. "Come back soon!"

Hadrian began protesting like a champ, but Jayne forced him to stay with the kids so that she could leave with the others.

"Don't worry." Nero hugged his brother. "I've got her back for you. Nothing's getting through me."

Only then did Hadrian relent. Scooping his son up, he held Sway and watched as Nero and Jayne walked off and left him with his daughters and son.

Fain started after them, but Galene stopped him. "Not without me, Hauk."

He looked at the others who stood around them. "You have a base to set up, Commander. You're needed here."

She turned to Talyn. "Commander Batur? Take the camp and make sure everyone is safe and accounted for. You're OOD until my return."

Defiance blazed in his eyes, but her son was ever a military officer at heart. "Yes, ma'am."

Saf clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Talyn. I'll keep her safe. Besides, your father isn't about to let anyone get near her." He hugged Ture and kissed his nephew Terek, before he led Fain and Galene toward the others to mount a rescue for Jullien.

Talyn felt sick as he watched them launch. They all needed to sleep before they did something this dangerous. But at the end of the day, they were soldiers.

War was what they knew best.

Felicia took his hand in hers while Vega, War, and the rest of the kids played in their blissful ignorance of what was going on around them.

Savoring her touch, Talyn let it ground him so that he could focus on what needed to be done. He turned to issue orders, then stopped as he saw Ushara and her daughters. For the first time, the admiral appeared bewildered, and honestly, lost. The agony in her white eyes was searing and made his throat tighten.

Tylie and Cairistiona were trying to comfort her.

"Admiral?"

Ushara blinked before she met his gaze. "Yes?"

"We are guests in your home. And-"

"No," she said, cutting him off. Swallowing hard, she looked around at the ones who'd been left behind. And in particular at the children. "You are not guests. You're our family." She took her daughters' hands from Trajen and led them to Nykyrian's twin sons so that she could introduce them.

The two sets of twins who were the same age were amazed by each other, but within a few seconds they were old friends.

And as Ushara led them deeper into the Gorturnum base, and Sway came running up for Talyn to carry, Talyn realized that this base was very different from Venik's. The Tavali here, in spite of being mostly Fyrebloods, were much more open and friendly. Everything about it was family oriented.

This place felt like a home, a refuge, and not a sterile military base designed to rob and pillage.

As they walked toward their new quarters, Thia, Nykyrian's oldest daughter, came running up to them. Tall and blond, she was a beauty.

"So you're my new cousins. Oh my G.o.d! Felicia. I knew I loved you for a reason." Thia had been a frequent student at Kiara's dance studio where Felicia had taught part time, and had even a.s.sisted as an aide in some of Felicia's cla.s.ses. "And you, T... Welcome to the family."

Thia laced her arms with them. "You do know that Hauk and Fain have always been counted among my favorites, right?" She squinted at Fain. "Now that I think about it, I should have realized how much you look like them. Why did I not see that before?"

"No idea."

Felicia winked at her. "Probably because you were afraid I'd hurt you for ogling my male?"

Thia laughed at Felicia. "There is that. And congratulations. I heard about your unification." Then she slowed as she saw Gavarian, and her eyes widened in appreciation of his handsome form.

Felicia pa.s.sed a knowing smile to Talyn. "Tizirah? Have you met my nephew?"

It took Thia a moment to recover her voice. "Um... no. No, I have not."

"Gavarian ezul Terronova, may I present Thia of the Sovereign Blood Clan eton Anatole?"

He fell into a perfect courtly bow. "Tizirah. It is my honor and privilege."

"Is he married?" she whispered to Felicia.

"Widowed," she whispered back.

Thia let go of them to sidle up to Gavarian and take his arm that she squeezed. "I'm so sorry for your loss, Major. I hope it wasn't too recent?"

"No. It's been a couple of years."

"Still, it must hurt." Thia led him away.

Kiara groaned. "Thank goodness her father isn't here. Talyn, you should warn him before Nykyrian returns that he has no sense of humor about males courting his daughter."

Talyn let out an evil laugh. "Why should I? I look forward to the entertainment. Am thinking I should take odds on it."

Felicia rolled her eyes. "You're awful... Don't worry, Highness, I shall warn him."

With that, Talyn left Gavarian and Brach in charge of seeing the staff and civilians quartered and housed while he went to monitor the others who'd gone to battle. It was something Ushara had left a short time ago to do herself.

As he located the Gorturnum command center and entered the room, Ushara looked away from her star charts and monitors with a frown. Unlike Venik's center, this one was open and airy. It felt as if it were actually free-floating in s.p.a.ce. The view here was breathtaking and sweeping.

Two alien beings, Vasili and another Fyreblood, turned to stare at him curiously. The Fyreblood female with a good deal of suspicion.

"Relax, Captain. Commander Batur and the others here are at peace with us."

Only then did the female captain retreat to her chair.

Ushara returned to her monitoring. "What brings you here, Commander?"

"The same as you. I wanted to hear them and make sure you weren't left alone. After all, as you said, you're my family."

With a grateful smile, Ushara indicated the chair by her side. "There's really nothing to hear right now. They're flying dark through League s.p.a.ce."

He sat down by her side. "Then it's going to be a long night." Reaching over, Talyn took her hand. "But we will see it through together."

No sooner had he spoken those words than the tadara, Sumi, Felicia, and Aros came through the door to stand vigil with them.

