Eternity passed before the woman returned with the permission he needed to land in their North Bay. There was no missing the shocked disbelief in her voice as she told him he’d been approved.
Wow, Jules… paranoid much?
Then again, he couldn’t blame him, given the number of beings out to end his life.
As soon as Bastien landed, he spotted Jullien waiting for him with a man and woman he didn’t know. Hard to miss his cousin’s gargantuan ass, even among the huge Fyreblood Andarions who called this place home. Only their species could make Bastien feel like a middle-schooler, since they dwarfed him. It was weird not to be among the tallest in a group.
But they put his genetics to shame.
Bastien removed his helmet and jumped to the deck, then made his way over. He pulled Jullien in for a brotherly hug.
Jullien laughed when he saw that while Bastien had trimmed his beard down to shadowed whiskers, he’d kept his long hair and wore it pulled back into a messy ponytail. “What is this?” He tugged playfully at it.
Bastien shrugged. “A reminder that I’m no longer civilized, and I have no intention of ever again playing by anyone’s rule book.”
“I understand. And I take it by your presence here that you’re no longer tagged?”
“No,” he said gratefully. “Syn Wade pulled it out of me. Finally.”
Jullien’s jaw dropped in shock. “Really?”
Nodding, Bastien clapped him on the arm. “Really long story short, they ended up on Oksana with The League hot on their ass, and I got caught in the cross fire. After a lot of bruising and damage and a couple of near-fatal catastrophes, it ended well for me.” His gaze went to the exceptionally beautiful and pregnant female standing beside his cousin.
Even without an introduction, he had no doubt that this was Jullien’s wife—the Gorturnum Tavali’s vice admiral. Her white-blond hair was identical to Vasili’s and her silvery-white eyes and fangs definitely marked her as one of the rare Andarion Fyrebloods who’d been exiled from their empire by Jullien’s grandmother.
Jullien stepped back. “My much better half, Ushara. Shara, my cousin Bastien.”
He inclined his head and bowed respectfully to her.“Impräturu, Ger Tarra Samari.”
She gaped at Bastien’s formal Andarion greeting. “You speak Andarion?”
Straightening, Bastien winked at Jullien. “Not really. Just a few key phrases here and there that Julie taught me when we were kids.”
“Impressive, nonetheless.” Ushara gestured to the tall, dark-haired man beside her. “And this is Trajen.”
Surprised that the high admiral of the Gorturnum Tavali would deign to be here, Bastien didn’t miss the way those dark eyes probed everything about him.
Yeah, nothing got past this man. He had the mark of a well-trained soldier who’d been through hell and lived to tell about it. There was also a refinement to him that said he’d been noble born. That innate grace and bearing that seemed to come from their genes.
Bastien held his hand out to him. “Pleasure to meet you.”
Trajen hesitated before he shook his hand. “And you… Highness.”
Bastien shivered. “Please, don’t. I was never all that into the pomp and ceremony, anyway. It’s just Bastien or Bas. Asshole, if you really must.”
“Ah God, there are two of you in this universe,” Trajen muttered as he passed a knowing stare toward Jullien that said he and Bastien were far too alike. “So what brings you here?”
“To beg a favor from my favorite cousin, which I know I shouldn’t. But…” He flashed another grin at Jullien. “Dancer Hauk blew up my base without warning.”
Jullien gaped at that unexpected disclosure. “Pardon?”
Nodding, he sighed at the memory. “The whole bloody damn thing. I got nothing left. Not even my porn collection Thraix gave me. And I need that database I shared with you, if you don’t mind.”
Jullien gave him an equally gimlet stare. “You’re going after Barnabas?”
“Hell yeah. He killed my family. Be damned if I’m going to let him sit on my father’s throne in peace. I don’t care who rules, just so long as it’s not him or any bastard he spawned.”
Jullien dropped his gaze to the Alliance patches on the sleeve of Bastien’s borrowed Sentella uniform. They had designed a new badge that stood for the empires who’d aligned themselves with Darling and Nykyrian to war against The League. It was basically The League insignia with a giant X through it. He had to give them credit. Nyk and crew were a ballsy lot.
