Born of Betrayal by Sherrilyn Kenyon Page B

voice. “Morra!”
    As soon as she reached him, Talyn gave the extremely tiny female a fierce hug.
    The green-skinned Phrixian was so small, she looked like a toy doll in Talyn’s massive arms. She buried her hand in his braids and kissed his cheek before she finally released him.
    Frowning, Talyn glanced around the bay. “Where’s Qory?”
    â€œStill en route to base. He won’t arrive for a few more days.” She tugged at Talyn’s Andarion flightsuit. “Don’t worry, precious. I’ll make sure and keep that cute bottom of yours intact for Lish and your mom.”
    Fain watched the easy way the Phrixian interacted with his son as they crossed the bay to their fighters. She even held on to Talyn’s pinkie and swung his arm as they walked. He envied her that casual friendship. The ability to make Talyn’s stern features soften ever so slightly as they bantered. It was obvious Talyn liked her a great deal.
    Sighing with regret, he showed the other Andarions to ships before he climbed into Dancer’s fighter that had been delivered a few days ago when his brother had agreed to stay here and help him get settled back in.
    When Fain called for clearance, he realized Galene had taken control of the battle. The sound of her voice in the background did the strangest things to his breathing. Her voice was deeper than most females’. And she’d always liked to issue orders to everyone. It had driven her siblings crazy. Made his older brother furious to be around her. Keris couldn’t stand it and had bitched anytime Galene visited.
    Strangely, Fain had never minded. He’d always liked the fact that she was open and quite verbal with her needs and wants. There was no guessing with her. No games.
    And as was evidenced by the hole in his chest, she didn’t pull punches. With her, he’d always known exactly where he stood. I have to be a sick bastard to find that charming. Yet he did. It was one of the best things about her.
    Not wanting to think about that, he launched with his squadron and did a quick search for Talyn’s position. His heart raced as he realized his son was already in the thickest part of the fighting.
    Sheez, no wonder Galene had been so insistent Talyn stay out of the battle. Had he intentionally gone for the worst of it? There was no other explanation for how much heat the boy was already taking.
    Without thinking, Fain headed straight to Talyn’s side to try and protect him as best he could. At this point, League fighters were everywhere. Of course, some of that was probably due to the assault Venik had made the day before on one of their outposts. The Tavali leader was using this war for his own profiteering. Until now, Fain hadn’t minded. But as he saw his son narrowly escaping a blast that would have killed him had it made contact with his ship, he was resenting the hell out of it. Especially when it dawned on him that none of Ven’s children were in this fight. Two of them were tucked in the command center with Galene, and Ven’s daughters and their crew were safely across the galaxy. Not even Ven was out here for the battle.
    That was bullshit. Fain had never put anyone into a fight he wasn’t willing to participate in himself. That was the move of a politician, and War Hauks were anything but.
    Something proven more than true as he watched Talyn’s brazen skills. He was both proud and horrified by how fast his boy maneuvered in battle.
    Just don’t get hurt, kid . Galene would definitely cut his balls off this time.
    *   *   *
    Galene ground her teeth as she watched the massive war exploding on her battle screens. There were three hundred Sentella-Tavali fighters and eleven Andarions against five hundred League pilots. That would have been bad enough, but this was the first time Talyn was in a fight that she was directly commanding. And it was taking everything she had to keep herself