Born of Legend (87 page)

“Oh dear gods…”

Luckily, this time Jullien found them asleep, curled together on the floor of their room. He smiled at the sight of them, then carefully carried them to bed and tucked them in to rest. They were so precious to him. No matter what they did or how much trouble they found, he couldn't bring himself to hurt them. He'd only yelled at them once when they were about to get hurt, and when they'd burst into tears, it'd crushed him so badly that he hadn't raised his voice to them since. Never once had he thought about lifting a hand to harm them.

Which made him wonder how his own parents could have hated him so vehemently. What had been so wrong with him, so defective, that he'd never been able to make them feel this in their hearts when they looked at him? Was it because he was a hybrid? Had that kept them from seeing him as theirs?

Or was it something more?

“Are you all right?”

He turned at the sound of Ushara's voice and offered her a smile. “Just admiring how much they favor their mother. And thinking how lucky I am.”

“Glad to hear it. I've been thinking about something, too.”

“Why does that tone of voice make my sphincter clench?”

She laughed at him. “Premonition?”

“Yeah, I think I'm about to make that diamond for you.”

Laughing even harder, she shook her head. “It's not that bad. I wanted to talk to you about adding to our family.”

“We're getting that puppy Mira wanted?”

“I'm being serious, Jules.”

“So was I.”

Snorting at his humor, she wrapped her arms around his waist and held him. “We could get a puppy, if you want, but I was thinking of going off birth control.”

The humor died in his eyes. “Shara—”

She pressed her fingers against his lips to silence his protest. “I know what you're going to say, but I want more little Juleses running loose.”

“Why? They already outnumber us. Dear gods, what if we have more twins? The horror of that alone is enough to make
me
want to be neutered. And I'm not the one who'd have to go through pregnancy and labor.”

She laughed again. “You're so silly. Besides, I know better. I see the way your eyes light up the instant you come home and rush after them. You love every minute of it.”

He glanced over at the bed, to the scribbles on the wall where Mira and Viv had left their marks. Ushara had wanted to paint over it, but he'd wanted it preserved. The girls had been so proud of their “art” that he'd put a frame around it to keep it safe.

Tilting her head, she tugged at his whiskers. “I don't mind the pregnancy or the birthing, Jules. But I don't want to force more on you if you're not ready.”

“I will defer to your wishes,
mu turu.
But be warned, I might kill your husband during your labor for his part in putting you through it again.”

 

C
HAPTER
33

Ushara turned the news off in her office and had to force herself not to throw the remote at the monitor. She was so angry, she was shaking. Furious, she gathered her things to go home.

Thrāix opened her door without being announced and froze as he took note of her mood. “Bad day?”

She paused to glare at him. “No. Awesome. Here to make it even better?”

“Depends. Your blaster fully charged?”

“Would you like me to drain it in your direction?”

“Oooh,” Thrāix said, laughing, “you are in a foul mood. So glad I'm not Jules tonight.” He tilted his head as if listening to her thoughts. Which only pissed her off more. “Ah … I get your anger now. And you're right … this will gut the shit out of him when he hears it.”

Ushara blinked back the tears that drowned her anger beneath a wave of pain. She gestured at the blank monitor, where Cairistiona's face had been just a few minutes ago. “How could that bitch adopt someone else when she already has a son who would give
anything
to come home and have her accept him? After all he did to protect her and keep her safe while she lay in a drugged stupor for years, leaving him to fend for himself? Letting them hurt him! She turned her back on Jules and then adopts a stranger? What the hell? It's not right!”

Thrāix sighed heavily. “Life never is, Shara. Of all creatures, you know that. So does Dagger. I don't know what his mother's thinking, or why she did what she did. Then or now. Maybe it had something to do with the newest development with the war.”

That took her anger down a notch as she frowned at him. “What newest development?”

“Did you not hear about the Phrixians?”

She straightened. “No. What about them?”

“They joined the Alliance today.”

