Born of Defiance (30 page)

For that alone, Jayne would have loved and adored Nero. But he was a decent male, with a loyal heart and humorous, dry wit. When Hadrian had called his brother about Talyn, Nero had instantly appeared to help them find him. No questions asked.

But that was how Nero was.

And as a professional tracker, Nero was the best in the Nine Worlds. Not to mention, he and her husband were full-blooded Trisani—some of the last of the full-bloods. A psychic race with skills of unfathomable psionic abilities. It was why their race had been extinguished. Fear and greed. People either wanted to control the Trisani and use their powers for their own petty purposes, or they were too terrified of them to let them live in peace.

Hadrian took her hand into his. “We'll find him, Jaynie. Have no fear.”

“I know, baby. I just hope he's still alive.”

Hadrian and Nero exchanged a quick glance. “He's alive,” Hadrian assured her. “I can feel his life force. But he's … angry.”

She smiled at the one truth of Talyn's character. “Ever full of fight.”

Hadrian nodded before he buckled himself in beside her.

Her heart aching, Jayne turned her link on and pulled up the old photo she kept of Talyn from back in the day when he'd been in her class and she'd first met him and Galene. It'd been her first year as a student teacher at Brunelle Academy. Nervous and unsure, she'd kept waiting for someone to recognize her as the daughter of her nefarious father, and throw her out.

Or have her arrested.

But no one had. And as the class had filled with students on that first day, she'd just begun to relax.

Until Talyn had walked in. The moment he did, a fissure of friction permeated the air so thickly that she could have sliced it with a dull spoon.

Only eight years old, he'd held his chin high and walked in alone, unlike the others whose parents had brought them in and helped them to find their seats. Without a word, and acting like a full-grown adult, Talyn had ignored the sneers of the Hyshian students and parents who didn't want an Andarion male in the mix, and had gone to his desk. He'd been so adorable with his caramel skin and bright white eyes. Since his black hair was longer, per Andarion fashion, than the rest of the males in his class, Talyn had worn it under a dark-colored religious Azukarian cap, which he continually tugged at to make sure it didn't expose his hair.

“Gah, why am I stuck with
that
in my room?”

Jayne had arched her brow at her senior teacher's derision. “Is there a problem?”

She'd jerked her chin in Talyn's direction. “I can't believe the administration allows
him
to go here. He's no business in this room with our kind. Imagine a universe where they mix freely with us.”

By the sudden tenseness of Talyn's jaw and hurt look in his young eyes, she knew he'd heard the older teacher. But rather than call her out, he'd unpacked his bag and kept his gaze on the floor in front of his desk.

Little had the stupid bitch known, Jayne's own grandmother was a full-blooded Andarion. It was why her hair was black and she was so tall. And it'd been just such prejudice that had forced her grandmother from her homeworld and made Jayne's father the angry criminal he was.

Feeling for Talyn and knowing he had to be even more nervous on his first day than the others, Jayne had gone over to him.

“Hi.”

He'd glanced up at her with a frown that said he wasn't sure why she was talking to him.

“I need your name so I can mark you as present.”

Instead of speaking and exposing his tiny fangs, he'd pulled his name tag from his shirt and handed it to her.

“Talon Batter?” She'd intentionally mispronounced it to force him to speak.

His eyes full of patience, he'd shaken his head. “Tah-lean BAH-tour.” His little high-pitched voice had barely been a purred whisper as he rolled his
l
and
r
like only a native Andarion speaker could.

Jayne had held her hand out to him. “I'm Miss Erixour. It's a pleasure to meet you, Talyn.”

Cocking his head in an adorable fashion, he'd stared at her hand as if he wasn't sure what to do with it. Which made sense, since Andarions didn't greet each other that way.

Jayne had dropped her arm as she was called away to assist with other students. But over the next few weeks, her heart had broken more and more for the boy who was ignored at best and mocked at worst.

Talyn never spoke. To anyone. He just glared out at the world with a procacious gaze and tolerated the meanness so that no one at their school would call Galene about his behavior and get his mother into trouble at work.

