Even the ones who didn’t deserve it.
And in all these years, she’d never found anyone who’d treated her with the love and regard he had. No one had respected her more or given her such devotion.
How could I have been so blind?In her own way, she’d been even more naive than he had.
It was too easy to take things for granted when they were right in front of your face. Especially when they were people. She’d assumed he’d always be here. That love like his would be easy to find again. Her parents had loved like that. Tasi and Cin did.… How stupid she was.
She’d allowed her own fears to override her joy, and her ability to see how much she relied on him. Cut his heart out when he offered it to her, and she knew it. Then instead of trying to save what they’d had, she’d ruthlessly ignored his attempts to reconcile and shut him out more. She’d let her fears, anger, and hurt get in the way of her happiness.
Now it was too late.
Bastien’s dead.
Swallowing against the pain and grief that threatened to knock her down, she rubbed at the locket that held the last bit of him she had. And wished for things she knew could never be again.
While their high admiral kept them officially out of the Sentella–League War, Trajen couldn’t keep his crews out of danger. The League didn’t differentiate between the Nations. To them, one Tavali was all Tavali.
Of course, that was the Tavalian code. Still, this was a long way from being over. She’d left one war behind only to fall headfirst into another.
Only this time, she had no idea what she was fighting for.
***
Bastien drew up short as he saw the carnage in front of him. He’d been aware of the invaders near his home for days now. A huge-ass Andarion warrior with a teen male and a human female had come in first. Bastien had been trying his best to figure out why the two Andarions had a young human woman with them.
At least until the other blond human female had been dropped off. She’d made straight for them.
Then he’d assumed they must be a family on some kind of screwed-up vacation. Though why anyone would want to take a break in this fected heat and desolate desert, he couldn’t imagine.
But then, Andarions were a screwed-up race with some peculiar ideas on comfort that he couldn’t even begin to fathom. He’d marked this new group off as harmless and had left them alone, only checking their location from time to time to make sure they didn’t come near his base.
Until he’d seen and heard the firefight that’d resulted in enough bodies to make a League assassin cream his pants.
The dead were Bolodorians from the looks of their craft and uniforms. A group of incas—freelance assassins. Lowlife scum who made his flesh crawl. But for once, they hadn’t been interested in him or his bounty. They appeared to have been exclusively after the Andarion family.
Something verified as he watched the warrior searching the twenty-five bodies he’d taken down with minimal effort and heard a radio go off on one of them.
“Hiller? You there, copy?”
The warrior paused to listen, then picked up the link closest to him. “Yeah.”
Bastien was impressed. Took balls to answer an enemy’s comm. Kudos to the beast.
“Did you get him? I don’t hear no more fighting.”
“Yeah,” he repeated.
“Fucking awesome. Don’t forget to bag the head with the DNA sample. We get twice the payout for it. See you in a few.”
Yeah, the Andarion didn’t seem to share that sentiment since it was his head they were calling for. Bastien couldn’t blame him for that. It’d wreck his day too. Look on the Andarion’s face said he was pissed off to be their target. And that if he laid hands to any more of these guys, he would be about as charitable as Bastien should he ever be lucky enough to get his ex-wife’s neck in his hands.
Intending to wait until the Andarion finished and moved on so that Bastien could search the bodies for supplies, he continued to watch the warrior through the scope of his sniper’s rifle.
As the Andarion moved out of his viewer range, Bastien stepped in closer, making sure not to lose sight of him.
The moment he did, the Andarion jerked his blaster out and aimed it straight at his head.
“Don’t,” Bastien growled, switching his targeting laser on with his thumb to warn the Andarion that he was already aimed at the warrior’s heart.
