Page 42 of Guardian’s Destiny (Space Guardian’s Mate #3)

SLOANE

For the second time in my life, I felt as if someone had ripped the carpet right from under my feet. Like one of those fancy tricks where someone pulls a tablecloth off the table so suddenly, all the dishes remain standing. All but a few who shake precariously. That was me. I was shaking to the center of my core.

The first time this happened to me was when my superior turned out to be a traitor. This was even worse.

For a moment, the room spun around me, my hands flailed, looking for something to hold on to, and then suddenly, there was Vraax. His strong arm snaked around my waist, and I leaned into him because I really didn't have the strength to stand up. He was my rock.

I had never been a spiritual person. Mom and Dad took me to church for Easter and Christmas, now and then to a Sunday service, but it hadn't stuck with me. I went through the usual teenage phases, did the Ouija board, read about witchcraft and vampires, and some of my friends and I went to the cemetery one night looking for ghosts because we had listened to one too many podcasts. And yes, there had been a phase where I considered reincarnation a thing. The problem was that everybody always wanted to be the spirit of Anne Boylen, Cesar, Washington, or whatever. None of my friends boasted to have been a peasant in 1400 England dying of an infection from an ingrown toenail.

That little detail had pestered and pestered me until I gave the entire thing up. And now, it felt like it was a lifetime ago. Since then, I had watched hundreds of people die without ever seeing a ghost, spirit, or light, leaving me thinking that death was it. There was nothing else after that. There had been only blackness before I was born, and there would only be blackness when I was gone. I had been fine with it, too. It wasn't like I could send a complaint to management and say, hey, this isn't fair. So I accepted it.

Until now.

My mouth moved, opened and closed, without a word exiting. I would have loved to suspect Zapharos was only fucking with us. That he would break out into loud laughter, screaming: Gotcha . Deep down though, I knew that wouldn't happen. He was serious.

I never had an anxiety attack before. But I felt like I was on the verge. It was getting harder to breathe, and my heart was beating erratically while the room kept spinning around me.

"Easy, Sloane," Vraax whispered in my ear, grounding me. "I'm here. I'm your safe place."

"Okay," I croaked, because there was a frog the size of a pit bull lodged in my throat. But I was feeling better, having him here. He was right. He was my safe place.

"Why are you so cool with it?" I asked after I cleared my throat of Mister Pit Bull.

"I just found out I'm a test tube baby." A deep grin sounded in his voice, and I actually found myself taking a deep, steadying breath. "So this is actually good news. I might have been raised in a lab, but at least my soul wasn't, and that is what matters."

I wish I could accept this as simply as he did, but it wasn't that simple for me.

"So what? I was killed on Darlam twenty thousand years ago, and my soul traveled all over the universe until it found a spot on Earth."

Zapharos’s eyes turned cold, and I knew he wouldn't answer my question.

"So what?" I demanded. "You want me to take your word on blind faith that I am Solaana?"

He nodded. "Yes. That and because it's written all over your body."

"What?"

He pointed at my leg, "Your name, it's written over your leg."

I wasn't a person to take things on blind faith. I needed hardcore evidence, but what he said… it resonated with me. As much as I didn't want to believe it, it felt right.

"So if I die, I'll be reborn and Vraax and I have to… search for each other all over the universe again?"

Zapharos shook his head, "That's not quite how it works, because fate plays a big part in it too."

"Predestination and crap?" I asked.

"No," he surprised me. "Nothing is predestined, and that's where we come in."

He meant his species, the Arkhevari.

"So what, you're some kind of matchmaker?"

He sighed as if I was trying his patience, when it was the other way around.

"Not even close. I'm tired now, though. Can we postpone our little conversation?"

I mumbled, repeating his words, before I pulled Vraax forward. "Let's go. He won't say anything else."

The door opened automatically, but before we stepped through, Zapharos halted us. "Sloane."

I turned. "Yes."

"The others, they won't remember."

"What do you mean?" He was confusing me again.

"The other females, they don't remember what happened. I gave you a gift."

"A gift?" I spluttered. What the hell was he talking about?

"Goodbye."

The door closed in my face, and I stared at it, speechless. What was that? But then I realized. The dream or vision or whatever you wanted to call it, hadn't been that at all, but a memory. My body felt suddenly heavy, as if someone had just shoved a ton of bricks down my throat.