Her jaw dropped at that stunner. Kyr Zemin, the League prime commander, was the eldest son of the Phrixian emperor. Had he not left the royal family to join their ranks, he would have been heir to their empire. But for reasons no one outside their family knew, Kyr had abdicated his standing to his younger brother to become an assassin decades ago. To her knowledge, the emperor had been fine with Kyr's decision. Proud, in fact, given that the Phrixians were an insanely martial race that made the Andarions look like pacifists in comparison.

The emperor had always gotten along with his son and backed Kyr in all things.

Until now.

“What happened?”

Thrāix shrugged. “Apparently, some falling out over the youngest Phrixian prince, Safir Jari. Zemin busted his League assassin's rank without process and was holding him in a League prison and torturing him. Once word reached the emperor, the Phrixians broke Jari out, denounced Zemin for it, and have now joined the Alliance against The League.”

She gaped. “What about Maris Sulle?” He was another of the Phrixian princes who'd been disinherited by the emperor—much like Jullien with his mother. They'd even issued a kill warrant for Sulle.

“All is forgiven, and all warrants canceled. Whatever Zemin did to Jari was far more egregious than the sin Sulle committed that got him disinherited.”

Ushara let out a low whistle. “Politics. How they reek.”

“Tell me about it. They cost me everything. Even my homeworld.”

She cringed at his barely audible words as she realized how insensitive she'd been with her offhand comment. While politics might irritate her, they'd left Thrāix a homeless orphan. She might hate Eriadne and the Andarions for what they'd done to her kind, but it was nothing compared to what had been done to the Trisani. “Sorry.”

“It's fine.”

No, it wasn't. They both knew that. No one could lose everything that he and Trajen had lost and be okay with it. She couldn't imagine how they must feel to be without a race or any kind of national identity. To have nothing left of their once-proud people.

Like Jullien. To be alone and isolated from everything and everyone they'd ever known. To have no one and nothing to rely on, except themselves and their own bitter, raw determination and resolve to not lie down and let the universe defeat them.

She couldn't imagine trying to rebuild her life the way they'd been forced to. It was why she held them in such esteem and regard. They were warriors in the truest sense of the word, and she admired them for it.

Ushara smiled as she joined him in the hallway. “So what can I do for you?”

Thrāix hesitated.

She arched her brow at his sudden awkwardness as he stepped outside so that she could seal and lock her office to leave. How unlike him. He was always so cocksure and in charge. “Is something wrong?”

“No … and sort of.” He rubbed at the back of his neck. “I kind of need your help, Admiral.”

Admiral? Oh, now she was terrified as she adjusted her briefcase. “Um, okay. What's going on?”

He let out an elongated breath, but before he could speak, his link went off with a strange, upbeat frolicky tone that was extremely out of character for the somber, handsome Trisani. Oddly enough, it sounded a lot like her sister Mary's favorite song. Blushing, he pulled it from his pocket to check it. “Can you please give me one second? It's important.”

“Sure.”

She watched as he stepped away, toward Zellen's empty desk, to speak in private.

“Yeah, I'm here.” He glanced back at her as he listened to his caller. Long and lean, he held a peculiar air about him that reminded her of Vasili whenever he was afraid of getting into trouble for something.

Or Jullien in the early days of their relationship whenever he was cautious that he'd done something to upset her or make her angry. Strange, she'd forgotten about that since Jullien had grown so comfortable with her now that she very rarely saw this side of his personality. It was so weird to see another male exhibit it around her, especially one she wasn't related to who held the extreme powers that Thrāix commanded so effortlessly.

Ushara was even more curious now. And her curiosity tripled as a slow blush crept over his chiseled, handsome features.

“I don't know if that's a good idea.” He sputtered for several seconds before he finally let out an exasperated growl. “Fine … Okay. Hold on.” Sheepishly, he headed back to Ushara and held the link out toward her. “It's for you.”

Yeah, this was even more peculiar. She took it and held it to her ear. “Admiral Samari. May I help—?”

“Oh, like I don't know who you are. Really?”

