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  Jullien opened the doors that led to the offices above, and allowed them to enter first so that he could keep an eye on them. "Met the emperor, have you?"

  "Yes. Triosan's very stern, but fair. As you know, we're all coming together to form an alliance against The League."

  "We've heard some rumors." He gestured toward the stairs on his left.

  "It's more than rumors. My mother's expecting full cooperation from all the Nations. I'm here to get access codes for Nykyrian and his Sentella forces."

  Jullien arched his brow at that. "You don't say?"

  "Yes. We thought it best that I come in person, as it would be more secure than trying to transmit them."

  Jullien swiped his card for his office door, then stood back for them to go inside ahead of him. "Very true. So what codes do you need?"

  "We'll expect the overrides so that we can command your Hadean Corpsmen as we need them. As well as any Stitches you have. And we need to know where your ships, people, and bases are so that we don't accidentally trip over each other or put your people in the line of fire. We want to protect all Tavali resources."

  Sounded more like they intended to raid them.

  Jullien gestured for them to be seated. While the Ryn impostor continued to talk, the other two were much more attentive to the station details. Especially the woman. She was carefully making mental notes of everything they passed.

  "I take it you're doing this with all the Nations?" he asked their leader.

  "Of course."

  "Even Venik?"

  The impostor nodded. "He was first."

  Jullien arched a brow at that. "He didn't balk?"

  "No. Not at all."

  "Fascinating."

  The Ryn impostor walked around and slowly examined the artwork Viv and Mira had drawn that decorated Jullien's office walls. "You just have the two daughters?"

  Tucking his hands into the pockets of his red jacket, he shrugged. "Well ... we never really know, do we?"

  "Pardon?"

  Jullien decided to play repugnant nonchalance to its full extent. He wasn't about to voluntarily give them anything they could use against him. Rule two he'd learned at home--never let anyone know what you care about, and it couldn't be used against you, especially if it was sentient and could bleed. "You know what they say--Mama's baby. Daddy's maybe."

  As planned, that caught the bastard completely off-guard. "You doubt your wife's fidelity?"

  "I doubt everyone's fidelity." Using his telekinesis, Jullien quietly tucked the photograph of Ushara and the kids under the papers on his desk before they saw it. If they didn't know his wife was the VA, he sure wasn't going to tell them. He also locked the door. "Is it just the three of you here today?"

  "It is."

  "And that was your ship in the bay?"

  "Yes. We'll need it refueled before we leave. I'm sure you won't have a problem charging the UTC for it."

  Jullien stroked his whiskers. "No. No problem there, but I do have one question, Ambassador."

  "That is?"

  "What happened to the Cruel Victory?"

  The impostor scowled. "The Cruel Victory?"

  "Yeah, you know ... the ship your mother gave you when you became a captain. It's the only ship Ryn Cruel has ever flown. And he's never flown without his full crew, which is more than just his stryper and head HC."

  Jullien drew his blasters at the same time they did. "Yeah," he said slowly as he held a blaster in both hands. One pointed at the woman and her accomplice and the other at Ryn. "I'm that fast. Now, who are you? Really?"

  "I told you who we are. And I will have your ass for this."

  "Yeah, I don't think so. I've known Ryn since the day I attended his coronation on Caron while he was still in nappies."

  Then Jullien heard the subtle sound.

  A trip wire.

  Too late, he realized they weren't Tavali. They were tiradors--suicide bombers. And they were here to destroy them all.

  CHAPTER 36

  Ushara felt the rumbles of an explosion rock through the station. Everyone stood while they looked around for the source.

  The color drained from Trajen's face as he started past her.

  "What is it?" she asked him.

  He didn't answer.

  By that alone, she knew it was bad. Ushara handed Viv off to her mother before she followed Trajen. Vasili was right behind her, with Thraix and Davel. "Where's Jules?"

  Like Trajen, Thraix didn't answer.

  Vas shrugged. "I don't know. He took Viv to the bathroom, last I saw."

  Trajen stopped at the temple doors and turned back to face her. "You need to stay here with your family. Last thing you need is to inhale dangerous fumes in your condition."

