But that came with its own risk, in that if someone found a body, they'd start looking for the killer. First lesson he'd learned out here. Launch the bodies into s.p.a.ce. Keep the a.s.sa.s.sins, both alive and dead, as far away from his position as he could.

The only good thing about being stuck here in the Oksanan desert was that it played havoc with all electronic equipment. And while that kept him isolated from the other worlds, it also allowed him to remain breathing.

Bastien picked up the pack of salvaged goods and slung it over his back before he headed toward his burned-out home that had been the former base of one Aksel Bredeh. Sc.u.mbag Knttr based on the debris Bastien had cleaned out on his arrival.

He didn't know who or what Bredeh had crossed, but someone had taken offense to the man and his troops. There were still bloodstains and blaster marks Bastien couldn't get rid of. Which was probably good since it helped with the illusion that the base remained abandoned should anyone happen upon it.

Not that anyone ever did. Probably why Bredeh had chosen it.

Three hundred years ago, this little rock known as Oksana had been a major player in the politics of the Nine Worlds and had been the home of one of the richest, most revered and prestigious ruling families. In fact, interstellar travel and war had both begun here.

Until the Oksanans had decided to go up against The League and overthrow the one military power that governed them all. The result had been that the once lush, green planet was reduced to the desert hole Bastien now called home.

Probably why the electronics were wonky. No doubt there was enough residual radiation left behind from those bombings even after three hundred years that Bastien would either be sterile or father children with eight legs some day.

He laughed at the thought as he looked up at the bleak, blinding sky. "Least you could do, G.o.d ... make me glow in the dark so I'd save on battery life."

That at least would be helpful.

"Look on the bright side. You only have thirteen and a half more years of this."

Bastien stopped dead in his tracks as that reality hit him harder than a physical blow.

I can't do it.

This last year had almost killed him-and that didn't account for the a.s.sa.s.sins who were trying to cut his throat. They at least gave him some form of personal interaction. Brief though it was.

And cheap entertainment. The look on their face when he, the lowly Ravin, finished them off was priceless.

No, it was the solitude. The grief that tore him apart. Because here, where there was nothing but his thoughts to keep him company, all he could think about was how different everything would have been had he never met the Wyldestarrins. At all.

How much better off his family would have been had he let Alura die that day, instead of rescuing her. So maybe this fate was justice after all.

I did kill my family.

One act of compa.s.sion. Of kindness. By thinking of her life over his, he'd sown the destruction for his own.

No, it shouldn't be that way. She should have been grateful for everything he'd done for her. Should have been loyal.

But people weren't like that. In the end, Jullien had been right about everything. Put no one at your back unless you want them to drive a knife through it.

Bastien sank to his knees in the scorching sand. A part of him wanted to lie down and let the hot desert take him and wipe out his existence as easily as the sandstorms did his footsteps. It'd be so much easier. He had nothing to live for. Not really.

That's not true and you know it.

His family had died a hard, brutal death at the hands of his uncle's henchmen. With the help of Alura, Barnabas had gotten away with it. And framed him in the process. If he died, Barnabas would never pay for his crime.

"You promised them."

And a Cabarro never broke their oath.

Get on your feet, soldier. Pay that b.a.s.t.a.r.d back. h.e.l.l. High water. Whatever it took, he wouldn't rest until he stood over his uncle's grave.

He'd made a promise to the Overseer, too.

h.e.l.l was coming. And Bastien planned to bring it with both fists.

"How could she do this to us?"

Ember didn't comment on Cin's question as she helped Brand carry their mother's body into the cave they'd found for shelter. "Kindel?"

"I got it. Me and Ash are setting the perimeter charges and monitors."

Brand sank to her knees next to Ember and took their mother's cold hand. Tears welled in her eyes. "I can't believe she's gone."

Choking on her own tears she didn't dare shed for fear of it incapacitating her, she pulled her sister into her arms and held her. "How's your wound?"

"It pales in comparison to the hole in my heart." Brand had taken three shots as they'd fought their way out of an ambush. An ambush they'd have never survived had their mother not given her life for theirs.

A sob escaped Ember's lips against her will as she struggled to hold back her tears over the memory of her mother falling beneath the barrage of fire. Char Wyldestarrin had always been the strongest, most capable soldier in the universe.

Now ...

Ember choked. "Has anyone called Sa?"

Cin grew eerily quiet as she secured the opening of their cave so that no one would be able to detect their presence inside it.

At her sister's reluctance to answer, Ember tasted bile in her throat. "What?"

Still she didn't speak. "We need to inventory supplies. They'll be probing for us."

"Cin..."

Her eyes swam with tears as she finally looked at Ember and Brand. "He fell with his unit about three hours ago."

Brand stiffened in Ember's arms.

For a moment, she couldn't breathe as her entire world collapsed and she understood exactly how Bastien had felt at the moment he learned about his own parents' deaths. How he'd felt holding his mother's body in his arms.

No, not entirely. She still had her sisters alive and with her. And she wasn't being blamed for their deaths. Nor had she watched them die while being held down, unable to protect them.

