Sherrilyn Kenyon: Born of Fury

Taking his proffered hand, Hauk pulled him into a rare familial hug and repeated the Andarion words of loyalty that literally translated to anytime, my brother. But the Andarion connotation was much deeper than that. It was an oath of absolute kinship. One that bound them closer than blood.

No Andarion said those words lightly. It meant that they would die back-to-back, fighting any and all attackers.

And it was one they’d both proven to each other repeatedly.

Nykyrian stepped away from him. “Just remember, Hauk, I know Andarion urges, and if any male, including you, lays a finger on my girl while she’s in your custody, I will cut you into pieces and feast on your entrails.”

Laughing, Hauk knew Nykyrian meant those words most of all.

“Nyk,” Hauk breathed. “If you really loved me, drey , you’d take that blaster at your hip and shoot me right between the eyes. Right here. Right now. This instant.”

Nykyrian came as close to laughter as the somber warrior could.

As if on cue, Darice stormed off the shuttle and slung his pack to the ground in front of Hauk’s feet. At fourteen, he was as tall as most full-grown human males, but he only reached the middle of Hauk’s and Nykyrian’s chests. Even so, he was still just a boy with the very lean build and temperament that marked the young.

And as he moved to glare up at Hauk with his fists clenched at his sides, Hauk understood why some species chose to eat said young rather than raise them to adulthood.

It was so tempting.

Furious, the boy gestured toward the shuttle. “I’m not going anywhere with that —”

“Bite it,” Hauk growled before his nephew let loose a word that would have him disciplined.

Or worse, hunting on the ground for his teeth.

Darice hissed and exposed his long canines in protest.

“Oh my God, did he just fang you?” Thia gasped as she joined them in the landing bay. With an exaggerated gape, she blinked at her father. “Dad, he just fanged Uncle Hauk and Uncle Hauk didn’t kill him. Is the world coming to an end and I missed the e-mail?”

His features turning even darker, Darice snapped toward her with obvious intent.

Hauk caught his nephew’s arm in a gentle, yet firm grip. “Fang her, boy, and you will feel the pain of my displeasure to such an extent our ancestors will curse you for it.”

Darice jerked away from him. “You’re not my father. And that —” He gestured angrily toward the shuttle. “Is not my family. I will not dishonor our blood or ancestors, or dishonor my blood father’s memory by being in a shuttle or on a planet with him ! You know our laws! How dare you bring him here!”

Hauk glanced past his nephew to see the look on Fain’s face as he heard those cruel words. The pain his brother felt nauseated him and increased his need to tan the backside of Darice’s buttocks until the boy limped.

For all eternity.

His features guarded, Fain stepped down from the shuttle’s ramp. “I’ve got Chayden coming in to do the drop. He’ll be here in five minutes.”

“A human?” Darice sneered as if that was the only thing worse than Fain.

“Careful who you insult, boy.” Hauk jerked his chin toward Nykyrian, who was the crowned prince and heir for their native Andaria.

He was also half human.

To impugn the honor or prestige of the Andarion royal house was to defame your own Andarion family and ancestors. It was also viewed as a blatant act of treason.

That alone made Darice calm himself.

Satisfied the boy was subdued, Hauk released his arm. “And while you might not claim kinship with Fain, I do.”

Darice rolled his eyes. “ You would,” he mumbled under his breath.

Ignoring him, Hauk went over to his older brother, who was one of the very few beings taller than him. And not by much. “I’m sorry. I should have known how he’d react. I was only thinking of tradition. Not selfish pubescent stupidity.”

Fain clapped him on the arm. “It’s all right, drey . I knew what I was giving up the day I walked out your mother’s door. I have no regrets.”

That wasn’t true and they both knew it. The deep sadness that never left Fain’s eyes called him a liar for the choice he’d made all those years ago. But it wasn’t Andarion to admit you acted rashly, or that you made a mistake.

Especially not when you chose one family member over another.

Too bad most humans lacked the loyalty and honor of the Andarions. But then, they were a different species. And not just in coloring and dental needs.

“Thanks for coming, Fain.”

Fain dutifully inclined his head to his beloved younger brother as hurt and anger tangled inside him. Though his brother was one of the fiercest warriors he’d ever fought alongside, he still saw Dancer as the boy he’d been. The one who used to run after him with worshipful stars in his eyes, begging for any attention from him.

A brother who’d recklessly and courageously defied their parents to maintain a relationship with him that could cost Dancer dearly. For any Andarion male to do such was an incredible testament of loyalty and love.

For Dancer, that risk was so much higher.

He already had a mark against him. One more, and he would be relegated to an Andarion class even worse than the one Fain was in. Fain knew of no other who would risk that.

Not even for a full-blooded brother.

But then Dancer was the bravest male he’d ever known. He lived his life with reckless disregard for the fact that he was mortal. And there was absolutely nothing he wouldn’t do or risk for those he loved.

Smiling, Fain clapped Dancer on his back. “For you , anything. Any time.”

Hauk watched Fain leave with a heavy heart. At his departure, Darice started to shout something to him, but the sight of a guard carrying Thia’s pink floral rucksack for her distracted him. His jaw gaped even wider than Thia’s had a moment ago. “Seriously?” he said to Hauk. He gestured after the guard who was headed for the shuttle to deposit his cargo. “She can’t even carry her own pack?”

Thia flashed him a sweet, adorable grin. “That’s what I have you for, punkin’. Didn’t you know?”

Hauk heard Fain’s insidious laughter as his brother vanished. “Just like his arrogant father… Not enough Tondarion Fire in existence to make me take that brat across the street, never mind do an Endurance with him. Good luck not choking the little bastard, Dancer.”

Hauk actually whimpered as he heard his brother’s mumbled words. Thanks a lot, Fain . If his brother really loved him, he’d do this for him.

“Are you listening to me, Dancer?” Darice tugged at Hauk’s sleeve. “Why is she going with us?”

He pulled his arm out of Darice’s grip. “Because she’s Andarion.”

Again with the eye rolling that, since puberty, had become Darice’s automatic response to most stimuli and any words uttered by an adult. But the eye rolling stopped as a group of men brought in a large covered crate and took it on board.

“What is that?” Darice gestured toward the men. “Her wardrobe?” He put his fists up to his temples and growled fiercely. “This is a disaster. I want to go home. Now, Dancer! I don’t want to be here. With her or with you !”

Hauk knew the feeling intimately. “Get on board, Darice.”

“But —”

“Now, boy!” It was his turn to fang his nephew.

Screwing his face up, Darice appeared to have the same degree of intestinal woe that currently plagued Hauk. “You’re not my father,” he mumbled between clenched teeth as he snatched his pack up from the ground. “You’ll never be my father.”