Born of Legend (58 page)

Too grateful to see her again to really fight about it, Jullien brushed his hand against her stomach that was only just beginning to bulge ever so slightly. “I should be angry at you, but I'm not. I'm just glad to see you. I still can't believe that we're going to have a baby.”

“Brace yourself,
mi keramon
. Not one baby … two. It's twins in there.”

For a full heartbeat, he couldn't breathe as those words slapped him hard. “What?”

Nodding, she picked up her link and turned it on. “I haven't been feeling well and my mother made me go to the doctor. She did the ultrasound and this was what she found.”

Jullien's breath rushed out of him as he saw the images of two very small fetuses. He grinned as he watched them. “We're having jumping beans.”

She laughed. “Yes, this fall, we will have your jumping beans. They're due at the end of Cantlos. But I'm told that twins usually come early, so we shouldn't waste any time preparing the nursery.”

Tears filled his eyes as love and fear overwhelmed him. He was going to be a father.

Him.

What were the gods thinking? Were they insane?

Unable to sort through everything he felt, he sank to his knees and placed his head against her precious stomach that held the most incredible miracle he'd never dared to imagine for himself. How could any male be so happy and terrified at the same time? So proud of what would come and yet humbled by the gift of the female in his arms?

Closing his eyes, he did the one thing he hadn't done in so long, he hadn't even known he could still do it.

He prayed.

The gods could have his worthless life and soul, and do with it what they would. All he asked was that they kept Ushara and her children safe.

Ushara bit her lip as she brushed her hand through Jullien's soft hair while he kept her locked in a tight grip for so long that she began to worry about him. “
Mi'ki
?”

He placed a gentle kiss to her stomach before he spread his hand flat against it, and looked up at her. “I will not let anyone threaten you or your children. On my honor. With my last drop of blood. I will keep you safe.”

“I know,
mi tiuri
.” But she sensed that there was something else bothering him. Something deeper than his normal concerns and paranoia. “Are you sure you're all right?”

Nodding, he took her hand and placed it to his cheek. An Ixurian sign of extreme affection.

She stroked his bruised cheek gently. “Are you ready to go home?”

He rose slowly and led her to the shuttle. Yet even so, there was a profound change in him and she could feel it.

“Jules?”

He met her gaze with an arched brow.

“Who hurt you?”

“It doesn't matter. They're not important.”

She stared aghast at him. “How do you figure?”

He nudged her down into the pilot's chair and fastened her into her seat. “Do you trust me, Shara?”

“Of course.”

“Then let me handle this.” He moved to sit next to her as he began the prelaunch sequence for her.

Her breath caught as she had a sudden bad feeling. There was only one thing it could be. One thing he would refuse to discuss with her like this.

His family.

Somehow they'd found him. Nothing else would make him act this strangely. Or have him this upset and secretive. And as she scanned the bruises on his body while he prepared the launch, it all made sense.

Those marks were from someone who'd wanted to seriously hurt him. They were personal injuries that came with a vendetta. Injuries that made her want to hurt his family all the more.

Haven't you done him enough harm?
Why couldn't they leave him alone?

But it wasn't until they'd landed at home, late the next morning, and she had him back in her house that she saw the full extent of his injuries. And then, not until he came out of the shower and she caught sight of him dressing in their bedroom.

“Oh dear saints, Jules!” She gasped at the welts, cuts, and bruises along his spine. The footprints on his ribs, chest, and stomach. “Can I not leave you alone for five minutes?”

“Probably not.” He smirked at her. “I'm a contentious asshole with severe dysfunctional relationship issues that lead me to extreme forms of antagonism and aggression against my peers in most social situations. Even I'm surprised by what comes out of my mouth most days.”

Ushara rolled her eyes at his playful sarcasm. “Get in bed. Right now.” She reached for her link to call her mother.

But Jullien didn't make it to the bed. He collapsed at her feet.

“Jules?” Ushara knelt down by his side, then panicked. He hadn't passed out.

He'd stopped breathing completely.

