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  Yet all he had to do was look into her eyes, and he saw the truth. There was no ridicule there. No hatred or disdain.

  Only love and acceptance.

  And only Ushara looked at him that way. No one else. Ever.

  "You are so beautiful," he breathed an instant before he watched her scream out in release. He moved even faster, heightening her pleasure and waiting until she was completely finished to join her.

  And when he came, he buried his face in her hair and let the softness of it and her body welcome him to the first real home he'd ever known.

  In the quiet peacefulness, he held her. Until his link went off with an irritating sound that made him want to splinter the damn thing against the wall.

  "Davel?" she asked as he reached for it.

  It was normally who disturbed them. Her brother had an unerring ability to know when they were in bed together.

  Reluctantly, he slid out of her and reached for his link on the nightstand. He flipped it on and froze. "No. It's my grandmother."

  "What?" She sat up with a gasp to look at it over his shoulder.

  He held the link so that she could see it. His breathing ragged, he tried to contain his rage, but it was impossible. Every word made him even more furious until all he could do was crave eton Anatole blood.

  So help him, if he ever laid hands to his family again, he'd rip them apart....

  Since you've proven yourself worthless to me, time and again, I had originally intended for you to rot in your impoverished misery. But you couldn't let well enough alone. Therefore, I shall have to punish you for your treacherous interference. Know that you've brought this on yourself. And that you have a choice to make--stay out of my way and live with your little whore, or continue to protect your brother. Every time you stop me, I will take a pound of your flesh for it.

  "What does she mean, a pound of your flesh?"

  "I have no idea. As a boy, it would have meant some quality time spent in the vorgate."

  "Her private prison?"

  He nodded. "I have no idea where she is now. The picture Nylan sent was of the two of them inside a restaurant that could have been on any planet, in any city. All I know is that she was banned from Andaria. The Triosans wouldn't touch her. But we have extended family all over. And allies who would harbor her, including the Porturnum. She's a devious bitch, capable of anything."

  Ushara watched as he began trying to backtrace the transmission. After a few minutes, his anger and frustration built to the point he lifted the link to slam it down.

  She caught his hand. "If you destroy it, you'll never be able to use it against her."

  Tears gathered in his eyes. "If she harms you ... Shara..."

  "She can't harm me, Jules. Don't even go there. I'm not your mother. I'm a warrior in my prime, and I won't underestimate her. But don't sell me short, either."

  "My brain hears you. My heart, however, has no ears."

  Her own tears choked her as she realized what this meant. "They're not going to leave us in peace, are they?"

  "No. It's not in them to do so."

  "What are we going to do?"

  Jullien cupped her face in his hand. "Do you trust me?"

  "With my life and everything I hold sacred."

  "Then you're going to have to let me go and finish this."

  Her heart sank at the lethal tone of his voice. "For how long?"

  "As long as it takes to bury them."

  Even though it killed her, she nodded.

  CHAPTER 24

  "Lararium?" Jullien turned his chair toward Trajen as they landed on what had to be the most remote outpost in the Nine Worlds.

  It was so cold here, he didn't even know how it could sustain life. "Now, there's a name you don't see advertised in tourist brochures. Even I never made it out this far during my death-defying jaunts, running from League assassins."

  Trajen gave him a caustic stare. "Good thing, too. As you would have been gutted on landing."

  "By what? The imaginary ice cap people who can live without the all-crucial, life-sustaining atmosphere?"

  Trajen didn't elaborate. "I know I'm asking a lot, but rein down your tongue. Stop playing hard to get along with. And remember that the individual you're about to meet can melt your brain, and has about as much prick tolerance as you do."

  "Duly noted. May I ask how many live here have that special talent?"

  "Since it only takes one having a bad hair day to kill you, do you need a precise head count?"

  Not really, but Jullien was in a particularly spiteful mood at the moment and couldn't resist poking the irritable beast in front of him. "More than a handful, then?"

  Ushara laughed. "Admit it, Tray. You have to love him. It's like having a giant toddler around with an autoresponder set to Annoy."

