Pulling back slightly, Sumi frowned down at him. “Who?”

“Pera Duece.”

“Who?” she repeated.

“My mother’s girlfriend.”

Every pair of eyes in the room went to the doorway, where Darice stood, watching them.

Dancer pushed himself up, even while Syn was trying to hold him down. “Stop!” he snapped at Syn, slapping at his hands.

The look on Syn’s face said he was one heartbeat away from punching Dancer. “Three minutes ago, you were completely dead. You’re the one who needs to stop. Don’t make me slap you, ’cause I will!”

Dancer glared at him. “I’d like to see you try.”

“How about I help him, then?” Nykyrian asked drily.

Dancer nodded slowly as he lay back down and allowed Syn to return to scanning his body. “Floor’s looking mighty sweet.” He glanced back to his nephew. “What were you saying about your mother?”

Looking away, Darice rubbed gently at his wounded shoulder. “She and Pera have been lovers since before she married my father.”

Hauk was sure the stern scowl on Fain’s face matched his as he met his brother’s gaze. “Did you know this?”

Fain shook his head. “I don’t think anyone did.”

Hauk’s frown deepened as he remembered what his brain had been trying to tell him on Oksana, outside of Aksel’s base. It was a snatch of a childhood memory when he’d walked into Keris’s house for a practice climbing session. Dariana and Pera had been in the living room, and they’d jumped apart guiltily, before Dariana had taken his head off over not knocking before he entered her home. Her extreme anger over it and the backhand she’d given him had been completely unwarranted.

Unless he’d walked in on them…

Darice kept rubbing his shoulder. “They made sure to keep a lid on it, because they knew what would happen to them if anyone ever found out. But I think my father knew. I’m pretty sure it’s why he hated Pera, and went off into a rage every time he saw her.”

And Keris had beaten her right before his death…

A bad, bad feeling went through Hauk. “How do you know this?” he asked Darice.

“I’ve suspected things for a long time. I knew Pera stayed over… a lot, especially at night. But I didn’t know how far it went, not until you came back with Sumi. My mother has no idea how much her voice carries when she’s angry. Nor how verbose she is when she rants.”

Fain sighed heavily. “Is that why you went to your great-grandmother’s to stay?”

Darice nodded. “And it’s why I refused to sit with her family today.” His lips trembled. “They killed my father… if he is my father.”

“He’s your father,” Fain chided. “Your DNA was tested.”