Born of Defiance (31 page)

Jayne cursed every being who'd had a hand in doing this to her little T. Before Nero could obey Hadrian, Jayne did something she was
never
supposed to do. She unfurled her wings and flew into the pit to retrieve them both.

Be damned if she was going to leave them in that mess for one heartbeat longer than she had to. Screw the rope. Her baby and husband were all that mattered.

As she went for Talyn, he pulled back and shook his head. “Get Berra first.”

“Berra?”

Talyn's senses dulled so fast, he feared he'd pass out. Everything was so blurry around him. Like walking in a thick dream. But the one thing he'd promised was that he'd keep Nightdice safe and see her home again.

He licked his chapped lips as he knelt in the filth by her side. “Berra?”

She didn't move.

“Nightdice?”

Her eyes slowly fluttered open as blood ran from the corner of her lips. She reached up to touch his face before she went limp in his arms.

“No!” he growled, trying to shake her awake. “Berra!”

“She's dead, T.”

Roaring in pain, Talyn glared at Jayne. “I'm going to kill them! So help me gods!” He rose, intending to climb out with his bare hands, but the moment he stood, everything went dark.

*   *   *

Hadrian caught Talyn before he hit the ground. Her heart breaking for Talyn's pain and injuries, Jayne quickly flew Talyn out, handed him off to Nero, then returned for her husband.

She made one more trip for the female's body.

“Who is she?” Hadrian asked as Jayne flew up and handed off the female to him.

“I don't know. But I don't think we should leave her behind. She's obviously important to Talyn.”

Hadrian took the female's body from her.

Tucking her wings in, Jayne swept her gaze around the unconscious males, littering the ground, who had abused her Talyn. He was so hurt, and bleeding. Filthy. It was all she could do not to retch at the sight and smell of him. Before she could reconsider her actions, she headed for his captors.

Hadrian caught her arm in a gentle grip. “Forget them. We need to get Talyn out of here as fast as we can before he dies, too.”

“I want to kill them!”

“So do I, but Talyn's more important. Focus, Jayne. He's barely holding on right now. We have to get him medical help.”

Nodding, she pulled Talyn into her arms and flew him back to the ship while Hadrian and Nero teleported with the female's body—something they couldn't do with Talyn because of his special anatomy. His breed of Andarion didn't play well with Trisani teleportation powers.

Tears blinded her. Talyn was so beaten, malnourished, and dehydrated that she wasn't sure if he'd really understood who they were. That he was finally going home.

As gently as she could, she laid him down on the floor of the ship while Nero went to do preflight checks. Hadrian placed the female a few feet away and respectfully covered her with his jacket.

Jayne pulled their first-aid kit out and started rudimentary care. At least as much as she dared. Since Andarions were very different from humans and Hyshians, she couldn't do much for fear of harming him more.

“Who's Felicia? Is she the female we recovered?”

She paused at Hadrian's question. “How do you mean?”

He lifted Talyn's hand up so that she could see his worn-down claws. “Talyn scratched her name into the walls, over and over again.”

“I don't know.” Tears choked Jayne as she noted the number of fresh scars and wounds on Talyn's body. The traitor's mark that had been tattooed on his neck, below his left ear. Andarions were fiercely vain creatures, and any scar or physical mark was viewed as hideous and undesirable.

It was obvious Jullien and his friends had gleefully “deformed” Talyn's beauty. Worse, they'd shaved his head. While older Andarion males might do that later in life, for a male Talyn's age, it was a mark of dishonor or military cowardice. Desertion of post.

Rage burning inside her, she met Hadrian's stern frown. “Why did they do this to him?”

“Punishment.”

She duplicated his scowl. “I don't understand.”

“You know my powers are limited when it comes to this sort of thing, but … this was done for no other purpose than to cripple Galene. There's dissension in the royal house. If they can get Galene to resign, there won't be anyone protecting Cairistiona.”

“What does that matter? She hasn't been in line for the throne in well over a decade.”

