Born of Fury

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.

She tsked at him then whispered, “And here I thought only I was capable of putting that look on your face.”

His happiness melted into panic.

“Kidding, sweetie. Load up.” While he pulled out heavy artillery, she focused on the smaller calibers. When she reached for grenades, she noticed the way Dancer tensed.

They locked gazes.

Hauk held his breath as a thousand bad memories went through him. The pod exploding and pinning him to the hot metal. Being trapped in the fire while circuitry exploded around him. The mountain blowing up in his face.

But that was the past. Sumi couldn’t carry the heavier guns and ammo. He knew that. The grenades were her best defense.

“Load up, mu mia.”

She tucked them into her clothes as he made sure everything was charged and that he had more cartridges for the smaller blasters.

He led her out of the room before he rigged the door to detonate should anyone else try to access it to rearm.

With luck, they might make it upstairs without being seen. So far they’d done a remarkable job of silently eliminating their enemies.

They took out five more as they swept the hallway. But just as they reached the stairs, a door opened behind them.

Hauk winced as he realized the man was too far away. He slung out his knife and caught him between the eyes.

But not before the man opened fire and set off the alarm.

Hauk laid down cover fire for Sumi as they were swarmed by assassins. “Get behind me.”

She did, but only after she shot one blast that caught a man in the head and sent him to the ground. She fisted her hand in Hauk’s munitions belt and drew him with her.

They turned the corner and all hell rained down on them.

He moved to shield Sumi. She pulled his two modified Andarion blasters from his holster and shot at their attackers from around his waist.

On autopilot now, he did what he did best.

Fought and killed.

Hauk paused to reload. “How many bastards are here? Are they cloned?”

“If they were, I’d like to think they’d have chosen better-smelling donors for the program.” Sumi swapped weapons before lobbing her grenades. She pulled him with her as he covered them while they fell back toward the stairs.

He lost count of how many blasts hit him. They hurt, but so long as they landed on his coat, he was shielded. It was the one that went into his thigh that caused him to stumble.

As he started to fall, he found Sumi by his side, offering him her shoulder. She pulled him into a room, out of the line of fire.

Biting his lip, he cursed at the pain. “You should go before you get hurt.”

She shook her head. “Not without you…” She locked gazes with him. “Strong alone. Stronger together. Fear no death.”

He smiled as she voiced The Sentella motto. “Not very League of you.”

“Screw The League.”

He pulled his scarf off and used it to put pressure on his thigh. “Let’s finish this.”

Sumi hesitated at the look in his eyes. As she stared at him, they turned that deep vibrant red that glowed. So sex wasn’t the only thing that aroused him to such a level. Fighting did it, too.

Fascinating.

“Hauk!” a man shouted in the hallway outside.

He fell back from the door and braced himself against the wall. Sumi went low in the center of the room, behind a crate.

“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.”

Sumi made her way over to him. “Dancer?” she whispered.

When he turned toward her, she pointed at the ceiling, where there was a hole to the next floor.

Nodding, he handed her the climbing gear.

She shot the hook then shimmied up the knotted rope. But no sooner did she reach the top than they opened fire on the room. Shrapnel and debris went flying. Her heart stopped as she saw Dancer running for the rope.

Dancer came up and grimaced as he scraped his injured leg against the rusted beam.

She dropped two grenades down then rolled away as they detonated. The ceiling under her squealed in protest.

Shit. It was breaking and about to send them back into that room.

One minute, she was sure she’d die, and the next, Dancer caught her and rolled with her. She came to rest on top of him, between floors. It was tight and cramped. But there was no time to even thank him as they heard the men running after them.

Dancer kicked the tile out above him. Carefully, he lifted her off him before he went through first to clear the room. He returned to pull her through the small opening.

Once they were on the second floor, he headed for a set of stairs on their left. He stayed back to cover the hole they’d made in the floor so that she could go first.

When they got to the top of the stairs, Sumi paused. The room there was empty. “Um… Dancer?”

He let loose a string of profanity as he saw what had her concerned.

“I take it this is the office?”

