“Sure.” Darling stepped out from behind his desk and followed Maris to the door.

Hauk visibly cringed at the sound of their exit as he realized what Nykyrian really wanted to talk about. It was something he’d been trying to bury for weeks now as this date thundered closer.

And it was the last thing he wanted to discuss with anyone.

Even Nyk.

“This isn’t about Darice… I’ve known you almost the whole of your life, Dancer, and I’ve seen you roll around the floor with my boys, Jayne’s kids, and Devyn enough to know that you’re not really afraid of children. This is about you and Keris, isn’t it?”

Hauk turned away from his best friend, unable to face the truth Nykyrian spoke. Out of his small handful of friends, only Nyk knew about his eldest brother, Keris – because Nyk, alone, had been in Hauk’s life when it’d happened. And since the day Keris had died during Hauk’s Endurance, Hauk had barely been able to say his brother’s name aloud.

To anyone.

Gods, even now it was enough to bring him to his knees. Every fucking day of his life had been spent with guilt and grief over an unnecessary loss that no one in his family had ever forgiven him for.

Especially not himself.

And now he was supposed to take Keris’s son on the same expedition that had scarred them both for life and cost Keris his.

It was so unfair.

“Darice is the spitting image of his father, did you know that?” Hauk whispered. “I love my nephew with every part of me, but there are times I can’t even bear to look at him. Even their speech inflections are the same.”

“I know.” Nykyrian moved to stand by his side so that they could keep their voices low. “I really do know, Hauk. My daughter has some of Aksel’s and Arast’s mannerisms and expressions. And when she cops their condescending tones and snotty attitudes, it takes every bit of will I possess not to put her through a wall. It’s not her fault she takes after them. They were in her life longer than I’ve been. Hell, she doesn’t even know she does it. But even so, it feels like they’re back from the grave to torment me.”

Flexing his jaw, Hauk winced at the pain in Nykyrian’s voice. A pain he understood better than anyone since he’d been there to see firsthand what Nyk’s adoptive brothers had done to him. It was a hell no child should ever endure.

And he’d seen the exact tones and expressions Thia used that were identical to those of her long-dead stepfather and uncle. It had to be grueling for Nyk to deal with that all over again.

Fate was a bitch, and that whore mocked them both daily.

His anger mounting, he met Nykyrian’s gaze. For once, he didn’t see the war-hardened face of an assassin wingman who’d stood by his side for countless battles and protected his ass like a true blood brother. He saw the horrifically scarred face of the boy Nyk had been when they’d first met as children.