“You suck.” Lise went to Syn next to hug him. “How’s my precious baby boy and Shay doing?”

“They’re great. Sorry we scared you.”

“It’s okay. You, I forgive since I’m sure you’re the only reason I still have Darling right now.”

“Actually, the credit goes there.” Syn pointed at Zarya.

It was so strange to watch the play of emotions skim Lise’s features in the same order they normally did on Darling’s. The two of them had a lot more in common than just their hair color.

Finally, Lise settled on a confused countenance. “You saved him?”

Zarya wouldn’t go that far. All she did was open a door. “We all saved him.”

Syn shook his head. “Hauk and I weren’t here when it happened.”

“I couldn’t get the door open,” Maris confessed. “Zarya did. He’d have died had she not got in when she did.”

“You’re the one who dragged him to safety,” Zarya reminded Maris.

“And you’re the one who resuscitated him.”

With a cry of joy, Lise threw herself into Zarya’s arms and squeezed her so tightly, she was amazed she didn’t break a rib. “May the gods bless you for it. Thank you for saving my brother’s life. You ever need anything, anything at all, call me. I won’t ever forget what I owe you. I mean that.”

Lise’s zealous gratitude embarrassed her. Zarya wasn’t used to people who showed so much emotion, especially so forcefully. “You’re very welcome.”

Lise gave her one more fierce squeeze. “I am so killing the beast when he wakes up.” She flared from sorrow to gratitude to anger so fast that it was actually scary to watch. “He’s determined that I’m never going to graduate. I swear. I was on my way to a chemistry test when I saw the news. Ugh!” She waved her hands around her face. “Whatever. I’ll deal with it later.”

Shaking her head, Lise fell right into the role of haughty princess, and yet there was something so adorable and at the same time vulnerable about her that Zarya couldn’t help liking her. “I’m going to my room now to throw myself on the mercy of my instructors. Will someone please let me know the instant Darling wakes up?”

They all nodded.

Lise made a much more sedate exit.

“And people accuse me of melodrama,” Maris mumbled as he rubbed his red cheek. “Sheez.”

Nonplussed by what she’d witnessed, Zarya turned toward Maris. “Does she… um,” she struggled to find words that wouldn’t offend them or Lise, “Is she mentally stable?”

Syn laughed. “In theory, yes. But unfortunately, she inherited her uncle’s explosive temper.”

“Does everyone in Darling’s family have it?” Zarya asked.

Maris snorted as he continued to rub his abused cheek and jaw. “Basically, yes. But Darling does a really good job riding herd on it most of the time. Though I’ve seen him go off and do some extreme things in the past.”

Like kill his on duty guards…

Hauk laughed in agreement. “Yeah, he’s normally really quiet and very slow to anger. To the point, I’ve had times I wanted to slip a mirror under his nose to make sure he’s still breathing. But if you hit one of his trip wires, boom! He goes psycho on your ass. In fact, I once had to toss him over my shoulder to keep him from blowing up an entire bar.”