Of losing Sumi forever. While she might be a daughter of Cairistiona’s, she still had to get through Dariana. And Dariana was one of the best warriors in the Andarion military services. Worse, Andarions didn’t fight the way humans did. Sumi would have to learn their tactics.

And the rules of their ring.

If she didn’t, Dariana would kill her without mercy.

What have I done? He knew that Sumi was an incredible fighter. A trained assassin. But it wasn’t the same. Andarions came out of the womb fighting.

Fear poured through him as he realized that no matter how much he might wish it, Sumi would never be able to defeat Dariana.

Their love was as doomed as Fain’s and Omira’s.

Humans and Andarions didn’t mix. He knew that. Look at Nykyrian’s parents. They truly did love and adore each other. Yet they’d never been able to stay together. They lived entirely separate lives.

His heart pounding, he held on to Sumi, knowing that death was going to come for them.

And there was nothing he could do to stop it.

CHAPTER 26

Sumi followed Dancer up the stark white spiral stairs that led to an upper floor. His bedroom was at the end of the hall and looked out over the sea.

Once more, she was stunned by the beauty. Looking down on the other side, she smiled as she saw in and around the giant pool area where a little girl and Devyn floated on rings, while their mothers pushed and pulled them.

She turned back toward Dancer. “Your bedroom is larger than my entire apartment was.” Never mind the tiny room that had been her League quarters. His bed alone was bigger than that.

He didn’t comment as he waved his hand over an ornate burgundy lighted panel. The wall opened and formed a desk.

Gaping at the handiness, she watched in fascination. “What have we here?”

He moved his hands about to show her a 3-D monitor. “I’m checking on Syn’s search for Kalea.”

She walked over to see the same strange letters that had been on his PD. “Is that Andarion?”

“Yes.” He made several hand gestures and it changed over to Universal for her. Then he opened another monitor. “This one is the search on my chip.”

Wow… “Did you build this system?”

“Yeah.”

She stared up at him in awe. “Dancer,” she said breathlessly. “It’s amazing! I had no idea you could do all this.”

Sheepish, he shrugged. “I always liked electronics. I started wiring the house in my teens for my paran to help him when he became ill. He had a lot of mobility issues from all the years he’d been in the military. Since my yaya couldn’t move him on her own, I did what I could for them to make their lives easier.”