Dancer nodded and whimpered. The door behind them crashed open. He seized the first one through and slammed him against the wall so hard, it dazed the man.

Sumi sucked her breath in sharply. “Ooo, buddy. Real bad timing for you.”

Dancer grabbed the assassin in his mammoth fist and held him against the wall. “Where are they being held?”

Sumi started to make a sarcastic comment to Dancer that they probably should have asked that question before they came this far. But since she was as much to blame for that oversight as Dancer, she let it go.

Besides, he seemed to enjoy beating on the assassin.

“Downstairs… bay.”

Dancer made an inhuman sound before he broke the man’s neck. “Downstairs. Who does that?”

“Someone who hasn’t read the Andarion manual on where to store hostages?”

He gave her a dry stare. “You’re not funny.” He leaned back and groaned. “Ugh… more stairs.”

“You could take a shortcut and crash through the floors, but it’d probably hurt more.”

“Don’t remind me.” Sighing, he tightened the bandage on his thigh. Then he opened the door and led her down the hallway.

They could hear the men on the floor below, searching for them.

He took a minute to evaluate his weapons. A strange smile quirked at his lips.

“What?”

“Just remembering an old mission. Years ago when Nyk and I were in The League together and we were at a battle on an outpost backwater place. We were under some seriously heavy fire and running low on ammo. When Kyr heard that, he swept his gaze over us and said, ‘Yeah, well, I’m not running out of men. Forward!’ ” He sighed. “We lost eighty percent of our unit that day.”

“Sounds like Kyr.”

They turned down the next hall and shots flew at them.

Cursing, Sumi fell back and grabbed her arm to see a lovely seared mark on her biceps. It throbbed and ached, giving her a new appreciation for Dancer’s ability to walk with his thigh wound. Gah! It hurt!

Dancer killed the assassins who’d attacked them, then turned to see her arm bleeding. Cold, terrifying rage descended over his features.

His glowing eyes turned a darker shade of red.

Scared it was directed at her, she swallowed hard. “I’m fine. It’s just a flesh wound.”

A strange glint came into his eyes then. He held her against him so tight that she could hear the beating of his heart. He pressed his cheek to hers before he removed his coat and draped it over her.

She staggered from the weight of it.

“Fuck this shit,” he growled in a deadly tone.

One minute, he was in the room with her, and the next he was gone.

Sumi couldn’t breathe as she realized he’d just left her to finish off the rest by himself.

With no blast armor. No anchor or point.

No cover fire.

He’s out of his Andarion mind!

She tried to run after him, but the coat weighed so much, she couldn’t. In that moment, she wanted to beat him.

Her heart pounding, she heard the sound of battle. Determined to protect him even from his own stupidity, she dropped the coat and ran after him. She slowed as she saw the bodies he’d left in his wake. Well, don’t I feel worthless.

Without her, he appeared to have had no problem getting through them all.

But what concerned her were the bloody footprints that were so large, they could only belong to one being. And there was a lot of blood.

Terrified for Dancer, she followed the footsteps, taking care to pay attention so that no one came up behind her. By the time she reached the bay, she was afraid of what she might find.

“Shoot him, Uncle Hauk! Blow his minsid head off!”

Sumi stayed in the shadows as she saw Thia being held by the man who had told Dancer to surrender. Her young face was battered and her lips bleeding. As her old memories surged, Sumi wanted blood. How dare they harm a girl Thia’s age!

His hand perfectly steady, in spite of the blood on him, Dancer eyeballed the man. Dancer’s lips and face were swollen and bleeding. “Kill her and you know what happens next. They’ll be scooping your brains up with a ladle for weeks.”

Darice was tied and gagged while Bastien lay in a heap near Dancer. He appeared dead.

Sumi turned her attention back to Thia and realized the man had target fixation as he watched Dancer. He had no idea that she was here.

Moving silently, she positioned herself so that she had a clear shot to the assassin’s head.

Thia’s gaze slid to her, but she gave no outward clue to the men that she saw her. All the fear faded from her eyes as she knew instantly what Sumi was about to do.

With a single nod, Sumi held up three fingers to let the girl know when to expect the shot. When she got to her fist, Thia picked her feet up and dropped straight to the ground at the same time Sumi fired.