 

C
HAPTER
21

Jullien came awake with a violent, painful jolt to find Trajen leaning over him. His head pounded as he scowled up at the dark, dangerous Trisani. “What the hell, man?”

Scowling furiously, Trajen let out a relieved breath before he slapped him hard. “You ever die on me again, Andarion, and I'll rip your throat out. I mean every word of that.”

“Okay, then. I see those employee motivational courses Ushara insisted you take have really been paying off. You haven't wasted your creds on them, at all,” he said drily.

Trajen snorted. “You're such a smart-ass.” He helped Jullien sit up. “How you feeling?”

“Extremely confused.” He rubbed at the pain in the center of his chest as he looked around the room. “Why am I half naked in my bedroom with you fondling me? Is there some confession you need to make?”

Trajen shoved at him. “You're not that cute. Even with the fangs. And I'm too sober to be tempted to lose my wizard powers for your sorry ass.… Do you remember what happened?”

Jullien rose slowly to his feet. “I was coming out of the shower.”

“Yeah?”

“Then you were rubbing and slobbering on me.”

Trajen made an obscene gesture at him. “The main detail you're missing is the part where you fell dead on the floor at Ushara's feet.”

Jullien froze. “What?”

He nodded slowly. “You want to talk about it?”

“Talk about what? I have no memory of it.… I really died?”

“Yeah, you did. I just ran enough electricity through you to power half this station. It's why you're so sore. Honestly, you didn't seem to want to come back.” Trajen caught him as he stumbled. “Careful. You might want to sit.” He helped Jullien toward the bed.

His lungs felt thick suddenly as the room tilted and spun around him. Jullien struggled to breathe. He stretched out on the bed and coughed, then choked and gurgled.

Trajen caught his arm and stretched it over his head. “You using again?”

He shook his head. Truly, it felt as if his lungs were solidifying. No air could get past his throat.

“Don't lie to me.”

Unable to speak, Jullien started wheezing. He had no idea what was happening. Pain tore through him. The harder he tried to use his lungs, the less they wanted to work. Tears blinded him. He shook all over.

Trajen rolled him to his side. “Breathe, little brother. Slow and easy.”

He was trying, but there wasn't anything easy about it. It hadn't been this difficult since he'd been a kid and his stupid cousins' uncle had made him run maneuvers on Kirovar.

Damn you, Barnabas Cabarro.

Climbing onto the bed with him, Trajen wrapped his arms around him and squeezed his chest so hard that for a moment, Jullien feared he'd break a rib. But after a minute, the pressure started helping to loosen whatever was seizing his lungs. “Deep breaths. Don't fight me.”

After a few minutes more, Jullien's breathing returned to normal and the wheezing finally stopped.

Trajen slowly backed the pressure off and laid him down on the bed. “Just stay there and take it easy.” He covered him with a blanket before he slid off the mattress.

“Does this mean we're dating?”

Trajen let out a sound of supreme aggravation. “A simple
thank you, Tray, for not letting me die
would be nice.”

“Thank you, Tray. But next time, you could buy me dinner before you fondle me in my marital bed.”

He hit him with a pillow. “Gah. You're such an obnoxious ass.” He conjured a small vial and handed it to him. “You need to drink this.”

“What are you poisoning me with now?”

“You don't want to know. But it'll clear the remnants of Bliss out of your second set of lungs so that they don't keep seizing on you.”

Jullien went ramrod stiff.

Trajen let out a tired sigh. “Tell me I'm wrong and I'll believe you. But I've been around enough Fyrebloods to know the symptoms when I hear them rattling in your chest. Once you start breathing fire, there are some things you have to avoid. And Bliss is poison to your species.”

“I didn't take it voluntarily.” Grabbing the vial, Jullien opened it and drank the bitter liquid. With a fierce grimace, he cursed, then handed the vial back to Trajen. “So no, I'm not using again. But yes, it is in my body.”

“Okay.”

Jullien glared at him. “Why are you playing this shit with me, anyway? I don't like it, Trajen. I've been head-fucked my whole life. By everyone. I know you can pull the truth out of me quicker than I can tell it. So why this mind game?”

