She covered her lips with her hand as the true horror and tragedy of it all racked her. “How could she do that to him?”

“You’re her sister. Ask her.”

She looked up at him as tears fell down her cheeks. “I can’t. She killed herself.”

Hauk froze as those ragged words left her throat. He winced for all of them. Sumi, Omira, and Fain, who would be devastated by this news. Even though Omira had ripped out Fain’s heart, he still loved her. Deeply. Still kept her ring and photo close at all times. He’d never gotten over her or her betrayal.

Before Hauk even realized what he was doing, he sank down and pulled Sumi into his arms. “I’m sorry, Sumi. I didn’t know.”

Sumi tried to hold back her sobs – as she’d done her whole life. But for some reason, they poured out of her and she couldn’t stop them. Clinging to Hauk, she let her fear and grief run from the darkest corners of her soul where she kept them tightly leashed.

“I have no one in this world, Dancer. No one. I’ve been alone for so long. Omira and Fain were the only family I ever had. Fain promised he wouldn’t leave me and he did. He never came back or called. He just left. And Omira was selfish, and a bitch at times. But she was all I had and she wasn’t supposed to leave me, either. What is so wrong with me that no one wants to stay with me?”

Hauk clenched his eyes tight as he hated himself for insulting her sister to her. He had no right.

Well, he did. But he regretted hurting Sumi more.

“Shh, kahrya mia,” he whispered while he rocked her. “You’re not alone. There’s nothing wrong with you.”

She shook her head in denial. “P-please just promise me that you’ll save my Kalea. I don’t want her to grow up alone, like I did. To become what I am. She deserves so much better than this life.”

He pressed his cheek against hers. “I swear on the blood of my ancestors that I will get her out of League custody and to a home where she’s loved.”

That made her cry even harder.

Shit. What did I do?

What was he supposed to do?

Andarion women didn’t cry. Ever. They cursed. They insulted. They clawed. They attacked. That was what he was used to – covering his crotch, and letting them have at it until they were spent.

But this…

He was completely at a loss as to how to deal with her tears. Worse was the pain they wrung inside him. He hurt for her. Literally. “Sumi, please. I don’t know what to do to make this better.”