"Do any of you ever think about what it would be like moving to another team?" Cimmeris asked. His eyes remained fixed on the screen in front of him. He was playing a racing game with Veilios, the only game the older dragon cared to play, claiming he'd seen too much death and combat to look for it in his entertainment.

"No," Penum grunted, seated on the adjacent couch in the game room with Corrus by his side. The only reason Penum sat with them was because he was eager to get his turn so he could play a more violent game once Veilios and Cimmeris were done. Cimmeris didn't care about what game they played; he just needed to pick his friends' minds on what life on other teams was like.

Corrus chuckled. "Try to hold your irritation in, will you?" Penum huffed as Corrus shook his head in amusement. Now that Cimmeris had seen the wild side of Penum, he'd take the childish one any day. Although, sometimes, when the rest of the team was talking excitedly, he'd spot Penum sitting quietly and Corrus whispering in his ear, no doubt checking in on him. The cousins had a very close relationship, and Cimmeris' throat ached as he thought of possibly leaving the Shadow Squad.

While he had decided to let Emily go, his dragon hadn't agreed to it and wouldn't let Cimmeris rest. So Cimmeris promised his dragon, and, if he were honest, himself, that he'd look into solutions. One of the first things that came to mind was leaving the Shadow Squad. It was based on Earth and always had been. He needed something on Brevia.

"Why do you ask?" Corrus said.

Cimmeris shrugged. "Just wondering. I spent quite a bit of time in the regular army, then spent some time with the Guardians. Neither one of those suited me, and when a position here opened up, I signed up and never looked back."

"Aah," Veilios said, his eyes glued to the screen. "So, you want to know what might have been."

"Something like that."

"I've worked in a lot of different teams, but the one that comes to mind is the Wipeout Division."

Penum gasped, his frustration with Veilios disappearing as he leaned forward in his seat. "You worked at WOD?"

"Yup. I spent about six months with them."

"No way," Penum said.

Cimmeris paused the game and turned to Penum, eager to further the conversation. He needed the information badly. A while back, Colonel Soros had extended an offer for him to join WOD, but he'd declined, more than happy to stay with his friends. While the proposal had expired, he hoped that Colonel Soros would still be willing to put in a good word for him.

"Why do you have a hard time believing that Veilios worked at WOD?" Cimmeris asked.

"Because he's so damn...fatherly. WOD is all high action. We retrieve assets; they eliminate high- profile assets. Don't you know how cool that is? To go in with nothing but the sole objective of killing an entire team of bad guys?"

Veilios chuckled. "That is why you'd never get recruited by them. You're too kill-happy."

"What's wrong with that? I'm a soldier."

"Yes, but there's an ethical side to everything," Corrus said. "I love what we do at Shadow Squad because we save innocents and only kill the people directly involved with abducting them. I have no problem admitting that some of the things I did while I was in the regular army continue to haunt me."

Penum dismissively flicked his hand. "You'll get over it with time. Don't tell me you don't get bored sitting around waiting for the next mission."

"I do," Corrus said, "But I also know that every day I don't get called up, Gleon hasn't abducted another innocent."

"Now that's the right attitude," Veilios said. "I don't know that much about your personal life, Penum, but I think that one day you're going to meet someone that you care about so much, that you'll see the true value in what we do."

Penum put an arm around Corrus and kissed his cheek. "I already have!" he said, a massive grin on his face. Corrus shoved him away, mumbling under his breath.

The team was starting to get off track. Cimmeris wanted to know more about WOD and any other division they'd worked for.

"So, what's it like at WOD?" he asked Veilios.

The older dragon stroked his beard. "It's...intense. What I didn't like is that there are a lot of blurred lines. You can get an order to carry out a hit, but you don't always know just how good the intel is. Also, sometimes if a mark is with friends or family, they can get caught up in it, too."

Cimmeris didn't like the idea of killing innocents, but he wouldn't rule out WOD yet. "What about their base?"

"It's in the Capital, but you spend so much time away monitoring different marks on different planets that the base is nothing more than a formality."

Cimmeris' heart dropped. WOD was the only division that he'd been recruited for. He'd foolishly let himself get his hopes up about it, thinking that he had a good shot at getting in, but it didn't fit his needs. He needed something on Brevia, and pushing paper was not an option.

