{Reipon}

Bones missed Colton’s cheesecake.

The super badass Iona Lieutenant stayed behind on Earth with another badass Lieutenant, Cypher. Both were humans, but Bones didn’t hold that against them. They worked with Tempest and Dolor to recover projects abandoned after Smith, Lucas, and Silence betrayed them. The traitors who took King Rayne.

Although Imminent declared the Progeny and their associates fugitives, Enki and the Tribunal still maintained a front of salvaging Earth and Cinder after the war. The Brethren were still “in charge” there. The Tritans stuck them with the wet work of distributing nacres to human kind.

Suspicious nacres.

Nacres that Bones suspected…

But of what?

Well, he didn’t know. But the Shadow and The Brethren brainstormed a few terrifying possibilities. Volition control. Declined intelligence and increased aggression. Explosives—

Fucking everything. Anything.

It left Bones’ feet itchy—

“You gonna call or glare those cards into a winning hand?”

Andrew chuckled at Kyle’s snarky—and factually incorrect—intrusion of Bones’ thoughts. He held the winning hand. And what a pool to win.

The last cheesecake. Kept frozen these last few months to celebrate a big win. A win with a high price—

Fuck.

Kyle was right.

“I raise you chocolate syrup and an exquisitely clean fork.” Bones threw in his lot to the groans of defeat all around the rosewood lounge. Their censure nearly drowned out the dulcet sounds of Korac’s Verse in the background.

Twenty-One threw his cards down, folding with a grievous shake of his head. His heft reduced the professional dealer’s table to kiddie furniture.

Devis acted as referee. The First Wave Progeny took the job seriously with his powerful arms folded and eyes squinted at the players. He kept his mask up after Bones’ raise, but excitement piqued in his glimmering eyes.

Jack and Ross spectated from the bar. They shared a grin derived only from youthful enthusiasm.

Bones gloated despite his inner monologue reminding him of Oleen’s death. “That’s right. I—”

A thud sounded from the ceiling. Another. The percussion sounds were arrhythmic and louder at times.

Andrew kept his eyes down with a knowing smirk. Kyle scowled at both the bet and the disruption. Twenty-One chuckled.

Ross murmured with her hazel eyes turned upward, “That’s Caedes’ room, right? Should we check on him?”

Bones, Andrew, and Devis all shared a look. Kyle blinked wide at his sister. A blush kissed Jack’s cheeks as he explained, “Uhm… He’s with Pehton.”

Her eyes got huge, and that rosy flush reached her ears. “Oh.”

Twenty-One cleared his throat into his fist. “I want to see this hand, Bonemaker.”

Jack crossed the room and requested some music from the hospitality software. Obviously to help distract from the thumps above. Not that Bones minded. This was all the couples’ first night off in months, and as far as he knew, every single one of them was working. Although Pehton and Caedes weren’t officially a couple, they spent a lot of alone time together. That’s their business, but he got it.

Bones missed Para, and it hurt to think about her at all. Elden only knew what Imminent subjected those beautiful Valkyrie women to. With the stakes raised, for the first time since Volcano Day, Bones worried they might not recover everyone.

Not only on time.

But not at all.

Hope cost a lot these days. Like an entire cheesecake.

Andrew tossed in some sundae sprinkles. “I’m all in.”

Kyle looked upside his head. “Quit screwing around. We promised to split this cake—”

“Jack, how are the Iona recoveries?” Ross inquired low enough she didn’t disrupt the bickering. “And the Verses?”

Half listening to Andrew and Kyle disrespecting the game, Bones focused on Jack’s answer. Judging by their quick glances, Devis and Twenty-One listened along.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

The fugitive King Regent of Earth had this smile—kind of a goofy, crooked smirk—that he only showed for Ross. The teenager was terrible at poker, too. “Six, Colton, and Cypher travel on Molly and Iron Hope, distributing the Verses with the nacres. They repaired the Iona Medical Ecology and Arsenal, which sit empty, waiting for us to return. The quantum communicator is running. Tempest oversees the establishment of global receivers. And I heard from Boklo two days ago—Andrew’s agriculturist? The Vittle crops are thriving.”

“What about Pisces?” Andrew kept his eyes low as he stared at the betting pool. Thubgy’s mom, the Hellkite, brought much joy to the home Andrew made with Lucas in the Icarus’ zeppelin. The Shadow couldn’t bring her on the retreat because she impregnated herself again. Apparently, she schemed to populate Earth with Hellkittens.

Jack’s smile warmed the room once he realized he’d captivated the entire audience. “Pisces is fine. I think Dolor is getting attached. There’s one other thing.” He met each of their gazes before elaborating, “Xelan’s stronghold is fully restored.” At their frowns, he nodded as they arrived at the same conclusion. “They’re trying to draw us out.”

Bones gnawed on this concern often. How do they ever return? Could they ever? What about the worlds they left behind—

Tameka swept through the door with a look of pure determination on her pretty face. It’d been two months since Bones saw her in anything other than a combat suit. The blue jeans and black t-shirt were almost startling, but casual suited her.

