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Before Bryce could finish, the door blasted open. Hunt’s lightning was an instant crackling wall in front of her.
But Bryce let out a low sound of joy when she saw Ruhn panting in the doorway, her brother’s eyes wide with shock.
Then they were hugging and laughing, and such joy poured from her that her starlight glowed brightly, casting stark shadows in the cramped room. “Bryce,” he said, grinning, and the pride in his voice had her throat closing up. She grabbed his hand, unable to come up with the words, but then she saw his arms.
His tattoos were in ribbons. Like his skin had been split open so deep—
Her starlight winked out. “Ruhn,” she breathed.
“All in one piece,” Ruhn said, and glanced to Baxian. “Again.”
“I don’t want to know what that look means,” Bryce said as Baxian winced apologetically.
“You really don’t,” Hunt said, sliding an arm around her shoulders and guiding her to the bunk opposite where Baxian and Tharion rested. He sat close enough that his thigh pressed into hers, and went so far as to drape a wing over her. Like he’d never let her out of his sight again.
She breathed in his scent, his warmth, over and over again. The most wonderful things in the universe.
Ruhn blinked at Bryce, as if not convinced she was really there. “I’m not hallucinating, right?” he asked.
“No.” Bryce patted the bed beside her.
But Ruhn lingered by the door, his face grim. “It kills me to say this, but I can’t stay long.”
“What happened?” Baxian asked.
“Lidia woke up,” Ruhn said. “And, ah … she had some surprises to share.”
* * *
“So,” Hunt said to Ruhn in the stunned quiet five minutes later. “Your girlfriend has … kids.”
Bryce’s mind reeled from all her brother had said.
Ruhn only lifted baleful eyes to Hunt. All right: no teasing. She let out a low whistle. “How the Hel did Lidia hide it? When did she even have these kids?”
Baxian said ominously, “I think the better question is whether they’re Pollux’s.”
“They didn’t have wings,” Ruhn said tensely. “But that doesn’t mean anything.”
“She’s all right, though?” Bryce asked. She owed the female everything. Everything. If there was anything she could do to help her—
“She’s sleeping again,” Ruhn said. “I think the run upstairs drained her.”
“Adrenaline fueled it, probably,” Tharion mused.
Ruhn’s eyes went hazy, worried, so Bryce supposed Hunt did him a favor when he changed the subject. He turned to her. “Okay, let’s hear it. How the fuck did you get onto this ship? How did you find us?”
To distract Ruhn, she could play along. “I told you: I teleported.” She met Hunt’s eyes, registering the love and pain there, and said quietly, “You’re my home, Hunt. Our love spans across stars and worlds, remember?” She smiled slightly. “I’ll always find you.”
His throat worked, no doubt recalling that he’d said those same words to her before she’d jumped through the Gate in the Eternal Palace. But he dropped her stare like he couldn’t bear it, and asked, “Where did you teleport from?”
Fine, then. She’d give him some space to sort out his shit. “From dear old Dad’s house. Where he thought he was keeping me hostage.”
“He thought?” Ruhn demanded.
Bryce shrugged.
Hunt threw her a bone this time. “Can you explain what you said to the Ocean Queen in there? About the parasites in the water and the Asteri?”
