Born of Betrayal (9 page)

Fain didn't speak while guilt gnawed at him. Like Galene, he had a bad feeling that Talyn was withholding vital information. Though why the boy would protect him when he hated him so much was beyond his best comprehension.

Trying not to think about something he couldn't change, he settled the mic in his ear and launched.

Once they were leaving the Andarion atmosphere, he made the mistake of glancing toward Galene. The hatred in her white eyes shrank both his testicles and made him physically ill. Shit, at this rate, they were practically crawling back into his stomach—and if she didn't stop that glaring hatred soon, he'd be female by lunch.

Never once had he considered the fact that while he'd made Tavali runs for Venik against his former homeworld that he might be fighting his own kid.

Or Galene. She was supposed to have gone to med school, like her parents. He had no idea what had sent her into the military instead. Especially given her family history with the Andarion armada and the Purging that the former tadara had done against the entire Batur lineage to brutally wipe them out. Why would Galene risk military service given that the former queen had wanted her entire bloodline exterminated?

Something must have gone seriously wrong to put her on that course. Something he couldn't begin to fathom.

Kareem inclined his head to Talyn. “How long you been in uniform, Batur?”

“Fourteen years.”

Fain cringed at a number that definitely would have put them head-to-head under Tadara Eriadne's reign.

“How many as a pilot?”

He held his breath, terrified of hearing his son's answer.

“Almost seven, total.”

Kareem scowled. “First or last?”

“First.”

Double shit.

Yeah, that was right in the thick of when Fain would have been making his heaviest attacks in Andarion territory. There was no telling how many times he'd engaged Talyn in battle.

Probably Galene, too.

“What made you stop?”

Before Talyn could answer, his nose and ear began pouring blood. Cursing, he leaned forward and pulled a cloth from his pocket to hold against them.

Galene gasped. “Talyn?”

He sighed at his mother's worried tone. “I'm fine, Commander. It's nothing.” He glanced toward Kareem. “To answer your question, I was medically grounded after my last near-death experience. While I can still fly, the doctors don't like what the sudden changes in pressure and escape velocity do to my body. In space, I'm fine. It's the
reaching
space part that gets bloody for me.” He glanced at the blood on his hands. “Literally.”

Galene glared at Fain with a searing hatred that shriveled his innards.

He glared back. Just as Fain started to defend himself, Talyn placed his hand over hers.

“Let it go, Mum. The past is done. Lay it to rest.” Talyn returned to his conversation with Kareem. “What about you? How long you been Tavali?”

“I took my Canting and oath at eighteen. But my birth father's Braxen Venik. Leader of the Porturnum Nation.” He jerked his chin toward Fain. “He's also Fain's father.”

Talyn arched a brow at that.

“Tavali father,” Fain explained. “You have to be adopted to wear our uniform. You can't just raise the banner and proclaim yourself Tavali. Anyone that stupid is taken out of our gene pool immediately. Unlike other nationalities, Tavali is a citizenship that comes with obligation. It's a privilege you earn and maintain, not a birthright.”

Galene snorted. “My God, Fain, how many times have you been adopted in your lifetime?”

Fain ground his teeth at her snotty tone.

Kareem stiffened. “You need to show him some respect. There aren't many slaves who'd take the blast for their owners that Hauk took for my father. Trust me, he more than earned his place in our family.”

Galene's jaw went slack. “So, you weren't conscripted? You really were enslaved?”

Fain winced at something he didn't like thinking about or remembering. And he damn sure didn't want to talk about it, especially not in front of Venik's kid as Venik had been one of his owners, and it still stuck in his craw. “It was a long time ago.… Venik fostered me after I saved his life, only because he felt he could trust me. Cairie, a few weeks back, after I helped rescue her granddaughter. Honestly though, her adoption was nothing more than an FU to my real mother.”

Talyn wiped the blood at his ear. “How so?”