Given how capable Bastien was as a soldier, that had to have killed him. She couldn't imagine a worse nightmare for anyone.

Shots rang out.

Brand shot to her feet and drew her weapon. Ember reluctantly left her mother's body to do the same.

Utter silence descended, making her heart race in fear that Kindel and Ashley might have gone down.

Please G.o.d, no....

She couldn't handle losing anyone else. Not today. Not like this.

"Em? Cin?"

Her breath came out in an audible gasp as she heard Kindel's voice just outside their cave. "We're here. What happened?"

"Tasi. She's coming in. Don't shoot at her like we did. She's kind of p.i.s.sed about it."

Cin wiped at her eyes with a nervous laugh as she saw her wife. Ember let out a ragged breath as they embraced and checked each other for injuries. At least one of them had some good news for the day.

"You okay, baby?" Tasi held on to Cin as if terrified of letting her go.

"Yeah. You?"

She nodded. "I was being followed or I'd have been here a lot sooner. I wanted to make sure I didn't bring more trouble to your door."

Ember holstered her blaster as raw panic continued to choke her. "Did you take care of it?"

"I did." Tasi smiled grimly. "Another reason I had to make sure I wasn't followed. Everything's secured. Just like you asked."

Thank the G.o.ds. Ember returned to Brand. "So what's going on at home?"

Tasi winced as she saw their mother's body on the ground. "You've all been accused of treason. If they find you, you'll be arrested on sight."

"Alura?" Cin asked before Ember had a chance.

Tasi grew silent.

Ember's stomach grew tight. "Did they kill her?"

She drew Cin into a hug then whispered in a low tone, "No. She's giving statements that have indicted the rest of you."

"How could she?" Brand whispered.

Cin tried to pull away, but Tasi held her fast. "You can't go after her. She's being protected. They're trying to draw you home."

"Good," Cin said firmly. "I'm willing to go."

"But I'm not willing to lose you. Now sit down with your sisters and let's think this through."

Ember was amazed when Cin obeyed her without question. Only Tasi could get Cin to listen. Especially in this mood.

Wiping at her eyes, she struggled to accept this new reality. Her parents were dead. And she and her sisters were wanted outlaws. "I warned Sa-sa. I knew they'd come for us. But Alura..."

"I'll kill that b.i.t.c.h!" Brand growled. "Gut her and bathe in her blood!"

At the moment, Ember couldn't agree more. And yet with her world crumbling, what she really wanted was Bastien. She needed him more right now than she ever had before. He'd have a plan to get them out of this. He'd know what to do. This kind of strategic planning was what he did best.

Not to mention scrounging for supplies. It was why they'd dubbed him Ghost Gadget, or GG, for a call sign. If you gave him a problem, any problem, big or small, he came up with a workable solution. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d made it look so easy.

But she had no idea where he was. If he was even alive.

Most likely not. Ravins only survived six to eight weeks. They were long past that now. He'd probably died years ago.

Alone.

That thought almost broke her as she imagined him going down under a barrage of fire as her mother had done. With no one there to care for his body.

No one there to shed a single tear for him.

Her Bas had deserved more than that.

"What are you thinking?" Cin asked. "I see those gears working."

Ember cleared her throat as she blinked back her tears. "Wondering what Bastien would do."

Brand sighed. "You think he's still alive?"

"I don't know." Yet she never failed to pray for him. Even now, he was still a part of her.

"I do," Kindel said as she and Ashley joined them. "He's too ornery to die. That p.r.i.c.k will live just to spite them. You'll see. And he'll be back for his vengeance. Just like he said."

Ash laughed. "He always kept his word. No reason to think he wouldn't keep this one."

"Yeah, especially if he felt like I do right now." Kindel took her jacket off and wrapped it around their mother. "They left us for dead."

"And framed us." Ash shook her head. "I want Barnabas's a.s.s in a grinder."

"You'll get it," Brand a.s.sured her. "Right after I cut out Alura's lying tongue and shove it down her treacherous throat."

Yet as Ember sat there, listening to them vent and plot their vengeance, the one thing she knew beyond a doubt was that their lives would never be the same again.

In the blink of an eye, everything had changed.

Everything. And they had no solid ground to stand on. Nothing solid to reach for. Not even their names. Barnabas had taken everything from them.

How could they start over with so little?

And in that heartbeat, she heard Bastien's voice in her head. She saw his handsome, teasing face. Life tries us all, Em. It's going to kick you in the b.a.l.l.s and test every bit of your mettle. The true measure of humanity isn't how you cope when everything's coming your way. It's what you do when you're being pile-drived headfirst into the ground. You can lie down and let them kill you. Or stand up with a fist and a finger and shout out "Is that all you got? 'Cause you ain't gonna take me down, b.i.t.c.hes. So bring it with both fists. I'm ready."

Yeah, Kindel was right. Bastien wouldn't be dead. Not with that ironclad defiance of his. Nothing had ever rattled her baby. You could knock him down for a minute, but you better duck when he stood up.

And Bastien always got up, dusted off the blood, and went for the throat.

How weird that right now all she wanted was to feel his arms around her and to hear his voice in her ear telling her that it would be okay. That she could do it.