"Are you alright?" Vraax asked me, taking me into his arms as soon as we were back in our quarters.

"Not even close," I admitted. "There's a shit ton of emotions I need to work through." Most of all I had to work through Zapharos' gift to me. I had no idea why he would pick me, or why he decided I should remember, but he had. And now I had to deal with the aftermath.

Vraax nodded against my head, and I slung my arms around him, too. At least we were in this together. There was no way I would have been able to keep my sanity had I been alone.

"I love you, Sloane," he kissed the top of my head, and I strengthened my grip around him.

"I love you too."

"Are you hungry? Thirsty? Can I get you anything?"

I wasn't either of those things, but he seemed eager, needing to do something for me. Plus, a few minutes alone might have been a good idea to gather my wits, so I nodded. "Yes, please."

"I'll be right back," he promised, kissing me before he left, making me wonder if he too needed a moment to collect himself. He hadn't had one of the easiest mornings either.

I sat down on one of the uncomfortable chairs, wishing for one of those Pandraxian bean bags, and closed my eyes. I breathed in and out like I had taught Vraax before our hypnosis sessions. Breathe in, count to five, hold it for a count of two, breathe out to a count of seven, hold it, and repeat.

Fate has something to do with it too , or something like that, Zapharos said. Fate , I mused. My mind wandered to the Pandraxians finding their fated mates among the humans. Had it been fate that sent the Cryons to Earth? Killing millions so… what? So that a few thousand could claim their fated mates? Where was the fairness in that?

Nothing about life is fair , Sloane . My father's voice popped into my head. He had that right. All his life, he had lived to die in battle. That had been his greatest ambition. His wish had been granted, but I wondered how much happier he would have been to die during the Cryon invasion. Now, that would have made the old man happy. Protecting not just the good old US of A but the entire world.

A small, very inappropriate snicker escaped me, but I couldn't help it. Fighting aliens would have been a wet dream come true for Dad.

Okay, back to the Cryons and all those dead humans.

Maybe it's not about the dead ones , I mused; maybe this is about the living . The ones who were alive and now scattered throughout the universe, to… find their mates in the most uncommon places. Emperor Daryus had assumed this was about him and his species finding their fated mates, but look at Zoe, Nova, Hannah, and me. All of us were fated to the Space Guardians. Without the Cryons, they would have never found us.

Something flickered deep in the recesses of my mind. Like it usually did when I was about to untangle a puzzle or find the whereabouts of a terrorist cell. I was overlooking something. Something obvious…

What was it about, though? The Darlams? Cryons? Me?

The harder I tried to focus, the more elusive the vague impression became until it was gone. Damn it. I hit the table with my fist, and Vraax's comm fell off it. Great .

The moment I touched it to pick it up, I realized something. We were all brought together for a reason!

A cold shiver moved down my spine as the validity of my outrageous claim settled into every fiber of my being. Silla had conquered Garth's heart, and he was a Lord Protector of his species. A keeper of traditions. He had recognized the long-lost mekarry bond in her—the mekarry bond was for the Pandraxians what we called the Soulweb Glyphs. Had it been anybody other than a Lord Protector finding his mekarry, it would have never become public. It would have never reached the Emperor's ear.

Ashley was the mate of the Superior Commander of the Imperial Forces—the only one with the power to bring a fleet to Earth's rescue.

Heather was the mate to Emperor Daryus, the only man with the power to order Xandros to free Earth and to take the human plight to the universal GTU council.

Could any other woman on Earth have done what these three did? Perhaps. But I didn't really think so. I didn't know Silla or Heather that well, but Ashley and I had been friends before. What in the hell were even the odds of us coming together? Ashley had been one of the best marines I had ever served with. She brought a unique skill set to the table that no other woman could have.

And Silla. Silla was another force to be reckoned with. She didn't just lay down and enjoy being a pampered mate, neither did Heather for that matter as an Empress, both women had taken it upon themselves to found a safe haven for human refugees.

My mind kept wandering until it landed on Tucker.

Shit!

What were the odds that he was Nova's brother? The one she thought dead?

I needed to talk with Silla as soon as we got to Astrionis. If anybody could find him, it was her and her database.

The door opened, and Vraax entered. He was balancing an assortment of food bowls and cups with drinks. I jumped up to help him before he could make a mess.