Unshed tears constricted her throat as she thought about Thia, who was obviously part human. Omira’s worst fear had been having a hybrid baby. Half human. Half Andarion.

Too bad her sister hadn’t known how beautiful her child could have been. In Omira’s mind, she’d pictured a monster that would devour her should she try to feed it. But Thia wasn’t a monster.

Never had Sumi seen a prettier young woman.

In a weird way, Thia reminded her of her sister. They both had that inner fire that warmed you and drew you close to them. She only hoped Thia didn’t lose her spark the way Omira had.

And all because of a Hauk. Brother to the one outside, which made her wonder if one of the kids was Fain’s.

Thia was too old. But the boy…

Dancer had said his father was dead. Could Fain have met the same fate as her sister?

She didn’t know why, but that brought another wave of tears to her eyes. Even though she hated Fain now, she’d loved him as her brother-in-law. She’d been just a kid when her sister had married him. And he had treated her with the same respect and regard that Dancer had shown her thus far.

“Sumi! Come here and meet the male I’ve been telling you about!”

Closing her eyes, she remembered the smile on Omira’s face as her sister and Fain had picked her up from school the first time. Because Andarions weren’t human, they couldn’t stand being referred to as men, women, or people. They were male or female.

And scary as all get-out.

Sumi’s eyes had widened as she looked up and up and up at her sister’s boyfriend. Barely sixteen, Fain had been huge for any human male, and given her much smaller size, he’d seemed even larger.

But as soon as he’d seen Sumi’s fear, he’d knelt down and given her a sweet, tight-lipped smile to hide his fangs so that he wouldn’t frighten her any worse. “Hi, Sumi. I’m Fain. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

She’d swallowed in terror. “Are you going to eat me?”

He’d narrowed his eyes on her with a frightening intensity. “Are you made of chocolate?”

She’d shaken her head.

“Then you’re safe from me.” Smiling tenderly, he’d taken her hand in his and led it to his warm cheek so that she could see that though he wasn’t human, he was humane. “I promise I don’t bite without an invitation.” With the kindest touch, he’d picked her up and carried her home.

In that instant, she’d fallen in love with him as a big brother.