  But she knew that look on his face. "What happened?"

  "Vas ... keep your mom and sisters here. I'm depending on you."

  True panic dimmed her sight. Trajen never kept things from her. Not unless he was trying to protect her, and there was only one thing she could think that he'd protect her from at a time like this.

  Jullien's death.

  Her breathing ragged, she grabbed his arm. "Trajen, don't treat me like this. Tell me what's going on!"

  Thraix met her gaze over his shoulder. "Jullien just saved our lives. Now we're going to try and save his." And with that, he vanished.

  His dark eyes haunted, Trajen swallowed hard. "Yeah. Stay here and wait for us."

  Oh like hell! If Jullien was in trouble, she was going to help, too.

  Ushara turned toward her parents. "Matarra! Take the kids. I need to suit up." Without waiting on anyone or stopping for anything, she headed for the lockers in the bay where she kept her hardsuits stored.

  As soon as she entered the hangar and saw the damage to the upstairs area where their offices were located, she stumbled and almost fell. Charred and blackened, it looked as if the Korilon had unleashed a kybyk from Tophet to come after them. Streaks of white cut through the darkness in patterns that honestly reminded her of claw marks. It really did look as if the gates of Tophet had been thrown open.

  What had happened?

  Blinking back tears of fear for Jullien, she ran to the lockers and pulled out her gear. She had to find him.

  A shadow fell over her as she dressed.

  It was Jay and Oxana. With a grim nod, her sisters grabbed their own suits and quickly dressed alongside her. Once they were sealed in, they headed up to where the fire crews and rescue were resealing the area, after searching for bodies and survivors.

  From what she overheard them saying, it appeared someone had sealed off the upper corridor before the explosion, protecting the station's precious environmental control and life support system, and mitigating the blast radius, thus curtailing the damage that the bomb could have done.

  Her office, Trajen's, and Jullien's were on the other side of the sealed area. It appeared nothing much, if anything, remained of them.

  She saw the HC captain pulling his crew back.

  Ushara headed for him. "What's the final damage?"

  He removed his helmet before he answered. "Since command was off today for your sisters' memorial, it appears no one was up here. So we're thinking no casualties. At least none we can find. We're not sure what caused the explosion or how this section got sealed off. Whoever did it saved our asses, though. Had it not been sealed, it would have taken out the major CES and caused a cascade failure of the temperature and pressure for the entire station."

  It must have been Jullien. Which begged one question ... "Have you seen High Admiral Thaumarturgus?"

  "No, ma'am."

  Suddenly, a body slammed against the sealed door behind the captain and, because there was no atmosphere on that side of the door, exploded.

  Jay screamed.

  Ushara stared in wide-eyed horror as the HC around them scrambled in an attempt to reclaim the remains.

  What did I tell you about not being here! She flinched at the sound of Trajen's angry voice in her head.

  "Like I'm listening to you when my husband's in danger! Where is he?"

  Shara ... Jullien's voice was so weak, pain-filled, and unsteady that it wrenched a sob from her. You need to be with the girls.

  "Jules--"

  I won't break your heart.... Ana, take her and go.

  Ushara glanced around for them. All she saw were the HC and her sisters. It didn't make sense. "Where are you? What don't you want me to see?"

  Jay let out a sharp gasp. When Ushara went to turn around to see what had her alarmed, her sister grabbed her and shook her head harshly. "We need to go."

  Oxana's eyes widened. "Yes, we do. Now!"

  Ushara felt sick to her stomach. "What is it!" she demanded as hysteria threatened to overwhelm her.

  Her sisters flanked her, and each took an arm. "Think of that unborn baby and walk with us. Now!"

  Ushara's hysteria mounted. For them to act like this, it had to be bad. "What happened to him? Why won't you tell me?"

  "He's hurt," Oxana said slowly.

  "How bad?"

  "Bad. But Trajen and Thraix have him," Jay said with an uncharacteristic calmness. "They're bringing him in right now. So breathe and let them do their jobs."

  "Jullien?" she sobbed as she started to turn around.

