Born of Vengeance Page 14

  Or de-nutted.

  Dancer locked gazes with Bastien. "Get them to your base. And you better not betray me."

  Offended that he'd even suggest it, Bastien glowered at him. "I would never."

  "Good. 'Cause that blonde whose ass you're ogling happens to be the most precious and beloved daughter of Nemesis. And he has only one rule for dating her ... don't."

  The color washed straight out of Bastien's face at the mention of one of the most notorious assassins ever born. The one lethal being who made League assassins wet themselves. "Your father's Nemesis?" he asked the young woman.

  She sighed heavily. "On a good day, yes. On bad ones ... let's just say you never want to be on the same planet with him. That includes me and he adores me."

  Bastien returned his attention to Dancer. "Nothing, and I mean noth-thing, will happen to them."

  "Good. Because if his daughter so much as stubs her toe on your watch, he will hunt you to the end of time, even if he has to come back from hell to do it."

  Yeah, that was how the stories about him went. Bastien had no reason to doubt their validity.

  "I don't take threats, Hauk. But this one ... I consider a suggestion for my continued health and well-being. Thanks for the warning." Clearing his throat, he inclined his head at them. "Follow me."

  He wasted no time getting them back to his base and stashing the airbees in an outlying shed.

  As they left the small building and headed for his base, he finally took a second to introduce himself. "I'm Bastien, by the way."

  "Darice Hauk," the boy said, proving that he was definitely a member of Dancer's family.

  "Thia Quiakides."

  Bastien froze at the girl's name. "Quiakides?"

  She groaned out loud. "You know my father, too?"

  Bastien snorted. "Never met him, but I know who he is." They were cousins, after all. But Nykyrian had supposedly died before Bastien had been born.

  With the exception of Jullien, who'd kept Nykyrian's living-state a secret for both their healths and continued well-being, no one else in the family had ever been told that Nykyrian was still alive. Not until a few months before Barnabas had killed Bastien's immediate family and had him arrested for the murders.

  Then Nyk had returned to resume his rightful place in the Triosan and Andarion empires with a vengeance. And Jullien had been thrown to the assasins.

  Bastian started to say something to Thia about being cousins, but self-preservation kept him from it. He'd had enough family betrayal for one lifetime. Last thing he needed was to chance any more, and he didn't know these beings at all.

  Better safe than a thousand times sorry. He was through being a doe-eyed innocent and having his balls handed to him by people he trusted.

  As they neared the door, Thia slowed.

  Immediately alert, Bastien pulled his weapon. "You see something?"

  Tears swam in her eyes. Even though it was dark, they shimmered clearly. "This is where my mother died, isn't it?"

  Crap ...

  He'd been so involved with his own concerns and pain, he hadn't even considered that. This had to be utterly devastating for her, especially given her tender age. Probably a decade or so younger than him, she was just entering adulthood, which meant she'd been a kid when her mother died.

  Having lost his own family, he knew exactly how soul-wrecking this was for her. He couldn't imagine having to go through that loss at the age she'd have been.

  Luckily, he caught himself before the words "don't think about it" slipped out of his stupid mouth. She wasn't a soldier. Wasn't used to compartmentalizing her pain. That alone had saved his sanity, though there were times when he didn't think he was sane anymore. Even more times when he was convinced of it.

  But sane or not, he wasn't an insensitive jackass.

  "I'm sorry, Thia."

  With an admirable sniff, she pulled herself together. "I loved my mama, Bastien. I miss her a lot."

  "Yeah, I get that. I still talk to mine in my head, every day." He pulled out his link and showed her the family photo that'd been taken during his last really happy memory. It was what he'd been holding on to through all this hell that had become his life. "I'd give anything to see my mother again. Tell her I wish I hadn't been such an ass when I was a teenager. Tell my dad that I wish I hadn't been such an ass, period."

  She laughed at that. "Who's the dark-haired woman you have your arms around?"

  His throat tightened at her question. "Ember."

  "Pretty name. Your wife?"

  Shaking his head, he clicked his link off and tried not to think about how many times a day he pulled that photo up to look at Ember and imagine other things he definitely didn't want to discuss with someone else. "Nah. I was never that lucky." He draped his arm around Thia's shoulders. "C'mon, I'll make you some tea."