Fain started to answer that it came from when his father had broken his pledge with Cairistiona by sleeping with Fain's mother the night before they were to legally finalize it. But self-preservation stopped that particular brand of stupid from spilling out of his mouth. Talyn would be the first to point out the irony and that faithless acts of treachery must run in the blood of all male Hauks. “Personal grudge from when they were kids.”

Galene cocked her head. “So
you're
The Tavali who saved Tizirah Thia?”

“You don't have to sound so surprised. I have been known to battle from time to time. And I didn't do it alone.”

She bristled at that. “You'll have to forgive me if I don't automatically associate acts of heroism and altruism with
your
name … given
our
past.”

Fain shook his head at the contempt he heard in her voice. Contempt that cut him deeper than anything else. There was no way he'd ever be able to redeem himself with the very female he should have died to protect.

How can I ever make this right?
It just didn't seem possible.

Kareem turned in his seat to face Galene and Talyn while Fain headed them out toward deep space. “Look, I know there's some bad history here, but Fain is my brother and the Tavali are nothing if not loyal to our own. So let me warn you now, if you want to stay healthy and happy in your new assignment, you'll stow the disdain for Commander Hauk before we land. Any shit-talk against Hauk is shit-talk against a Venik, and you don't want to say anything negative about my family in our HQ. It won't go well for you.”

Galene scoffed. “Tavali don't scare me. Ever. But don't worry. Your beloved
brother
is safe from any further harm where I'm concerned. I intend to avoid him as any sentient creature would a contagious STD.”

Great. Just what he'd always wanted to be. An STD to the only female who'd ever owned his heart.
Mom and Dad would be so proud.

But there was one thing he needed to make clear. “And I need to warn you, Kareem. While they are here, the Baturs are under
my
protection and are to be left alone. Any Tavali who fucks with them will get the worst end of me. That includes your father.”

*   *   *

As soon as they docked at the Tavali station, Fain saw Braxen Venik waiting to greet them, with an entire squadron of Hadean Corps soldiers as his escort. The Hadean Corps were the Tavali enforcers and their version of a highly trained tactical police unit. They had to be since The Tavali were an extremely rough and well-trained group who lived to fight and play hard.

Tall and fierce, Brax was half Andarion, but looked mostly human with his dark eyes—just like Kareem. Only his elongated canines betrayed his Andarion heritage, and that tiny bit of Andarion biology had cost the male dearly in his life, and left Brax with a bitter resentment toward the entire Andarion race. It was why Brax had hated Fain the first time they'd met.

Why, even though Fain had been a bound slave kept by humans, Venik had dragged him off the ship—which was then called the
Cerulean Escapades
—by his hair, and shot out both kneecaps while he'd been chained and unable to protect himself.

Venik would have done more, but the fire and venom in Fain that refused to beg or be dominated by anyone or anything had given the Tavali pause.

Fain's only response to the assault had been to look Venik in the eye and laugh. “Pain I can take, old man. Do your fucking worst, and you better make sure I die. 'Cause if I get loose, I'm going to rip out your guts and strangle you with them. I promise you.”

Those growled, hostile words had finally won the pirate over and made him respect the fact that Fain was every bit the warrior Venik was.

However, the expression on Brax's face today said something bad was brewing. And that the male was highly pissed off and out for blood.

Curious about what had him in such a foul mood, Fain left the ship first.

As soon as Fain was close enough, Brax hugged him like a brother before he narrowed his dark gaze at the twenty-two Andarions with them. “I heard you were shot on your arrival. Should we return the favor to them?”

“No!” Fain said quickly. “Two of them are my family.”

Brax quirked a brow. “As I recall, your
family
disowned you. Left you for dead.”

“Not these two. And it's complicated. I'd just rather they be treated with respect.”

Brax nodded slowly. “I'll let the others know, then.” He moved toward Galene. “Commander Batur?”

She hesitated at the flash of his fangs. “You're part Andarion?”

“My father. My mother was a Qill warrior, as is my wife.” He frowned as he saw Talyn approaching them. A knowing glance at Fain let him know that Brax had already deduced who Fain was related to and why it was complicated. “Another Commander Batur in the mix.” He took a moment to study Talyn. “You're not
the
Talyn Batur, are you?”

