So Quin translated. “She says it’s a pleasure to meet you, and wants to know if you’re really planning to kill Barnabas.”
“It’s why we’re here.” Bastien gestured to Ember. “This is my wingman, Ember Wyldestarrin. Ryn Dane, and our half brother, Iskander Zeki or Xander as he prefers to be called.”
Myrna gasped as she finally looked at Iskander. Then she glanced back and forth between them and gestured wildly.
“Yeah,” Bastien said. “They look like father and son.”
Quin gaped.
When he started to speak, Bastien cut him off. “He’s our theren, Quin. An incredible warrior and pilot. And a good man. Treat him better than you ever treated me.”
The fire went out slowly in Quin’s eyes before he did the one thing he’d never, ever done before. He backed down to Bastien and nodded.
Xander stood slack-jawed until Ember reached up and closed his mouth. “Did he just compliment me?”
“I think you’re growing on him.” She smiled.
“I think hell just froze over.”
Snorting, Bastien and Ryn began looking for a passable way out. But it became obvious why Quin had given up. There was no easy route to the surface.
Not that that had ever deterred Bastien. Over. Under. Around. Or through. He always found a way. And he had too big a debt to settle. High motivation for not staying down here.
As they slowly and carefully made their way up, he tried to understand Quin’s mind-set. But then, he’d never understood his brother. Unlike Quin, he’d have never been able to live this close and not strike out.
And Quin had lost a lot more than Bastien had that night. It made no sense.
“People are different, Bassie. You shouldn’t judge them by what you would and wouldn’t do. What seems easy to you is impossible to someone else. And that’s what you should always remember and fear. For too often our prisons are the glass walls that we’ve fashioned for ourselves with the excuses we’ve made for why something is impossible when it’s not. And we’re held back by nothing more than the phantoms of our minds. Shadows that scatter whenever they meet the light.”
His mother’s words had never seemed more true than they did right now. She was right. Quin wasn’t him. It was why they’d always fought. If someone said turn, Quin would go right and Bastien left. It was just how they were.
But that didn’t mean that Bastien didn’t love his brother. End of the day, he’d kill or die for him, and that was what he couldn’t lose sight of.
Or let Quin’s acerbic tongue make him forget.
They were brothers. And together, they would all get out of this.
Iskander patiently helped Ember and Bastien up. “I can tell by the light in your eyes that you have a new appreciation for me, GG.”
Bastien snorted. “Don’t push it, Badger. But yeah, you are cute and fluffy.”
And though it took them a couple of hours, they did make it to the top.
Bastien spread out on the ground and pulled Ember down over his body. “I’m just going to stay here for a few hours. Ryn … go get the ship and pick us up.”
“Ha, ha, ha. Not even. That would require I move, and I don’t think I can, either.”
Xander rolled his eyes. “What a bunch of old men I got saddled with. Fine. I’ll go get it. Y’all stay here and whine.”
But the moment he stood up, a shot rang out. It hit him dead in the chest and knocked him to the ground.
CHAPTER 16
Bastien ran to Iskander to check his vitals while Ryn covered them. Choking and wheezing, Xander was bleeding profusely.
His eyes telegraphed his agony.
For the first time, Bastien realized how right Ember had been. This was his brother. The fact that they were half-blooded didn’t matter for shit. Especially right now.
In fact, he liked Badger a hell of a lot more than Quin. At least he got along with him. He could put him at his back and trust him to protect it. And somehow over the last few months the sneaky little bastard had carved a sacred place in his heart and life. Yeah, Badger was a smart-ass, and crabby … a lot like Bastien.
But none of that mattered.
“I’ve got you, blyt theren. Hold on. Don’t you dare die on me.”
Xander met his gaze. “Are you high?”
Bastien cracked a grin. “Love you, too. And if you die, I’m going to hell so that I beat your ass for it. You hear me?”
He nodded.
“Bas! We’ve got to move!”
He wrapped his arms around Iskander while Ember took his blaster and offered cover fire for them. As fast as he could, he carried his brother to Ryn’s ship, trusting in Ryn to see to Quin and Myrna.
As soon as they were onboard, Ember went to help Ryn with preflight checks. Bastien took Iskander to the infirmary and tended him as best he could.
“Man, I should have paid closer attention in those field dressing classes.”
Iskander coughed again. “Yeah. I’ve seen the scars on your body. You should have.”
“You hassling me? Seriously? In your condition?”