Born of Betrayal by Sherrilyn Kenyon Page B

“Felicia.”
    â€œIt’s a beautiful name.”
    And still he glared at him. Damn. Forget Talyn’s martial skills. That cold stare alone could let blood.
    â€œHow long have the two of you—”
    â€œI don’t talk about my personal life with strangers.”
    Wounded and hurt, Fain nodded as he remembered reading that in a few different articles over the years. It was something the media had beaten Talyn up over. The Iron Hammer didn’t show his face in the Ring, or out of it. Nor did he speak of anything other than his matches. He kept everyone at arm’s length. The most the media had dragged out of him was that he liked to rock climb and camp on weekends. And that was if they could ever get an interview with him at all.
    â€œIs there anything I can say to you that would end with us at least on friendly terms?”
    â€œYou’re dying with a painful, terminal disease and only have a few hours to live might work.”
    Fain let out a tired “heh” with that. “Aren’t you at least curious about me?”
    Talyn snorted. “Not really.”
    â€œYou’ve no questions whatsoever?”
    â€œHe’s never asked any questions about you or your family,” Galene said as she rejoined them. “Not even your name.”
    Fain didn’t know why, but that hurt more than anything. “I see. We’ll keep this strictly military, then. I’ll stay out of both your ways, and you can contact me whenever you need me to relay orders to the Phrixians. Darling Cruel—the Caronese emperor—you can deal with directly. He has no problem taking orders from a female, as Jayne has bossed him around for years, and broke him in when he was young. If you need to contact one of his commanders, you can text me and I’ll forward the orders. Most of the Tavali shouldn’t have any problem with you. If they do give you any trouble, forward their names and I’ll tell you who they answer to. You can easily deal with their four primary commanders, and if it helps, Ryn Cruel—Darling’s older brother—is the son of Hermione Dane. She’s the leader of the Wasturnum, and she sits at the head of the UTC.”
    Galene arched a brow. “UTC?”
    â€œUniversal Tavali Council. She goes by Kirren, and you will need that name to get through to her. It’s her call sign, reserved only for those closest to her. All the Tavali operate that way. It’s how we keep outsiders and spies from knowing anything about us.”
    Talyn narrowed his gaze on him. “What name do you use? Faithless?”
    Fain let the insult go. “I don’t. Nor do I answer to anyone. I’m what’s called a Rogue.”
    â€œAnd that is?”
    He returned Talyn’s glare with an equally cold look. “Someone with no family or individual National allegiance. What Andarions affectionately call an Outcast, only the Tavali don’t try to kill us on sight. They just use us when they need cannon fodder or decoys, and we pay a yearly fee directly to the UTC, instead of a tithing fee to a National Presidium.”
    Galene glanced away as she caught the pain that flashed into Fain’s eyes. She shouldn’t care.
    At all. And yet she did.
    Because I used to love him.
    Maybe. And maybe it was because Talyn favored him so much that it was her love of her son that made her more sympathetic to the man he took after.
    Yeah, she’d go with that, for now.
    Fain tapped at his ear. “Hauk, go,” he said to whomever was calling. He waited several seconds before he spoke again. “We’ll be right there.” He met her gaze. “Your guard is on board and waiting with my crew. If you two are ready, we can be on our way.”
    As they started for the door, Talyn tapped his ear. “Hey, is something wrong?” He placed his finger against the link and frowned as he listened intently. He led them out to the hallway.