He was only a wraith of the man who’d once believed in the goodness of others. The man who’d believed in justice and honesty.
Universe wasn’t like that. It was harsh and unfair.
It sucked and didn’t care for anyone. And he was done with it all.
Dancer shook his head at her. “You are so bossy. I’d eat anyone else who talked to me like this.”
“Promises, promises. Now move!”
Yeah, that’s exactly what Ember would have said.
Blinking back the sudden moisture in his eyes as he tried not to think about her, Bastien cleared his throat.
Hauk obeyed Sumi’s orders, with a slow petulance that said he was only agreeing to make her happy. Bastien had been there, too. A woman had no idea how much control she had over a man when he loved her. There was nothing they wouldn’t do to make their woman happy.
To see her smile …
It was what they lived for.
Growling low in his throat, Dancer slung his leg over the airbee and allowed her to lead him to a softer area near the water.
Lying down, Dancer stared up at the side of the mountain with a dark expression Bastien couldn’t fathom. But it was obvious some demon was tormenting him.
Sumi sat down next to him and opened his shirt. She gasped at the sight of the wound across his ribs. “Dancer!”
He didn’t speak as she cleaned it and continued fussing at him over it. And that too gutted Bastien.
How sick was it that he missed listening to his mother, sister, and Ember yell at him over his reckless disregard for his life? It’d been way too long since he was in the full-time care of someone who loved him.
She sat back and frowned at how many wounds lined his torso and arms. “You really need an MT, Dancer.”
He squeezed her hand comfortingly. “I’ll be all right.”
She shook her head. “You’re not invincible.”
“Damn near.”
She rolled her eyes at his arrogance. “Didn’t at least one of them miss when they shot at you?”
He laughed then grimaced. “Yeah, I always wanted to be that hero in a movie where no one can shoot straight except me. Never happens. I seem to always walk into the school of award-winning sharpshooters.”
Bastien knew that dream, as he had the same luck Dancer did. Never failed that he walked or landed right in the middle of the top graduates of some sick sniper academy.
In fact, that was what had caused his wingman before Ember to bug out of his company. One too many close encounters with death.
Dancer dropped his hand to the injury she had on her biceps. “You okay?”
“Told you. Flesh wound. Throbs, but I can handle it.”
He smiled. “My tough mia.”
Those words came out slurred as Dancer slowly drifted off to sleep.
Pursing her lips, she left him to come check on Bastien. His gut tightened immediately at her approach. For more than one reason.
The last thing he wanted was to have an Andarion male’s female touching him. One thing he knew about their culture—they were insanely jealous and no one touched their women or children without permission.
So he tried to brush her aside.
Yet as with Dancer, she was insistent.
Bastien grimaced at her. “I’ve had worse from bar fights. Trust me. Beatings I can take.”
“You sure?”
Bastien nodded. “Hand me a cloth and I’m fine.”
She hesitated.
Glancing over to Dancer, he gave her a sardonic grin. “Sumi, I learned a long time ago, you don’t touch or get touched by an Andarion’s female. They get really hostile over it, and I’m not physically able to keep Hauk from killing me right now. So no offense, let’s maintain at least a five-foot no-touch zone. ’Kay?”
She scoffed as she handed him the foil package that held an antiseptic cloth. “He wouldn’t beat you, Bastien.”
Yeah, right. Definitely not worth the bet.
“Not gonna chance it. In case it’s escaped your notice, your male is a huge motherfucker. And I’ve had enough ass beating to tide me over for at least a month.… Maybe longer.”
Shaking her head at him, she went to check on Thia.
Bastien lay for hours in silence, pretending to sleep. It was easier than being awake and interacting with a family. Because the way they teased and fought reminded him of everything that was forever lost to him, and it cut in a way he hadn’t realized he’d been spared from. All this time, he’d cursed his Ravin status.
Right now, he was beginning to think it’d been a blessing. Over the years, he’d been focused on surviving. Finding food, and shelter. Making sure the perimeter was secured. He hadn’t thought much about anything else. Even the times when he allowed himself to wallow had been few and far between. Some new threat or necessity had always cropped up to pull his thoughts to immediate survival.
It was so much easier to live that way than face the extreme loneliness he felt when he was around others.
A part of him was tempted to stay behind and rot here, but he couldn’t do that. Not until he fulfilled the promise he’d made to his parents and siblings.
He wouldn’t die or rest until he’d paid Barnabas back everything that was owed to him.