The man staggered back and Dancer unloaded on him. No one moved until he stopped shooting. Only then did Thia look up with tears in her eyes as Dancer ran to her.

Sumi went to Darice, who didn’t move at all. He was completely frozen. “Darice? Are you in shock?”

He blinked slowly as he scanned the room full of bodies and then looked to his uncle. It appeared 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.

“Is he alive?” Dancer asked.

She glanced over her shoulder to see Dancer with Thia in his arms. “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 beside her and Bastien. “I’m going to call for an evac.” He placed every one of his weapons down beside them, except for his two prized Andarion 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 his 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. “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. “And here I offered to help him.” His maniacal laughter ended with a sharp groan.

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?”

“Keeping them safe.”

Bastien quirked his lips. “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?”

But she could tell by the gleam in his eyes that much like Dancer, Bastien lived for the fight, too.

Hauk sighed at the sorry condition of the subspace equipment. It appeared to have been idle since Aksel died. The dust and extreme weather conditions had done a number on it.

But within a few minutes, he had it mostly working.

At least he hoped he did.

Flipping it on, he set the coordinates for Nykyrian’s link and pressed the record. “Hey, drey. I’m calling to let you know that we’re fine, but taking heavy fire. I have a tracker in my back and am about to head out alone to keep my pursuers away from the kids.” He paused to grimace as pain racked him. “I’m sending them to Canyon Point. Fain will know where that is. Be aware, we’ve picked up two others with us. A woman named Sumi and a man Fain knows. Bastien Cabarro. Don’t shoot the friendlies, especially the woman. It’ll piss me off, if you do. We will keep Thia safe, but I need…” He hissed again as he fought down the pain. “I need you guys. Don’t drag your asses.”

His breathing ragged, he sent the message and got up to rejoin the others. He shivered from the agony of his wounds, and blood loss. But he refused to go down. They needed him and he wasn’t about to let them get hurt.

His entire body protesting, he limped back toward the bay. It’d take a couple of hours for that transmission to reach Nyk. A couple more for everyone to scramble. Half a day to get here.

In the meantime, he had a few more things to take care of.

Pacing the room, Sumi chewed her nail, debating whether or not she should go after Dancer to make sure he was all right. She was just about to leave and check on him when the door opened.

By the slowness of his movements, she could tell he was in a lot of pain. With a smile, he touched her chin then looked to Bastien. “Bas? 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.”

Bastien stood then fell back down. “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. They both grimaced in unison. He stepped away from Bastien. “Darice, help the man.”

To her shock, Darice did so without complaint. He offered Bastien his shoulder and together, they headed for the door.

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

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. “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.” He hated to lie to her, but the truth would serve no purpose other than to make her feel worse. He placed a kiss to her 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 Darice and Bastien.

Sumi moved to help Dancer. “You look like you’re about to fall over.”

Draping his arm over her shoulders, he gave a light squeeze as they walked toward the door. “I’m fine.”

She didn’t believe it for a minute. “Your eyes are still as red as they can be.”

He said nothing as they left the building. The kids and Bastien were at the airbees. There were four of them, but only three had enough fuel in them to go very far. And that was only after Bastien siphoned the tank on one of them to add to it.

Dancer handed Bastien a bag of additional weapons. “Did you get your things?”

“Yeah.”

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

Bastien gaped indignantly. “My porn! You Andarion bastard! You didn’t tell me you were going to blow my shit up.”

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

Sighing, Bastien rolled his eyes. “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.”

Sumi moved to stand in front of him. “I’m not leaving you. You’re wounded.”

“Let’s argue about this later. We need to get out of here in case some of the Boldorians are around to see the explosion.”

She wanted to argue, but knew he was right.

Sumi took the first airbee. Thia climbed on the back of hers. Bastien pulled himself on another and Hauk took the third. Darice went to sit behind his uncle. When he wrapped his arms around Dancer’s waist, she noted the softening of Dancer’s features. He patted Darice’s arms then took off.

