Born of Legend (61 page)

What he would find.

But he had to try.

Hoping for the best, Jullien headed the fighter into the oldest port on Eris. Time to put his new eyes to the test and see just how well stralen worked for him with a regular Ixurian Andarion population.

As soon as he landed in Eris, he popped the cockpit and climbed down. The landing bay's CP came over to grill him, but luckily bribes still worked on Andaria.

And so did his forged credentials.

Jullien pulled his collar up and took a deep breath as he headed for the street. He hadn't been home in five years. Not since the night Tylie had thrown him out and Kelsei had shot him and almost severed his spine.

He'd sworn he'd never come back here.

Damn you, Nyran.

Things had definitely changed. Not just because of the activity on the streets for Nyk's birthday celebration. Fashions were a lot less restrictive. Their soldiers weren't as heavily armed and the citizens seemed a lot happier.

He was also attracting a lot more attention than he wanted.

Irritated by it, Jullien pulled his sunglasses out and put them on as he did his best to blend in with the crowd. He drifted out, toward the river where the old drainage pipes had once allowed his grandmother's guards to float bodies out of the basement and dispose of them without being seen.

Now, those same pipes would hopefully allow him private access into the palace, provided Nyk and his mother didn't know about it and hadn't destroyed them.

Hoping and praying, he held his breath until he located the old, rusted-out pipes. Unbelievably enough, they were fully intact. It appeared his mother and brother had no idea the vörgäte existed. Lucky them. His mother must not have
ever
pissed her mother off as a girl.

Jullien crawled inside the smelly, filthy pipes and slowly made his way to his grandmother's private dungeon. Curling his lip in disgust, he turned his torch on and suppressed a shiver as old memories returned with a bloody vengeance. He hated being back here. But thank the gods his paranoia had been such that he'd known one day he'd need evidence.

Experience had taught him not to keep it anywhere his family could get to it. Any place someone might stumble on it and out him.

Choking on bile and bitterness, and a potent rage that he hadn't tasted in a long time, he finally entered the vörgäte and headed to the cell that had been reserved exclusively for his numerous stays here.

As he walked through the doorway of the tiny cell that was still decorated with his blood, a wave of painful memories hit him so forcefully that for a moment, he thought he might go down with it. His breathing became labored and for a moment, he was that child again. All the years of hopelessness. Of fear and horror.

Those feelings of being unwanted. Unloved. Undeserving of anything, even compassion or mercy.

Damn, how many years would have to go by before he could let this shit go?

Disgusted, he refused to think about it. Or them. They didn't matter anymore. None of them did. It was all in the past.

Think of Ushara. Vas.

The babies …

That was the present. Not this shit-hole. But it was harder than even he had thought it would be. Damn.

Breathing slow and easy, he knelt on the floor next to the commode and removed the bricks from behind the bottom of it where he'd burrowed a small hiding spot. He'd once risked life and limb to secret the chips he'd stored down here.

And for a moment, he could see himself as a boy again, feel the pain of their cruelty ringing in his heart and ears. Tears stung his throat as he glanced around the walls where he'd carved the words
J
ULLIEN INDURARI
with his claws, over and over again to help himself stay sane.

It hadn't helped. Not really.

All he'd wanted was one day of peace. One family member to reach out to him and show him kindness. A modicum of compassion or care.

They never had.

Brushing at his eyes and refusing to let them have another minute of his life, he cleared his throat and tucked the chips in his pocket. As fast as he could, he got out of the hole he'd hated with every fiber of his being.

Without thinking and because he was so upset, he made a wrong turn in the tunnels and came out inside the palace, instead of near the river where he was supposed to.

Shit!

He'd instinctively headed toward his old bedroom.
That
wouldn't have been so bad, except the door locked behind him and there was no way to access tunnels from this side without it being really obvious, since he was right outside the door for the head of the royal guard. And the only other access point was inside the tadara's bedchamber.

Yeah …

His mother or one of her staff would definitely notice if he were to walk into her bedroom and access the doorway there.