  Jay wouldn't let her. "Shara, look at me and focus. There's nothing you can do but get in the way. None of us are medical. He needs emergency care, okay?"

  She nodded, knowing Jay was right. "I'll meet you at the hospital, Jules. Please be okay. I love you."

  Kimi asyado, mu sojara.

  Ushara cringed at the agony and strain she heard in his voice. She felt it as if it were her own. Praying that he'd be fine, she followed her sisters.

  By the time they reached the hospital, her entire family was there, waiting for them.

  Vasili was pale and shaken, and not speaking a word to anyone. He merely held on to Mira, and for once didn't lose patience with her as she asked him a million questions and climbed all over him.

  Viv came running up to Ushara. "Did them strangers hurt Paka, Mama?"

  "What strangers?"

  "The strangers who took Paka away after I wents to the potty. Paka said for me to go to you. He said that he needed to talk to them. That they were nice people. Did the nice people hurt my paka, Mama? Were they the mean Andarions who don't like my paka or us? Is that why Paka's not here?"

  "I don't know, precious. I don't know what happened."

  "Me and Mira will beat them up if they hurt Paka, Mama. We will. No one will hurt our paka."

  Her father came over. "Viv? Can I hold you for a little while?"

  "Okay." She held her arms up for him to pick her up.

  Grateful for his support, Ushara drew a ragged breath as her father wiped at the tears on her cheek.

  "He'll be fine, baby. You married a good male. He's not about to leave you or your children."

  She squeezed her father's hand. He'd come a long way from wanting Jullien's head on a platter. Over the years, he'd finally learned to love and accept her husband as one of them. Of course, the birth of the girls had helped a lot, especially once he saw how caring and protective Jullien was with them. How much time Jules spent with the girls and Vas.

  The love and support he never failed to give her, personally.

  Some of her father's feelings had been comprised with the deaths of her cousins, and now her sisters. Both her parents had been rather reserved and cool toward him lately, to the point they hadn't even spoken to him or looked his way over the last two days. So it warmed her heart to see that they hadn't returned to all-out hating her husband again.

  "Shara?"

  She looked up at Trajen's call to see him motioning her toward a room.

  Her mother and sisters came to stand at her back as she joined him. "How's he doing?"

  "Jules wants to see you, but we need you to stay completely calm. Remember, he's really weak right now. He used all his powers to seal the offices off and protect the station. Had he not acted fast and segregated our intruders, there's no telling how this would have played out. He took the brunt of the explosion to dampen it. Thraix and I have done what we can with our powers, but he's going to need surgery and implants."

  Her stomach churned at that last word and what it meant. "Implants?"

  "He lost an arm."

  Ushara would have crumpled had Oxana not caught her.

  Trajen took her from her sister and held her against his side. "You okay?"

  She nodded. "Yeah. Is that what all of you were trying to keep me from seeing?"

  "Mostly. He was also burned and looked pretty raw when we pulled him in. None of us, including Jules, wanted you to see him like that. You didn't need the nightmare of it."

  "Can I see him now?"

  Trajen practically carried her inside the room, to the bed where Jullien lay motionless.

  Horrified by his condition, Ushara choked on a sob. Bandages covered his head and torso, but the ones that made her ache most were over where his right arm should have been. The entire right side of his face was covered and most of his left. Pain welled up inside her.

  How could they have done this to him?

  "We healed as much of him as we could. But there's some of it we couldn't touch yet. Thraix and I have to rest for a bit, and we'll do more later tonight."

  "Thank you both." Ushara stepped forward to touch Jullien's left hand. The moment she did, he wrapped his fingers around hers.

  Hi, munatara.

  Sobbing, she leaned over to kiss his hand. "What happened?"

  Tiradors. They came in pretending to be Ryn Dane, and wanting our passcodes. I'm not sure who hired them. There was a bomb on their ship, too, but I caught that one before detonation. I just wish I'd caught the ones on them, personally.

  "Oh, Jules ... why didn't you tell us they were here?"

  You were where I wanted all of you. Safe.

  "I could choke you."

  Why? I saved my wedding ring.

  She scowled at his strange, unrelated comment. "What?"