They followed him to a small oasis at the base of Mount Grenalyn. In spite of the desert climate, it was strangely lush and green, with a rapid stream that ran through it.

Dancer parked and helped Darice off as they joined him.

When he started to leave them, Sumi caught his arm and held him in place. “You are hurt and bleeding. If you think for one second that I’m going to stand here and watch you leave without those wounds being tended, you’re… even more insane than I think you are. And I will follow you.”

Laying his hand against her cheek, he stroked her chin with his thumb. “I refuse to endanger you.”

“You know, Dancer. Heroic is one thing. Moronic is quite another.” She turned his airbee off. “Now get your ass over there, soldier, and sit!” She pointed to where Thia was unpacking their things. “And let me see how bad you’re hurt. Then we’ll revisit this whole death quest you seem to have.”

He shook his head at her. “You are so bossy. I’d eat anyone else who talked to me like this.”

“Promises, promises. Now move!”

Hauk wanted to argue, but honestly, he couldn’t muster the energy or drive. So he obeyed her orders, even though it wasn’t in his nature to do such. Sighing, he slung his leg over the airbee and allowed her to lead him to a softer area near the water.

In the back of his mind, he knew Darice was watching and making mental notes for Dariana. Yet he no longer cared. Darice already thought him the lowest of the low. He’d tried over the years to salvage his nephew’s opinion of him, and it was time to realize that he couldn’t. Darice would think what he would. There was nothing Hauk could do about it.

Lying down, he stared up at the side of the mountain where he’d once dangled helplessly and almost fallen to his death. Come to think of it, Keris had landed just a few feet from where he currently lay.

But he didn’t want to think about the past. It was too brutal a place to dwell.

Sumi sat down next to him and opened his shirt. She gasped at the sight of the wound across his ribs that stung like Tondarion fire scorpions. “Dancer!”

He didn’t speak as she cleaned it and continued fussing at him over it. Sick as it sounded, he enjoyed her anger over his injuries. Rather he dragged his knuckle along her jaw and watched her with hooded eyes. She was so incredibly beautiful and even more so while wearing the painted pattern of his family on her face.

All he wanted was to go back to this morning and make love to her again. To taste her lips and nibble every inch of her body.

Strange, he knew he was in pain, but with her so close, he didn’t care. The only thing that mattered to him was keeping her safe and protected. Making sure that no one ever hurt her.

His gaze fell to her arm and again, he felt the adrenaline surge that begged him to go back and slap the corpses of every assassin who had endangered her life.

Taking her hand, he kissed her knuckles.

Sumi tried not to let his actions soften her. But it was too late. Especially while he looked at her with that adoring expression.

It made her ache to kiss him.

Most of all, she wanted to choke him over the amount of damage he’d taken for them. Yet, it was hard to be angry at him when he looked at her like he was already tasting her. Hard to stay angry when he touched her with such gentleness.

Still red, those eyes followed every move she made.

She sat back and frowned at how many wounds lined his torso and arms. “You really need an MT, Dancer.”

He squeezed her hand comfortingly. “I’ll be all right.”

She shook her head. “You’re not invincible.”

“Damn near.”

She rolled her eyes at his arrogance. Though to be honest, it wasn’t. He really could stand stronger and take more damage than anyone she’d ever heard of. Was it an Andarion thing? Or was he just that strong?

Her stomach tightened at all the injuries on him. “Didn’t at least one of them miss when they shot at you?”

He laughed then grimaced. “Yeah, I always wanted to be that hero in a movie where no one can shoot straight except me. Never happens. I seem to always walk into the school of award-winning sharpshooters.” He dropped his hand to the injury she had on her biceps. “You okay?”

“Told you. Flesh wound. Throbs, but I can handle it.”

He smiled. “My tough mia.”

Tears filled her eyes as she bandaged his ribs. Without thinking, she lay her head on his chest and carefully held him. He wrapped his arms around her and for several minutes neither of them moved as she listened to the strong beating of his heart underneath her cheek.

Sumi lifted her head as she realized he was sound asleep. She pulled her poncho out and made a pillow for him before she finished cleaning and dressing his wounds. Only then did she remember that they weren’t alone.

