“He took that better than I thought he would,” Hauk said from behind Nykyrian.
But Maris knew the truth. “No, he didn’t. He’s going to his ship right now so that he can make a suicide run for my brother and the League.”
Hauk started cursing in Andarion. “I would ask you to tell me he’s not that stupid. But…” He looked at Syn and then Nykyrian. “We’ve been down this road before and I’ve seen the hell it leads to.” He let out a disgusted sigh. “What happened to our calm, rational little buddy that we raised? You know? The guy who never reacted to anything until after he’d carefully thought it through?”
“He had the shit kicked out of him one time too many.” A tic worked in Ryn’s jaw. “This finally did him in.”
“We’ve all been there,” Nykyrian said under his breath.
Without another comment, Maris headed down the hall in the same direction as Darling. There was no way he was going to let Darling do this alone.
“Where are you going?” Drake called out after him.
Did he really have to explain? “He needs a wingman and point guard.”
“Maris, wait!”
Had it been anyone other than Nykyrian who barked that order, he would have ignored them. But Maris had too much respect for the Andarion prince to blatantly disregard him.
“What?”
“Can you stand Darling down for about twenty minutes? Give us enough time to rally so that you two will have at least half a chance at surviving?”
That wasn’t as easy as Nykyrian might think. In this current mood, Darling wouldn’t be easy to talk sense into. Not that he faulted Darling for that.
The only person he knew who could stop Darling from this stupidity was lying in a League morgue.
Maris fought down his own tears. He’d grown to love her, too. While he’d never had a sister, he’d started calling her one. “I’ll try.”
Nykyrian nodded. “Good luck.”
Yeah, he was going to need it.
Maris ran after Darling, hoping he could catch him before he launched. His heart was broken for him. But worse than that was the fact that he knew Darling would be dead before this day was out.
One way or another.
There was no way he’d come back here without Zarya. Maris could try to soothe him. But in the end, it wouldn’t be enough. Nothing would ease the agony Darling held inside himself now. No amount of words. No amount of alcohol.
Nothing.
And the sad thing was, he knew he’d die with him. He understood what drove Darling more than he wanted to.
Without Darling in his life, he had no reason to live either. He’d already lost his entire family. Every friend he’d stupidly thought he had. Friends who’d tormented and mocked Darling for being something he wasn’t while Maris had stood there and let them do it.
The guilt of his inaction would forever haunt him.
That won’t be much longer now…
And he didn’t mind at all. Zarya and Darling were the only ones who’d never judged him.
Darling, alone, had stood by him no matter what shit-storm ravaged him. He couldn’t bear the thought of getting up in the morning and not seeing or at least speaking to Darling.
“Dar!” he called as he finally saw him in the landing bay.
Halfway to his ship, Darling froze at the sound of Maris’s voice. Turning around, he frowned. Maris hated to run. He always had.
Yet he ran toward him as fast as he could.
“What are you doing, Mari?” he asked when Maris finally reached him.
Maris took a deep breath to slow his rapid breathing before he answered. “I’m going with.”
Darling shook his head. It was bad enough he’d lost Zarya, he wasn’t about to allow Maris to throw his life away, too. “No, you’re not. You’re staying here.”
Defiance glared at him through those dark eyes. “Oh hell no, I’m not. And you can’t stop me.”
That was debatable, but he didn’t want to fight with his best friend. He wanted to save his venom for the ones who deserved to die for their actions. “You don’t understand, Mari.”
“Yes, Darling, I do,” he said emphatically. “I get it completely.” His gaze steady and harsh, he put his hands on Darling’s shoulders. “Through thick and thin, we’re brothers to the bitter end. And if you’re going to hell, buddy, I’m driving the bus.”
Those sincere words touched him so deeply that they burned all the way to his soul. Finally, Darling felt the tears stinging his eyes. “I can’t let you do this. I won’t kill you, too.”
“You didn’t kill Zarya, and you have no choice.” Maris pulled his arms away and pointed to the embroidery on the sleeve of his burgundy battlesuit. “Hello? Decorated war hero. I’m every bit as well trained as you are, and I trained longer. So move your skinny ass out of my way so that I can get to my ship and show you how it’s done.”