by Lexi Ander
The captain in charge barked out strident commands: “Unit One, on your prince! Unit Two, assist the personal guards. Detain those who dare hunt our prince!”
Half the squad streaked past Valiant, and he prayed none of his guards had been injured. As the matter currently stood, his father would take the L’fÿns’ actions as a personal insult. If his bodyguards returned harmed… Well, Valiant didn’t want to think about what could happen.
He glanced over his shoulder when he heard loud cursing, eager to determine the wellbeing of both his escort of bodyguards and the knights who’d entered the forest to assist them. Within L’fÿn territory they were only allowed to carry stunners, and the knights had no idea what danger awaited them in the jungle.
“Who pursues you?” the captain asked, her sharp gaze scanning the tree line behind Valiant.
“Tālia’s people,” he gasped out, slowing to a trot. “They want to kill my son.”
The nearest knights erupted in a chorus of angry hisses and growls, crowding around him protectively. Panthrÿn children were cherished and protected, especially nowadays, when so few were conceived. Firm hands grasped his arms and shoulders, hustling him hustling him to the transport. Four warriors followed him into the vehicle before engaging the protective shield. The remaining knights of Unit One piled into two more vehicles, one pulling ahead of Valiant’s craft and the other taking up a flanking position. The three gliders turned around on the dead-end road and headed toward the capital.
Still cradling his son, Valiant turned in his seat to look back at the clearing. His personal guards and the knights of Unit Two were exiting the Jade Forest at a lazy run, only a few injured, none missing; no L’fÿns followed. Satisfied the teams were fairly safe, he straightened and laid the babe on his lap.
Amazed the boy hadn’t cried once, he gently unwrapped the blanket swaddling the newborn, then did what Tālia’s attendants had neglected and carefully wiped away the remains of the afterbirth. One of the guards retrieved a container of wipes and handed the box to Valiant, enabling him to clean his son properly. Bright eyes stared up at him, and Valiant sucked in a breath at the child’s beauty. When the guards leaned closer to peer at the infant, he lifted and turned the babe for all to see. Valiant practically burst with pride when the knights fawned over his son’s serenity and unique comeliness. Unlike the L’fÿns, his people would protect his cub as if he were their own.
For the life of him, Valiant couldn’t understand why Tālia or her people had assumed they’d be allowed to harm his heir. When he returned to the capital he would begin work on stopping the L’fÿn practice of infanticide. If need be, they would find worthy Panthrÿn or Faelÿn families to take in the unwanted faeborn males, and prove the L’fÿns wrong. Inborn magick in dròw males didn’t make them demons to be destroyed, just different. With proper training even a blood-thirsty nature could be moderated.
“What shall you call him, Your Highness?”
Valiant’s smile broadened. “I shall name him Sūnder, for he is beautiful.”
1
EXHAUSTED, BARELY able to keep his head up, Gabriel St. Baptista let himself into the loft. Three nurses had called in sick, and he’d stupidly volunteered to work a double in the emergency room. The full moon always caused an increase in accidents, not just in humans but also among the other races in town for the upcoming Festival.
The hospital he worked at, one of the few certified to treat non-humans, was always busy this time of year. The annual gathering of Panthrÿns, L’fÿns, Faelÿns, and Zëliāns would take place in four months, and already the outrageous parties to entertain the offworld guests had begun. Add in the usual stupid things people did during the full moon and the ER had been more of a madhouse than a hospital.
Gabe was glad he’d miss the chaos of this year’s Festival. Pierce had promised him a two-week vacation on the moon at the Armstrong Regency, rumored to have the most spectacular view of Earth. Only four months of the pre-Festival craziness and then Gabe could relax. With their different schedules, Gabe missed Pierce and was eager to see him, especially considering how Pierce had been acting the last couple of weeks. Earlier in the day, Pierce had told Gabe he wanted to talk, and Gabe worried he would push for them to take the next step in their relationship.
Marriage.