Ah crap…

Terrified of what she’d inadvertently done, she went to check on Bastien first.

Like Dancer had first attempted, he brushed aside her help. “I’ve had worse from bar fights. Trust me. Beatings I can take.”

“You sure?”

Bastien nodded. “Hand me a cloth and I’m fine.”

She hesitated.

Glancing over to Dancer, he gave her a sardonic grin. “Sumi, I learned a long time ago, you don’t touch or get touched by an Andarion’s female. They get really hostile over it, and I’m not physically able to keep Hauk from killing me right now. So no offense, let’s maintain at least a five-foot no-touch zone. ’Kay?”

She scoffed as she handed him the foil package that held an antiseptic cloth. “He wouldn’t beat you, Bastien.”

“Not gonna chance it. In case it’s escaped your notice, your male is a huge motherfucker. And I’ve had enough ass beating to tide me over for at least a month… Maybe longer.”

Shaking her head at him, she went to check on Thia. She sat on the ground with her legs drawn up tight to her chest, and her head lying on her knees.

Sumi brushed her hair back from her face. “You okay, sweetie?”

She nodded. “I just want to go home.”

“I know.”

Thia lifted her head. “Thank you, by the way.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Yes, you did. Uncle Hauk would never have taken a shot with me in that smelly bastard’s arms. You saved both our lives today.”

Sumi gave her arm a light squeeze and patted her hand. “I’m just glad you knew what I needed you to do. I think it’s safe to say you saved yourself.”

Thia didn’t respond. Instead, she narrowed her gaze on Sumi’s face. “You’re beautiful wearing the paint of a War Hauk. Not that you’re not beautiful anyway. But Andarion looks good on you.”

Sumi hugged her before she went to the last being she wanted to deal with.

Darice had been eerily quiet as he sat off, away from the group. That could not be a good thing for the normally verbose teen.

“How are you doing, kiddo?”

He glanced at her face, sneered, then quickly looked away. “Fine.”

“You need food or —”

“I’m fine!” he snapped.

“Okay.”

As she started away, his low tone stopped her. “Sumi?”

She paused to look back at him.

Biting his lip in an adorable manner that was identical to the one Dancer used, he glanced to his uncle. “I know what you and Dancer did.”

Her heart sank at his words. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes, you do,” he said in an accusing tone. “Everyone will know. You can’t hide it. He’s stralen now.”

“Stralen?”

“His eyes.”

She scowled, wondering how Darice knew something about that when Dancer hadn’t. Or had Dancer known and just not told her? “What about them?”

“It’s a very rare condition that only manifests when an Andarion male has sex with someone he’s possessive over, and then any time he has a strong adrenaline rush after that. If his feelings for the one he’s bonded to are exceedingly strong, it’s permanent and never goes away. My mother told me that the only Andarion she’s ever known to have it was my father. And his was bad, according to her.”

Sumi was aghast at Darice’s knowledge of something he shouldn’t have been told about. “Your mother talked about that with you?”

He nodded. “She wanted me to understand how much my father loved her. How much she meant to him.” He slid his gaze back to Dancer. “By those eyes, I know Dancer broke his pledge to my mother and slept with you.”

“Darice…”

He held his hand up to stop her words. “It’s okay, Sumi,” he said grudgingly. “I might be young, but I understand why he did it. No one, not even Dancer, can fight the stralen when it strikes. It’s the most powerful emotion any Andarion can ever feel, and they have no control over it when it hits them. It overrides everything about their normal personality. But be careful. My mother said that it can be so intense that it used to terrify her whenever my father had it. It produces an extreme form of jealousy that makes them highly possessive, even violent toward the one they love. Controlling and domineering. That’s why she told me about it. It usually runs in families, through the father, and there’s a good chance I could have it, too.” Abashed, he glanced away from her. “It’s why she used to sedate my father. She was trying to find some way to mitigate its effects so that he wouldn’t hurt her.”

Sumi gasped at what he was saying. Especially given some of the past verbal attacks he’d made against Dancer. They had been overly harsh, especially given this revelation. “You knew she drugged him?”

