His love for Fain would never allow it. It would kill his brother to see them together, knowing they had divorced because Omira refused to have Fain’s children. That would be the cruelest blow of all.

No, come hell or high water, she would stop this before it went any further.

Sumi had almost convinced herself of that when Darice returned to eat the stew she’d warmed for breakfast. Thia had just awakened and was still yawning as she sat next to the fire.

As Sumi went to get some food for herself, she heard the dreaded symphony of a war zone. Both of the kids bolted to their feet beside her. Her heart hammering, she motioned for Thia to cover her, and return to the cave for protection while she headed for the battle.

And a battle it was. Near the stream where he’d gone to bathe, Dancer was pinned down near a short outcropping of rocks by three men. She could tell by the dimness of the blasts that Dancer was almost out of ammunition. It was what the assassins were waiting for.

As soon as he was empty, they’d end him.

What they didn’t know was that Dancer had a secret weapon. And she was about to unleash hell on them for daring this. Moving silently and with every bit of League training she’d mastered, Sumi closed the distance between her and Dancer’s attackers.

She caught the first one completely unaware. Shooting him in the back, she rolled and dropped a bead on the second one. He dodged her blast and returned fire. Anger pounded through her that she’d missed what should have been an easy mark.

Grinding her teeth, she threw a fully charged blaster to Dancer and then laid down cover fire for him so that he could reach it. As soon as he had the weapon, he took the one on her left and she finished off the third.

Crouching low, he closed the distance between them. “Thank you.”

“Any time, big guy.” She clapped him on the arm as she skimmed the bodies around them. “Is this all of our party crashers?”

“Think so.” Still wary, he went to search the body closest to him. “They’re a little more high-tech than our last batch of friends. These came with short-distance radios.”

Given the magnetic field here that played havoc with electronics, they’d have to have some serious credit invested in those radios for them to work. “How many?”

“Dozen. I was trying to get them farther away from your position when they cornered me. Told you this place sucks for defense.”

“Sorry.” Sumi holstered her weapon. “You’re a little hard to move when you’re unconscious.”

Instead of being offended, he actually grinned. “So I’ve been told. Least you didn’t wrench my arm out of its socket trying.”