  He shook her hand. After I grabbed the bomb, I realized that I was holding it in my left hand. Luckily, I had time to change it before it went off.

  She groaned at his humor. "Really? That's your main concern?"

  Hey now, don't mock. Had I not switched hands before detonation, I would have lost both the ring and my tattoo. That would have been a tragedy.

  Rolling her eyes at his facetious humor, she couldn't believe he'd try to make light of this. "You could have lost your life!"

  Nah, my life is holding my hand right now. Besides, I'm too contentious to die. Told you when we met, eton Anatoles are hard to kill.

  How could he find any humor in this?

  But then suddenly she knew. He was doing it for her. To keep her mind off how bad this was for him. How much pain he had to be in. It was why she loved him so much.

  "When you get better, I'm going to kill you."

  Looking forward to it. Especially if you do it in your temple chorus outfit.

  Yet in spite of his gentle teasing, she could tell he was weak and needed to rest. Leaning over him, she kissed his cheek. "I love you, keramon. Thank you for not breaking my heart."

  I am ever your nightmare, mu tura.

  She caressed his arm. "I'll stay here, beside you, and let you rest."

  Shara?

  "Yes?"

  I don't want the girls to see me like this. But I know Mira can't sleep until I read to her. I don't know how we're going to manage that tonight.

  Trajen pressed his thumb against his temple. "Let me and Thraix rest, and we'll get the bandage off your head by dinner. That'll have you talking again for Mira by bedtime. You won't even have scars. We can cover the right side of your body with a thick blanket so as not to scare her."

  Thanks, Tray.

  For everything.

  He touched Jullien's arm. "No, problem, little brother. I'm the one who owes you. I was upset over Mary and Ryna, and let my guard lax today. We damn near lost the station. I still don't know how. But I'm going to find out."

  Ushara swallowed hard as she sniffed back the tears that burned her throat. "Promise me one thing, Tray."

  "Sure."

  "When you find out who was behind this, I want them."

  Trajen arched his brow at her. "Pardon?"

  Ushara met his gaze without flinching. "You heard me, boss. I want them. Intact. At my feet so I can gut them with my bare hands. No one does this to my husband and gets away with it."

  *

  "How's it feel?" Trajen asked.

  Jullien flexed his cybernetic arm and grimaced. "A little timing delay, but not bad." Something sharp stuck in his shoulder. "Ow!" He jerked to see Thraix grinning at him while holding a small needle.

  "The nerve endings work."

  "Really?" Jullien snapped. "How about I shove that prick up your ass?"

  "I don't even want to know what I just walked in on."

  Rubbing his abused shoulder, Jullien snorted at Ushara's shocked tone. "Thraix acting like a two-year-old."

  Thraix had the nerve to hold his hands up as if he were innocent. "I'm not the one threatening assault. I just wanted to test your implants. Make sure they work properly."

  Yeah, right. He didn't believe that for single instant. Jullien sneered at his lie while Ushara took his new arm in her hands to examine it.

  She ran her hands over his shoulder and down to his wrist, palm, and fingers, leaving a trail of chills in her wake that sent an electrical charge straight to his groin. Now, that was the way to test his implant. And it brought other, much more sensual ideas to his mind for testing it, too.

  Ushara smiled sweetly at him. "It looks and feels so natural."

  "It's supposed to." Trajen jerked his chin at spare pieces they'd left on the counter. "We're not sure that we put it together right, though."

  Jullien laughed at the expression on her face at Trajen's joke.

  She froze in horror. "Not comforting, guys." She met Jullien's gaze. "Did you help them?"

  "Little bit." He made a fist and tested the dexterity of his fingers by running them through her hair. "It's actually amazing how quickly it grafted and healed."

  Thraix nodded. "I've never seen anyone take to an implant so fast. You're a freak, Andarion."

  Ushara wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him. "No, you're not. You're wonderful."

  Grateful she was completely blind to his multitude of faults, Jullien savored the warmth of her touch, but he didn't miss the pain that flitted across Thraix's eyes. It'd only been six weeks since Mary's memorial.

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