His mother's smile widened. "My father knew him well. They went through League training together." She rubbed her hand over his in a gentle caress that tightened the knot in his throat. "Are you a soldier?"
Nykyrian looked at her, his soul on fire from grief and he wanted to hurt her. "I was.
Now I'm a free-assassin."
The look of shock on her face didn't give him the satisfaction he had thought it would.
Before she could respond, the doctor cleared his throat. Nykyrian looked up over the seat, worried about his wife. "Is she all right?"
The doctor smiled. "Oh yes. She must have had a shock. Not unusual for a woman in her condition. I've heard many human women faint when expecting."
"When expecting what?" Nykyrian asked and then a second later, understanding dawned on him and he thought he might faint, too.
The doctor's eyes widened. "Didn't you know she was pregnant?"
Walls closed in around Nykyrian's mind, sealing the light and air from him. He was trapped.
Dear God, what had he done?
Nykyrian stared at his mother's face, wishing he could feel the same happiness she beamed. Instead, all he could think of was how many people were out to kill him. He had signed Kiara's death contract more effectively than if he had hired the assassins himself.
"Nykyrian?" his m other said, a worried frown on her face. "Didn't you know?"
He shook his head, wishing he had never been born, had never touched Kiara.
"What's wrong?" his mother asked.
Nykyrian didn't know how to answer. What was he going to do? "Is she awake?" he asked the doctor.
"Not yet, but I could revive her if you like."
"Please."
His mother's cold hand touched his cheek. "Are you leaving us?" Her voice trembled.
"I have to."
Large tears rolled down her cheeks and he finally understood how Rachol felt when he saw a woman cry.
"You don't plan on com ing back to me, do you?"
He clenched his teeth in anger and pain. "What do you want from me? I'm past the age for a mother's coddling."
Sobs racked her body and Nykyrian felt like a cretin. Tylie held his mother close, rocking her back and forth.
"Would you meet us for dinner?" Tylie asked suddenly.
Nykyrian looked away from his aunt's tender expression. Before his common sense could intervene, his mouth answered, "Sure."
His mother sniffed back her tears and offered him a shaky smile. "Meet us tonight.
Spend just a few hours with us and if you decide you don't want to see us anymore, then I will content myself with the few hours I did have."
Nykyrian's heart lurched. He was definitely an ass. "All right. Where do you want m e to meet you?"
His mother smiled. "Here at Cam ry's. Do you know the place?"
Nykyrian nodded.
"Six-thirty?"
"I'll be there," Nykyrian said, looking up as Kiara joined them. Her face, pale and pinched, worried him. "How are you feeling?" he asked, rising to his feet.
She rubbed her arm s. "A little shaky."
With a good-bye to his mother and aunt, Nykyrian wrapped his arm round Kiara's shoulders and helped her from the shuttle. He remained silent until they were inside his fighter and headed back to his house.
"Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?"
Kiara went cold at his deadpan question. "How did you find out?"
His hand jerked at the throttle and Kiara wondered what his first reaction to the news had been.
"The doctor told me."
"Oh," she said, wishing she could have seen his face when he received the news. "Are you happy?"
"What do you think?"
Her heart sank. She remembered his rage at finding Thia and she knew this didn't thrill him half as much as that. "So what does this mean to us?" she asked, afraid of the answer, but needing to know.
His body tensed around her. She felt his heart pounding under her shoulder blade. She wanted so m uch to comfort him, but knew she couldn't.
"What do you want to do about it?" he asked quietly, no emotions betrayed by his voice.
Tears gathered in her eyes. What she wanted was to live with him and raise her family like her parents had done. To watch him play with their child, teach it all the languages he knew, hold it when it cried and needed soothing.
But all that was a futile dream. "I was planning to raise the baby on Gouran."
"Probably for the best," he said in that deadpan voice that set her temper on fire. "Once I finish with Aksel, no one else will bother you. I know Driana won't tell anyone about you and I'm sure my mother won't either."
Kiara's stomach churned with dread and pain. "Will I ever see you?"
Nykyrian tensed at her question. He couldn't stand the thought of living without her, of returning to his solitude. Even now, he wanted to make love to Kiara so badly he thought he'd go mad with his need. If he were to ever see her with his child, he knew he would forget his com mon sense, his survival skills, and stay with her. But he couldn't.
He couldn't risk her life, the life of their baby, for his selfish wants.
"No."
A sob caught in Kiara's throat. She had known his answer before she asked the question.