Her eyes widened at the familiar voice. “Mary?”

“Yeah, it's me. Of course it's me. Like you don't know your sister when you hear her … And yeah, you're confused and by now my sugar-honey is probably glowing in the dark, so tell him that you're okay with him being my nummy treat so he doesn't die of embarrassment, okay?”

Now Ushara was sputtering as badly as Thrāix had been doing a moment ago when he spoke to Mary.

Was she hearing that correctly? Or was she hallucinating? “B-b-beg your pardon?”

Mary let out an aggravated sigh before she spoke to Ushara like a parent with a child she was trying not to strangle. “Tell Thrāix that you have no problem with us being together, as in a united couple. That our parents are not going to flip out because he's not a Fyreblood, and that you'll be there tonight when we tell them that I'm pregnant and that we're planning on a unification ceremony in a few weeks.”

Her jaw fell wide open and hung there.

No. It locked there. She couldn't close her mouth for anything. She couldn't think. Couldn't move. She was stunned catatonic.

All Ushara could do was stare in shock at Thrāix, whose face was now bloodred.

Had she
really
heard that?

Pregnant?
Mary? Her flibbertigibbet baby sister?

With Thrāix?

No wonder he bought the condo next door. That
was why he'd been in such a hurry to get it when Lev moved out. Suddenly, a lot of odd things made sense. Things she'd noticed, but dismissed. Like how he always volunteered to run point for Mary every time she headed out, even though he wasn't Tavali …

He swallowed hard. “Admiral? Are you all right?”

No. Not even a little bit. Quite honestly, she'd stripped a gasket in her mind while trying to wrap her head around this whole unfathomable scenario.

Mary was sleeping with Thrāix.

This must be how everyone felt when they found out about me and Jullien.
She finally understood their shock. Not that she objected to Thrāix. Far from it.

He was wonderful. A truly great guy whom she adored. She'd just had no idea that he and Mary were …

Anything. Never mind doing
that
together while naked. The two of them were
so
different. In
every
way. She couldn't imagine the two of them having a conversation, never mind an actual relationship.

Mary was all silly and fluff. And Thrāix was anything but.

“Shara?”

She blinked at Mary's voice. “Yeah, I'm here. I … I … What do you need me to do exactly?”

“Can you take Thrāix to the house for dinner? I wanted to do it, but I'm going to be late getting in. I'll be there as soon as I can. Just keep him calm for me—he's really nervous about this. You're the only one who knows besides me and him. I wanted him to see that the family will be fine about it. He's convinced Paka's going to geld him with a knife. Smile and tell him no one's going to gut him over it. Love you!” Mary cut the transmission without warning or preamble.

Flabbergasted, Ushara handed the link back to Thrāix, who looked positively green and sick.

He gave her a wan smile.

“Well,” she said, stretching the word out. “They'll be a lot more welcoming to you than they were to Jullien.”

“Not very comforting. As I recall, they almost killed him … twice, and sold him into slavery.”

“See.
You
have nothing to worry about.”

Sighing, he slid the link into his pocket and turned even greener. “How bad will it be? Really?”

“Depends. Are you willing to convert?”

“Already started.” He pulled his sleeve back to show that he was wearing an Initiate's bracelet, which was given to those who had no background in any Andarion religion. Because Jullien had been raised in another branch of their basic faith, his conversion had been a little different and a lot quicker, as Jullien had intimate knowledge of their rituals, services, holidays, and gods.

Thrāix, on the other hand, would have to learn everything from the beginning. “Since I know how important temple and religion are to Mary and your family, I volunteered as soon as Mary told me she was expecting, and she agreed to marry me.” He shrugged his sleeve down. “I lost faith in my gods a long time ago. Maybe yours will be kinder to me.”

“Oh.” She waved her hand and blew out air dismissively. “See, you've got nothing to worry about,” she repeated. “That would be their biggest concern about your marriage, and you're already taking care of it. No, they won't be jumping through hoops. But it's Mary. We know she's never done anything the traditional way.”