Never having seen a good example of what a marriage between two people should be, he wasn’t sure how he felt about the topic. Although he and Pierce had been together for almost seven years and he was content with their relationship, he wasn’t interested in taking that next step. He loved Pierce, really he did, but Gabe was uncomfortable with tying himself to someone for the rest of his life. And he definitely didn’t want the white picket fence. Never had. Growing up behind that façade meant he knew first hand that marriage wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Then, to bring children into a relationship that was statistically doomed to fail, where did that leave the child when the parents split? Alone and abandoned by the people supposed to love and care for him, that’s where. Besides, he couldn’t imagine himself as a father. Hell, he and Pierce barely found time to spend together now. How would they make time for kids?
Closing and locking the door behind him, he ignored the light switch. He knew the loft like the back of his hand and didn’t need illumination to find his bedroom. The curtains had been drawn when Gabe left for work. Now they stood wide open, spilling moonlight into the apartment. He grinned. Pierce was home.
Dropping his keys in the bowl on the foyer table, Gabe then removed his scrubs and put them in the washer. Checking on his plants, he wandered the living room, whispering softly to them as he ensured they didn’t need anything, a habit he’d inherited from his grandmother. He’d retreated to her house whenever his parents were particularly loud arguing and making up. Gabe liked to think he got his green thumb from her. His first memories were of following her around with his miniature watering can, listening as she told him everything he knew. Although she’d passed away in her sleep a year before his life turned to hell, tending his houseplants still made him feel as if she were close by.
He watered a couple before crossing to the bedroom. As he’d hoped, Pierce sprawled across the bed, a whole eight hours earlier than anticipated. As a doctor, Pierce’s schedule rarely matched up with Gabe’s own. Not that Gabe minded; absence made the heart grow fonder, after all. However, he was pleased to be able to spend extra time with Pierce before he was due back on shift.
The green glow of Pierce’s ear plugs made him look like Frankenstein’s Monster in the dark. Chuckling softly, he spooned around his boyfriend. Besides, he thought, if we get married, I won’t have these moments when I’m excited to see him. He breathed in the smell of Pierce’s clean hair, catching a whiff of a new cologne right before he fell asleep. It was nice.
~ : § : ~
The ringing of a phone woke Gabe. When he opened his eyes, the sun was already high and the clock said it was close to noon. The cell rang again, and the shower cut off, followed by the muffled sound of Pierce’s voice. Gabe wasn’t ready for the day to start yet, but this would be the only time he had with Pierce for another three days. Hospital shifts were hell on relationships and the sleep schedule.
Rolling out of bed, he pulled on a pair of sleep pants before wandering out to the kitchen to turn on the coffeemaker. On the table sat a vase of flowers with a half-dozen helium balloons, a couple exclaiming Congratulations! One said Safe Trip! Bon Voyage! Perplexed, he sipped his coffee, staring at the arrangement. They weren’t leaving for their vacation for months yet. Even then, the future trip wouldn’t necessitate balloons and flowers from Pierce’s staff.
Pierce came around the corner with a wide, cheery smile. “Good morning, sleepy head.” Pierce’s brown curls brushed against Gabe’s nose as Pierce kissed his cheek, but when he pulled back, those blue eyes wouldn’t meet his.
Gabe continued to drink his coffee, not really tasting the brew anymore. Pierce wouldn’t be able to stand the silence, an
d Gabe was terrified to ask the question weighing upon his mind. He was pretty sure he didn’t want to know.
“Remember that opportunity I told you about a while back?” Pierce slowly poured himself a cup of joe.
“Which one? The cruise ship?”
“It isn’t a cruise ship,” Pierce grumped.
Pierce had broached the subject of a job offer a couple months ago. A ship that carried affluent families to a series of vacation planets had approached Pierce for the head surgeon position. The venue still sounded like a cruise ship to Gabe, but he didn’t want to fight, not now when he felt their relationship had suddenly become precarious.
“They came back and doubled their offer. Plus, I’ll be able to spend time on three different worlds, learning from top specialists while the ship is docked. It’s an opportunity I can’t pass up.”
