Page 36 of Guardian’s Destiny (Space Guardian’s Mate #3)

SLOANE

I released a breath of relief when Vraax announced that we had entered hyperspeed. My eyes had been glued to the radar, on which more and more fighters had appeared, following us. Strangely, none of them fired at us.

"They want me alive," Zapharos had announced and, strangely, that had assured me.

Once we were at hyperspeed, it took a few hours to get all our guests accommodated. Luckily, the ship was stocked with healing wands, and we were able to take care of at least the physical injuries of the women.

There were only four quarters available. The Ohrurs took one, Zapharos claimed one for himself and Ella, while Vraax announced the third as ours, which left only one and the common room for the rest of the eight women. I didn't like the idea but wasn't about to fight Vraax on it either. Plus, I very much looked forward to some serious alone time with him. We had a lot to talk about. And other things…

Vraax announced that we would reach Astrionis in four days, but again, Zapharos changed our plans and demanded—yes, demanded—to be taken to Pandrax. For a moment, I thought Vraax would fight him on it, but then he looked at me and simply nodded. So instead of four it would take six days. I knew Vraax was burning to get to Darlam to talk to the others and see his planet and felt bad for him having to delay his mission.

Now that mine was done, I was just as eager as Vraax to find out what happened on Darlam.

"Isn't there another planet or space station in between?" I suggested.

"You know I can't show my face in public," Zapharos reminded me.

"You don't need to. You just need to purchase your own ship," I countered.

His eyes took in Ella, who had fallen asleep with her head on the table in the common room. She had refused to be separated from Zapharos, who seemed edgy to take her to bed.

"That's a great idea," Vraax agreed, checking his comm. "Rodbar 2 is only a few day's flight from here. You can purchase a ship there."

"What about the other females? They need to get to Astrionis." Zapharos reminded us.

"They're your problem," I pointed out. "You rescued them; that makes them your responsibility. Just take them with you to Pandrax."

Zapharos, unused to being contradicted, grumbled something. The golden shimmer around him slowly became more intense. I raised my finger in his face in warning, "Don't you dare."

He sighed deeply, and the shimmer lessened. I had to be on guard around him. This mindfucking was a neat trick, one I hadn't even known he possessed until we came up to the spaceship and he Obi-Wan Kennobied the Space Guardians into letting us pass. Which reminded me that I was still furious as hell at him.

"Why didn't you just use all those powers before?" I asked, proud of myself for not yelling.

It was his arrogant smirk that did me in. It raised my temper by another hundred degrees. "You are such a bastard. We could have been killed. You have all these powers, and you made me… made… argh!"

I considered myself an educated person, above normal intelligence and with a pretty even temper under any situation. I'd only lost my temper once on a soldier who shot me. Not since then had I ever lost my composure, had actually made a point of not to, but Zapharos had managed to dig under my skin and lose it. So much that I was even bereft of words.

"There she is," Zapharos grinned widely.

"You put her in danger?" Vraax snarled and before I could even blink, he decked the asshole so hard, Zapharos stumbled a few feet back.

"Nice," Zapharos rubbed his chin. Vraax tackled him to the ground. The two of them rolled across the floor, chairs and tables turned over or scooted to the side, and my chest swelled. I shouldn't have enjoyed this. I really shouldn't have, but I did. Every blow Vraax landed made me cheer for him until I realized that Zapharos wasn't fighting back. Probably at the same time as Vraax did.

"Are you done?" Zapharos asked when Vraax paused.

Vraax sent a mean kick to Zapharos’s side, making him flinch. "Now I'm done," Vraax said, getting up.

"My hero." I rushed forward and embraced him, only being a tiny bit sarcastic.

"Are you okay?" He pulled me against his chest. God, I had missed this spot so much. Hearing the heavy beat of his heart. I was still mad at him, but right then, I just wanted to be close to him. Later , I promised myself, later, he will have to do some groveling .

"I'm fine. Are you?"

Zapharos climbed groaning back to his feet, holding on to the armrest of a chair. "I'm good, too." He remarked snidely.

"Are you going to explain this whole thing now?" I demanded, stepping forward just as Vraax grabbed my hips to stop me from continuing what he had started.

"Yes, I could have done this all by myself. No, I didn't need your help. Yes, I used you. Yes, I tried to rile your temper for some time. Happy?"

"Happy?" I stared from him to Vraax. "He asks if I'm happy."

"Are you?" Vraax's humor was back, making me smile at him.

"I think now I am."

"Good, me too."

Zapharos cleared his throat, "Your presence made everything easier, and your help is appreciated." And then a little bit lower, "Plus, I needed your help to get those females to Astrionis."

