“Of course, I did. And Jayne’s the one who rescued me from Onoria. Hadrian, who you met, is her husband. They have kids together. You would have met her, too, but she had to jettison for other obligations with The Sentella while they were bringing me home.”
Now she felt utterly stupid. While she’d known Hadrian’s wife had been with them, no one had mentioned Jayne by name.
She crooked her finger for him to come closer.
Talyn hesitated. He wasn’t real sure of her mood. Because he hadn’t spent much time around anyone other than his mother, Jayne, and her husband, he wasn’t real good at reading others’ emotions.
And, well… Jayne and his mother made it easy. When they were pissed, they launched into highly hostile verbal assaults that ended with an ass beating and restriction. As for Jayne’s husband, Hadrian was extremely even-keeled and showed as much emotion as a statue, most days.
He inched toward her. “Should I remove projectiles?”
“No,” she said sullenly. “Come here, Talyn.”
Bracing himself for the worst, he obeyed. “Yes?”
She toyed with his ear. “I’m sorry. For everything. Just not used to caring this much about someone else. Twice now, I’ve had to sit in a hospital because you were seriously hurt. And I’ve seen what you look like after a fight. It’s not pretty.” She gestured toward the bruise on her face. “And now that I’ve been hit, I have a whole new appreciation for what you go through. How do you stand it?”
He shrugged nonchalantly. “I was an Andarion in a Hyshian school. I couldn’t get into trouble because if my mother was called in for counseling, she’d be punished by the military for it. The other students knew I couldn’t fight back, so it was open season on me. Same for the teachers. They were scared of me and it made them vicious. When I came home, I couldn’t let my mother know about it or she’d cry and feel guilty. So I learned to take the blows and hide the bruises. It’s all I’ve ever known.” He brushed the hair back from her face. “It only hurts when you’re the one attacking me. One mild insult from you is like a dagger through my heart.”
She pressed her cheek to his. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, too. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”
“Yeah, I noticed. Only a special kind of idiot would get into a Ring with that lineup.”
“Yes, but I’ll always be your special idiot.”
She finally laughed. “When will Jayne get here?”
He shrugged. “She’ll be coming in interstellarly, if not intergalactically. Could be a couple of days. I’d call her back, but I’m afraid you might hurt me.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “You can talk to your aunt Jayne. I won’t say a word.”
“You sure? ’Cause I’ll toss her right out.”
She handed him his link. “Call her, goofball.”
“I can’t do that. If I call her goofball, she’ll kick my ass, and she’s not a small woman. Not to mention, she’s a trained assassin.”
She arched a brow at the thought. “How is a teacher a trained assassin?”
He laughed at her confusion. “She’s the daughter of Egarious Toole. He’s an infamous underworld mastermind and thief on Hyshia. Jayne was in and out of lockups as a kid. So, as a young adult, right after she married, she tried to go straight for a bit. Ended up getting pulled back into the dark side, and now works for The Sentella.”
“Ahh,” she said as she finally put it all together. “She’s the friend your mother didn’t name, but called. Got it.”
He nodded. “It’s why I know so much about The Sentella. I figured if anyone could help us, it would be they. Anatole won’t be able to touch them. They’re not Andarion citizens or soldiers. He has no authority over their group.”
“They could still be arrested for assaulting a royal. Not to mention, the tadara is no friend of theirs.”
“Yes, but Anatole isn’t the tahrs and he’s not worth an interplanetary incident. And while I expect him to try something, Jayne is a goddess of creative solutions. I trust her implicitly.”
“Then can’t you join The Sentella?”
In theory. But since he knew his paternal uncle was one of their key members, it made it rather awkward. While Jayne had often commented on how much they favored, both he and his mother had laughed it off by saying all Andarions looked alike to Hyshians. But Dancer would know the minute he laid eyes