Before he could ask about other divisions, Cimmeris' phone vibrated. The message came from their command center:

Report to the office. Call incoming.

Cimmeris brows furrowed. Who could be calling him? The only other person he knew from back home was Emily, and he hadn't made close friends with anyone until he got to the Shadow Squad. An image of his former captain came to mind, and Cimmeris jumped up. His old captain had always liked him. What if he had a job offer for him?

"What is it?" Corrus asked.

"I've got a phone call."

"From who?"

"That's for me to know," Cimmeris said with a wink.

He ran out of the games room and into the office. Once there, Cimmeris gaped at the image on the large computer screen. Emily's mother, Carole, beamed at him as she shook her head, laughter bubbling up and out of her.

"You're so grown up, Cimmeris! It's so good to see you. And you look just like you did, albeit more manly. You should do something about your hair, though. I'm not sure it sends the right—"

"Wait," Cimmeris interrupted, raising a hand. "How did you find me, let alone convince them to let you call me?"

Carole laughed. Her brown eyes twinkled and reminded him of what Emily was like when she was at her happiest. Unfortunately, since their kiss, things between them had become complicated, and Emily hadn't felt as comfortable around him to where they could joke around.

"I have connections, dear boy. You don't live as a noble and fail to acquire some. Now, why don't you greet me properly? You're acting like I forced you to get on this call."

Cimmeris wanted to mention that she kind of did, but he held his tongue. Carole was a force of nature, unlike her husband who had been of a much quieter disposition. And with that thought, Cimmeris remembered that he had not given her his condolences.

"I'm sorry. I'm just in shock."

Carole nodded. "I thought so. You were raised better."

"I was. But first, I just want to say how sorry I am that Jeremy passed. I only found out recently, but I did request that a card and flowers be sent to you."

Carole's eyes softened, all the energy seeming to slip out of her. She and Emily's father had mated as teenagers, a fact that she loved to share with anyone who asked for the secret to their relationship. She'd always joke and say that she learned to deal with Jeremy's flaws a long time ago, And, that he was lucky in that she didn't have any.

"I got your flowers and the card. Thank you for that. Jeremy was always checking up on you, you know? He'd tell me about all the things you'd done and what your commanding officers thought of you." Carole shook her head with a smile. "I was so upset after you left that I told Jeremy that I didn't care to hear about you. He knew I didn't mean it, so he'd always tell me about you, and I'd have to act like I didn't care. But I did, and I'm so proud of you, Cimmeris. You're a fine soldier."

Cimmeris felt his chin tremble as he struggled to hold back his tears. All these years, he'd thought that the Dhekans hated him. Now he found out that not only did they still care about him, but they’d kept up with everything he had done.

Cimmeris ran from the academy to the regular corps, to the Guardians, all the while looking for a family. He'd found one in the Shadow Squad, but it seemed that he’d already had one on Brevia. One he'd ignored, and now the guilt over Jeremy's death that he'd worked so hard to bury reared its ugly head.

"I'm so sorry, Carole. I didn't know any better," he said, his throat burning.

"You were fourteen. I can't blame a thing on you. I do blame myself for refusing to reach out earlier. Jeremy said you'd reach out when you were ready, and I secretly thought that we should reach out first. I thought to myself, 'how will he know that we miss him if we don't tell him?' And I was right. I just regret the fact that I didn't reach out sooner."

Cimmeris took a deep breath and nodded. He fixed his eyes on the floor in front of him as Carole dabbed at the tears falling down her face.

"Ooh! This is not why I called you," Carole said, laughing. "But I'm so happy I got to say it to your face. Jeremy loved you, and I still love you."

Cimmeris parted his lips, ready to say that he loved Carole, too, when the thought hit him again. Why had Carole called?

"I love you, too, Carole. I just wish I'd had a chance to pay my respects."

"Don't worry about that. The funeral was a nightmare. There were so many two-faced nobles there that I wanted to pull my hair out. Then the Alievs had the nerve to ask me—Wait. I don't need to get into all that. It sends my blood pressure through the roof. Besides, Emily must have told you."

