Bastien couldn’t stop himself from smiling at some of the things he’d kill for. “A solid roof that doesn’t leak during the rare rains we have would be incredible. But don’t make it too inviting. I don’t want it to attract any undue attention. Only things I want crawling in here are the spiders and insects.”
“Got it.”
With that, Jullien gestured for Bastien and the woman with them to follow him out toward their ship.
As soon as they neared it, Bastien bit back a laugh at the name of Jullien’s ship. “Pet Hate?”
Jullien grinned as he lowered the ramp. “Seemed fitting for me.”
Yeah, given that Jullien had been everyone’s pet hate at home, it made sense.
At least he’d managed to keep his sense of humor over it.
Shaking his head, Bastien laughed. “Damn, Julie, you look so different from the last time I saw you.”
“Yeah, I’m surprised you recognized me.”
“I would always know my favorite cousin.”
He arched a brow at that. “Not how I remember our relationship.”
Bastien grinned as old memories played through his mind. Memories he hadn’t thought about in a long, long time. And it was nice to think about something other than the horror that was the last couple of years and basic daily survival. “I will admit that you intimidated me.”
Jullien gaped. “What?”
He didn’t know why it surprised his cousin so. “Honor to the gods. Yeah. You were massively tall and huge. Twice my size, and you always wore a frowning expression that said you were contemplating the death and dismemberment of the next person who made the mistake of speaking to you.”
The woman passed a curious look at Jullien. “Did you?”
“No. Honestly, the frown came from my confusion as I tried to understand what they were saying to me. Triosans speak fast, and their accents are incredibly thick and unlike the language files we were given in school. The court dialect was completely different from what I’d been taught.”
Ah, that explained it. And made a lot of sense. “He’s right. It took me a few minutes to reacclimate every time I visited. But man, Julie, that’s not what it looked like on your face.” He laughed at the memory of their childhood. “Your expression was one of perpetual pissed off. Not that I blame you for it.… Yet even so, I always looked forward to seeing you.”
“Why? You mostly ignored me.”
“I always sat by you, if you remember.… I just always thought you had some kind of secret knowledge the rest of us lacked. And I wanted to know more about Andarions and if they were as different from us as everyone claimed. Because honestly, you didn’t seem like you were all that strange to me.”
“Thanks … I think.”
Bastien winked as the woman laughed before she headed down the hallway that led toward the bridge. Sobering, Bastien narrowed his gaze on Jullien. “In all seriousness, though, you look really good now, and not just more fit and trim. You look happy. Like there’s a weight missing from your shoulders. I don’t know what happened to you, but I hope it’s as good as it seems. You deserve to have some peace from the hell they gave you.”
Jullien pulled the glasses down past his eyes so that Bastien could see that they were no longer the hazel green they’d been. Now his eyes were a vibrant red.
A rare color for Andarions, and one Bastien remembered hearing stories about.
“What’s the Andarion term for that?”
“Stralen.”
“Means you’re married, right?”
Jullien nodded as he replaced his glasses. “To an amazing female. Like your Alura.”
The mere mention of her name made him fume and pierced his heart with a pain so profound that for a moment, he could barely draw a single breath. Jullien had no idea of the nerve he’d just stomped.
Bastien curled his lip. “For your sake, I pray she’s nothing like Alura. That faithless bitch is one of the reasons I’m here.”
“I’m sorry, Bas. I didn’t know.”
“Yeah. Neither did I. Until it was too late.” And he cursed himself every day of this wretched existence for being an ass and falling for her lies. Lil had been right. He should have divorced her that day in the hospital and never looked back.
So many regrets. So many things he’d do differently if he could only go back in time.
His gaze filled with sympathy, Jullien took him to his room and showed him where the shower was. He pulled out some of his own clothes for him. “Take whatever you need.”
More grateful than mere words could express, Bastien stepped into the bathroom and closed the door so that he could finally have a decent bath again.
The moment the hot, fresh water touched his skin, he wanted to weep. This was what he missed most on his makeshift home.
Well, this and someone to talk to. But the water pumps had burned out completely a long time ago so all he had now was what he’d managed to dig out of the ground as a well for himself. Though he’d tried everything, he had yet to get full running water back in the base.
Closing his eyes, Bastien let the miraculous wetness cascade over him and ease the soreness in his muscles.