  "Really don't." Trajen let out a low growl. "This might have been a mistake." Rising, he headed for the ramp. "Shall we get this slaughter over with?"

  Jullien wasn't sure what he'd expected, but it damn sure wasn't this. His jaw went slack as they stepped out into one of the most elaborate and advanced landing bays he'd ever seen.

  And it did, in fact, have an atmosphere, contrary to what the schematics had read.

  While the bay was small, it had tech the likes of which he'd never seen or heard of before. He'd kill for a tour of it.

  Stay focused.

  He arched a brow at Trajen's voice in his head. And as they walked through the area, he noticed they were attracting a lot of attention in spite of the jackets and hoods they wore.

  Trajen ignored the people around them and forged ahead with long, deadly strides. Jullien matched him, but made sure that Ushara was keeping up with them, as he didn't want her to fall behind and get attacked by one of the humans here. There was something about them that didn't seem quite right.

  Something that set him on edge and gave him an urge to slap them as they passed by to see if they'd react like people.

  Or mechas.

  Trajen didn't stop or slow until they were on the street, where three low, domed buildings were made of the strangest material Jullien had ever seen.

  "What is that?"

  Trajen glanced at the buildings and shrugged. "Keeps anyone from knowing there's life here. It also makes them think that this part of the planet is uninhabitable."

  Ah, that explained the fictional readings. Damn.... If the surly HAP had access to all this insane technology, it begged one question--"So tell me, Tray ... why are you Tavali again?"

  Trajen drew up short with a harsh stare. "Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to." That tone said the subject was closed, and for once, Jullien backed off the topic.

  His mood more severe and guarded than normal, Trajen took them into a small warehouse where a group was working on mechas. Only these were unlike anything on the market. Some were close enough to pass for human. As in, they were completely indistinguishable from humanity.

  They were even perspiring.

  Damn ...

  Jullien glanced to Ushara, and now he really wanted to go back outside and see if he'd been right. Had all those "people" on the street really been mechas instead?

  "Hey! Badges!" A guard rushed to challenge them.

  Trajen lowered his hood and gave the man a withering glare.

  The guard immediately backed down and actually bowed. "Blessed Born, forgive me. I didn't know it was you I was addressing. How may I be of service?"

  "Is Thraix around?"

  I'm always around, but I'm not kneeling to your sorry ass. Bugger off.

  Jullien glanced about for the source of that deep, raspy voice. But he didn't see anything.

  Trajen inclined his head to the guard. "Seems we found him. Thank you."

  As soon as they'd walked away from the guard, Jullien cocked a brow at Trajen. "Oooh, aren't we the haughty bitch when we get back amongst our own?"

  "Do I need a rolled-up newspaper to slap you with?"

  "Good luck finding one around here. Besides, you smack my nose, it'll just compel me to piss on your leg for spite."

  Sighing, Trajen met Ushara's amused gaze. "Can you please muzzle him?"

  "I'm the one who tried to keep him at home. You brought him here, against my wishes. I told you not to have him in public. You know as well as I do that he completely flunked home-training. What were you thinking?"

  "Trajen doesn't think. It's always been his shortcoming."

  Ushara jumped at the deeply accented, disembodied voice that spoke beside her.

  Jullien watched as a male manifested there who stood a good two inches taller than him--which was impressive, given his height. He also had the build and carriage of a well-trained soldier.

  But not just an average soldier ...

  Special Forces.

  It bled from his pores, as if he'd been carved from generations of military servicemen. Coming from a heavy martial society, Jullien could spot the breed from a mile away. Which was strange, given that the Trisani had always been a culture of peace.

  But not this one.

  The man locked gazes with him as if he knew exactly what Jullien was thinking--which, being Trisani, he most likely did. "Peace never fights, but I do."

  "Never heard the latter part of that verse in the Book of Harmony."

  "Fine, then. Insecure peace is even worse than war. And peace maintained through fear and intimidation is the most malignant form of tyranny."