  "Tea?" Darice whined like a champ. "Gah! Do all humans drink that crap?"

  "Be nice. I've got some Pleteigne for you, kid."

  He perked up instantly at the mention of the sugary energy drink that was a favorite junk food on Andaria. The first time Jullien had brought it in, Bastien had panicked since the word translated to "human blood." But it was so named for the red juice that came out of a fruit that bore an odd human shape to it. Apparently, it was a delicacy in their empire.

  "Pleteigne? How you get that here, human?"

  "I have Andarion connections. My bud brings it to me whenever he happens this way. I got a case left from the last time he visited. Don't know how y'all drink that regularly. One can and I'm wired for days."

  "'Cause you're human," Darice said proudly, puffing his chest out.

  "For the record," Thia whispered to him, "if you shoot or preferably kill Darice, I'll tell Uncle Hauk it was an accident."

  Releasing her, Bastien laughed. This was what he loved most whenever Jullien stopped in. Familial bantering and busting chops.

  Unfortunately, he was so focused on them that he didn't realize his alarm had been tripped.

  Not until he turned the dim lights on and met the angry faces of a band of Boldorians who were hiding inside his home.

  Weapons drawn.

  Ah, minsid hell ...

  Had he been alone, he'd have chanced their aim against his reflexes. But since more of the smelly beasts came in behind them, he thought better of it. Neither Thia nor Darice seemed particularly trained.

  "Hands up!"

  Bastien obeyed. "Do it, kids."

  At least he knew Dancer would be coming in soon. If he could keep them distracted and their attention on him and away from the equipment, it would allow Dancer to get the drop on them.

  As one of them came forward to pat him down and his hand trailed a bit too close to his cock, Bastien sucked his breath in sharply. "Hey, hey! Dinner first! No groping till you feed me! Don't know what you've heard, but I'm not a cheap date!"

  That got him a rifle butt against the back of his head.

  Son of a ...

  The force of the blow dropped him to his knees and almost rendered him unconscious. Only sheer force of will kept him semi-alert. But the ringing in his ears was quite special.

  When they came forward to take Thia, she flipped the first one to the ground. Throat-punched the second one. And would have made it to the door had Darice not kicked his opponent into her and knocked her down.

  Proving Bastien right with his earlier assessment of their skill level. While Thia had been trained in hand-to-hand, they weren't trained to fight as a unit. Damn shame, that. With Thia's skill, they would have stood a chance of escape.

  Instead, they cuffed his hands and dragged him away.

  Bastien glared at their captors. "You'd best not hurt the kids. You don't want to know who their parents are."

  "The Andarion we're tracking."

  "No. They're kidnapped Sentella children. The blonde belongs to Nemesis. The Andarion boy is his nephew. You harm them and he'll hunt you to the ends of the universe to gut you bare-handed."

  "What about you?"

  Bastien twisted so that he could grin into the older man's wrinkled face. "I'm just the idiot protecting them."

  He ran Bastien's head into the desk. "Well then, you won't mind telling us about the Andarion we're after. And about this base..."

  Was the knoettr on something? You never asked a younger sibling anything about anyone. Bastien's older brother and sister had tutored him early on and well about the one basic sibling principle--snitches get stitches.

  "Don't know nothing about the Andarion you're tracking. Ain't telling you shit about Shinola."

  The grimy man stepped back to make room for one of his colleagues who could give Dancer a run for his money on gargantuan size. "We'll see how long that stubbornness lasts."

  *

  Bastien lost all track of time, as well as what it felt like not to be in excruciating pain. But as bad as this beating was, it paled in comparison to the torture sessions he'd gone through while in League custody. Hell, there had been times then when he'd considered confessing to killing his family just to get them to stop.

  But he didn't have that urge tonight. Mostly because he knew that Dancer would arrive eventually.

  Though why the bastard was dragging his ass, he couldn't even begin to fathom.

  And then he heard it....

  Granted, he thought he was hallucinating at first. Good bet given the ringing that had yet to cease in his ears.

