Born of Legend (91 page)

“That's not creepy at all.”

Viv came running up to him to tug at his sleeve. “Paka,” she whispered. “Vivie gots to go bathroom!”

Smiling at her, he picked her up. “Okay,
nýba.
” He inclined his head to Trajen. “Small bladders wait for no one.”

As quickly and quietly as he could, Jullien took her out the side door to the temple restrooms so that she could attend her needs.

Once she was finished, he helped her wash her hands in the sink.

In her temple clothes, Viv stood on the edge of the steel counter and stared at their reflection in the mirror. She moved her face back and forth.

Jullien assumed she was looking at her face paint and comparing it to his, especially since she pulled his glasses off to see his features more clearly.

Until she spoke. “We look like you, Paka, don't we?”

“But you're much prettier.”

She frowned. “Why are our eyes green? Everybody else's are white. But yours. Yours are red. Why is that?”

Using his powers, he returned his to their non-stralen color. “Mine were the color of yours until I met your matarra.”

She gasped as she looked from the mirror to his face. Turning, Viv touched his cheek to examine his eyes more closely. “Your eyes change color, Paka?”

“It's called stralen. Some Andarion males can do it.”

“Why?”

“It means that we really love our families. That we will die to protect them.”

Tears welled in her eyes before she burst into tears. “We don't want you to die like Lyra Mary and Lyra Ryna, Paka!”

“Shh,
nýba.
” He pulled her into his arms and held her. “Don't get upset. I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here. I'll be here for a long, long time.”

“Okay.” She sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her chubby hand. Then she pouted again and turned to look in the mirror. “So why we gots dark hair when nobody else does?”

“Mine's really dark, too. I make it blond to blend in. But when I don't bleach it out, it looks just like yours.”

She put her arms around his neck and pressed her cheek to his so that she could stare at their combined reflection in the mirror. “So Vivie and Mirie look just like their paka?”

“Yes. But prettier, like their matarra.”

“Will the new baby look like us, too?”

“I don't know. He might. But he could look like Vasili. Either way, we'll love him.”

Frowning, she turned back to face him and pulled at his hair as if trying to make it grow.

He grinned at her frustration. “What are you doing?” he asked with a hint of laughter in his voice.

“Will you make your hair dark again so that you'll look like us?”

“Would that make you happy?”

She nodded vigorously. “Then we won't be the only ones with dark hair and fangs.”

“Okay, but I can't do it the same way I do my eyes. I'll have to darken it at home later tonight.” Putting his glasses back on, he carried her outside and stopped as he saw a group of Wasturnum who didn't belong on their base. Trajen hadn't allowed any other Tavali Nation to dock here in years, so how they'd been granted landing permission, he had no idea. But someone's ass was going to be raw later over this.

Hating the fact that it was hard to look intimidating while holding an adorable toddler, who'd left smudged lip prints on his cheek from her kisses, Jullien approached them with his sternest frown. “Can I help you?”

“We need to see the VA.”

“She's paying her respects at a funeral right now. You'll understand that I have no intention of disturbing her. However, I'm the FA. And you are?”

“Ambassador Ryn Dane. I'm here on official business. These are my adjutants. Utran Belakane and Zosia Viga.”

Jullien steeled himself to show no emotion whatsoever. Especially since he'd gone to school with Utran Belakane and knew that little bastard intimately.

And this was definitely
not
him.

Not to mention the short dark-haired shithead pretending to be Ryn was most decidedly not the smooth-talking, debonaire Caronese prince who would casually rip the throat out of this impostor and smile while he did it. As for the female, she might be Zosia Viga—he had no idea who that was, but given that the others were lying, he'd lay odds she was, too.

The real question was why they were here masquerading as the Tavali ambassador and his running mates.

And how the hell had they breached Trajen's security to get this close to Jullien's family?

Until he knew, he wasn't going to give them any personal details about himself, or anything else. In fact, he planned to get them as far away from his family as he could.