“So long as she lives, they see her as a threat. All of them. She and Tylie are the only two beings left of the queen's immediate family. All the others have been murdered, including the queen's husband. So long as Cairie lives, she's a threat to those who might want to take the throne.”

Jayne growled at Hadrian.

He held his hands up in surrender. “I'm not saying it isn't bat-shit crazy. You're talking to someone whose entire family was slaughtered. Brutally. Over a
minsid
throne. There's a reason why neither Nero nor I have ever tried to reclaim our titles or land. We're done with the bloody politics.”

“Yeah,” Nero breathed as he began firing their engines. “I've had my fill of burying family members because of senseless greed. It's a harsh universe we live in, and if they want the fucking throne, let them have it.” He glanced at them over his shoulder. “Every sentient creature should have the right to lay their head down in peace, and not fear having their throat cut while they dream of better days.”

Jayne hated to admit how right Nero was. It was why she and her friends had founded The Sentella to fight against The League and any corrupt government that abused its powers.

Nero turned back toward the controls. “Fasten up. Let's get Talyn home.”

They secured him to the floor with a loose harness before they took their seats for the launch. Even so, Jayne kept her attention on Talyn's unconscious body. She hadn't seen anyone beaten this badly since Darling had gone after his uncle in retaliation for Arturo putting Darling's younger brother in ICU.

Her heart broken, she met Hadrian's pensive stare. “Will he heal?”

“You want the truth or what you want to hear?”

“Truth.”

Hadrian glanced to Nero. The sad light in his eyes was haunting. “He might come to terms with this, but he won't ever be the same.”

That was what she was most afraid of.

 

C
HAPTER
16

Felicia paced the ER hallway as she waited for Talyn to arrive. Galene had called her and told her they'd located him and were bringing him in. She'd rushed here as fast as she could.

His mother and her brother were still en route.

Every time the doors opened, she ran forward, only to be disappointed that it wasn't Talyn arriving. It was a cruel, cruel game.

The doors opened again.

Felicia started toward them, then stopped. Two human males came in with a bald Andarion between them. As she turned away in more aggravation, recognition hit her.

No …

Gasping, she snapped around to see Talyn, bald, bleeding, and unconscious. Horrified for him, she rushed to the gurney they were laying him on while the shorter, older human called for help.

“Talyn?” she breathed, taking his hand into hers. His claws had been virtually sheared off.
My poor baby.

The taller man tensed as if he was going to chastise her, but then he blinked. “You're his Felicia?”

“I am.” She sniffed back her tears while she brushed her hand over the nastiest wound in Talyn's cheek. “What did they do to him?”

Before he could answer, the doctor approached them with the shorter human. But as soon as the doctor's gaze fell to Talyn, he hissed and stepped back.

“We don't tend his kind here. You need to take him somewhere else for care.”

Felicia gaped at the doctor and his unwarranted prejudice. “His mother's fully Vested!”

The doctor curled his lip. “And she's disowned him. He's a traitor and an Outcast. You know the law! We can all be arrested for aiding him.”

It was only then that Felicia saw the marks of dislineage on Talyn's chest and arms. Claw scars that said his own mother had cast him out of his family. “His mother didn't do this,” she insisted.

The doctor didn't hear her. He was too busy calling to have Talyn arrested again.

In that moment, Felicia lost every semblance of sanity. All she felt was the hatred and anger inside her over the injustice of what had been done to the one being she loved above all others.

Reacting on pure instinct and defaulting to the defense classes that had been a mandatory part of her primary education, she grabbed the blaster from the human closest to her and angled it at the doctor's head. “You will treat him. Now! And you will save him, or I will paint the walls with your brain matter, so help me, gods.”

One of the security guards ran at her.

She shot him without flinching, then returned her sights to the doctor's head. “That is the only warning I'm giving.” With her thumb, she switched the blaster setting from stun to kill. “Tend him or you'll be the one needing a doctor
and
a mortician.”

