Page 40 of Guardian’s Destiny (Space Guardian’s Mate #3)

SLOANE

The days passed way too quickly, and yet with the time constraint we had, it didn't seem to pass at all. One night, while Vraax was sleeping, I snuck into the breakroom to grab a drink and ran right into Ella.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know anybody was up," I apologized.

"Can't sleep either?" She asked, stopping me as I was about to make a swift exit.

"Some nights, it's not easy," was all I said, grabbing the drink I came for. I wasn't an insecure person, but I didn’t know how to talk to Ella. I mean, I had thousands of questions burning a hole into my stomach, but where do you start? I couldn't just come out and go like , hey, so you're dating a legend/god/something that shouldn't exist? How is that going ? I also wanted to know about the other women; how had they ended up there? What had the Ohrurs done to them?

"Yeah, some nights are hell," she replied with a haunted look that reminded me of myself enough that I took a seat on a chair across from her.

"The Ohrurs?" I took a shot in the dark.

"The Ohrurs, the Cryons, the Pronex… take your pick. All of these aliens are fucking blood thirsty."

"Not all of them," I tried. "The Pandraxians are okay."

She shrugged.

Silence spread out between us. Usually, I was good with silence and waiting other people out, but Ella was different. I thought she and I could have sat there all night without saying a word.

It seemed like she needed some space and time to say what she had to say, so I gave it to her. It wasn't like I would have been able to sleep anyway. "You should know about the Ohrurs and their experiments. So you can take the information to the Pandraxians."

I sipped from the juice I had ordered, finding it too sweet and put the cup down. I indicated for her to continue.

"The Ohrurs took me prisoner and brought me to Ohrur." She saw my question—why would the Ohrurs take her prisoner if it had been the Cryons who invaded—and shook her head. "My story has nothing to do with this and is none of your business."

"Fair enough." I wasn't sure about her hostility toward me, but it was possible that she was just a private person. Either way, I respected her wish and didn't press for anything more than she was willing to divulge.

"The other women were already there. The Ohrurs bought them at auctions and from the Moggadesh. Some had already been there for years. Carrying various embryos for the Ohrur."

My hate for this despicable species grew by the moment.

"Do you know with what… how… they were inseminated?" At least, I hoped they had been inseminated. Not that it mattered; the whole act of forcing an unwanted pregnancy on a woman was appalling.

"They are trying to breed more Space Guardians. As far as I know, they're using Space Guardians genes and eggs from various sources, including us."

Automatically, my hand reached forward, but she pulled hers back. "Did they… did they do that to you?"

"You and Zapharos came just in time. All they did to me was take my blood to find out when… I would be fertile."

I knew the last thing this woman wanted was pity, but it was an emotion walling up in me, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

"So, is that how they've always bred Space Guardians?" I asked after a moment when I realized she would prefer to keep this conversation clinical.

"They are desperate. They're trying every which way they can think of. Gene manipulation, test tube, cloning, you name it." Ella rose, indicating she was done with our conversation.

She left without as much as a good-night, and I sat at the table for a while longer mulling over this latest piece of the puzzle she threw at me. At some point, Vraax came looking for me, and I filled him in on what Ella had told me.

He was subdued and quiet when we returned to our quarters, but over the next couple of days, he slowly came to terms with this newest development. Now and then, he stared at his hands, moving them as if wondering where they came from.

My heart went out to him, but all I could do was reassure him of my love. Especially at night when we were alone and in bed. He was still the same man to me he had been before, but he seemed to be questioning his existence, and that worried me.

Both nights, he woke up sweaty from the middle of a dream; last night's was even harder than the first. It took me several minutes to bring him back to the present. He called me Solaana, a name he had mentioned before, and that was oddly comforting. I didn't mind that he thought I was another woman, because… because… I had no explanation for it. I just didn't.

"These dreams," he looked at me, finally seeing me again, "these Soulweb Glyphs," he rotated his arm, "these are not the results of test tube breeding, Sloane, they can't be."

"Alright." I put my hand on his cheek. We had stopped the regression sessions a while ago, but maybe it was time to try it again. I suggested it, and he nodded.

"One more time," he leaned back as I climbed into a sitting position with my back against the wall and him in my lap. My legs were wrapped around him as were my arms. The healing wand lay within reach just in case his headache became unbearable. Our arms were interlinked, our Soulweb Glyphs aligned, sending prickling sensations through me, but for once, they weren't sexual.

"You're safe, Vraax. You are just an observer, okay?"

"Safe," he took a deep breath in, and I felt his body relax in my grip.

I gave him a few minutes to fully empty his mind before I asked, "Remember the dark tunnel you moved through before?" His affirmation came in the form of a small grunt. "I want you to keep going back there, but I want you to go even farther back, alright?"

Again, I gave him time to prepare himself. "I want you to find that forest again. The one you were happy in." I pushed.