As fast as possible.

“Pleased to meet you. If you'll give me one second…” He carried Viv to the temple door.
“Mia?”
he said gently so as not to alarm his daughter. “Find Mummy, okay? I need you to stay with her while I talk to these nice people. Can you do that for me?”

“Okay, Paka.”

Jullien set her on her feet and watched as she ran down the aisle, straight to Ushara. He didn't move until he was sure she was in her mother's arms and he visually checked that Mira was still asleep with Thrāix. Vasili sat with his grandparents. Unira was at the altar, giving her eulogy. Trajen sat with Davel, Dimitri, Jay, Ana, and Axl, surrounded by their children.

Assured of their safety, he turned back to face the others, and used his powers to seal the temple doors behind him so that no one could get in to harm them. Likewise, he ran a check with his powers to make sure no one else had made an unauthorized landing. “Where were we?”

“Official Tavali business.” The Ryn impostor moved closer. “Any chance we could talk to the HAP?”

“None whatsoever.” Jullien gestured toward the main offices, and fell into his role of casual field admiral.

One of the many his grandmother had taught him early in life—how to handle the most terrifying situation as if it were a routine walk down the hall. To let no one ever see him panic or sweat. He could control his heart rate and facial expressions better than any spy or actor. “If you'd like to follow me, I can show you to a conference room where we can be more comfortable, and you can tell me what this is about.”

“Ah, yes. I'm part of a special coalition that Nykyrian Quiakides has put together. Have you ever met the man?”

“No.” Jullien folded his hands behind his back and allowed the impostor to give him more information so that he could see what the male actually knew, and what he didn't. “You?”

“Many times. He's quite the tactful politician. A real chip off his father.”

Yeah, not even a little. Other than their physical genetic similarities, his brother and father were polar extremes in every way. His father would grind his teeth and suffer his worst enemy for an interminable tea, then invite him back for dinner and allow him to screw his wife and daughter in his bed—all to keep the peace in his kingdom.

As a former top League assassin, Nyk's philosophy was,
Kill them all and let the gods sort them out.
And that was just for inhaling his air space at the wrong time of day.

His father believed everyone had a right to be heard, no matter what thought was in their head—unless you happened to be his son named Jullien. Then every thought in your mind was trivial, ill-conceived, and drug-induced.

Nyk believed the wise spoke when they had something to say, an idiot when they had to say something. And if you were an idiot, you'd best keep your opinion to yourself.

Especially if you were his brother named Jullien.

Hmmm, they did have more in common than Jullien remembered.

Pushing that thought aside, he scanned the bay as they walked through it to make sure there were no other ships docked without clearance. As far as he could tell, these three were the only ones on the station who didn't belong here.

And there was only one unfamiliar ship in the bay. Regular class. Unremarkable.

Jullien opened the doors that led to the offices above, and allowed them to enter first so that he could keep an eye on them. “Met the emperor, have you?”

“Yes. Triosan's very stern, but fair. As you know, we're all coming together to form an alliance against The League.”

“We've heard some rumors.” He gestured toward the stairs on his left.

“It's more than rumors. My mother's expecting full cooperation from all the Nations. I'm here to get access codes for Nykyrian and his Sentella forces.”

Jullien arched his brow at that. “You don't say?”

“Yes. We thought it best that I come in person, as it would be more secure than trying to transmit them.”

Jullien swiped his card for his office door, then stood back for them to go inside ahead of him. “Very true. So what codes do you need?”

“We'll expect the overrides so that we can command your Hadean Corpsmen as we need them. As well as any Stitches you have. And we need to know where your ships, people, and bases are so that we don't accidentally trip over each other or put your people in the line of fire. We want to protect all Tavali resources.”

Sounded more like they intended to raid them.

Jullien gestured for them to be seated. While the Ryn impostor continued to talk, the other two were much more attentive to the station details. Especially the woman. She was carefully making mental notes of everything they passed.

