Yeah, that was how the stories about him went. Bastien had no reason to doubt their validity.

"I don't take threats, Hauk. But this one ... I consider a suggestion for my continued health and well-being. Thanks for the warning." Clearing his throat, he inclined his head at them. "Follow me."

He wasted no time getting them back to his base and stashing the airbees in an outlying shed.

As they left the small building and headed for his base, he finally took a second to introduce himself. "I'm Bastien, by the way."

"Darice Hauk," the boy said, proving that he was definitely a member of Dancer's family.

"Thia Quiakides."

Bastien froze at the girl's name. "Quiakides?"

She groaned out loud. "You know my father, too?"

Bastien snorted. "Never met him, but I know who he is." They were cousins, after all. But Nykyrian had supposedly died before Bastien had been born.

With the exception of Jullien, who'd kept Nykyrian's living-state a secret for both their healths and continued well-being, no one else in the family had ever been told that Nykyrian was still alive. Not until a few months before Barnabas had killed Bastien's immediate family and had him arrested for the murders.

Then Nyk had returned to resume his rightful place in the Triosan and Andarion empires with a vengeance. And Jullien had been thrown to the a.s.sasins.

Bastian started to say something to Thia about being cousins, but self-preservation kept him from it. He'd had enough family betrayal for one lifetime. Last thing he needed was to chance any more, and he didn't know these beings at all.

Better safe than a thousand times sorry. He was through being a doe-eyed innocent and having his b.a.l.l.s handed to him by people he trusted.

As they neared the door, Thia slowed.

Immediately alert, Bastien pulled his weapon. "You see something?"

Tears swam in her eyes. Even though it was dark, they shimmered clearly. "This is where my mother died, isn't it?"

c.r.a.p ...

He'd been so involved with his own concerns and pain, he hadn't even considered that. This had to be utterly devastating for her, especially given her tender age. Probably a decade or so younger than him, she was just entering adulthood, which meant she'd been a kid when her mother died.

Having lost his own family, he knew exactly how soul-wrecking this was for her. He couldn't imagine having to go through that loss at the age she'd have been.

Luckily, he caught himself before the words "don't think about it" slipped out of his stupid mouth. She wasn't a soldier. Wasn't used to compartmentalizing her pain. That alone had saved his sanity, though there were times when he didn't think he was sane anymore. Even more times when he was convinced of it.

But sane or not, he wasn't an insensitive jacka.s.s.

"I'm sorry, Thia."

With an admirable sniff, she pulled herself together. "I loved my mama, Bastien. I miss her a lot."

"Yeah, I get that. I still talk to mine in my head, every day." He pulled out his link and showed her the family photo that'd been taken during his last really happy memory. It was what he'd been holding on to through all this h.e.l.l that had become his life. "I'd give anything to see my mother again. Tell her I wish I hadn't been such an a.s.s when I was a teenager. Tell my dad that I wish I hadn't been such an a.s.s, period."

She laughed at that. "Who's the dark-haired woman you have your arms around?"

His throat tightened at her question. "Ember."

"Pretty name. Your wife?"

Shaking his head, he clicked his link off and tried not to think about how many times a day he pulled that photo up to look at Ember and imagine other things he definitely didn't want to discuss with someone else. "Nah. I was never that lucky." He draped his arm around Thia's shoulders. "C'mon, I'll make you some tea."

"Tea?" Darice whined like a champ. "Gah! Do all humans drink that c.r.a.p?"

"Be nice. I've got some Pleteigne for you, kid."

He perked up instantly at the mention of the sugary energy drink that was a favorite junk food on Andaria. The first time Jullien had brought it in, Bastien had panicked since the word translated to "human blood." But it was so named for the red juice that came out of a fruit that bore an odd human shape to it. Apparently, it was a delicacy in their empire.

"Pleteigne? How you get that here, human?"

"I have Andarion connections. My bud brings it to me whenever he happens this way. I got a case left from the last time he visited. Don't know how y'all drink that regularly. One can and I'm wired for days."

"'Cause you're human," Darice said proudly, puffing his chest out.

"For the record," Thia whispered to him, "if you shoot or preferably kill Darice, I'll tell Uncle Hauk it was an accident."

Releasing her, Bastien laughed. This was what he loved most whenever Jullien stopped in. Familial bantering and busting chops.

Unfortunately, he was so focused on them that he didn't realize his alarm had been tripped.

Not until he turned the dim lights on and met the angry faces of a band of Boldorians who were hiding inside his home.

Weapons drawn.

Ah, minsid h.e.l.l ...

Had he been alone, he'd have chanced their aim against his reflexes. But since more of the smelly beasts came in behind them, he thought better of it. Neither Thia nor Darice seemed particularly trained.

"Hands up!"

Bastien obeyed. "Do it, kids."

At least he knew Dancer would be coming in soon. If he could keep them distracted and their attention on him and away from the equipment, it would allow Dancer to get the drop on them.

As one of them came forward to pat him down and his hand trailed a bit too close to his c.o.c.k, Bastien sucked his breath in sharply. "Hey, hey! Dinner first! No groping till you feed me! Don't know what you've heard, but I'm not a cheap date!"

That got him a rifle b.u.t.t against the back of his head.

Son of a ...

The force of the blow dropped him to his knees and almost rendered him unconscious. Only sheer force of will kept him semi-alert. But the ringing in his ears was quite special.

When they came forward to take Thia, she flipped the first one to the ground. Throat-punched the second one. And would have made it to the door had Darice not kicked his opponent into her and knocked her down.

