“I love you, too, munatara a la frah.”
Sumi pulled back to stare up at him. She couldn’t believe what she’d heard. Not until she saw the truth in his eyes. No one had ever looked at her like that.
Like she was the air he breathed.
“I am not going to let Dariana have you, Dancer. If I have to cut her fucking throat to keep you safe, I will. And I will relish her blood flowing over my hands.”
A smile spread across his face, exposing his fangs. “Spoken like a true Andarion warrior.” He lifted her hand to his lips and brushed a tender kiss across her palm. “I am, and will always be yours and yours alone, Sumi.” He pressed his cheek to hers before he stepped away.
Fear for him ripped her apart as she watched him prepare for their attack. But she knew she’d have to let that go. In the coming hours, she couldn’t allow any emotion to cloud her judgments or make her hesitate.
This was about battle, and Dancer needed an assassin at his back. Not an emotional woman distracting him.
They removed all color from their bodies except for the black and brown that would help hide them in the shadows.
Hauk frowned at her hair as he noted the pale color. That would definitely stand out. “I understand now why you wore the black wig.”
Sumi nodded at his statement. “Hard to hide pale blond hair in the darkness.”
He handed her his scarf to wrap around her hair to help conceal it. He’d already applied more dirt and a reddish clay to her skin for camouflage. Likewise, he wore some over the shiny areas of his face – across his forehead and along his cheekbones and chin. In true Andarion fashion, he’d applied it in a geometric pattern that was as beautiful as it was serviceable. And this time, she definitely saw the marks of his family in it.
Before he gave approval to her wardrobe, he shrugged his shirt off and put it on her.
She scowled at his actions. “What are you doing?”
“It’s blast resistant. Your poncho isn’t.”
“That’s great for me. Sucks for you, and I’m not walking in there with you unprotected.”
He grinned at her anger as he pulled a Sentella coat out of his pack. “I won’t be unprotected.”
When she arched a curious brow as to why he hadn’t given her the coat, he handed it to her. The instant he let go, the weight of it caused her to stumble forward. “Oh my God! What’s it made of? Rock?”
He laughed. “It’s what we wear into battle.”
Well, that certainly explained the size of his build. That thing had to weigh a hundred pounds.
At least.
Winking at her, he shrugged it on then secured his braids back from his face.
She lightly ran her hand over the black swirling pattern that swung up from his eye and across his cheek. “It’s the wings of a hawk, isn’t it?”
He inclined his head to her. “A sparn hauk. It was what my family was named for.”
The fiercest winged predator known in any world. They were said to be lethal whenever their nest was threatened. Territorial and vicious. But those rare few who’d domesticated them had claimed that no creature was more loyal or a better companion. None more intelligent.
“Is that why your Endurance is held here?” This was the sparn’s native lands.
“In part. But also because it was the Oksanans my family held back from enslaving our world. During Endurance, we’re to climb the tallest mountain on Oksana to retrieve a single sparn feather or bone to remind ourselves of the sacrifice our family made for our homeworld. To show our young that they can achieve any goal and climb any obstacle. And that no matter how high they ascend, there will always be family with them to catch them should they fall.”
But no one had caught him when he fell. He’d been left alone and then abandoned and ridiculed.
And she knew from Thia that Dancer hadn’t made it to the top before Keris had died. Instead, Dancer had learned that his family would turn on him if he wasn’t the son he was supposed to be.
In that moment, she realized it was why he fought the way he did. Like he was proving himself worthy to everyone.
Even himself.
She kissed his lips. “You are the strongest male I have ever known, Dancer. No one is more worthy of your noble lineage. You honor your family and your ancestors. And you are a treasure for Andaria. I know the first Dancer of the Warring Blood Clan of Hauk smiles whenever he looks down and sees the strength and beauty of his namesake.”
Hauk couldn’t breathe as those words echoed in his head. No one had ever made him feel like she did. Like he could do anything. Even fly. “I will not allow you to be harmed.”
“Nor I you.” She pulled out her knife and unwound the scarf from her head.
He didn’t understand what she was doing until she cut it in half and secured it around his face and head. It was how Andarions battled. They never exposed their faces to their enemies.
When she was finished, he returned the favor to her. He tied Illyse to make sure she wasn’t hurt. Then together, side by side, they headed to war.
CHAPTER 18
Hauk led the way into the building from the back part that had once served as crawlspace access. As silent as the akuma demon he’d been dubbed by Nykyrian years ago, he opened the tile that led from the crawlspace into the electrical room. He took a moment to make sure he was alone before he held his hand out to Sumi and pulled her up to squat beside him.
They froze at the sound of footsteps outside the room. Because the base didn’t have full power, he hoped that meant that the security sensors wouldn’t detect bodies that appeared out of nowhere. It was really weird to be on a mission without the support staff he normally relied on. Weird to not have the voices of Nyk, Darling, Jayne, and Syn in his ear as they made snotty comments about each other and their targets.
Instead, this was as old school as it got. No sound. Having to rely on the person with you to anticipate and know what you would need in the fight. He’d never been this reliant on any single person.
And she’d been sent here to ruin him.
I must be crazy to trust her.
Yet against all reason, he did. Mostly because he now valued her life over his. He’d rather see her through this than come out on his own.
Yeah, I’m fucking crazy. Nyk and Darling were right. His sanity had hijacked his common sense long ago and they were off vacationing together on some remote planet.
The footsteps faded.
Hauk crept to the main generator. Sumi handed him the timer he’d constructed while they’d dressed and planned for the mission. He reprogrammed the gen’s settings then added the timer. Once it was set, he snuck to the door to listen for the others.
The good thing about Aksel was that he’d been a paranoid son of a whore. Instead of electronic portals someone could remotely lock, he’d used old-fashioned hinge doors.
Waiting until Sumi was in position, he cracked open the door and took a minute to look down the hallway.
It was clear.
Careful to stay to the shadows, he headed for the first guards he visually detected. Sumi was right. They were savages, and packed with weapons. The kind of mercs who lived to kill and torture.
Hauk pulled the small wire in his leather bracer out and used it to garrote target one. He hauled the body into a storeroom while Sumi took out hers.
Bit by bit, assassin by assassin, they made their way to the weapons locker. Once inside, he uncovered his face and started silently opening crates and cabinets to search for weapons and ammo. Thankfully, it hadn’t been depleted by scavengers. Bastien must have made an effort to keep it stockpiled.
Sumi had to bite back a laugh at the excited expression on Dancer’s face as he saw the inventory in the room. He was like a little kid visiting a carnival for the first time.