  But there was no mistaking the next shout that came from upstairs. "Hauk!" a Bolodorian called out.

  "What?" Dancer answered.

  "Surrender or we're going to kill them all! Piece by piece, until their screams echo in your ears!"

  Dancer laughed at the threat. "You do that and I will eat you, piece by fucking piece. The three of them are the only thing keeping you alive right now. Release them and we'll let you live. It's your choice on how you leave this place. On your feet or feet first. You have thirty seconds to decide."

  Bastien let out a relieved breath. Finally ...

  It'd be over soon.

  Or so he thought.

  One of the assassins came in to take Thia. Bastien went for him, but that didn't last. Weakened by the beatings, he couldn't get his body to do what he needed it to.

  He hit the deck hard. Get up, you worthless piece of shit! Get on your feet!

  It was no use. Instead of rising, he felt the world go black.

  *

  Bastien wasn't sure how long he'd been out, but when he came to, both Dancer and his woman were in the room. Thia was holding on to Dancer like a lifeline while Sumi untied Darice.

  The kid didn't move at all. Though unlike Bastien, he didn't appear to be harmed.

  "Darice? Are you in shock?"

  He blinked slowly as he scanned the room full of bodies and then looked to his uncle. It appeared as if he couldn't comprehend what Dancer had done. He frowned at Sumi. "But he works in IT."

  She laughed at Darice's confusion. "He doesn't work IT, sweetie." Ruffling his hair, she cut Darice loose and went to check on Bastien.

  He closed his eyes as she touched him and savored the gentleness she showed him. He hadn't felt the hand of any woman, other than the Andarion high priestess, on his body in years. And while he was a reprobate and Unira still attractive even at her advanced age, he wasn't willing to chance Andarion hell by making a pass at her.

  If their Tophet was anything like their real world, he'd take the Kirovarian version of damnation any day over that.

  "Is he alive?" Dancer asked.

  "Yeah, but they beat him terribly."

  Thia looked up at Dancer. "He refused to tell them anything about you or the base."

  "Damn right," Bastien breathed, then groaned as he rolled himself over. Hissing, he grimaced. "Bastards hit like kindergarten girls. I think one of them even pulled my hair and said I had cooties."

  Snorting, Dancer set Thia down next to Bastien. "I'm going to call for an evac." He placed every one of his weapons down beside them, except for his two personal blasters. He changed out their cartridges before he tucked them into his holsters. "Anything moves, shoot it with extreme prejudice."

  Sumi dropped her gaze to Dancer's side and leg where he was bleeding profusely. "We need to tend those."

  "Call first. I'll be back in a few."

  "You're a stubborn beast, Dancer Hauk!" she called as he made his way to the door.

  He turned back to grin at her. "You forgot to add sexy to that list."

  "Nah, that might go to your big fat head!"

  Laughing, he vanished into the hallway.

  Darice still looked shell-shocked. "How did he move like that?"

  Thia rolled her eyes. "Uncle Hauk is a war hero, Darice. One of the best of his breed."

  Still lying on his back, Bastien turned his head toward Thia as he finally realized who Dancer had to be in The Sentella lineup. There was only one of those legendary warriors who could come into this base and wreak the destruction Dancer had. "He's Akuma, isn't he?"

  Thia gave him a blank stare. "Don't know what you're talking about."

  "Yeah, you do. But that's all right. He told me he was Sentella. Only one being I've heard of who's almost seven feet tall and fights like that. Damn." He laughed bitterly as he replayed their meeting through his head. "And here I offered to help him." His maniacal laughter ended with a sharp groan as pain tore through him with poison-laced talons.

  Sumi moved to help him with his wounds as best she could. "Thank you, by the way."

  Bastien scowled at her. "For what? Getting my ass kicked or bleeding on the floor?"

  She jerked her chin toward the kids. "Keeping them safe."

  Bastien quirked his lips as he considered it. Honestly? He'd enjoyed everything but the torture. "It's good to play hero again. Forgot how much I missed it."

  Sucking his breath in sharply as she touched the cut on his forehead, he growled at her. "Then again, this shit sucks! Gah, what was I thinking?"

