Born of Defiance

“Please, leave me alone,” he whispered in a ragged tone.

If Felicia lived for a thousand years, she’d never forget the anguished look on his mother’s face. She wanted to take him to task, but how could she? He’d been through a nightmare.

Besides, Nero had warned them both about how much psychological damage Talyn might have when he awoke.

“Can I do anything to help?” Felicia breathed.

Talyn tightened his grip. “Stay with me.”

“I’ve no intention of leaving you, keramon.” Not that she could, given the way he was wrapped around her entirely.

Talyn closed his eyes and let the warmth of her body ease the fury inside his heart. He kept waiting to wake up and find this a dream. To be back in that hole, covered in blood, fighting for his life, and what little sanity he had left. But as minutes passed and Felicia remained warm and soft against him, he began to realize the horror was over.

Somehow, he’d made it back.

And with that knowledge came a whole new terror. The Anatoles had ripped him out of his life without any effort at all. He, the strongest Andarion of his generation, had been erased in a matter of minutes. If not for Jayne and her Trisani husband, no one would have ever been able to find him.

No one.

His head spun with the new reality. Nothing was as it seemed. At any time, the tahrs could do anything he wanted.

To anyone.

“Talyn? Where are you?”

He allowed Felicia’s voice to pull him away from the darkness that was quickly swallowing him whole. “I’m with you.”

“Stay with me. Don’t return to wherever you were.”

Nodding, he forced himself to relax and calm his breathing. He didn’t want to be there, either. “I love you, Felicia.”

“I love you, too.” She started to roll over.

Talyn held her in place. “Don’t look at me. I’m hideous.”

She tugged at his arms until he was forced to loosen his hold or hurt her. Then she did the last thing he wanted… she rolled in the bed to face him. “You are gorgeous.”

But he knew the truth. They’d maliciously scarred him. Marked him as an Outcast. Shaved his head and dumped him like garbage. What little honor and standing he’d had was stripped from him along with his flesh and braids.

He was nothing now.

Just a piece of Outcast shit.

She cupped his face in her hands. “Your hair will grow back. And your mother has already contacted a plastic surgeon to remove the scars.”

“They’ll always be there.” They had cut him deep enough to ensure it.

“And I don’t care. Would you cease to love me if I were hurt?”

“Never.”

“Then how can you doubt me?”

Tears choked him as he stared into her silvery-white eyes and saw the sincerity. But with it came a fear so profound that it shoved him into madness.

Jullien, Chrisen, and Merrell had suppressed him with almost no effort. He was a trained warrior. A Ring champion. And they’d broken him. He’d had no way to protect himself.

The thought of them doing that to Felicia to get back at him…

“Talyn?”

He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t focus. Rage surged so violently in his veins that it made a mockery of what he felt in the Ring. Afraid he might hurt Felicia, he got out of bed, only to realize he was tethered to the equipment by monitoring devices and hoses. He snatched frantically at the lines.

Felicia shot of the bed to take Talyn’s hand. “Baby, you’re going to hurt yourself.”

Honestly, he didn’t care. He just needed to be free of restraint. He couldn’t be tied down. Not again. Panic set in even more.

Nurses ran in to sedate him.

That only riled him more.

Felicia motioned them back. “Talyn! Look at me!” She cupped his face in her hands. When that didn’t work, she rose up on her tiptoes to kiss him.

Talyn calmed the moment her lips touched his. She was the only thing in this life he would never hurt. Holding her against him, he reveled in the scent and taste that was his Felicia.

Until a nurse neared them. Tearing away with a growl, he was ready to kill her.

“Stop!” Felicia motioned the nurse away. “He’s all right. Can we get the monitors off him?”

“He needs the IV.”

“I’ll keep him hydrated. I promise.” Felicia slowly and carefully began removing the monitoring devices and IV, and handing them to the nurses, until he was free.

She smiled up at him. “Better?”

He nodded.

With a tender hand, she led him back to bed and placed him in it while the nurses withdrew from the room. Felicia tucked the covers around him. “You’re safe, Talyn. Do you remember Nero?”

“Yes.”

“He’s right outside the door, along with six royal guards and your mother. Tizirah Tylie has an order signed by Tadara Eriadne that you’re to be protected at all times. No one’s going to remove you from this room without a brutal fight from all of us.” She kissed his cheek. “Do you want me to get your mother for you?”

Tears gathered in his eyes. “I can’t.”