  "As an Andarion, I couldn't agree more. War is our happy go-to place--If there's a battle to be fought, let it be in my lifetime, that my children may sleep safely in peace, and dream of better days. However, I always thought the Trisani national motto was--In peace sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons. Therefore, make me a weapon of peace, and where there is hatred, let me sow love."

  "Sadly, it was. By the time our people realized we needed more soldiers than idiot politicians and philosophers with no real-world experience or understanding of their opposition's mind-set, it was too late to save us. They learned the hard way that it takes two to make peace, and only one bomb to destroy our world. That it's a complete waste of time and total insanity for cooing doves to try and negotiate peace with unreasoning jackals when they are hell-bent to feast on your bones."

  Jullien nodded. "Why did you bite me, the fox asked the snake, knowing we'll both drown and die now?... And the snake answered, Because it is ever my nature to do so."

  Approving Jullien's Trisani quote, Thraix saluted him with two fingers. "And speaking of jackals and snakes..." He turned to glare at Trajen. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this. Your father would be proud of your evil powers of persuasion. And you didn't even try to use your real powers on me. I'm just that fucking gullible."

  "What evil power was this?" Ushara asked.

  Trajen winked at her. "Guilt."

  Thraix snorted. "I didn't even know I could still feel that emotion. So double kudos." He met Jullien's gaze. "Are you completely sure you want to do this? Once we do it, there's no going back. Ever."

  "What exactly are you doing to him? Trajen was a bit vague."

  "Of course he was." Thraix cut a peeved, gimlet stare toward Trajen before he softened his expression for Ushara. "We're rerouting and remapping part of your husband's brain. Opening up a trench, as it were."

  She paled noticeably. "Trajen said there wouldn't be any surgery."

  He inclined his head to her. "I don't need surgery. But it's not without risk. It takes total supplication to me. He fights me, it could cost him some brain cells."

  "Jules," she said with a warning tone, "I don't think you're capable of doing that."

  "I can do it."

  Aghast, she gaped at him. "You're the most argumentative Androkyn ever born. Your first words to me on the day we met were that you're a contentious asshole."

  "I can control it for this."

  She shook her head in total disbelief before she turned back toward Thraix. "Fine, but please make a note that I am not Trisani. Anything happens to my Jules, and your jewels are the first set I'm coming after."

  Thraix actually grinned at that. And then, shockingly, his eyes filled with tears. He swallowed hard as his smile faded.

  Trajen stepped forward. "You all right?"

  In truth, he looked as if he'd just been cold-cocked with a sledgehammer. His breathing ragged, he all but doubled over. "You're weren't kidding. I see now why you chose her. If she were a little taller ... She looks just like her."

  "Her?" Jullien asked.

  "My wife." Thraix cleared his throat and shook his head. He pulled out a small locket and opened it to show the photo to Jullien. Inside was the image of a female who bore a shocking resemblance to Ushara. Except her hair was darker and her eyes were a silvery-blue, and she didn't have fangs. Yet their features ...

  Damn.

  "That's eerie."

  Closing the locket, Thraix returned it to his pocket. "Yeah, it is."

  "Where is she?" Ushara asked.

  Thraix's eyes flashed red. "She was murdered."

  Ushara touched his arm in sympathy. "I'm so sorry. My first husband was murdered. I know how hard it is to carry on after such tragedy."

  He patted her hand. "I will make sure that you don't lose this one. Contentious asshole or not."

  She laughed even as Jullien let out an irritated growl. "Can I go in with him when you do it? Since it's not surgery?"

  Thraix hesitated, then nodded. "It'll do him good to have you there, I think. You can help keep him calm for it."

  "He's going to be awake?"

  "Again, not surgery. He has to be awake while I do it." Thraix passed a troubled look to Trajen that said they were speaking privately while Thraix led them to a set of doors and into the rear of the building.

  There, he showed them to a large sterile room with a hospital bed.

  "Lie down and get as comfortable as you can."

  Jullien reluctantly obeyed.

  Ushara fluffed the pillow and ruffled his hair. "Don't bite the doctor."

