“Twenty. I need the serial.”
“Got it,” Vik said. “Want me to run it?”
Hauk arched a brow at the snotty mecha. “Nah. Why don’t you sit there and stare at it for a while?”
Vik turned to face Syn. “Could you please remove his anal probe?”
Hauk grabbed the mecha by his neck. “How about I give you one?”
“Andarions. No sense of humor.” Vik gasped as his body hit the bed while his head remained in Hauk’s fist.
Ah, crap. Hauk cringed at something that was purely an accident.
“Oh my gods!” Vik snapped indignantly. “The Andarion beast broke me!”
Devyn started crying.
“It’s okay, Dev. Daddy can fix it. Don’t cry!” Syn handed his son to Sumi, who sucked her breath in sharply at the sensation of holding a child.
What did a person do with one? Terrified, she wrapped her arms tight around him, afraid he’d fall, while he continued to wail.
Syn quickly put Vik’s head back on, then paused as he looked at her. “Never held a kid before?”
“No. His head won’t pop off, too, will it?”
“God, I hope not. Shahara would kill us both.”
Laughing, she handed a much calmer Devyn back to his father. He sniffed back his tears as he inspected Vik to make sure Syn really had repaired his toy.
“Now I know why Dancer looked so scared in some of the photos of him with babies.”
Dancer laughed.
Darling stuck his head in the door. “Quick warning that we’re coming into the main Andarion port. We’ll be docked in about fifteen minutes.”
“Hey!” Hauk called to Darling as he started to leave. “You got any photos of this kid of yours I’ve been waiting to meet?”
With a pride-filled grin, Darling returned to the room and moved to stand next to the bed. “Do you one better than that.” He pulled out his PD and pressed it. Instantly, someone answered. “Hey Z, I’ve got an irritable beast who wants to say hi to you and Cezar.” He handed it to Hauk.
Sumi tried not to feel jealous at the light that came into Dancer’s eyes as he took the PD and smiled at the woman.
“Hey, beautiful. Where’s my nephew?”
Darling’s wife audibly gasped. “What’s wrong with your eyes, Hauk? Are you okay?”
“Fine. Just want to meet this baby we saved.”
She pulled her PD back so that he could see the sleeping infant who had a tiny hint of red hair on his head. “There he is. Sleeping like an angel.”
Dancer grinned. “You done good, woman. He’s beautiful. Thank the gods, he takes after his mother and not his dad.”
She laughed. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I was terrified when Darling told me you were under fire and had to call for help. That’s so not like you.”
“Sorry I took Darling from you two.”
“Hey, no problem. So long as you send him back in one piece, we don’t mind. And speaking of, Ture wants me to ask you about Maris.”
“Tell him he wasn’t even shot this time.”
“Oh thank goodness,” a man said from off camera. “I don’t know what I was thinking when I said I wanted to marry a soldier. I must have been insane, delirious, or stupid.”
Dancer laughed at Ture’s high-pitched hysteria. “I’ll make sure and send them both back to you as soon as we land.”
“We love you, Hauk.”
“Love you, too. Take care of each other and I’ll be by soon to meet Cezar in person.”
Darling turned it off and put it in his pocket. “So where are you recuperating?”
“I was thinking home.”
“Alone?”
Dancer looked at Sumi. “I hope not.”
Her heart stopped as she realized she hadn’t thought this far ahead. Everything was moving too fast. But there was one thing she had to take care of ASAP. “I have to get to my daughter before Kyr finds out that I no longer have a transmitter. There’s no telling what he’ll do.”
“I’ve already got Syn on locating her.”
Darling frowned. “Whoa… What? What daughter?”
“Sumi has a little girl in League custody,” Hauk explained. “I’m going after her and bringing her home.”
Darling gaped at Sumi. “Was he planning to do this without us? Really?”
Dancer sent a piercing look to Darling. “You need to get home to your son and wife.”
Darling shook his head in denial. “Strong alone. Stronger together.”
She saw the reticence in Dancer’s eyes, but he must have recognized the determination in Darling’s. There was no way the Caronese emperor was planning to give in on Dancer’s request and let him fight alone.
Dancer sighed heavily. “Zarya’s going to kill me.”
“Zarya would kill me if I let you go alone, buddy.”
“And I’d help.” Syn grinned. “Don’t worry, Darling, I wasn’t going to let you leave without telling you what Hauk was planning. I haven’t found her daughter yet, but I will. I have the search running. I should have her location in a couple of hours.”
Sumi’s heart raced at the prospect. Could it be that easy? “Really?”
Darling placed a comforting hand on her arm. “We take care of our own, Sumi. It’s what we do.”
She nodded as tears choked her. Their kind of loyalty was rare indeed. Not to mention unexpected.
And it reminded her of something extremely important. “Speaking of… Mari’s brother, Safir? Maris said that they knew —”
“That Kyr was using him for a punching dummy?” Syn asked. “Yeah. His family took care of that as soon as they found out. Saf’s at home on Phrixus now.”
Hauk arched a puzzled brow. “How’s that possible? He’s a League assassin.” The only way out for an assassin was death.
Nykyrian was the only one who’d ever been granted a release dispensation from The League, after many years of being hunted, because he was the Triosan and Andarion heir. While Sumi was now an adopted daughter, the Andarions were at war with The League. It was far less likely they would be so accommodating with her right now.
And there was no way Kyr would pardon his brother. Not after he already felt betrayed over Saf’s participation in a Sentella escape.
Darling let out a sinister laugh. “What can I say? Kyr had no choice. Saf was an assassin with a herd of angry, high-ranking brothers, who have dared Kyr to come get him. They’re all aching for a piece of his psycho ass over what he did to Saf.”
“How did they get him away from The League?” Sumi asked. “Kyr was holding him deep in the bowels of his HQ.”
Darling crossed his arms over his chest. “Not exactly sure. But it turns out that Madai will still take Maris’s calls. Once Maris called about Saf, Madai told him that they were all furious over it. Torture to a Phrixian is a crime worse than murder. So united, Saf’s brothers had already gone in and pulled him out. They told Kyr that if he wanted Saf, he’d have to challenge him on Phrixus. Which I doubt he’ll do since Saf can wipe the floor with him and he knows it. In the meantime, Saf is now wanted by The League as a renegade. If he leaves Phrixian territory, they’re going to be all over him.”
“How’s Saf dealing with that?” Dancer asked.
Syn snorted. “Better than you’d think. Turns out, he really missed having sex… Last we heard, he was making up for lost time.”
Laughing, Darling nodded in agreement. “If we can ever blast him out of the Phrixian bordello where he’s been holed up since his release, we’re trying to lure him to work for The Sentella.”
“He’d be a great addition,” Dancer said.
Before Darling could respond, the door opened to show Nykyrian and Jayne.
Nykyrian’s eyes flashed with anger. “Heads up, Hauk. Your parents, fave yaya, and Dariana are waiting in the bay for you.”
Hauk cursed. He could already envision the shitstorm that was about to engulf them all.