Months had gone by with Jayne wondering about his parents, and why they'd so cruelly put him in a Hyshian school, until the day when word had come that Talyn's mother had been severely injured in an attack on the Andarion tizirah. As Jayne helped him pack his bag to go home, she'd finally seen real vulnerability inside him. He'd been so afraid, his little hands had trembled.

“She'll be fine, Talyn.”

Still, stark terror and grief had glowed deep in his white eyes. It had stunned her how well he'd managed emotions that had to be tearing him up inside.

When the office had called to say his great-grandmother was there to take him home with her, Jayne had thought nothing more as she sent him to the front.

Hours later, she'd been on her way to her transport when she happened to glance to the side doors, out of habit to double check their room entrance. Talyn was there, huddled behind a set of bushes, with his books spread around him as he did his homework.

Scowling, she'd gone over to him. “Talyn? What are you still doing here? I thought your great-grandmother picked you up hours ago.”

When he met her gaze, his young eyes had betrayed the bitter agony inside his heart. “My gre paran came while I was getting in her transport, and said that he doesn't want a mongrel dog tainting his home and making it smell. He pulled me out and made my gre yaya leave me here.”

Jayne was aghast at the cruelty. “She just left you in the parking lot?”

He nodded without emotion.

“Why didn't you come back to class?”

He'd sighed heavily. “I tried, but there was no one to check me in again. The office secretary said that I couldn't do it without an adult and that I wasn't supposed to be on campus without being checked in. She told me if I didn't go, she'd call security. And I didn't want to get into trouble, so I hid here.”

Tears had scalded her throat as she imagined how the poor boy must feel after being so cruelly abandoned. So much for Hyshians being a compassionate race. Bastards. “Who else can I call to come get you?”

Swallowing hard, he looked up with tears in his eyes. “I'll just wait for my mama. She'll come for me when she can.”

Jayne had knelt down beside him. “Baby, your mother's in surgery. She can't come.”

“She'll come. She will. I'll wait here for her so she can find me and won't be worried.”

Cupping his cheek, she did her best to understand his situation. As crazy as her family had been, she'd always had someone she could rely on. Someone who would come for her. Even in jail. “Talyn, I can't leave you here alone, overnight. It's not safe. You'll freeze. Don't you have anyone else to call?”

He'd shaken his head. “It's just me and my mama. We don't need anyone else.”

In that moment, she'd decided to take him home with her. She knew better than to call the authorities. There was no telling what Hyshians might do to a lone Andarion male. Even a boy. While they'd been currently at peace, they'd fought enough in the past that some Hyshians harbored a profound hatred of his species. In spite of his Andarion heritage, Talyn was a gentle soul, and the last thing she'd wanted was for anyone to hurt him.

And over the next three weeks while she'd cared for him, she and Hadrian had fallen in love with the quiet, reserved boy who quickly became an extended member of their family.

Several times, they'd taken him to the hospital to visit Galene, who'd finally explained that Talyn's father had never been in the picture and knew nothing about Talyn's birth. Over and over, Galene had cried and thanked Jayne for a kindness that really shouldn't be so unusual.

They'd been best friends ever since.

“Jaynie?”

She looked up at Hadrian's voice that pulled her away from the past, and realized they'd landed and that both he and Nero were dressed in protective gear. “Yes?”

He cupped her face in his hand. “We're heading out. You joining us or do you want to stay with the ship?”

“I'm coming.”

Hadrian handed her a mask and helped to secure it to her suit as Nero opened the door to the inhospitable landscape.

As soon as she was on the ramp, Jayne cursed Jullien for his cruelty. This planet, like so many others, had been bombed to oblivion by The League. What remained of the native life forms were mutated aberrations that preyed on anything they could find. But what sickened her most was how long Talyn had been here.

Even if they found him, he'd never be the same again.

*   *   *

Jayne cursed in utter frustration. After hours of finding no trace whatsoever through the heavily charged atmosphere that rendered their tracking equipment worthless, it was about to be too dark to keep going.