With no choice except to brazen this out, he held his head high and put on his best royal swagger, then headed for the front of the palace.

“Excuse me?”

Titana ræl
 …

Grinding his teeth, Jullien inwardly cringed at the sound of Kelsei's deep, hostile voice. He turned ever so slightly toward her and prayed she didn't recognize him. “Yes?”

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?”

“I was separated from my tour group. Just trying to locate them.”

She narrowed her gaze on him. “What's your name and caste?”

Shit.
Time to get really brazen.

And extremely stupid.

He pulled his glasses down to show her his stralen eyes and let his sleeve fall back to discreetly reveal the tattoo on his arm that would add veracity to his lie. “I'm a War Hauk, obviously. Another reason I just want to get out of here.
Mu
Ger Tarra thought this would be amusing, and I just find it uncomfortable and in poor taste. So if you could point me to the nearest exit, I won't bother you anymore.”

Kelsei relaxed and actually turned kind. Wow. He'd never witnessed a non-bitch expression on her face before. She was actually quite beautiful. No wonder Tylie was so devoted to her. He saw the attraction now. “I should have known, given your size and build, and carriage. What made you leave the military?”

“Merrell Anatole,” he said, throwing his cousin under a shuttle since Merrell had single-handedly chased most of the Hauks out of the armada. And every Anatole and Hauk knew it.

“Oh. My apologies, Gůr Tana, if I dredged up any bad memories.”

Jullien didn't speak as they literally came face-to-face with Tylie who entered the hallway in front of them.

Son of a bitch, can't I catch one break today?

“Where have you been, Kels? I need—” Tylie's sentence stopped as she saw Jullien. She scowled. “Do I know you?”

Kelsei smiled pleasantly. “He's a War Hauk. Came in with a tour group and got lost. I'm showing him out.”

Tylie said something else, but Jullien wasn't paying attention to her. He was staring up at Nyk, who was holding one of his sons as he and an obviously pregnant Kiara walked by on the landing above them. With her arm wrapped through Nyk's, their mother laughed and joked with his brother and Kiara. Now, there was a kick to the stones Jullien could have seriously done without.

What? Were the gods fucking bored today?

In that moment, he felt every single rejection and slap his family had ever given him. All at once. They hit him with a massive hurricane force that left him breathless and dizzy.

Weak and reeling.

Damn you all to Tophet!

And damn me.

Needing to withdraw, he started to turn away when his gaze fell to a servant.

No, not a servant. He was too attentive to everything around him. Too ripped. And he was wearing boots with sliding heels that were custom-made to conceal blades. The kind of boots used by assassins, seaxes, and Tavali. Having been on the run for the last five years, Jullien had learned well to spot bastards like him in a crowd.

And while he wasn't the target today, he knew the assassin was most likely going for Nykyrian, who was distracted by his family.

Without a second thought, Jullien ran for the beast and tackled him. The assassin came up with a blaster. And when he did, he revealed three of his friends in the room, who moved to cover him.

Nykyrian rushed his mother and wife across the landing to safety while Jullien disarmed the first one. He twisted the blaster out of his hand, then knocked him unconscious. Guards fired on the other two while Jullien shot the last one.

Then he quickly dropped his weapon and held his hands up so that no one misunderstood his intentions.

“It's okay!” Kelsei shouted to the guards. “He's the one who saw the attack coming. Don't shoot him!”

Jullien heard footsteps rushing down the stairs. His stomach shrank at the sound. Glancing up, he saw Nyk headed straight for his position.

Unlike Tylie, his brother wasn't an idiot. Nyk would definitely ID him.

Jullien bolted for the nearest door and didn't stop running for blocks. Not until his sides ached so much, he couldn't breathe, and he was sure no one was following him. Only then did he slow down and wheeze in an effort to catch his breath again.

Grateful he'd made it out, he headed back for the fighter.

*   *   *

It was almost midnight before Jullien made it home. He opened the door, trying to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake Ushara or Vas.

