He snorted at Bastien. “Good point.”
Bastien swept a hot look over Ember. “And they’re not nearly as much fun to ogle.”
“Now that’s sexual harassment,” Ryn reminded him.
“Not if you do it right.” Bastien grinned.
Ember sighed. “I’d be offended if I thought for one second he was serious. But I know he’s joking. I’ve never been around anyone more respectful than Bastien.”
Ryn laughed as he brought up a map and files. They hovered in the air in front of Bastien. “This is the prison where Syn found him. Apparently, he was only wounded during the coup, and hauled here while you were taken into custody.”
Bastien’s jaw dropped as he saw the old abandoned prison that had been condemned by his great-grandfather. “Are you sure?”
Ryn shrugged. “Wade doesn’t normally make those mistakes.” He pulled up more files for Bastien. “Syn’s theory is that Quin was to be held so long as you were on the run, in case you came home. He’s a pawn Barnabas plans to use against you.”
“Can we get to him?”
“That will be tricky. It’s a treacherous area of Kirovar and he’s down in a hole. Wade said it appears they drop food in to him from time to time. But mostly he’s left there to wallow.”
He glanced over at Ember. “I’m an expert climber and I’ve been rappelling my whole life. I can get to him.”
Ember nodded in agreement. “I can testify to that.”
“All right, then. Operation Suicide. Tell me what you need and we’ll scramble.”
***
Bastien should have specified a body double as a parameter for this mission. Damn, it was tight, squeezing down to get to where Syn had said they were keeping his brother. Forget rappelling, this was caving, with them having to drill their way down at times.
“I take it you’re also a caver?”
He smiled up at Ember, who was apparently determined to make their son an orphan, as she kept joining him for his suicide runs. “Little bit. Usually with Quin. Lil never had much taste for it.”
“I can see why,” Xander groused. “Not my idea of fun.”
Ryn snorted at him as he continued to dig down. “Stop whining. This isn’t so bad. Besides, you never know when the skills will come in handy.”
“Like now.” Bastien returned to chiseling.
“Exactly.”
By the time they reached the bottom, they were exhausted and covered in dirt and grime.
Grimacing, Bastien scratched at his neck and adjusted the light on his helmet. “I’d stay upwind of me if I were you,” he warned Ember.
With a gentle tsk, she kissed his cheek. “Your smell doesn’t offend me.”
He grinned at that. Until he caught a sound off to his left. They drew blasters.
It stopped.
“Quin? That you?”
No one answered.
Bastien walked closer to where the noise had originated. His heart pounding, he tried to peer into the darkness. “We should have brought an Andarion.”
Ryn snorted. “We’d have had to blast to get the opening large enough for their body mass.”
