in a Hyshian school, until the day when word had come that Talyn’s mother had been severely injured in an attack on the Andarion tizirah. As Jayne helped him pack his bag to go home, she’d finally seen real vulnerability inside him. He’d been so afraid, his little hands had trembled.
“She’ll be fine, Talyn.”
Still, stark terror and grief had glowed deep in his white eyes. It had stunned her how well he’d managed emotions that had to be tearing him up inside.
When the office had called to say his great-grandmother was there to take him home with her, Jayne had thought nothing more as she sent him to the front.
Hours later, she’d been on her way to her transport when she happened to glance to the side doors, out of habit to double check their room entrance. Talyn was there, huddled behind a set of bushes, with his books spread around him as he did his homework.
Scowling, she’d gone over to him. “Talyn? What are you still doing here? I thought your great-grandmother picked you up hours ago.”
When he met her gaze, his young eyes had betrayed the bitter agony inside his heart. “My gre paran came while I was getting in her transport, and said that he doesn’t want a mongrel dog tainting his home and making it smell. He pulled me out and made my gre yaya leave me here.”
Jayne was aghast at the cruelty. “She just left you in the parking lot?”
He nodded without emotion.
“Why didn’t you come back to class?”
He’d sighed heavily. “I tried, but there was no one to check me in again. The office secretary said that I couldn’t do it without an adult and that I wasn’t supposed to be on campus without being checked in. She told me if I didn’t go, she’d call security. And I didn’t want to get into trouble, so I hid here.”
Tears had scalded her throat as she imagined how the poor boy must feel after being so cruelly abandoned. So much for Hyshians being a compassionate race. Bastards. “Who else can I call to come get you?”
Swallowing hard, he looked up with tears in his eyes. “I’ll just wait for my mama. She’ll come for me when she can.”
Jayne had knelt down beside him. “Baby, your mother’s in surgery. She can’t come.”
“She’ll come. She will. I’ll wait here for her so she can find me and won’t be worried.”
Cupping his cheek, she did her best to understand his situation. As crazy as her family had been, she’d always had someone she could rely on. Someone who would come for her. Even in jail. “Talyn, I can’t leave you here alone, overnight. It’s not safe. You’ll freeze. Don’t you have anyone else to call?”
He’d shaken his head. “It’s just me and my mama. We don’t need anyone else.”
In that moment, she’d decided to take him home with her. She knew better than to call the authorities. There was no telling what Hyshians might do to a lone Andarion male. Even a boy. While they’d been currently at peace, they’d fought enough in the past that some Hyshians harbored a profound hatred of his species. In spite of his Andarion heritage, Talyn was a gentle soul, and the last thing she’d wanted was for anyone to hurt him.
And over the next three weeks while she’d cared for him, she and Hadrian had fallen in love with the quiet, reserved boy who quickly became an extended member of their family.
Several times, they’d taken him to the hospital to visit Galene, who’d finally explained that Talyn’s father had never been in the picture and knew nothing about Talyn’s birth. Over and over, Galene had cried and thanked Jayne for a kindness that really shouldn’t be so unusual.
They’d been best friends ever since.
“Jaynie?”
She looked up at Hadrian’s voice that pulled her away from the past, and realized they’d landed and that both he and Nero were dressed in protective gear. “Yes?”
He cupped her face in his hand. “We’re heading out. You joining us or do you want to stay with the ship?”
“I’m coming.”
Hadrian handed her a mask and helped to secure it to her suit as Nero opened the door to the inhospitable landscape.
As soon as she was on the ramp, Jayne cursed Jullien for his cruelty. This planet, like so many others, had been bombed to oblivion by The League. What remained of the native life forms were mutated aberrations that preyed on anything they could find. But what sickened