Homelands Pt. 04 Ch. 06

And Eric was her favorite child.

What the fuck?

Only then did Nick notice that Mom-Gee's Libido showed no sign of the hatred for Hank that Mom-Jay's did. Rather, it revealed frustration, fear, admiration, and hope.

Hope? For what?

"Just teaching the boy a lesson," Hank said.

The claw gently lowered Eric, draping him down on the deck, flat on his back, the way you might lay a chicken breast into a frying pan.

"I've come here as a favor," Hank said.

Mom-Jay snorted, crossing her arms beneath her breasts.

For her part, Mom-Gee looked like she'd been hypnotized.

No, that wasn't fair. Not hypnotized. Her eyes were wide, but not glazed over. She was stunned, and hadn't yet regained her senses. But Nick could hardly blame her for that. He felt more or less the same himself, and he'd never married the damn guy. Let alone given birth to his children. This couldn't be easy for her.

But still. Everything he knew about Hank suggested that he was a right bastard. That there was plenty reason for Mom-Jay to be reacting the way she was. Why wasn't Mom-Gee?

"I'd prefer not to have to fight your children off," Hank added.

"They're our children, Hank," Mom-Gee said.

He shrugged. "Fair enough." Glancing at Olivia, he added, "Most of them, anyway."

Olivia blushed.

Did the stupid girl think that was a compliment? Or was she just such an attention whore that she didn't care what he said, so long as he was noticing her, if only for a moment?

"You do realize that one of them is missing, though, right?" Hank asked. Then, looking straight at Wes, he added, "One of yours as well, if I'm not mistaken."

Mom-Gee took her eyes off Eric, who was just getting back to his feet. "Veronica, honey, where're Patty and Kurt? Weren't they with you and Nick?"

"Not just now, no," Nick answered for her.

"They were right behind me when we left the island," Wes said. He'd started off speaking to everyone, but his voice softened and his eyes met his wife's as he finished.

The look Aunt Zoey gave him could have peeled paint off a wall. Yet Wes didn't look away, or so much as blink. Just kept on looking an apology at her.

He was a better man than Nick was. If his wife looked at him like that, for just about any reason, she'd soon be his former wife.

"Probably just getting busy," Olivia said.

Everyone, even Eric, shot her a glare.

"What? You've seen how they are. I think it's kinda cute. Geek love."

"They're not on the ship," Hank added.

"What did you do?" Mom-Jay demanded.

Hank held up his hands defensively. "Whoa, there, Jenny. No need for accusations."

Jenny?

"I understand there might be some hard feelings, so I'm not reacting the way I normally would if someone took that tone with me. But there are limits to even my patience."

"Is that how you see yourself? As a man of patience?" Mom-Jay shot back. "That would explain walking out on your wives and kids when things started to get tough."

The grin his father offered her in response made Nick want to smack him. "You and I both know that's not what happened."

"So what did happen?" Mom-Gee asked. "Enlighten us."

"If you don't mind," Zoey cut in, "I'd like to know what the fuck happened to our kids."

"So would I," Veronica whispered to Nick.

He couldn't agree more.

Part of him did want to know why they'd grown up without a father, yes. But just then, it seemed pretty far from being a priority. Not while Patty was missing.

Sweet, innocent Patty.

To get her back, he'd level mountains, burn forests, and boil oceans.

Perhaps even kill a king.

"Now that is an excellent question," Hank said, pointing at Zoey with his cane. "This one's got her head on her shoulders." He turned to face Wes. "Why am I not surprised that you married well, Wes? You always were too reasonable by half to be a Moody."

"Save the fake charm for later and spit it out alfuckingready," Wes said.

Zoey gave her husband a nod of approval.

If Nick hadn't seen what had happened to Eric earlier, he'd have been tempted to do something stupid and heroic himself. But he wasn't quite that curious to find out what dragons looked like up close.

"The king has them," Hank said at last, in a tone that suggested it was perfectly obvious. Like they'd asked why the sidewalk was wet, and he had to explain that such a thing was likely to happen when it rained. "He's going to pretend he has no idea what happened to them though. Not because he's afraid of you, of course. However strong you think he is, you've underestimated him by half. But it will amuse him to draw this out."

"So what do you suggest that we do?" Nick asked.

Hank regarded him for a moment. "Exercise some restraint. Which I see you understand better than your brother. You'd love to pop my head like a grape, wouldn't you, Nick?"