Within the hour, the room was filled to capacity.

Even Trajen came to sit in a corner, wordlessly observing them all while they waited for news.

"Jullien was taken by the tadara's forces."

Fain felt as sick as Nykyrian looked while the major made her report to them in the Alliance camp headquarters on the outpost base where they'd been hoping to meet up with Jullien and their remaining troops.

Aghast, Nykyrian stared at the woman. "And no one thought to help him?"

The major shrugged. "It was Tiziran Jullien."

So basically their allied forces had refused to fight with him and had allowed Eriadne's men take him without any backup whatsoever.

Fain cursed at what had been done to Jullien. After risking his life to save theirs, all of theirs, the prince had sent his own Tavali troops back with their family to protect and escort them through Gorturnum controlled s.p.a.ce, thinking that his mother's royal guard would help him while he covered their escape. Instead, his mother's most trusted forces had literally thrown their hands up and left him to rot.

No, worse.

They'd hand-cuffed a wounded and bleeding Jullien, and handed him over to his enemies, gift-wrapped, so that they could walk away unscathed and "prove" their loyalty to Eriadne long enough to buy their own freedom.

Dancer shook his head. "I never thought I'd feel sorry for your brother, but d.a.m.n, that was cold."

Darling sighed. "What do we do?"

Nykyrian pressed his gloved hand to the bridge of his nose and winced. "I don't know. We have no intel to work from. No idea where he is. If he's even alive at this point."

"Nyran hates him," Galene said. "Pa.s.sionately. Since childhood. There's no telling what he'll do to him. And The League has a Thrill-Kill warrant issued for Jullien."

Which meant Jullien could be brutally tortured and killed with immunity from prosecution.

Nykyrian let out a long, slow breath. "This is not the news I wanted to take back to his wife. Not after everything they've done for us."

Syn scoffed. "No good deed goes unpunished."

Shahara popped him on the arm.

"It's the truth," he said defensively.

Dancer clapped Nykyrian on the back. "There's nothing we can do here. We can't mount a rescue when we don't know where to strike. If he's still alive, we'll find him."

Nykyrian turned toward Darling. "Please tell me he's still a rank b.a.s.t.a.r.d dog who deserves to be gutted."

"He's a b.a.s.t.a.r.d. But he took two shots for your wife and daughter, and another round in the back to save your father. That's something your father didn't want to say in front of Jullien's wife. When we left him, he was bleeding pretty badly." Darling shook his head. "He is not the same d.i.c.khead you went to school with. As much as I'd like to hate him, I have to say he earned my respect with what he did for us and the way he handled himself."

Shahara nodded in agreement. "There were glimpses of the old Jullien, but nothing like he used to be." She scowled. "Did you know that for a full two years after you were reported dead neither of your parents really spoke to him?"

"What?" Nykyrian asked in shock.

"Yeah," Darling concurred. "I heard your mom apologize to him for it while we were in hiding. Apparently, they got so caught up in their own grief they forgot they still had another son. Whenever he tried to see your mom, her secretary told him she was indisposed, and when he called the Triosan palace, they refused to put him through, as they didn't want to risk upsetting his father during his bereavement period. And your aunt apologized for throwing it in his face that his parents had no time for him."

"Who tended him, then?"

"Staff... your grandmother."

Nykyrian looked at Galene.

"I was banned from the palace then, too. But they're right. When I returned to duty, Jullien wasn't allowed to see her. Those were my orders. It always upset her too much. Whenever he came around her, she would only ask him about you. Most of the time, she'd attack him for keeping you from her. Blame him for your death."

Nykyrian cursed under his breath.

Fain sighed heavily. "Now that you mention it, I don't really remember his parents ever coming to school events for him. Maybe a time or two, but rarely. He always had a reason why they couldn't be there."

"Yeah," Dancer said. "It was rare. I do remember how Merrell and Chrisen would mock him over the fact that his father would promise to visit and then back out at the last minute with some lame excuse. How often they all looked at him like he was s.h.i.t. Of course, I thought he was s.h.i.t, too, and deserved it. But he was just a kid, surrounded by selfish a.s.sholes who didn't give a minsid h.e.l.l about him. It's why he was angry all the time. Why he lashed out."

Nykyrian's features turned to steel as he faced the Andarion guard. "I want this a priority. Find my brother."

"And your grandmother?"

"Kill the b.i.t.c.h."

Galene saluted him. "Yes, sir." Turning, she went to carry out her newest orders. And though she relished going after Eriadne, she couldn't believe how bad she felt for what had been done to Jullien. A male she'd wanted to kill herself just a short time ago.

But the more she remembered about how he'd been treated when they were kids, and what had been done to him while she'd been stationed at the palace, the more she realized that he'd been trying to survive his grandmother's cruel reign, too.

Royal politics were h.e.l.l.

While they had reclaimed the Sentella's families, ferreted out the Porturnum traitor, and established a new Alliance base, there was still a war to be fought.

They had won part of it. But lost Andaria.

"What are you thinking?"

She paused at Fain's question. "I was thinking about what we lost this week. You?"

He pulled her against him. "What I gained that I never thought I'd have. You by my side. And the beautiful sons and daughters you've gifted me with."

Closing her eyes, she received his kiss and let those words wash over her. He was right. They had gained far more than they'd lost.