Taking it in stride, Nykyrian pinned one of those stares on him that saw all the way to his soul. “Seriously, are you all right? You seem really distracted.”

Yes and no. He was distracted, only in that he was hyperalert, waiting for Kyr or someone else to try and steal his happiness. “It’s…” He let his voice trail off. “I’m fine.”

Nyk studied him for a minute. “No, you’re terrified. Though I’ve never seen that look on you before, unless explosives were involved.”

“Shut up, asshole.” He glanced down at Zarina, who was bouncing and laughing happily as she drooled all over Nykyrian’s hand. “By the way, that frilly-dressed, drooling baby girl in your arms takes the badass right out of you.”

Rolling his eyes, Nyk held his daughter tighter. “Seriously, I know what you’re going through, Hauk. One minute, you’re alone in your hole. Having a pretty good life. Content with things, for the most part. Lonely at times, but you’re so accustomed to that, you don’t really think about it anymore. You only have yourself to worry over, and whatever bullshit trouble your friends get into. Then out of the blue, this amazing woman blindsides you. She adds something to your life you didn’t even know was missing. Next thing you know, she’s got her bras hanging in your bathroom, you’re eating dinner at a table in your house where you used to store parts, with silverware you didn’t even know you had, and she’s taken over your world completely. Worse, she has become your entire existence and you’re now civilized in a way you never thought you could be. And instead of alcohol-induced brawls, you live just to see the way her eyes light up when you enter her line of sight. And the fear that she’s going to be taken away is so consuming that you can’t stop thinking about it. You see enemies everywhere. Every shadow. Every whisper of wind. And if that’s not unnerving enough, you find out you have a kid who’s even more dependent on you and who means every bit as much to you.”

Nyk cradled Zarina against him. “Now, you stay with your gut in a knot, and you want to tether them to you to make sure no one can touch them, because you know exactly what your enemies would do if they ever laid hands on them.”

Hauk hated just how true every bit of that was. “How do you cope?”

“That’s the question, drey. When you find an answer, please let me know.”

He shook his head.