Feeling a little disconnected, Gabe nodded. The conversation didn’t seem real, especially considering that he’d expected Pierce to bring up marriage. How had they gone from contemplating the next step in their relationship to Pierce—steady, reliable Pierce—leaving him?
“When will you be back?” Gabe winced as his voice cracked.
“Five years, if I come back at all. There’s a possibility I can transfer to another world. If I do, I doubt I’ll ever return to Earth and the stagnant opportunities it offers. I want more, both professionally and personally.” The small spark of hope Gabe had harbored snuffed out. Pierce finally glanced up to meet Gabe’s gaze and flinched. “I’m sorry to break it to you like this. I’ve been trying to find a way to tell you for the last couple of weeks but no time seemed right. I know you don’t want to get married and, well, you and I don’t have the same goals for our relationship. We’ve just been comfortable following the same routine.”
Unsure of what to say, Gabe poured his now-cold coffee down the drain, the life he’d once led seeming to go with it. He felt numb, the chill in his chest spreading quickly outward.
“You have to understand, Gabe. I want to fall madly in love with someone I can’t wait to see at the end of the day. I want a home and a family. I had hoped you’d come around one day, but it’s been years and you… We want different things.”
Gabe’s throat closed up and breathing became hard, but he nodded. Hadn’t he thought the very same thing last night? Even so, he had considered taking the next step—but Pierce wanted a crazy kind of love. Gabe didn’t believe in such a thing. He did love Pierce, just not in the way Pierce needed.
“When…” Gabe cleared his throat. “When do you leave?”
Pierce’s shoulders hunched. “In a few hours. My bags are already on the ship, and my apartment packed up. I just wanted to spend what time I had left with you.” He looked as if he wanted to say more but closed his mouth instead, his face crumpling with anguish.
Gabe held out his arms. Pierce sighed as he fell into them, wrapping around Gabe. How was this happening? The difference between last night and now was drastic. Perhaps he should have seen this coming.
“Are you going to be okay?” Pierce whispered, his lips brushing Gabe’s throat.
No, but Gabe wouldn’t tell Pierce that. “Make sure you send a holovid every once in a while so I know how you’re doing.”
“It’s time for me to leave.” Reluctant, Gabe let go. Pierce backed up, his eyes suspiciously red.
“I know.” Gabe swallowed hard, his throat aching as his own eyes burned. “You have everything you need?”
Pierce grabbed Gabe’s wrist. “Are you going to be okay?”
He gave Pierce his best reassuring grin. “Just go, or you’ll be late.”
Pierce scowled, looking as if he would say more, but then he turned on his heel to cross the room and pick up a bag sitting in the entry way. In his preoccupation with the balloons, Gabe hadn’t noticed Pierce dropping it there earlier. He knew he should walk Pierce out, perhaps exchange a series of platitudes or wish him good luck, something other than watching Pierce wave before closing the door behind him. At the moment, he didn’t have it in him to lie. Anyway, with how unstable his legs felt, he wasn’t sure he could walk if he moved from where he leaned against the counter.
Staring at his feet, Gabe wondered where he’d gone wrong. Were there signs he missed? He’d thought Pierce was happy. Or had they both been biding their time until something better came along?
What could he have done to change the outcome? Had Pierce been ready for something else long before now? What did it say about Gabe that he’d let Pierce walk out without even thinking about begging him to stay or to go with him? He hadn’t fought for Pierce, and somehow that seemed worse than Pierce waiting until the last minute to break the news. Why did this feel like his family leaving him all over again?
His parents hadn’t given him an explanation when they’d abandoned him. Once they’d thought he was old enough to take care of himself, they bailed. Gabe had come home to an empty loft and a sticky note that said his parents were separating and which ships his mom and dad were taking offworld. The fifty-year lease on his home was paid up, an account for expenditures left in his name, and they were just gone. Back then, Gabe would have begged them to at least take him with them. But with Pierce, Gabe let him walk away without uttering a word, leaving him alone once again.
Banging on the front door startled him. The muffled sound of his best friend, Ronan, calling his name told him who it was. Had Pierce contacted him?
The front door slammed closed. “Gabe, where are you? You’re scaring me.”
