Now…
Hauk glanced back at Sumi, who was sampling the food Ture had brought for her. Her long blond hair was plaited and fell over one shoulder while she smiled up at him and chatted. Overwhelming love and fear consumed him. “God help me, Nyk. I can’t lose her.”
Nykyrian glanced over to Kiara. “I know. But it’ll be fine. We have your daughter, and we will find the traitor and deal with it. The entire Andarion army and armada are at your disposal. Not to mention The Sentella and Tavali… and now Phrixians.”
Kiara came back to take Zarina, who was starting to fuss. “Daddy ignoring his baby girl?” she asked in a high-pitched tone. “Shame on him.” She blew air against Zarina’s cheek, which made the baby laugh before Kiara headed toward Sumi.
Nyk wiped his hand off on his pants leg. He started to say something, then he cursed.
Before Hauk could ask what was wrong, Nyk took off at a dead run. His heart stopped in fear of an unknown attacker, until he saw his friend rush to one of the columns where Adron was quickly climbing up, out of reach.
Nykyrian snatched his son down. “What are you doing?”
“Jayce said I couldn’t make it to the top. I was showing him he was wrong.”
Growling, Nykyrian tossed his son over his shoulder and held him upside down by the legs. “I swear on my life, I could lock you both in a padded room and you’d still find something dangerous to do.”
Hauk laughed as he grabbed Adron from Nyk’s hold and swung him around. “You making your dad crazy again?”
“Toss me, Uncle Hauk!”
He threw Adron into the air and caught him. As he started to do it again, he saw Kalea running to her mom… holding Jayce’s hand.
“Look, Mommy! Jayce made me a flower crown like a princess. He says I’m the prettiest of all!”
Raw, unmitigated anger tore through him as he set Adron down and glared at Nykyrian, who was laughing over it.
Sumi jerked around at the sound of an inhuman cry. One second, Dancer was staring at Nykyrian. In the next, he’d pulled out a small stick and extended it into a staff.
Nykyrian did the same as the two of them went to war.
Literally. She hadn’t even known they were armed. Gaping, she watched as they assaulted each other with seasoned ferocity and skill. It was impressive and terrifying.
“What’s going on?” she asked Kiara.
Kiara let out an irritated sigh. “Who knows? They do that sometimes. One says something and the other draws a weapon or throws a punch. It looks serious, but they never really hurt each other. I’ve learned to ignore them and let it go.”
But Kalea didn’t. Screaming and sobbing, she ran at Nykyrian, who narrowly missed striking her.
That distraction cost Dancer, as Nykyrian’s staff caught him on his chin and busted his lip.
“Don’t you hurt my daddy!” She grabbed Nykyrian’s leg and bit him hard enough to draw blood.
Dancer quickly pulled her back. “Lee-lee, it’s fine. Daddy and Uncle Nyk were playing.”
Still, she sobbed uncontrollably.
Dropping his staff, Dancer cradled her against his chest and wiped at the blood on her lips. “Shh, sweetie. It’s all good. Really.”
Nykyrian knelt down and placed his hand on her head. “We didn’t mean to scare you, Kalea. It’s how we play with each other.”
Sniffling, she picked her head up from Dancer’s shoulder to glare at Nykyrian. When she spoke, it was in short, staccato breaths as she struggled to calm down. “You weren’t trying to kill my daddy?”
“No. I love your daddy. He’s my little brother.”
She continued to gasp for air as she looked up at Dancer. “Your lips are bleeding where he hit you, Daddy. Please, don’t die!”
“It’s just a busted lip. I’m not going to die. Really. I get them all the time.” He wiped the tears from her face. “Don’t cry, Lee-lee. We won’t play fight anymore.”
“Okay.” She wiped at her nose before she scooted away from him.
Hauk frowned as he watched her return to Jayce and Adron, who led her to the sand to play. How weird that would upset her when she’d been so brave the day before. He met Nyk’s apologetic stare. “Is that normal?”
Nyk shrugged. “My kids have never done that. But then they’ve grown up with us sparring against each other. And they’ve seen us both bleed a lot worse than your lip. Sorry about that, by the way.”
“Don’t be. I’m the one who started the fight and dropped his guard.” A bad feeling went through him as his thoughts returned to Kalea’s outburst. “You don’t think they would have had her around death matches at that age, do you?”
He gave Hauk a droll stare. “It’s The League. I wouldn’t put anything past them.”
Neither would he. But one thing was clear. There was no way Kalea would be able to attend the match tomorrow and watch her mother fight Dariana. Unlike Nyk, that bitch wouldn’t be so kind or understanding if Kalea bit her.
Hauk glanced down at Nyk’s leg. “You know you’re bleeding. Right?”
“Yeah, I know. Your daughter has an amazing set of teeth.” Clapping him on the back, Nyk went to Syn to have him stitch it.
Hauk licked at his busted lip as he went over to Sumi, whose brow was creased with worry.
“Did she draw Nykyrian’s blood?”
He nodded. “She was scared.”
“Is Nykyrian all right?” Kiara asked.
“Yeah. Hell, I’ve bit him worse than that in a fight.”
Kiara let out an irritated noise. “I’m going to check on my husband and try not to think about how true that statement is.”
He wiped another round of blood from his lip.
“Are you okay?” Sumi asked.
He nodded. “It caught a fang. Bleeds a lot worse than it hurts.”
“Why did you go after Nykyrian like that?”
Cursing in Andarion, Dancer narrowed his gaze on Jayce as he picked a bouquet of flowers for Kalea to match the crown he’d made her. “That! Right there!” He jerked his chin at them. “Before I met you, Nyk cursed me to have a beautiful daughter. Bastard! I don’t think I’ll ever sleep again.”
Sumi laughed at the anguished look in his eyes as he watched the children, who were being absolutely precious together. Jayce was taking care of Kalea as if she was his little sister. But it was more than that. “You really do think of her as yours, don’t you?”
Hurt and fear mixed in his red eyes as he locked gazes with her. He swallowed hard. “I know she’s your daughter, Sumi. I didn’t mean to presume anything, or trespass. Sorry.”
In that moment, she wanted to kick the snot out of Dariana for her cruelty to him over the years.
“Dancer,” she chided as she realized the source of his fear. She reached out and took his hand into hers. “Sweetie, that’s not what I meant. At all. I want you to think of her as yours. It means more to me than you’ll ever know that you’ve accepted her so thoroughly.”
He kissed her hand then rubbed it against his goatee as if he savored her touch as much as she relished his. He wasn’t one to really talk about his feelings, but she saw them in what he did. She saw them every time he looked at her.
“My fierce warrior,” she breathed.
That brought a smile to his lips. “My fierce Ger Tarra.”
Eleron appeared by his side. “There is a group of two males and a female who are seeking you, Hauk. They say that they’ve brought clothing for your daughter.”
“Bring them here, please.”
“As you wish.” Eleron vanished.
Clearing his throat, he left her to fetch Kalea.