“I take it you're doing this with all the Nations?” he asked their leader.

“Of course.”

“Even Venik?”

The impostor nodded. “He was first.”

Jullien arched a brow at that. “He didn't balk?”

“No. Not at all.”

“Fascinating.”

The Ryn impostor walked around and slowly examined the artwork Viv and Mira had drawn that decorated Jullien's office walls. “You just have the two daughters?”

Tucking his hands into the pockets of his red jacket, he shrugged. “Well … we never really know, do we?”

“Pardon?”

Jullien decided to play repugnant nonchalance to its full extent. He wasn't about to voluntarily give them anything they could use against him. Rule two he'd learned at home—
never let anyone know what you care about, and it couldn't be used against you, especially if it was sentient and could bleed.
“You know what they say—
Mama's baby. Daddy's maybe
.”

As planned, that caught the bastard completely off-guard. “You doubt your wife's fidelity?”

“I doubt everyone's fidelity.” Using his telekinesis, Jullien quietly tucked the photograph of Ushara and the kids under the papers on his desk before they saw it. If they didn't know his wife was the VA, he sure wasn't going to tell them. He also locked the door. “Is it just the three of you here today?”

“It is.”

“And that was your ship in the bay?”

“Yes. We'll need it refueled before we leave. I'm sure you won't have a problem charging the UTC for it.”

Jullien stroked his whiskers. “No. No problem there, but I do have one question, Ambassador.”

“That is?”

“What happened to the
Cruel Victory
?”

The impostor scowled. “The
Cruel Victory
?”

“Yeah, you know … the ship your mother gave you when you became a captain. It's the only ship Ryn Cruel has ever flown. And he's never flown without his full crew, which is more than just his stryper and head HC.”

Jullien drew his blasters at the same time they did. “Yeah,” he said slowly as he held a blaster in both hands. One pointed at the woman and her accomplice and the other at
Ryn
. “I'm
that
fast. Now, who are you? Really?”

“I told you who we are. And I will have your ass for this.”

“Yeah, I don't think so. I've known Ryn since the day I attended his coronation on Caron while he was still in nappies.”

Then Jullien heard the subtle sound.

A trip wire.

Too late, he realized they weren't Tavali. They were tiradors—suicide bombers. And they were here to destroy them all.

 

C
HAPTER
36

Ushara felt the rumbles of an explosion rock through the station. Everyone stood while they looked around for the source.

The color drained from Trajen's face as he started past her.

“What is it?” she asked him.

He didn't answer.

By that alone, she knew it was bad. Ushara handed Viv off to her mother before she followed Trajen. Vasili was right behind her, with Thrāix and Davel. “Where's Jules?”

Like Trajen, Thrāix didn't answer.

Vas shrugged. “I don't know. He took Viv to the bathroom, last I saw.”

Trajen stopped at the temple doors and turned back to face her. “You need to stay here with your family. Last thing you need is to inhale dangerous fumes in your condition.”

But she knew that look on his face. “What happened?”

“Vas … keep your mom and sisters here. I'm depending on you.”

True panic dimmed her sight. Trajen
never
kept things from her. Not unless he was trying to protect her, and there was only one thing she could think that he'd protect her from at a time like this.

Jullien's death.

Her breathing ragged, she grabbed his arm. “Trajen, don't treat me like this. Tell me what's going on!”

Thrāix met her gaze over his shoulder. “Jullien just saved our lives. Now we're going to try and save his.” And with that, he vanished.

His dark eyes haunted, Trajen swallowed hard. “Yeah. Stay here and wait for us.”

Oh like hell! If Jullien was in trouble, she was going to help, too.

Ushara turned toward her parents. “Matarra! Take the kids. I need to suit up.” Without waiting on anyone or stopping for anything, she headed for the lockers in the bay where she kept her hardsuits stored.