  Thraix arched a brow at that. "The doctor bites back."

  A blanket appeared on top of Jullien, reminding them of just how powerful Thraix was with his powers.

  Trajen stayed back, in a corner of the room. "What do you need me to do?"

  "Nothing. You're here for his moral support and to help keep Jullien comfortable, since he doesn't know me. This is more about trust than anything else. He has to stay calm."

  "It's really not so bad."

  Jullien shot up at the familiar voice. "Jupiter?"

  He came through another door to grin at them. "Hey, Jules." He inclined his head to Ushara as he approached the bed and shook Jullien's arm. "VA." Then he looked to Trajen. "HAP."

  "What are you doing here?" Ushara asked.

  Thraix moved a tray closer to the bed. "I asked him to come, since Jullien knows him, and Jory went through this himself."

  Ushara gaped. "How did you know about this procedure?"

  "Me mother's part Trisani. Mack was actually born with the skills I had to be given. Chafes me arse quarters that I had to have this done, but in the end, me powers ended being stronger as a result of it."

  Ushara chewed her lip. "Is it painful?"

  "Stings a bit. Nothing too bad. Just a fierce headache for a few days. I doubt your male'll feel it at all. You've just got to stay in a happy place and don't be letting the darkness swallow you."

  Thraix pulled a chair up. "Ushara, if you'll take his hand? Jory ... standby to help Trajen hold him should we need it."

  They moved into position while Thraix leaned over Jullien's head. "I'm going to touch you now, if you're ready?"

  Jullien nodded.

  Thraix gently placed his hand on Jullien's forehead. "Just breathe deeply and close your eyes. Let me guide your thoughts and don't fight me. Ignore what you see. And follow me through, okay?"

  "Okay." Jullien moved Ushara's hand to his heart while strange images and patterns floated through his mind. At first, nothing made sense. But that didn't last. He saw his past playing out in vivid, biting details.

  Shh, Thraix whispered in his head. I'm with you, kiran. I'm not judging. Just move with me past it. We have to open this shit up to get where we need to go. Sorry about that.

  Jullien tensed as he saw himself in prison and felt the pain of it all anew. Why am I here?

  Thraix tightened his grip on him. Part of the process. It's normal. We have to go through the temporal lobe before we move to the frontal. Unfortunately, it'll release kickback emotions and visions as we tunnel into it ... from both of us.

  No sooner had Thraix said that than Jullien saw what he meant. At first, Jullien thought it was Ushara, but as noted, Julia was taller and thinner, with blue, human eyes and dark hair.

  And she was in a jail cell with both Thraix and Trajen when they were all a lot younger. Thraix and Trajen were trying to fight off guards who were dragging her away, but they were no match for the Chillers and the tech that had been specifically designed to negate their Trisani powers.

  "Don't you touch my sister!" Trajen shouted, rushing them.

  The guard nearest him caught him a blow that broke his jaw.

  Thraix attempted to blast him with his powers and ended up screaming out in pain as it damaged a part of his own brain.

  Jullien flinched.

  Thraix tensed and released a shaky breath. Calm down. It's my pain, not yours, brother.

  I'm sorry, Thraix.

  He felt Thraix's jaw flexing next to his. It's all right. We all got shit to deal with.

  And as their memories merged, Jullien realized just how much they did have in common. But not even that was enough to save him from the resurgence of his past as he was thrown back to the horrors of reliving his childhood.

  Ushara panicked as Jullien jerked on the bed and Thraix, Trajen, and Jory struggled to hold him down.

  Thraix cursed out loud as both their noses started bleeding. "Hold him or we'll lose him!"

  Chilled to the bone, she tightened her grip on Jullien's hand and pressed hers to his cheek. "Mi turi? Can you hear me? I'm here with you."

  "Shara?" With that single whisper, he calmed.

  "I'm not going anywhere." She moved to lie down beside him and cuddle against his ribs like she did at night when they slept. She even placed her leg over his and draped her arm across his waist.

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