He opened his mouth to let Ronan know he was in the kitchen but nothing came out. Something wet fell on his hand: a droplet of water, followed closely by another. When he swiped his cheeks, he discovered they were wet.
Ronan skidded through the kitchen doorway as if chased by the hounds of hell. His clothes were rumpled and mismatched, telling Gabe he’d dressed in a hurry. Distantly, Gabe thought Ronan looked cute, especially since his best friend was usually immaculate. He met Ronan’s concerned brown gaze. Worry etched lines in his dark face, but Gabe found he couldn’t muster a smile to ease his best friend’s concern.
“Jesus, Gabe. That fucking asshole. He had to wait until the last damn minute to tell you because he didn’t want to deal with breaking your heart.” Ronan didn’t ask, just roughly pulled Gabe into his tight embrace.
Suddenly he could breathe. He wasn’t alone. He had Ronan, more brother than friend, the one person who’d been there to help Gabe pick up the pieces after his parents rocketed offworld. At the tender age of sixteen, Ronan had dragged Gabe to his house for much cooing and a lot of food, Ronan’s parents listening as Gabe explained that his mom and dad didn’t want him. And here he was again, abandoned, but his best friend standing by his side. Ronan, who’d proven to Gabe time and again that some people didn’t leave. No matter what.
2
SITTING IN THE back seat of the long, plush hovercraft, Sūnder supported A’yrē as his cousin cradled his broken arm to his chest. Other than the pain evident in A’yrē’s brilliant blue eyes, he gave no outward indication of how much agony he was in.
“Are you sure they can treat me here?”
Sūnder refrained from laughing at A’yrē’s pout; it made him look like a cub not yet ready to leave the lioness’s side instead of the mature male he was. A’yrē should have thought about the consequences before he’d consumed so much orange juice, a human drink highly intoxicating to Panthrÿns. Sūnder had cautioned his cousin to stop after the first glass; after gulping several glasses of the juice, A’yrē had decided to impress the humans fawning over him by walking a plank from one rooftop to the next. Unfortunately, when his cousin became determined to do something foolish only A’yrē’s sire could talk—or scare, more like—sense into him. As it was, King Valiant was light-years away, making Sūnder his cousin’s official escort, and therefore A’yrē his responsibility.
“I’ve been assured this is the best hospital certified to treat our people in the area. You will be in cap
able hands, cousin.” The hovercraft stopped in front of a brightly lit building. Sūnder breathed a sigh of relief to see Chándariān Hospital illuminated in large, glowing letters. With any luck, A’yrē would soon be pain free.
Exiting the vehicle first, Sūnder turned to help A’yrē and was almost smothered by A’yrē’s mane of blond corkscrew curls. For the briefest of moments, bittersweet emotions clenched at his heart as he held A’yrē close. Very few humans recognized the relationship between Sūnder and A’yrē, and those who did were the ones who’d read up on Chándariāns beforehand. Their knowledge was never due to any familial resemblance between Sūnder and A’yrē; they were too different. A’yrē was all Panthrÿn, with midnight skin covered in gray rosettes along his temple and down his neck, wide cheek bones, and a square jaw. The only feature they had in common was the broad feline nose with scent producing ridges along the bridge. Although Sūnder, too, had rosettes, his mixed-race parentage meant they were along his chest and back, not his face, while his very straight mane was blood red and his dusky gray skin shimmered slightly, like an Earth black pearl. As useless as the desire was, Sūnder had wished he looked more Panthrÿn all his life. Once, as a cub, he’d secretly purchased the black dye pellets used for clothing, dissolving them in his bath in an attempt to darken his skin and mane. He’d climbed out of the tub looking the same as he always did; irritatingly, his magick repelled not only that but also his many other attempts to change his appearance.
Pushing the emotions away to focus on his injured cousin, Sūnder steadied A’yrē on his feet and prepared for the argument he knew would come. Earlier, while they’d awaited transportation, Sūnder had called ahead to the hospital. As a result, a woman dressed in blue scrubs lingered at the emergency entrance with a chair on wheels for A’yrē.