her in retaliation for his actions. What they might be doing to his mother.
Rhys’s stories spurred him on with a vengeance. He had to get back and make sure they were okay. Without him, they had no one to defend them.
Please, please be okay.
“Talyn?”
He glanced over to see Terisa with a small, chipped cup in her hand. She held it out to him.
He declined it. “I can’t take your rations.”
She climbed up to stand by his side on the ship’s wing. “You need them. We can’t afford for you to go down.”
“I’m fine.” He returned to the rusted engine.
Terisa reached out and cupped his cheek. She turned his face toward hers. “I believe in you, Talyn. I know you’re going to get us out of here.” She moved in to kiss him.
Talyn pulled back immediately.
“Is something wrong?”
“I have a female.”
Terisa scoffed. “She’s not here.”
“No, but she’s here.” He tapped his heart. “And I would never dishonor her.”
“And if you don’t survive to return to her arms?”
“I will die trying.”
Licking her lips, Terisa closed the distance between them and brushed her hand along his jaw before she reached to stroke him through his pants. “You have to maintain your hormone levels. She’ll never know you had help.”
Catching her hand, Talyn stepped back. “I’ll know.” And he wasn’t his father. He’d seen firsthand the hurt his father’s infidelity had caused his mother. He would never harm Felicia like that.
“You’re bastard-born, Talyn. You can’t even marry her. Do you really think she’s being loyal to you in your absence?”
Instead of weakening him, those words only solidified his resolve. If they were at home, Terisa would have no use for him. At all. She wouldn’t have even looked at him in Eris.
But his caste had never mattered to Felicia. She’d welcomed him regardless. And he would not repay her love with cruelty. Not take it for granted when he knew she could have given it to anyone else in the universe, and had chosen to give her love and heart to his sorry ass.
“I am forever Felicia’s male.”
“You speak as if you’re stralen.”
“Stralen or not, I would never bring hurt to my Felicia. She only deserves my best, and that’s what I intend to give her.”
“Then I hope you make it back to her and that she appreciates what an incredibly rare male you are.”
“Incoming!”
Talyn sucked his breath in at Rhys’s shout as he moved for a weapon. It was either scavengers or another drone. Not that it mattered. Both groups would be after their blood. And they would kill them if they could.
Felicia bit her lip as she called her brother. She’d been debating for days whether or not to do so, but as each one passed with no word from Talyn, she became more worried.
“Commander ezul Terronova.”
“Lorens, it’s Felicia.”
“Hey. What’s wrong? You sound really stressed.”
“I… um. I’m sorry to disturb you. I haven’t heard from Talyn since he reported for duty at the palace over three weeks ago, and I didn’t want to scare his mother needlessly. He hasn’t called or e-mailed or texted. And that’s not like him. He doesn’t do this. I haven’t seen hide nor hair of him, and his inboxes are full. He hasn’t even called his trainer about missing practice. When I go to the palace, they won’t admit me past the gate. They say he’s off-world and for me to go home. No one’s heard anything, and Erix and I are extremely worried. But when I call his DO, they keep saying it’s normal. That he’s off on assignment and can’t be contacted for security reasons. They promise they’ll tell him I called and came by, and yet I never hear back. I wanted to check with you and see if this really is normal.”
“Maybe. I know the tahrs has been off-world, and it is SOP to keep the exact details of his whereabouts classified, at all times. But hold on and let me check Talyn’s reports and assignments. As you know, he has check-ins he has to make, regardless of his post or AD.”
Biting her lip, Felicia waited impatiently while he checked on it. “How are the kids?”
“They’re fine. Gavarian and Brach have gone on and on about how much fun they had with you. We’re all excited about Talyn’s… son of a bitch!”
“What?”
“You need to call his mother. Fast.”
Her heart stopped. “What’s going on?”
“They arrested Talyn for treason. He’s not off on assignment. He’s been exiled and deported.”