“Felicia?”

She glanced sideways to see Galene coming through the doors. “They won't tend him, Commander. They're trying to throw him out of here and have him arrested. I will burn this place to the ground before I let that happen!”

Galene's face went white before her own anger ignited. “What?”

“I can't legally tend an Outcast!”

Galene growled at the doctor. “He's not an Outcast! I didn't do that to him.”

“He's marked as one, and as a convicted traitor!”

“And he's an Andarion hero.” A tense ripple went through the room at the sound of Tylie's regal voice. Everyone except Felicia, the doctor she held at blaster point, and the humans bowed to the tizirah.

Tylie came forward to stand by Felicia's side. “Put the blaster down, child. I promise you, no one's going to turn your Talyn out.”

Only then did Felicia hand the weapon back to the human she'd taken it from. “Sorry.”

Laughing, he holstered it. “I get it. My wife would do the same … only I doubt she'd warn them before shooting. I'm Hadrian, by the way.” He jerked his chin at the shorter male. “He's Nero.”

Tylie glared at the doctor. “What are you waiting for? A grave injustice has been done to one of our soldiers. A hero. Snap to, or you'll face a far worse sentence than what was unjustly given to the major.”

Finally, the doctor and staff began treating Talyn.

Still shaken and horrified, Felicia went to Galene. “How could they do that to him?”

Tears glistened in her eyes as she choked on her sobs. “He was supposed to be safe at the palace. I was right there when they dragged him out under my nose. How could I let this happen to my baby?”

Felicia pulled Galene into her arms. “I'm the one who got the orders to put him there. I'm so sorry, Commander. I just wanted to protect him. I never meant for him to be hurt like
this
.” Guilt and remorse shredded her. If Talyn ever learned the truth, he'd hate her for the part she'd play in his arrest. And she couldn't blame him for it.

She hated herself.

There was no such thing as safety in their world, and honestly, Felicia was sick of it. Somehow, she was going to get back at the prince. Even if it meant her life …

No one would do this to Talyn and get away with it. No one!

*   *   *

Talyn came awake with a start. For a full minute, he was still in the pit, mired in entrails and blood. Only this smelled very different.

It smelled clean.

Best of all, it smelled like a delicate female whose face had haunted him, night and day.

Blinking in disbelief, he focused his gaze on the most beautiful thing imaginable. A curly head of hair that was only a few inches from his face. Unable to believe it was real, he reached to bury his hand in the silken strands.

The moment he touched them, Felicia looked up with a gasp. “Talyn?”

Still, he couldn't speak. All he could do was marvel at the sensation of something that didn't hurt him. In all the time he'd been gone, this was what had seen him through. The hope that he'd be back here.

With her.

His hand shaking, he lifted her hair so that he could brush a lock of it against his lips and inhale her precious scent.

Felicia couldn't breathe as she saw the agony in Talyn's eyes while he savored her hair as if it were the most sacred relic in existence. Tears choked her as she took his chapped and calloused hand into hers and held it tight.

He pulled her against him and buried his face in the crook of her neck.

An instant later, she felt his silent tears on her skin. Tightening her grip, she held him against her. “It's okay. I've got you.”

But in truth, he had her captured in an iron grip that was absolutely terrifying in its strength. His breathing ragged, he locked both arms around her as if she was his lifeline, and without her, he'd drown.

“Talyn?”

Instead of pulling away at his mother's voice, he held on even more tightly to Felicia.

Unsure of what to do, she met his mother's gaze over the bed. The hurt in Galene's eyes made her ache in sympathetic pain. “Your mom's been terrified for you, Talyn. If not for her, we'd have never found you.”

That didn't seem to placate him in the least. Instead, he picked Felicia up with a frightening ease and put her in the bed with him. Without a word, he spooned against her back and held her with his face buried in her hair.

Eyes wide, she stared at Galene.
What do I do?
she mouthed to his mother.

“Talyn?” Galene tried again. She reached over Felicia to touch him.