But once he shut and locked the door and turned around, he froze. Ushara was asleep on the couch underneath a huge
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
banner that Vasili and Nadya and her sisters must have made for him. And speaking of, Vas and Nadya were curled up on the floor near an uneven cake that had
Happy Birthday
scribbled on it in writing that must have been Nadya's attempt with someone else's help. It also had a Nadya-sized bite taken out of it.

His throat tight, he took a quick picture of them before he slowly crossed the room to brush the hair back from Ushara's face.

She came awake with a start. “Hey, baby.”

He kissed her cheek. “Looks like someone was busy.”

Her face pinkened. “We wanted to surprise you. I can't believe we fell asleep.”

“Definitely surprised. It's beautiful.”

Rubbing at her eyes, she sat up. “Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “They've never meant much to me. Since my mother was ill while I was growing up, no one ever celebrated mine. They came and went without comment.”

She scowled at him. “You've never had a party?”

He shook his head. “Just this one.” He smiled at her. “It's my favorite by far.”

Her expression turned weepy as she cupped his face in her hands. She scratched playfully at his whiskers. “At least you came home unscathed this time.”

“I did. See, you
can
let me out of your sight.”

“I don't know if I'd go
that
far.”

As Jullien started to pick her up to carry her to the bedroom, something fell to the floor. He scooped it up and frowned. “What's this?”

“Your present.”

He opened the tiny box to find a black wedding ring with the Samari family symbols engraved over it. Tears choked him at the sight. “It's incredible.”

“I tracked it down through an auction house. It actually belonged to your gre paran, Adron Samari. Look inside it.”

Jullien tilted it so that he could see the engraving. As he read the words, his throat tightened with a fierce rush of overwhelming love and gratitude for the female before him.

KITRÍEWE GEVYLHYT YVONA HÆFRE STRADA ROWGH FAUR LORINAS SĂLBATIC GEVAAR PRAEGU.

It was an old Andarion saying—
True love will always find its way through paths where even feral lorinas fear to prey.

“I don't know what to say.”

She tugged gently at his hair. “Well … you can always start by explaining to me why you were at the Andarion palace yesterday.”

His jaw went slack in shock. “What?”

“I'm not an idiot, Jules. I saw the newsfeed about the mysterious Hauk hero who helped stop an assassination attempt. While the footage is blurry, I know my husband when I see him. Now, you can tell me the truth or I can pull the logs on everyone's ships. If that doesn't work, I'll interrogate my sister and she'll crack like an egg. Mary fears me.”

He sat back on his haunches. “Shara—”

“I know something happened with your family while you were missing. Whatever it is, I can help. But you have to trust me. You're not alone, Jules. Not anymore. I am here for you.”

He looked away as fear and anger tore through him. “It's not that easy, Shara. You don't know what they're capable of.”

“And you've no idea what I'll do to protect my family, and that includes you.” She took his hand and led it to her stomach. “I want you here to see your children born. More than that, I want you to help me raise them. But I can't help you or protect myself or Vas if I don't know what's coming for us. If you really love or respect me, then you have to trust me enough to be honest about what's going on.”

She was right, and he knew it. But it was so hard.

Taking her hands into his, he held them and choked on the words. “I can't lose you, Shara. You are all I have in this life.”

A tear slid down her cheek as she took his ring and slid it on his finger. “And you are my heart.”

Nodding, he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it, then forced himself to do the one thing he'd never done before.

He trusted her with the whole truth. “Nyran is the bastard son of Braxen Venik.”

Her jaw went slack. “What?”

Jullien let out a tired sigh. “I had no idea they were related. He's the one who had the finger planted in Vasili's backpack. He has spies everywhere. Apparently, he went to hide with his father after his mother died, and Merrell and Chrisen were killed in the Ring by Talyn Batur. When I left Andaria, he was in jail with his two brothers Talyn later killed. His father or Tavali brothers must have helped him escape. Once I came here, he found me through them.”