“Because I
can
pick and choose what I pull out of you. And I've
chosen
to trust you, which is an exceedingly rare thing for me to do. You've earned the right to keep your privacy. I won't go digging inside your head without your permission. No games, Jullien. I would never do that to you.”

“Appreciate it.”

Trajen inclined his head to him. “We good?”

“Are we?” he asked belligerently.

He scowled at Jullien. “Well, I was till you got that tone with me. Is there something else you need to confess?”

Jullien shook his head. “I'm just out of sorts. Sorry. I had a bad day. And falling down dead for no reason hasn't really helped my mental state any.”

Trajen clapped him on the shoulder. “No problem,
drey
. I'm here if you need me.” He hesitated. “I do feel that I should warn you about one thing before I let Ushara back in.”

“And that is?”

“End of next week, the UTC has its annual meeting. This year we're hosting it here at the station.”

“Yeah, okay…?” He let his voice trail off, unsure as to why this concerned him or why Trajen was bringing the matter up at this particular inconvenient time.

Like he gave a shit, right now.

“You familiar with Ryn Cruel?”

Since Ryn was Darling Cruel's older half brother, and had lived in the royal palace at Caron while their father had been alive, Jullien had attended a large number of functions with him. But given that Jullien was Andarion and a few years older, they'd never been friendly with each other. Ryn had his crew of humans he ran with, and their only interest in Jullien had been as a punchline.

“We've crossed paths a few times over the years.”

“Enough that he would know you on sight?”

Jullien grimaced. That was hard to say. Ryn's royal cronies had picked on him enough when he'd been overweight that they might, yet Ryn had never really participated in their cruelty. A time or two, he'd even tried to get them to stop. But that being said, Ryn had mostly avoided all contact with Jullien and the Andarion royal family.

Ryn's little brother, Darling, however, was another story. Jullien and Darling were well acquainted and had run up against each other several times over the years.

So …

“Maybe.”

“Then you need to be wary. As his mother's VA and virulent protector, he always runs scout for her. More than that, they sometimes have Darling with them. Although it's been a few years since Darling's attended with him—he and Ryn had a bit of a falling out a few years back, but it's not unheard of for Darling to come, especially if he's had a fight with his uncle.”

“Noted.”

“And…” Trajen paused for effect. “The one you have to be on guard against most is Venik.”

“Because of Malys.”

Trajen shook his head, then dropped the last name Jullien had ever expected to hear. “Because of Hauk.”

“Hauk?”

“Yeah. Fain Hauk is his right-hand pilot. Even though Hauk flies under a Rogue's Canting, Braxen Venik is his Tavali father, and he's fiercely loyal to Ven. Hauk functions as his field admiral and he's always with him for these. I know you two have bad blood between you. So I wanted you to know to keep a low profile while they're here. And take special note that because Hauk, as a Rogue, isn't supposed to be aligned to any one Nation, he hangs back away from Ven, and in particular the Danes and Hintos to keep them from getting suspicious about his loyalties. So he'll be ghosting the area and not officially with us. You'll find him in the bays or the bars, trying to be inconspicuous.”

“But not in the meetings.”

“Exactly. Same for Ryn. They have no idea that I know anything about them. Especially since they're not allowed to attend the closed sessions. Ryn usually hangs around or in his ship. Same for Fain. In fact, the Danes don't even know he exists. Not sure the Hintos do either. That's how low a profile Hauk keeps. But if he sees
you—
”

“He'll know me instantly and bust my ass … as will Darling.” And while Jullien could take Darling without much effort, Fain could go either way. He was a former titled Andarion Ring champion.

Because Jullien was a hybrid, he'd been banned from Ring matches—even in the Open league—but he'd seen Fain fight enough to know he would be a handful in battle. Jullien wasn't afraid of him. Just respectful of the fact that if it came down to it, Fain wouldn't be an easy victory, and could possibly be the end of one former Andarion tiziran.