"Trees, lots of trees," he mumbled, with, if I read the tone of his voice right, a smile on his face.

"So peaceful."

"Good. Look around and describe to me what you see."

"A purple sun, trees, gnarly trees with blossoms that smell so good. And large mushrooms. Big enough to find shelter under."

I felt myself relaxing; even though he was describing it in a typical male way, it sounded nice. Like a place I wanted to see. I closed my eyes and, startled, ripped them open again. What the hell?

For a moment, a vision of the place Vraax was describing had been right in front of me, but that couldn't be, could it? Impossible. And yet… I closed my eyes again.

Shit.

I was in the middle of what definitely was an alien forest. The trees were gnarly, just like Vraax had said, but also mesmerizing in their beauty. Roots, long roots, mixed in a green and blue color, grew out of large stems, or maybe they made up the stems; it was hard to say. But even the branches seemed to be made up from them, or several smaller branches intertwining with each other. At their ends grew the crowns, reminding me of bushes with green leaves. Something that looked like Spanish Moss hung down from some of the branches, giving the entire forest a magic atmosphere. The trees were large, the size of a skyscraper, easily. In some places, it even looked as if several trees had grown together.

In between, the ground was dotted with fern-like plants in green, red, and orange, and looked dark red and moist. I could even smell it. It was the strong scent of wet wood, mushrooms, even pines. At the same time, it was crisp and fresh. A yearning moved through me, a yearning so strong and overwhelming that it hurt. I wanted to be there. I wanted to step into that forest. No, it was more than want and yearning. It was something I had never ever experienced before. Since my parents had uprooted me every three or four years, I never had a chance to experience that particular emotion, but I did then. So strong that tears rolled down my cheeks.

I was homesick.

So fucking homesick, I wanted to cry.

A deep croak escaped me as I took a long, gasping breath. A breath that hurt like hell, and I realized I must have stopped breathing there for too long. What the actual fuck?

"Everybody is working," Vraax continued. Guilt rippled through me. I had no idea how long I had been out , if that was the word to describe whatever had happened to me. But Vraax must have carried on, continued describing to me what he saw.

I needed to get my shit together. "You are in the village," I said.

"Yes. So happy. Everyone is happy. All the adults have Soulweb Glyphs, and they greet me with smiles and respect."

I swallowed. "Do you have Soulweb Glyphs?"

He tensed for a moment, then said one simple word, or name, " Solaana."

"Is she there?" I didn't feel any animosity toward the woman, only sadness without a clue as to why.

"She is my mate." Pride welled in his voice. "She is you."

What the fuck?

My heart began to hammer heavily, sweat ran down the back of my neck.

"We've always been together. Since the beginning of time." Vraax continued without realizing the anxiety attack storming through me.

Shit, shit, shit.

No way.

This was simply not possible.

My imagination must have…

I closed my eyes and saw the village he was describing. I saw him standing there in all his glory. He was about twenty years younger, but just as broad and muscular as he was now. His hair was longer, held together at the nape of his neck by a leather band. His torso was naked, as were most men's I saw, proudly displaying his Soulweb Glyphs. And no, I didn't look close enough to see if they were the same as they were now; my mind was already in meltdown mode. This was impossible.

Impossible.

I distracted myself by looking at the houses. They were made from rocks and plants, as you would see in pictures and drawings of ancient civilizations. Round, with thatched roofs. Windows and windowsills were even decorated with plants. Crude cobblestone walkways moved through the houses, toward the forest a little in the distance now and while I was at it… I lifted my head, and high in the sky stood a purple sun and the outline of two moons.

Impossible!

"Solaana," he said, and I turned, watching a stunning woman with silver skin, matching Vraax's, walk toward him. She was dressed in a brown gown made from a material similar to his pants. The dress was decorated with what might have been gemstones, carefully sewn into the material. Her hair was black and long, held in a braid slung over her shoulder and reaching down to her hip. Solaana.

She was tall and lithe and beautiful.

Me?

My heart pumped even harder. No, that couldn't be; it simply couldn't.

And yet.

I opened my eyes, holding on to Vraax for dear life. I snuggled my face into the back of his head, kissing his neck to reassure myself he was here and so was I.

Then, determination flooded me. It had always been my driving force, and now I needed it more than ever. I shook Vraax, "Wake up, that damn Arkhevari has some explaining to do."

I knew I wasn't gentle with him. Hell, gentle was the furthest thing from my mind as I readied myself to put a bullet through the damn Arkhevari's head. Well, so to speak. There weren't any bullets there, but that was beside the point.

"Sloane? What?"

I pulled Vraax, none too gently, to his feet and prodded him to the door. I needed my current mood to fuel me and couldn't waste niceties on Vraax right now, no matter how much I loved him. Zapharos needed to know how serious I was.

I would teach that freaking asshole a lesson he wouldn't soon forget.

He would learn what it meant to fuck with our minds, heads and fates.