Cimmeris shook his head. "She didn't give me all those details."

Once he spoke, he slapped a hand over his mouth as he realized what he'd just done. Emily's stay at the Shadow Squad was supposed to be a secret, and he'd just blown it.

Carole burst out laughing; her energy seemed to have returned to full force because her rich laugh vibrated against his chest.

"Your face was priceless. I already knew Emily's there. It's part of the reason I'm calling. I want to check on both of you. I heard she got kidnapped. Is she okay?"

Cimmeris took a deep breath and willed his heartbeat to stop hammering. Carole wasn't mad. Her tirades were legendary, and there was no way for her to hold her emotions in. If she said she wasn't mad, then he was inclined to believe her.

"Emily is perfectly fine. They treated her well because they knew her identity. She gave them my name and number for a ransom. Once we knew her location, we went in there and got her. Everything has been perfect since then," Cimmeris lied.

"Mm-hmm. I'll pretend that everything has been quiet since her arrival."

"How did you know she was here to begin with?"

"I'm Heitor, and have been the Heitor's wife for more than half my life. As I said, I have connections, which is why Colonel Soros let me call you directly."

"That's good to know, but surprisingly disturbing. How much do you know about my career?"

"I don't want to freak you out, so let's just say I know what I need to know." Carole looked off into the distance and nodded. "It's getting late, and I have an early meeting. I didn't just call to check on Emily or to reconnect with you. I also needed to inform you that Jeremy left the land next to ours and quite a bit of money to you in his will. He always thought of you like family, Cimmeris. That daughter of mine took off so fast, and I was too deep in grief to realize she'd left before we read Jeremy's will. Anyway, I already wired the money to your account, and you need to make the time to come home and sign the transfer of title deed."

Cimmeris' arms dropped to his sides as his eyes shot up to Carole's. Her words were like an electric shock to his system. Did she just say that Jeremy thought of him as family and that he left him a significant inheritance?

Cimmeris shook his head and stuttered. "I can't take that."

Carole's smile dropped. "You will take it. Jeremy has every right to see his final wishes fulfilled, and you will not insult him in this way."

Sweat dribbled down Cimmeris' spine as his body shook with pain. Once he got to the army, and that snotty noble had told him that he was a freeloader, he vowed never to take a cent from anyone else. How could Carole expect him to receive wealth that he hadn't earned, when he wasn't a blood relative?

"I'm not trying to insult Jeremy. I just can't take it."

"Yes, you can, and you will," Carole said, then she softened her tone. "Look, I know how hard it is for you to accept this...gift. It's why you left home to begin with. But you are family to us, and I want you to have it. Please don't spit on Jeremy's grave. If you really don't want the money, then you can give it all away."

Cimmeris drew a deep breath and nodded. "That's a great idea. I think I'll do that."

"Good," Carole said, clapping her hands. "Now, I need to go to bed. I did not meet the fun, cheeky Cimmeris I thought I would, and I'm tired. Make sure you don't tell Emily about this call. She and I need to have our own talk. I don't need to hear another speech about how I meddle in her life."

Cimmeris smiled. "Well, you are kind of meddling."

"You think I don't know that?" Carole snapped, then her face gentled. "Just wait until you have a child of your own. They'll become your whole world."

Emily is my whole world, Cimmeris thought. Any children we’d have would be, too, because of her.

Cimmeris cleared his throat. "Uh, that's not going to happen anytime soon, but okay. Have a good night, Carole."

"I will. Remember, I expect to see you back here to sign that title deed within a few months. I'm back in your life, Cimmeris, for better or for worse. Oh, and don't forget, I can always call Colonel Soros and get you forced leave if you don't come back soon. Goodbye!"

Carole signed off, and Cimmeris stumbled to the couch on the back wall of the office. It was like a hurricane had blown past him, leaving him disoriented. So much had happened and he had so much information left to process. On the one hand, he was bound to Emily forever by way of her mother; on the other, he now had money to achieve some of the good he'd always wanted to.

Mate, his dragon whispered, unconcerned by the recent developments in their life, and Cimmeris chuckled.

I know, he responded. All the good that's just happened pales in comparison to being with Emily. Practically everything pales in comparison to her.