"Come again?" I dug my heel in.

"I can't go to Astrionis, and I couldn't very well drop them off at their doorstep like a basket full of kittens, now, could I?"

I stared at the Arkhevari, unsure on which of his statements to pounce first. Since I understood that he couldn't have dropped the women off, I decided on the other part that was bothering me. "How do you know about the kitten and basket thing?"

I mean, fine, I could have accepted that aliens might drop unwanted pet babies off at their neighbor's door, but kittens?

"You picked up on that, didn't you?" he asked.

I jerked my chin at him and widened my eyes, giving him a hint I needed a bit more than that. I even tilted my head and waved him on, but nothing happened.

"What?" he asked.

"Kittens?" I reiterated.

He sighed. "I might have picked some things up from Ella."

"You mean you got into her brain and dug around?" I theorized.

He shrugged. Telling me without words that he wouldn't elaborate. Vraax used this moment to assert his male dominance. "If you ever put her in danger again," Vraax threatened, stepping in front of Zapharos.

Zapharos placed his hand on Vraax’s shoulder. "She never was in danger, my friend, I assure you."

Vraax looked perplexed but nodded.

"Did you just fuck with his mind?" I demanded.

Zapharos shook his head. "No. But we have a connection, just like you and I do."

I wanted to protest, but no words left my lips. Because he was right, there was some kind of connection between us, I just wasn't sure what it was. I didn't have any romantic feelings toward him. None actually. Not only because of Vraax, but because I had met Zapharos first, and he was right; I felt something for him. It wasn't love, not like I had loved my parents; it was less and yet deeper. Part of me felt as if I had known him since I was born, like an old friend. Fond. Maybe that was the right word for it. I'm very fond of him . No, thinking that sentence only made it clearer that this wasn't the correct phrase, either.

"Don't break your head, Sloane; you won't figure it out. Our bond is millions of years old." Zapharos declared, and I wanted to throttle him again.

"Explain," I ground out between pressed teeth.

There was an almost fatherly gleam in his eyes. For a moment, he looked like he was a hundred thousand years old or more. A wisdom I couldn't even come close to understanding.

"Millions of years ago, longer than your human mind can even comprehend. My ancestors spread out over the universe, shaping it, creating planets?—"

I stared at him. "Is this the part where you're telling me you're some kind of God?"

The slight smile around his lips sent goosebumps down my spine, and a tremor moved through my body. My gut roiled most uncomfortably, and my scalp and neck itched. This couldn't be true or real. Could it?

"To you we might be," he smiled benevolently. A smile more beautiful than I had ever seen before, his golden glow pulled me in, warmed me, filled my insides with a sense of incredible peace. Right then, I would have called him an angel, whereas seconds ago, he had been a devil. Could a god be both?

"So you created the universe?" Trepidation was foremost in the tone of my voice. I was nearly afraid to ask the question and even more afraid of his answer.

"The universe always was and always will be." He answered enigmatically in his typical nonanswering way.

"But you said your ancestors…"

"You hear what you want to hear, what fits into your narrative, but trust me, your human minds cannot understand or accept what I'm trying to explain."

There he was again with his condescension. "Try me."

"We spread out over many planets; on some, we bred with the local population. We were arrogant and foolish and lost everything because of it." He shook his head. "No, I will not tell you more. This is all you get, but believe me when I say that your species and mine have been entangled for a long time."

"What about the Darlams?" I asked, reading the truth on his expression. He would not divulge more, no matter how hard I pleaded. I doubted I could have tortured it out of him and not just because he was physically so much stronger than me.

"The Darlams were the last of our… creations. One last attempt to—" he stopped himself and grinned at me, wagging his finger, "You're good."

"I had to try." I shrugged.

"So you mixed with the original Darlams?" I asked.

"And condemned them to death because of it, yes." Zapharos looked sad as he turned to Vraax, "From my species to yours. We are incredibly sorry for what happened to you and hope that whatever happens next will make up for it."

"What do you mean?" Vraax moved toward me and grabbed my hand.

"The universe has its own way of righting wrongs. Now, if you'll excuse me." He moved around us and scooped the sleeping Ella up into his arms. The woman groaned silently and snuggled into his chest. The expression with which he regarded her was filled with such love and adoration that it felt as if my heart would melt. I squeezed Vraax's hand, and he squeezed right back.

"Let's go, we still have things to talk about." He pulled me forward, and we followed Zapharos down the short hall. His quarters were right across from ours. I braced myself because I knew I had a lot to tell him, and he needed to do some apologizing. It was hard to summon the anger back up at him for not trusting me, and maybe that was a good thing. Maybe we just really needed to have that heart-on-heart.