  Sumi ruffled his hair, then went to mind the other two while Dancer took his time with whatever he was doing.

  Bastien rolled over and dragged himself to where he kept a few medical supplies. Sadly, he was out of painkillers due to an injury he'd had a few weeks ago when he fell while trying to repair the roof. He'd sent a notice to Jullien to bring more on his next trip through, but no reply had come.

  That wasn't unusual. Sometimes his cousin would be traveling dark and arrive before he had a chance to tell Bastien he was coming.

  So he grabbed a bottled water and sat down to wait while Sumi chewed her nail and paced the room.

  After a few minutes, Dancer returned. By the slowness of his movements, it was obvious he felt about as wonderful as Bastien did. With a smile, he touched Sumi's chin, then looked to Bastien. "Anything in this place you need?"

  "Not really. Why?"

  "We need to get going. Boldorians are pack bastards. In case they put out a beacon during this last round, I think it best we vacate."

  Probably a good idea. Dancer was right about that. Where there was one, there were three hundred. Like cockroaches.

  Bastien stood then fell back down when his legs buckled. "Well, ain't this a bitch? Could have sworn I was further from the floor than this a second ago."

  Dancer snorted. He held his hand out and pulled Bastien to his feet against the protestations of Bastien's entire body.

  They both grimaced in unison. He stepped away from Bastien. "Darice, help the man."

  Darice did so without complaint.

  Bastien took the shoulder he offered, and together they headed for the door.

  Dancer paused to check on Thia. "You okay, kisa?"

  It took Bastien a moment to mentally translate the Andarion word for little sister.

  Her arms folded over her chest, she had a strange look in her eyes as she swept her gaze around the building. "Do you know where my mother died?"

  Dancer winced at her question the same way Bastien had earlier. "Don't, baby."

  Tears welled in her eyes as she glanced up at him. "Kiara won't ever talk about it. My father, either. I just want to know if she suffered much."

  Pulling her into his arms, Dancer cradled her head with his hand. "No, baby, she didn't."

  By the light in Dancer's stralen eyes, Bastien knew he was lying to the girl. But he admired him for not hurting her with the truth. And he understood exactly how Thia felt. He wondered the same thing about his own parents every day. Had they seen it coming?

  Worse? He knew the answer about his siblings and their families. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't purge the sight of either Quin or Lil from his mind. Nor the sound of the blaster that ended their lives.

  It would haunt him forever.

  Why, with all his training, couldn't he have stopped it?

  Dancer placed a kiss to Thia's forehead. "Aksel owns enough of your soul. Don't let him take any more from you. He's not worth one molecule of your tears."

  She hugged him then. "Thank you. For everything."

  He nodded. "Love you, Thee."

  "You, too." She kissed his cheek before she followed after them.

  While they waited on Dancer and Sumi, Bastien siphoned the fuel from the airbee with the lowest tank into the next lowest one, knowing that it was the only hope they had of reaching what little civilization this backwater planet had.

  Dancer came outside with Sumi to join them and handed Bastien a bag of additional weapons. "Did you get your things?"

  He assumed Dancer meant his emergency bug-out pack. "Yeah."

  "Good." Dancer pulled out a small handheld control, then pressed it. An instant later, the entire building blew apart.

  Stunned and pissed, Bastien gaped indignantly as he watched what little he owned go up in a fierce explosion. "My porn! You Andarion bastard! You didn't tell me you were going to blow my shit up!" There was stuff in there he would have backed up and kept!

  Stuff he needed to track his uncle.

  Dancer cut a dry stare toward him. "Be glad I let you get out first."

  Sighing, Bastien rolled his eyes. There was no need in attacking him over it or staying angry. It was done now and he had no place else to go. "You are Fain's brother. Just like him ... bastard. All right, so what are we doing?"

  "I'm taking the four of you to the Point, then coming back for Illyse. I'll be on the move until the others get here." He handed Bastien one of the trackers that was set to his TD. "Give this to Thia's father and they'll find me."

  Bastien was confused until he realized that Illyse must be the name of the lorina they'd been traveling with. What with all the crap that had happened, he'd completely forgotten about the large black battle feline. Good thing Dancer had remembered.

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