Page 27 of Power's Fall

“They didn’t take it well, no,” Montana confirmed. “The military wanted me back, and they leaned on my father so he’d lean on me. To try to convince me. Things between us have always been strained. My attending the Naval Academy and joining the Navy seemed to heal things for a little while, but I can see now it was little more than putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. The peace we’d achieved was never going to last. I spent too many years of my life living for them rather than myself, trying hard to be the perfect son. The day I resigned from the Navy was the happiest one of my life because for the first time, I was free to find my own happiness.”

“And obviously the true key to being happy is studying biological anthropology,” Dahlia joked, making a face as she exaggeratedly said the name of his unconventional career choice.

The three of them laughed. Vadisk appreciated Montana and Dahlia’s talent for lightening tense or sad moments with humor. Montana had done the same for her last night by the pool.

“Are you saying studying anthropology wouldn’t make you deliriously happy?” Montana asked with a grin.

Dahlia shot Vadisk a wide-eyed look. “Happy might be a stretch, but it’s incredibly interesting. At least the stuff you sent me during our initial planning.”

“How the hell did you even know biological anthropology was a thing? I had to Google it,” Vadisk admitted.

Montana put a hand over his heart as if Vadisk had stabbed him. “But it’s so cool!”

Vadisk and Dahlia shared a dubious look, and the moment of camaraderie felt good.

“I’m fascinated by the story of how Homo sapiens sapiens—that’s what we are—evolved. People think evolution is a line, but it’s a tree with interbreeding. It took multiple different species of early hominid, and then archaic humans, to create us. We’re actually a messy mix of DNA from different species.”

“Different species…like we’re mutt dogs?” Vadisk asked.

“Depending on where you’re from—I mean historically, where your ancestors lived.” Montana looked at them. “We’re all Eurasian genetically, I’m betting, so we probably have between one and four percent neanderthal DNA.”

“I learned that much from what you sent me, but still, that’s fascinating,” Dahlia breathed, her gaze slightly unfocused as she processed the information.

They were both really fucking smart. Normally smart people didn’t intimidate him. Vadisk had no problem being the muscle and taking a subordinate role until his skill set was needed, but they were something else.

Montana shrugged. “Regardless of what you naysayers think, I am very happy. And while my father and Mama consider me a disappointment, Mom couldn’t be more proud of the new path I’m taking.”

Vadisk hated the sadness that flashed in Montana’s eyes. How could anyone think this man was a disappointment? That same longing to hold one of his spouses returned, and he had to force himself to remain steady, even as Dahlia stepped next to Montana, wrapping her arm around his waist. “I can’t wait to meet your mom. She sounds awesome.”

Montana smiled. “She is.”

“You left the military as well,” Dahlia said, turning to Vadisk, even as her hand remained on the small of Montana’s back. His inability to touch them was starting to chafe.

“Did something prompt that?” Montana asked.

Vadisk nodded. “Yeah. I was invited to join the Masters’ Admiralty by the new admiral of Hungary, Nikolett Varda. Hungary—the territory, not the country—had gone through some upheaval prior to me joining the society. Nikolett’s predecessor turned out to be a sociopathic lunatic, who employed a whole array of crazy assholes intent on destroying the Masters’ Admiralty.”

Montana gave a low whistle, shaking his head. “Damn.”

“Petro killed a lot of people and by the time he was stopped, Hungary was in shambles. Nikolett did a lot of housecleaning when she took over leadership, simply because it was hard to know who she could trust. She recruited me out of the military. She said she was drawn to me because of my service record. Right after I joined, I was made a security officer.”

Dahlia and Montana frowned, confused.

“You don’t have security officers in the Trinity Masters?” Vadisk asked.

Montana shook his head. “I know more than most people in the Trinity Masters about the Masters’ Admiralty, but I don’t know a lot about the inner workings. I’ve never heard of security officers.”

“Basically, I’m part of a task force charged with protecting the members within Hungary’s territory. There are alsoharcosok?—”

“Harcosok?” Dahlia interjected.

“It means warrior in Hungarian,” Vadisk translated. “Every territory has a different name for them. In English, they’re knights.”

She grinned. “Knights as in round tables and jousting?”

Vadisk chuckled. “Maybe. In England’s territory, the knights change their names and take on the names of the Knights of the Round Table.”

“Dude, I love that,” Montana mused. “But I’m confused. Why are there these warrior or knight positions,andsecurity positions?”

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