“I am.”

He held his hand out in friendship. “Nice to meet you, Hammer.”

“You, too, Captain Venik.” There was an underlying crisp chill to Talyn's voice.

His friendliness vaporizing, Brax curled his lip the moment he saw Chayden disembark and head in their direction. Without a word of greeting, he spun and led his men away.

Chayden grinned widely as he joined them. “Look at me, making friends everywhere I go.” Lifting his nose, he sniffed at the air. “You can just smell the happy welcome … oh wait, someone needs a bath.” He clapped Fain on the back. “Oh yeah, that's me, too!”

Galene passed a quizzical stare to Fain.

“Chayden has major brain trauma. I think his sister must have slapped him too hard in childhood.”

Laughing good-naturedly, Chayden winked at her. “Venik hates my Tavali father, Gadgehe Hinto. It's an old blood feud between them. Which means I get to irritate the grand Porturnum leader with impunity. It's awesome.” He glanced to Fain and grinned before he spoke to Galene. “And if you want me to rattle
his
cage, just holler at your boy and I'll do it. I live to make beautiful females happy.”

Galene smiled. “Thank you, Chayden. I just might take you up on that.”

Flashing his dimples, Chayden clicked his teeth. “By the way, we should probably let you know that Venik isn't a captain. His rank is technically high admiral and Tavali presidium.”

Talyn gave him an emotionless stare. “I know. I did it to piss him off.”

Chayden let out a low, insidious laugh as he clapped Talyn on the arm. “You and me, Hammer, we're going to be
good
friends. I can tell.”

From across the bay, Brax motioned Fain away to speak to him while a small group of Tavali women came forward to show Galene, Talyn, and their soldiers where to bunk.

Talyn carried his mother's gear through their impressively clean and modern hallways toward their rooms.

After what seemed like miles of hiking, the Tavali women finally showed them the bunk corridor where their rooms were lined up like prison cells.

With a smirk, the shortest woman opened the closest door. “For you, Prime Commander.”

Galene screwed her face up at the small, cramped quarters they'd reserved for her group. They really did look like prison cells. It wasn't just the hallway. They even held that peculiar antiseptic, institutional smell. “Is there nothing better than this?” she asked the female Tavali closest to her.

She shrugged. “It's where we always put our special guests. Sorry it's not up to Your Majesty's high standards.”

Talyn caught Galene as she started for the woman. “It's fine, Commander. I'll take the smallest one.” He cut a fierce glare at the woman who'd led them here. “Give our females the larger rooms. If there are any to be had.”

The woman stepped back to let Talyn enter his “closet.”

Galene wanted to weep at the paltry quarters. She knew The Tavali had better accommodations than this—there was no way they'd bunk their crew in something so horrible—but The Tavali and Andaria had a long and ugly history of war between them.

Obviously, this was their petty way of getting back at their former enemies, even though they were here to help them and be allies.

Something that proved to be more than apparent when she entered her hot, stifling room. Without another word, she set her duffle on the small cot. Sadly, it was better than what Talyn was dealing with. At least she could turn around without bumping into anything.

Disgusted, she picked up her link to call him. “Hey,
mi tana
. You want to exchange rooms? Mine's a little larger and you're a lot bigger than me.”

“It's fine, Mum. I had a smaller bed in gen-barr. At least it has its own bathroom. I can manage.”

I can manage
. Her heart broke at his most common phrase to her after the word “fine.” “Ever my brave soldier. Love you, Talyn.”

“You, too.”

Galene hung up and started to unpack, only to learn that there was nowhere to store her gear. Not even a closet or nightstand. Infuriated, she'd just set her duffel on the narrow desk when Fain texted over a map of the facilities and instructions on where their command center was located, as well as her office.

Disgusted with all of The Tavali in general and Fain in particular, she refused to text him back. Effing bastard. He was probably the reason they were being housed here.