He nodded. “They weren’t illegal drugs. She told me that she got them from a doctor. And my father didn’t give her a choice. She said it was so bad that she couldn’t even speak to her best friend without my father flying into a jealous rage over it. He even put Pera in the hospital just two weeks before he died.” His look pierced her with its sincerity. “Even though she loved him, she was afraid for her life, Sumi. It’s why she didn’t have children with my father until after his death. She didn’t want him to hurt them in a fit of anger.”

Sumi felt ill at what he was describing. It’d been just that kind of nightmare that she’d barely survived with Avin. “Is that why she’s refused your uncle’s pledge all these years?”

“Yes. When she married my father, she didn’t know he had the gene. And stralen is something only felt by the male and has no relation to or bearing on how the female feels toward him. Only how he possessive he feels toward her. She said it’s why she thought Fain’s human wife had left him. That he probably had it, too, and had hurt her because of it.”

Darice swallowed hard. “It must have been the stralen’s rage that allowed Dancer to tear apart everyone in the base today. He was so scary, Sumi. I’ve never seen anyone behave like that. He was like a possessed monster they couldn’t stop. It was terrifying.”

“That wasn’t the stralen, sweetie. Your uncle’s been able to fight like that for a long time.”

“Really?” he asked in disbelief.

She nodded. “I’ve seen him do it.”

Darice fell silent for several heartbeats. When he spoke again, his voice was barely more than a whisper. “My mother will never accept him now.”

“Your mother was never going to accept him, Darice.”

“I know.” He sighed heavily then locked gazes with her. “Are you going to run with him like Fain did with his wife?”

“No. Dancer won’t do it.”

“My mother will have him killed if he stays.”

“He knows that.”

There was no missing the sad agony in Darice’s white eyes. It was obvious he was torn between loyalty to his mother and to his uncle. “Can’t you talk sense into him?”

“I’m not sure anyone can talk sense into Dancer. He’s a very stubborn beast. But I will try.”

Darice inclined his head to her. “Thank you, Sumi. They were planning to ransom us back to our parents, and then kill us once they were paid.”

She laughed at the mere thought. “I’d have loved to see how that went when they called Thia’s father.”

“About the same as when Dancer came through the door, I’m thinking.”

“Probably so.” Sumi jerked her chin toward the cuts on Darice’s wrists. “Would you let me tend those?”

He looked down at them before he acquiesced.

She knelt in front of him and carefully cleaned and bandaged his wrists. “You must have fought the restraints like a boss.”

“I fought them like an Andarion.”

She squeezed his hand. “Your uncle and father would be proud.”

He smiled at her. “Thank you.” When she started to leave, he took her hand. “Be careful with Dancer, Sumi. I don’t want him to hurt you.”

Her heart hammering over those words, she inclined her head to him then went to check on Dancer. He was bleeding through the bandage on his ribs. She considered stitching it, but the damage was such that she feared he might have internal injuries. Honestly, she didn’t know enough about their anatomy to do anything more than keep his wounds clean and hope that Syn got here soon. The last thing she wanted was to make something worse in her ignorance.

So she did the best she could. As she redressed it, Darice’s words about Dancer’s condition went through her mind. Could Dancer really be dangerous to her?

Over and over, she relived some of Avin’s more choice rage-fits.

Listen with your eyes.

Dancer had done nothing to make her think he would hurt her. Ever. She hadn’t known Keris and she didn’t really know Dariana. And while her sister had been terrified of Fain, Sumi had never seen him act threateningly in any way toward Omira, and she’d stayed with them a good bit.

Fain’s eyes had always been white when she’d seen him. The only red was a very thin band around the outer edge of his iris, which was normal for his race.

I won’t listen to rumor.

Until Dancer did something to make her second-guess his temper, she would keep faith with him.

But even as she had that thought, her old fears rose up to slap her hard. She’d talked herself into a four-year relationship she should have walked on within the first six months.

Please, Dancer, don’t be deceiving me.

The last thing she wanted to do was kill him, too. But no one, not even Dancer, would ever put her through the misery that had been her relationship with Avin.

She would kill him first.