Proving Bastien right with his earlier a.s.sessment of their skill level. While Thia had been trained in hand-to-hand, they weren't trained to fight as a unit. d.a.m.n shame, that. With Thia's skill, they would have stood a chance of escape.

Instead, they cuffed his hands and dragged him away.

Bastien glared at their captors. "You'd best not hurt the kids. You don't want to know who their parents are."

"The Andarion we're tracking."

"No. They're kidnapped Sentella children. The blonde belongs to Nemesis. The Andarion boy is his nephew. You harm them and he'll hunt you to the ends of the universe to gut you bare-handed."

"What about you?"

Bastien twisted so that he could grin into the older man's wrinkled face. "I'm just the idiot protecting them."

He ran Bastien's head into the desk. "Well then, you won't mind telling us about the Andarion we're after. And about this base..."

Was the knttr on something? You never asked a younger sibling anything about anyone. Bastien's older brother and sister had tutored him early on and well about the one basic sibling principle-snitches get st.i.tches.

"Don't know nothing about the Andarion you're tracking. Ain't telling you s.h.i.t about Shinola."

The grimy man stepped back to make room for one of his colleagues who could give Dancer a run for his money on gargantuan size. "We'll see how long that stubbornness lasts."

Bastien lost all track of time, as well as what it felt like not to be in excruciating pain. But as bad as this beating was, it paled in comparison to the torture sessions he'd gone through while in League custody. h.e.l.l, there had been times then when he'd considered confessing to killing his family just to get them to stop.

But he didn't have that urge tonight. Mostly because he knew that Dancer would arrive eventually.

Though why the b.a.s.t.a.r.d was dragging his a.s.s, he couldn't even begin to fathom.

And then he heard it....

Granted, he thought he was hallucinating at first. Good bet given the ringing that had yet to cease in his ears.

But there was no mistaking the next shout that came from upstairs. "Hauk!" a Bolodorian called out.

"What?" Dancer answered.

"Surrender or we're going to kill them all! Piece by piece, until their screams echo in your ears!"

Dancer laughed at the threat. "You do that and I will eat you, piece by f.u.c.king piece. The three of them are the only thing keeping you alive right now. Release them and we'll let you live. It's your choice on how you leave this place. On your feet or feet first. You have thirty seconds to decide."

Bastien let out a relieved breath. Finally ...

It'd be over soon.

Or so he thought.

One of the a.s.sa.s.sins came in to take Thia. Bastien went for him, but that didn't last. Weakened by the beatings, he couldn't get his body to do what he needed it to.

He hit the deck hard. Get up, you worthless piece of s.h.i.t! Get on your feet!

It was no use. Instead of rising, he felt the world go black.

Bastien wasn't sure how long he'd been out, but when he came to, both Dancer and his woman were in the room. Thia was holding on to Dancer like a lifeline while Sumi untied Darice.

The kid didn't move at all. Though unlike Bastien, he didn't appear to be harmed.

"Darice? Are you in shock?"

He blinked slowly as he scanned the room full of bodies and then looked to his uncle. It appeared as if he couldn't comprehend what Dancer had done. He frowned at Sumi. "But he works in IT."

She laughed at Darice's confusion. "He doesn't work IT, sweetie." Ruffling his hair, she cut Darice loose and went to check on Bastien.

He closed his eyes as she touched him and savored the gentleness she showed him. He hadn't felt the hand of any woman, other than the Andarion high priestess, on his body in years. And while he was a reprobate and Unira still attractive even at her advanced age, he wasn't willing to chance Andarion h.e.l.l by making a pa.s.s at her.

If their Tophet was anything like their real world, he'd take the Kirovarian version of d.a.m.nation any day over that.

"Is he alive?" Dancer asked.

"Yeah, but they beat him terribly."

Thia looked up at Dancer. "He refused to tell them anything about you or the base."

"d.a.m.n right," Bastien breathed, then groaned as he rolled himself over. Hissing, he grimaced. "b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. .h.i.t like kindergarten girls. I think one of them even pulled my hair and said I had cooties."

Snorting, Dancer set Thia down next to Bastien. "I'm going to call for an evac." He placed every one of his weapons down beside them, except for his two personal blasters. He changed out their cartridges before he tucked them into his holsters. "Anything moves, shoot it with extreme prejudice."

Sumi dropped her gaze to Dancer's side and leg where he was bleeding profusely. "We need to tend those."

"Call first. I'll be back in a few."

"You're a stubborn beast, Dancer Hauk!" she called as he made his way to the door.

He turned back to grin at her. "You forgot to add s.e.xy to that list."

"Nah, that might go to your big fat head!"

Laughing, he vanished into the hallway.

Darice still looked sh.e.l.l-shocked. "How did he move like that?"

Thia rolled her eyes. "Uncle Hauk is a war hero, Darice. One of the best of his breed."

Still lying on his back, Bastien turned his head toward Thia as he finally realized who Dancer had to be in The Sentella lineup. There was only one of those legendary warriors who could come into this base and wreak the destruction Dancer had. "He's Ak.u.ma, isn't he?"

Thia gave him a blank stare. "Don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah, you do. But that's all right. He told me he was Sentella. Only one being I've heard of who's almost seven feet tall and fights like that. d.a.m.n." He laughed bitterly as he replayed their meeting through his head. "And here I offered to help him." His maniacal laughter ended with a sharp groan as pain tore through him with poison-laced talons.