As if hearing his thoughts, Tameka beamed at him before announcing, “Fellas—and Ross—we need a morale booster. Andrew, do you still have the Iona-29 footage we kept for training?”

Andrew glanced around at all the eyes on him. “‘Rayne’s Reclamation?’”

Bones almost snorted when she recoiled gently as Tameka exclaimed, “You named it?”

“Not me, no.”

Oh.

The way Andrew’s face fell made Tameka step off. Softly, she stayed on topic. “I think we need to remind everyone exactly who’s inside of Imminent right now.” She turned and looked behind her where Xelan and Iuo wandered into the lounge. “And Xelan never got to see.” Confident and proud, Tameka squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. “We won’t lose. Rayne won’t let us.”

Jack smiled even brighter.

Ross leaned in and whispered, “I need to check on my sister.”

He met her eyes. “Isn’t she in her session with Korac?”

“Yes, but—”

Another thud sounded.

Tameka and Xelan looked up. Not Iuo. The Porn Baron made a show of looking at his notes. He’d recognized the sounds for sure.

The only redhead in the room asked, “So… what’s going on in Caedes’ room?”

Xelan read the room. He laid a gentle hand on Tameka’s shoulder and raised a brow. “Pehton…”

A light bulb practically bloomed behind her eyes. “Oh.”

Now. Bones minded his own business, but he often let his mind wonder as to Tameka’s relationship with the bald Icarean warrior who stood by her side after Xelan’s demise. Although Pax referred to the stand-in as “Uncle Caeda,” one might say he acted as a father and raised Pax as his own. So what other roles did Caedes assume in the Prince’s absence.

But that was none of Bones’ business. He only observed a slight… tone… in Tameka’s utterance.

“Anybody up for some carnage?” Andrew interrupted the tension. He loaded the capsule into the hospitality device and a screen projected a compilation of feeds from Iona-29. The edits cut together all the angles that captured Rayne in her retaking of the lost facility.

Keeping his eye on the cards and the cheesecake, Kyle rocked his chair back and put his feet on the table with his hands behind his head. The relaxed composure was a front that Bones saw through.

Only six people had ever witnessed this footage. Korac and Nox, at the time it was recorded, they tapped into the feed and watched a show intended to intimidate them. Matt, Puk, and Sagan said Razor played the feed to advertise Rayne’s experience at one of his venues. And Lucas, who reserved the footage for “training purposes.” Or whatever.

They lowered the volume on Korac’s Verse and let Rayne’s footage play to the music. Xelan stood closest to the projection and looked up as if seeing Rayne in person. This tugged on Bones’ heart. He understood those two shared a connection special to guardians and their wards. In fact, as the display went on, Bones wondered if Xelan might not appreciate the level of violence Rayne demonstrated.

To the beat, Rayne smashed one human guard’s head through a cinderblock wall, disarmed a combat knife from an Icarus, and rendered him unconscious with a mid-flip kick to his temple. Still singing, she slashed a human behind the knees and shoved the knife through the underside of the other Icarus’ chin. Blue blood showered her face. She tilted her head to the side as if listening or reading something not heard or seen by the camera.

Xelan frowned and stepped closer with his eyes narrowed. “The fuse. She’s calculating the damage.”

Tameka stood back, emotions conflicted on her face. She looked as though she wanted to reach out to him, but thought better of it. In Ross’ absence, Jack sat alone at the bar. He looked equally dismayed. Iuo recorded his observations. Only Devis and Twenty-One looked unbothered. Both men nodded along with each move, as if approving of her choices.

Bones was more in this camp.

Well, until…

Rayne gave a particular smirk to the camera as a guard pressed himself firmly against her. She ripped into the guy’s ribs and opened them like butterflied chicken. He screamed as she tore one rib completely out and stabbed him in the eye several times with it to the beat of the song. After his screams died, she threw the bone shank across the room into another taker. It went through his skull.

Everyone in the room shrank back. Winces echoed throughout the lounge. Plenty of “ooo” sounds through tightly squeezed faces.

Xelan looked away and went still. Now Tameka reached for him. He let her smooth a comforting hand over his shoulder blade. Under her breath, she assured him, “Rayne is so strong and capable of anything.”

“I never wished any of you capable of this.” Xelan kissed Tameka’s forehead. “But I understand now why you wanted me to see it.” He returned his gaze to the projected images and noted his observations to Tameka in hushed tones.

Meanwhile, the rest shuffled back to the card table, granting the obviously strained couple some space. The men gathered around the cheesecake, and they smiled easier and relaxed in their seats.

Fury was right.

It was a morale booster. Rayne could kill anything, and no one could touch her. With Tameka and Xelan leading the Shadow, anything was possible. They would rescue Chris, Karter, and Para. After kicking Imminent’s ass, they would return to Earth and integrate the Icari into human society.

They would win.

In the meantime, Korac’s Verse provided Bones with some interesting insights. Like why Rayne smirked at the camera that way. Or why Caedes had such a stick up his ass pre-Tameka days. Thank Elden the Icarus was getting laid as of late.

They could all use the comfort right now.