his hair. He turned away, then immediately turned toward Bannon again. “Is that all?” His voice was gruff and exasperated.
It was a tone Bannon knew too well; he’d heard it his whole life. It was that tone that said, “You are a bother and don’t know what you are talking about.” It was the tone that meant the speaker thought he knew best. And it was a tone Bannon was no longer going to stomach.
Shaking his head, Ciaran turned without waiting for an answer and headed back into the cottage.
He doesn’t trust us or respect our opinion, Timothy whispered.
All the doubts he’d been having surfaced at once, bombarding him, settling into his stomach like an ache.
Suddenly, Louie was there. She wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned her head on his shoulder.
He leaned into her embrace and watched Ciaran leave him. That had not gone anything like he’d expected it to go. “He just treated me exactly like my family does. Like I haven’t a brain in my head and have no clue what’s important.”
“But he’s not family,” Louie said softly and kissed his cheek.
No, he’s not, and that makes it even worse.
§ § § §
Meteor dust, but this was a bad idea. Marcus had assumed it would come down to this from the moment he laid eyes on that starforsaken base, but he’d really hoped Bannon was correct about his captain friend. He’d even been willing to wait a week or so to see—they all had—and he’d tried to point that out all day today, but no one wanted to listen to him. Galaxy save him from men and their tempers. And yes, he knew he was one to talk.
Lying on the ridge overlooking the base was one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do, even though he’d just shot his fair share of enemies. A lesser man would be shaking in his boots. Truth be told, Marcus probably would be too, if he were standing rather than lying on his stomach, looking through a rifle scope. All these years watching Patrick ride off to battle had been hard, but this…? Lying here, watching his loved ones—Patrick, Ciaran, and Ram—fighting their way inside was pure hell.
Below, Patrick shot the last MacLean, and everything quieted. The zip of lasers and the yelling stopped, and the night seemed to hold its breath, as if waiting for more men to come barreling out of the building. Ciaran and Angus hurried toward Patrick, who stood several feet from the door and off to the right side.
Marcus looked around for Ramsey. There were about a dozen MacKays lying on the ground, lifeless. There were more MacLeans, though, and even a handful of IN.
No doubt more IN soldiers were inside the base, and that worried Marcus. He was no stranger to battle tactics. Before he’d married Patrick, he was supposed to have been King-Consort of Regelence, whose job was to oversee the military, so he was all too aware of the fact that the real danger lay inside the base. There were probably several places for a fatal funnel. He wanted to be down there helping, yet he knew he’d be a distraction to Patrick, who’d worry about his leg.
Looking past his scope, Marcus took in the bigger picture and finally found Ramsey. Ram and about ten other MacKays joined Patrick at the side of the door, and Marcus let out a sigh of relief. His little family was safe… for now.
Glancing around, he made certain there were no incoming attackers.
Patrick was giving out instructions to the men below, pointing some to go to the other side of the door.
Marcus held his breath as the warriors hurried across the opening. When no shots came from inside, he relaxed again, or at least as much as he could relax under the circumstances. As he took a deep even breath and looked through the scope once again, rocks crunched behind him.
With his heart pounding in his ears, Marcus held his breath and listened. His body tensed, ready to roll over and fire at any moment. He had a fragger pistol with him, but transitioning would take too long.
Someone was coming up behind him very slowly. They were obviously trying to be quiet. Judging from the scrape of rocks, they were about ten yards back. He had no idea if they had a fragger or a sword, so Marcus rolled and aimed and found nothing.
A gasp sounded, followed by “Marcus, is that you?”