She felt the skimmer landing on board the mothership. Fear gripped her. But she was an assassin and assassins never showed their fear.
To anyone.
With her head high, she would face this. Bracing herself, she mentally prepared for the worst that was waiting for her.
CHAPTER 23
Sumi thought she was braced for the worst, but nothing could have prepared her for what awaited them in the landing bay of the massive ship. She felt as if she’d walked into a war-zone planning committee. There were creatures everywhere in battlesuits from more countries and organizations than she could identify.
Yet the weirdest feeling was seeing Andarions and humans working side by side without issue. Occasionally, someone might pass an irritated look at another, but they did that to their own kind as much as they did it to others.
A large number of the gathered beings pinned curious stares on her, which made her extremely uncomfortable.
Fain stood beside her with his hand on her shoulder to let her know he was there to protect her. “Just breathe, kisa. I’m with you.”
“What does kisa mean?”
“Little sister. Kiran means little brother.”
The word warmed her. But that feeling was fleeting as she saw the massive swarm of beings there to escort Dancer from the skimmer to the infirmary.
Thia hadn’t been joking. Their family was terrifying and huge.
“Sumi!”
She barely registered the call before she was practically bowled over by Darice. His entire face alight with joy, he seized her in a tight hug that left her breathless. Then he kissed her cheek and released her.
“We were so worried about you. Especially when Thia told me that Dancer and Bastien were down. We didn’t know if you’d been hurt or what… I’m so glad you’re okay.”
Shaking her head, Thia walked up behind him with a huge smile. “You must have performed an exorcism on Darice while you were on that mountain.”
He snorted before he playfully shoved at Thia, like any pesky little brother. He turned back to Sumi and sobered. “While we waited in the caves, we made these for you and Dancer.” He pulled a feathered necklace from his neck and placed it around hers. The other two matched perfectly. Each one had a single feather and bone.
Like father and son.
Darice bit his lip nervously as he showed her the one he’d made for Dancer. “You think he’ll like it?”
“He’ll love it, Darice. I can’t wait to see his face when you give it to him. And I can’t thank you enough for mine. It’s absolutely beautiful, sweetie. Thank you for the honor.” She kissed his cheek.
His eyes proud, he glanced from her to Fain, who tensed visibly.
For several heartbeats no one moved.
Darice fingered the feather around his neck before he finally spoke. “Did you slip and fall on your Endurance climb, Uncle Fain?”
Fain couldn’t have looked more stunned had Darice slapped him. He stammered for several seconds before he finally answered. “Um… no. Keris knocked me down a couple of times, but I didn’t slip on my own.”
“Were you scared?”
Fain was still casting his gaze about as if this whole conversation was terrifying him, and he expected someone to attack him for having it. “Not really. I was too pissed over being kicked in the head and face every time I got within striking range.”
Darice glanced to Sumi. “I slipped at one point and thought I was dead, but then I didn’t really fall. Sumi caught me and we climbed up and I stood by the nest. You could see everything for miles and miles. It was so awesome! I felt like I could do anything!”
Thia met Fain’s stunned, bewildered gaze. “Told you. She performed an exorcism. Weird, huh? She took a brat up the side of the mountain and came down with a sentient being. Who knew it’d be that easy?”
Darice cut an irritated glare at her. “You don’t understand. You didn’t make the climb. It was life-changing.”
Thia held her hands up in surrender. “I’m just grateful for your new attitude, kiran. You keep this up, and you’ll be my all-time favorite camping buddy.”
Fain offered his nephew a tentative smile. “You’re supposed to have your hair braided now that you’ve made your ascent into adulthood.” Hesitantly, he reached out.
Darice moved closer to him so that Fain could braid his hair.
If Sumi lived a thousand years, she’d never forget the sad yet proud look on Fain’s face that his nephew was allowing Fain to touch him for the first time in Darice’s life. Darice appeared unsure at first, but after a few minutes he relaxed and accepted Fain as family.
It touched her heart to see them like that.
Thia draped her arm over Sumi’s shoulders. “Don’t look now, but the others have noticed you… Heads up.”
Suddenly terrified, Sumi glanced past their small group to see the truth in those words. Syn had taken Dancer and Bastien to the infirmary and everyone who’d been focused on Dancer was now staring at them.
Or more to the point, her.
Never in her life had she wished herself invisible more.
A gorgeous, bearded male in a burgundy Phrixian battlesuit was the first to walk over to them. He had the same intense, predator lope that marked both Fain and Dancer.
His long black hair had a bright red stripe in it and was pulled back into a ponytail. “No one told me we were doing makeovers! Stand aside, Fain, you’re not doing that right.” Using his hip, he bumped Fain to the left and took over plaiting Darice’s hair. Then he flashed a bright smile at Sumi. “I’m Mari, by the way. Nice to meet you.”
Sumi returned his smile. So this was Safir and Kyr’s brother. She could see the resemblance between him and Saf, but not so much with Kyr. Maybe because he and Saf still had a soul.
And Mari didn’t appear crazy.
“Mari?”
He cocked an eyebrow at her. “What, love?”
“Your brother, Safir —”
“Is at home, being taken care of, even as we speak.”
“He’s no longer in Kyr’s custody?”
Maris paused to meet her gaze. “He’s safe.”
“Thank the gods,” she breathed.
Thia grinned at them. “By the way, Aunt Mari’s the one who’s going to be grumpiest with you from now on.”
That made Sumi’s heart stop. What had she done? “Why?”
Thia wrinkled her nose. “He’s Uncle Hauk’s late-night gaming partner.”
Mari winked at her. “It’s okay. Hauk is one male I don’t mind sharing. Besides, my son and hubby will be delighted to have more undivided time with me.”
Sumi started to respond when she realized they were now surrounded by numerous strangers who were eyeballing her with way too much interest. She knew some of them from Dancer’s photos, but she didn’t know all their names.
Fain placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as he took up the introductions. “You know Darling and Ryn already. The Kimmerian assassin between them is their brother Drake.”
She shook arms with the man who looked almost identical to Darling, except he had dark hair instead of Darling’s and Ryn’s red hair.
They stepped aside for the next wave.
“Caillen whatever he’s calling himself this week and his wife Desideria. They are two of the ones, along with any of Darling’s family, I told you to stay near for a while.”
Handsome and irritated, Caillen glared at Fain’s introduction. “Nice meeting you, Sumi.”
“You’re the Exeterian prince and heir?” she asked, trying to keep them all straight in her mind.
Caillen nodded.
And as Sumi’s gaze fell to Caillen’s tiny, pregnant wife, she realized that she bore an amazing resemblance to the little girl Dancer had been holding. “You have a daughter?”