Page 12 of Rix & Val
Eagerly, he nods his head, and I have to smile, “Well, you’ve met my mate,” I nod towards Rix. Keeping my arms around them, I turn us so they can see my family. Rix walks up behind us, the heat from his body warming my back.
“This is my family. My sisters and their mates.” I introduce each person to the boys one by one, explaining to the brothers who the boys are. Although over the year I’ve spoken about them often, so they know of them. Lyra and Suki rush forward and hug the boys.
“Luc, why don’t you come with me and get a plate of food. You can tell Lyra what Raz would like, and we’ll make him a plate.” Suki takes Luc’s hand and walks him over to the tables. He looks wide-eyed at me over his shoulder, but he’s in safe hands, so I wave him forward before turning to Raz, who’s swaying. I can see he’s exhausted as well as starving. I have a feeling he’s been making sure Luc was fed before he was.
Wrapping an arm around his too-thin waist, I turn him towards the clubhouse, knowing that Vex and the brothers will need information. We can’t take in children who have a parent. It can cause problems for the club.
Leading him into the clubhouse, I have him sit on one of the couches, joining him so that he doesn’t feel like he’s being ganged up on. I’m getting worried he’s not said a single word since he got here.
Vex sits on the coffee table in front of Raz, and the rest find spaces around the common room. Not too close, I notice. They don’t want to crowd him.
“Raz,” Vex says gently. I’m shocked, I’ve only ever seen him gentle with Suki.
Raz looks up when Vex speaks to him. “I know who you are. Val has spoken about you a lot over the last year, and she’s missed you. Can you tell us how you got here and if your father will be looking for you?”
Raz shakes his head and opens his mouth, but all that comes out is a cough. Rix hands me a cup of water. I give it to Raz, rubbing his back as he takes it and gulps it down. “Slowly, Razzy. You don’t want to throw it back up,” I warn.
He slows down to sips, but I can tell it’s costing him. When he’s finished, he looks longingly at the empty cup. Rix hands him another one. “Thank you,” he mumbles, looking at Rix.
“No problem, I’ll get you more once you’ve finished that one,” Rix assures him, settling on the arm of the couch.
Raz takes another sip before looking up at Vex, who is patiently waiting for him to tell us why he’s here.
“Nobody will come looking for us,” he starts, then tears build in his eyes and flow down his cheeks. “My dad’s dead.” He turns towards me and whispers, “She murdered him. I know she did. But I have no proof. Dad suspected something was wrong because he got sick suddenly. He tried to find you, and the last clue he found was that the ship you were on landed on Hyperia. He learned of the escape and hoped it was you. Sending you away was something he regretted.
“You know Dad was wealthy, but somehow she was draining him dry. By the time he realised, there wasn’t a lot left. He hid whathe could, and we sold the gems and family heirlooms. And he hid those funds too. He had papers drawn up for Luc and me that gave us different names. He knew his time was limited. The day he died, he called me in and told me everything and made me promise to find you. He’d booked us on transport to Hyperia. He didn’t want us to wait for the funeral.
“I took Luc that night and we left. We found all the go bags and the funds and boarded the transport to Hyperia. That was the straightforward part. It was when we arrived on the planet and disembarked in Zorvan that we started having problems. I’m big, but most can tell I’m still a child. We were robbed of most of our funds in the first week. I’d managed to hide some of it in the rooms we’d hired, but I knew it wouldn’t last. And nobody knew where I could find you. It’s taken us three cycles.
“We finally left Zorvan because I overheard someone say there was work in Malimoor. I hoped that there would be less people, so I’d have a chance of getting a job. We walked most of the way and arrived here last week. It was while I was walking around looking for work that I overheard someone say that there was a new place opening that trained fighters. Luc and I walked over there, hoping I’d be able to apply for something because it was a new business.”
He stops for a minute before continuing, “Your picture was up on the wall as an owner and trainer. I’d found you, but I didn’t know where you were.”
He turns towards me, “Luc was so excited to see you, but I was worried that you’d hate us. After all this time, we’d found you, and I hoped you wouldn’t send us away.”
“Oh, Raz,” I cup his cheek. “I’d never send you away. You’re my family. You always have been. I’m sorry to hear about your father.”
And I was sorry. Yes, he’d hurt me, but until the she-devil he married had come into our lives, I’d been happy with them.
Raz wipes at his cheeks. “Thank you,” he whispers. “Anyway, we caught sight of you on the back of his bike.” He motions towards Rix. “I saw the patch on his back and asked around about it and where we could find it, and that’s how we ended up here.”
He leans back against the couch as if exhausted, and he probably is. Raz reaches into his shirt and takes out a parchment, handing it to me. “Dad asked me to give you this when we found you.”
“Thank you,” I tell him, taking it from him, just as Suki comes bustling back in. Motioning to Raz, she says, “Come on, let’s get some food into you. They can ask you more questions when you’ve eaten.” This last part was aimed at Vex, who holds up his hands.
“I’m just making sure nobody is going to come after the club for harbouring children,a ghrá,” he tells her. “But you can take the boy, it doesn’t look like we have any worries.” Turning towards Raz, he says, “Go eat. My mate won’t rest until she fattens you up.”
Raz looks at me and I nod at him. “Thank you,” he tells Vex, standing. Suki waits patiently until he’s near her, then grabs his hand and pulls him out towards the family area. He’s in good hands, so I don’t worry.
“Fecking hell,” I mutter tiredly. “I knew she was an evil bitch. But to kill Joshu and steal all his wealth? That’s a whole other level of evil.”
Rix shifts from the arm of the couch onto the seat next to me, his hand cups my thigh. Leaning into him, I look at the parchment. Such an old-fashioned way to communicate when most would have done a vid.
“Do you want Rix to read it for you, Val?” Vex asks gently.
I look up at Vex. He’s usually in President mode, so when he’s like this, it always throws me off a little. Soft and gentle is usually kept for Suki and Lyra, as they are the softest of us. The rest of us don’t mind his sometimes brusque manner.
The cushion on the other side of me compresses as Kragor sits down. He always seems to know when one of us will need him.