Hadrian caught her arm. “You go back and we'll continue searching.”

“I'm not going to rest while you risk your life. Are you nuts? You stay. I stay.”

Hadrian cupped her cheek. “Think of the babies. They need their mother. You're much more fierce than I am. Go back and we'll keep looking.”

She hated it whenever he pulled the children card on her. It was the one and only thing he knew she wouldn't argue against. “You're a rank bastard, Hadrian Scalera!”

Instead of getting angry, he flashed that charming grin that always melted her heart. “Hadrian Erixour.” He pressed his helmet to hers and turned her around to head back without him.

Just as she took a step toward the ship, she saw Nero's hand go up in a gesture that told her to hold position.

She pulled her blaster out and gripped it tight, looking for the threat.

Hadrian grabbed her as something went rushing past. She barely saw the blur of the twisted animal that appeared to have three malformed heads. Howling, it left a bright trail of blood in its wake.

She screwed her face up in distaste. As she straightened, she noticed the peculiar light in Hadrian's eyes that said he was using his Trisani powers. “What?”

He ignored her. “Nero?”

The way Nero acted said that he was talking to his brother telepathically.

“I hate it when you two do that. It's so rude. Now, what is it?” she whispered to her husband. “Talyn?”

“Not sure.” Hadrian stepped back from her to cover his brother as they moved forward, toward a hole in the cavern wall where the beast had come from.

There was even more blood here.

A
lot
more blood.

As they went farther in, they heard echoing voices.

“Did you see what he did with his bare hands?”

“Shoot the fucking bastard!”

“Are you crazy? Last time we did that, it only pissed him off more.”

“He's going to get out of there and kill us. Throw something at him!”

“Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Jayne froze as she finally saw what was going on. At least three dozen men and women stood at the top of a large, steep pit where someone had thrown Talyn. They were in the process of dragging another huge male in chains from a cage toward the hole, as if intending to throw him in on top of Talyn so that they could fight.

“Enough!” Nero shouted.

They froze until they realized they outnumbered Jayne's small group.

“Get them!”

Those words had barely left the man's lips before Hadrian threw his arm out and sent a shock wave through the place that blasted them into the walls so hard, it knocked them instantly unconscious.

Nero turned toward his brother with an arch stare. “It seriously pains me that you can do that and not get a migraine.”

Hadrian laughed. “I have a migraine. It's a big motherfucker, too. Stands about six four…”

Nero shoved at him. “Don't rub it in, half-bit. Hatred stunted my growth.”

Ignoring them, Jayne ran to the pit. Bile rose in her throat as she took in the brutal sight of where Talyn was imprisoned. Steel spikes lined the pit, pointing downward so that he couldn't climb out without being impaled or mangled. There were several bodies in the pit with him, and the ground was soaked with things best not thought about. “Talyn?”

His breathing ragged, he glared up at her and bared his fangs as if daring her to come for him.

She pulled her helmet off to show him her face. “Sexy baby T?”

He blinked twice then rubbed at his eyes as if unable to believe what he saw. Tilting his head, he frowned as if he couldn't place her face.

Tears choked her. “It's me, precious. I'm here to take you home.”

Instead of moving toward her, he drew back and collapsed into the filth, near one of the smaller bodies.

Using his powers, Hadrian jumped straight into the pit so that he could reach Talyn first. “Nero! Keep Jayne out of here. Toss me a rope and we'll lift him out.”

Talyn turned on him with a fierce growl, as if he was about to attack.

Hadrian removed his helmet and held his hands out. “Hey, little buddy. Remember me?”

Talyn blinked slowly before he finally calmed down. “Uncle Rian.”

“That's right. Just hang on. We'll…” His voice trailed off as he looked at the walls around him and saw what Talyn had clawed into the stone with his bare hands. “Nero! Hurry with the rope.” He used his powers to rip down the spikes so that they wouldn't accidentally harm Talyn on the way out.