The way he'd always understood it, you could only read someone's Libido after you'd gotten intimate with them. More than once, typically. He certainly couldn't read his father's Libido. No more than he could his brother's.

But, then, it was already pretty clear that his father had a few talents that Nick hadn't managed to inherit from him. He might not be tall, and he was only bordering on handsome, but Hank could walk right through steel, fly, and, apparently, summon dragons. Or parts of dragons. Why shouldn't he be able to cold read Libidos?

"If I were you, I'd be thinking covert," Hank said. "Plausible deniability should be the name of the game. Until you get yourself some real leverage. Something the king wants. Something he'd be willing to trade two hostages for."

"We can do that," Eric said.

Nick snorted.

Because if there was one word that described Eric Moody, it was subtle.

"Oooorrrr," Hank continued. "You might just want to bleed him dry. Death by a thousand cuts. He'll lash out at first, but soon enough, he'll stop thinking this game is fun."

"I like that one even better," Eric said, grinning from ear to ear.

Veronica sighed.

Nick knew just what she meant.

"Why are you telling us this?" Mom-Jay asked.

"Jennifer," Mom-Gee said, putting a hand on the other woman's shoulder.

Mom-Jay pulled away.

"I realize it's a bit uncharacteristic of me to go too far out of me way to help someone else," Hank said. "Which is why I'm not." He paused for a moment, presumably to let them all absorb that. "Note the conspicuous lack of any offer to help you get them back."

"I liked him better when I thought he was just a deadbeat who'd skipped out on us."

Hank flashed him a wry grin.

It took no small amount of effort to keep from bum rushing him. For his part, Eric looked like he might enjoy round two after all. If Annie and Olivia hadn't each taken one of his hands in theirs, he just might have.

"If anything happens to Patty," Eric said, "I'm going to find you and shove that cane so far up your ass that that stupid dragon will be sticking out your mouth."

And that wasn't just his typical bravado. He was actually concerned about their sister.

Nick felt ashamed for being surprised by that. Yet surprised he was. At least a little.

It was Patty they were talking about, though. In the back of his mind, Nick always known that his brother was more than just a stupid meathead. He just hadn't wanted to admit it, for fear of losing a little something of what he thought made him special.

"Wait a minute," Wes said. "Can we back up a little? Are we really supposed to believe the king slipped aboard and snatched them up from under our noses?"

"Not the king himself, no," Hank said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "He sent one of his sons to do his dirty work. Always does."

"Thought that's what you were for," Mom-Jay said.

"Only official court business for me. This wasn't political."

"We never did anything to him," Mom-Gee protested.

Hank shrugged. "He'll enjoy her a lot more if she's scared."

"You're a monster," Nick said, his lip curling.

"Me?" Hank said. "You do realize I was talking about the king?"

"Only a monster could casually refer to how much another man would enjoy raping his daughter," Nick said. "You might as well do it yourself."

Nick stared at the cold green orbs inside his father's cavernous eye sockets. The man's face was so gaunt. How could his mothers have made love to him?

"She may be my daughter, and you my son, but I've got children of my own," Hank said. "Children I raised from infancy. Whose diapers I changed, and all that jazz. I'm sorry, kiddo, but you and the others are as good as strangers to me. And that's not an accident either. Your mothers might have told you I wasn't cut out to be a father, but the truth is, I just wasn't interested in being your father."

Nick's throat grew so tight he could hardly breathe.

"Fucking asshole," Mom-Jay said.

Mom-Gee was silent though. Nick gave her Libido a quick read, and found only disbelief.

"You can call me names if you want," he continued, "but that's not going to do your sister any good." He paused a moment, grinning a self-satisfied grin, before adding, "Your cousin either. I assume some of you do care about him too, right?"

"Fuck yes," Aunt Zoey said.

"If I offered to do any more, I'd be placing my own children in harm's way. Someday, you'll understand that." He looked at Eric. "He won't. He's not the type to bide his time. And he never will be." Turning back to Nick, he added, "But you're more like me."

"I'm nothing like you," Nick said.

"Of course not," Hank said. "But just so you know, I'd have said the same."

With that, he disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a puff of smoke.

Veronica pressed herself against him. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know," Nick said.

Nor did anyone else.

They'd already started arguing with one another.

"But we'll do something," he told Veronica. "Whatever it takes, we'll get Patty back."