Page 43 of Guardian’s Destiny (Space Guardian’s Mate #3)

VRAAX

Sloane was adjusting better to the fated mate-reincarnation-Soulweb thing than I had expected. She spent the entire journey to Astrionis reading up on anything she could find and pestered Zapharos relentlessly. More than once, a black aura appeared around him, making me worry about her safety, but unlike the first time, he was able to get himself under control.

One afternoon, after it had happened again, I cornered him when we were alone. "Want to explain why your aura gets as dark as any criminals I have ever seen?"

"Not really," he responded, trying to get by me.

"I wasn't really asking." I grabbed his arm.

"Easy. I let you hit me once; that doesn't mean I will allow it again."

I scoffed, "You won't have a choice unless you use those neat little mind tricks."

"I don't need those to?—"

Ella exited their room. "Boys?" She arched an eyebrow.

"Nothing, lumiya, everything is fine," Zapharos smiled at her. I sent her my most winning smile as well to assure her.

"We're best buddies." I slapped Zapharos on the shoulder, harder than I needed to, but the bastard didn't even flinch.

"Hmm, hmm," Ella looked from one of us to the other.

She made her way to the breakroom, leaving Zapharos and me in the hallway. I arched an eyebrow at him. "So?"

He sighed; he didn't pretend he didn't know what I was asking. "You and Sloane are a perfect match."

"Flattery isn't answering my question," I stated.

"Light and dark, good and bad, order and chaos, creation and destruction. You know what they all have in common?" Zapharos asked, and I prepared myself for another one of his enigmatic, evasive explanations.

"One can't exist without the other?" I guessed.

He nodded. "That's right. Every person, every species experiences both to some degree. Some people are bad; others are good. My species is gifted with experiencing both to the extreme. We can kill the population of an entire planet without flinching, or we can bring love and light to it."

Looking into his amber eyes as he was saying this brought chills down my spine. I didn't doubt his words for a moment. "Some of us chose the path of light; others chose the path of darkness, ever since our temperance left."

"Which path did you choose?" I was curious because he seemed to be straddling both.

"The darkness," he replied, "the darkness was my home."

"But not anymore?" He was intriguing me. I had never seen an aura go from black to light. Never. Not even on the people who claimed to regret their actions.

He shrugged and surprised me when he placed his hand on my shoulder, "Take care of her, will you."

"Sloane? Always. With my life."

I didn't see him again. He and Ella stayed in their quarters for the rest of the flight. Which was more than fine with me, I had never met someone who crept me out like the Arkhevari did. Usually when I saw someone with a black aura the urge to terminate them was nearly unbearable, not with Zapharos though. As much as I wanted to kill him because… because he was an ass, I didn't feel a drive to rid the galaxy of him. I wasn't sure if that was because of his mind control or something else. I had a suspicion though that it was something else which kept him alive. For now.

A couple of days later, we landed on Astrionis, where Lord Protector Garth and Lady Silla waited for us. As soon as the Lord Protector saw my mating marks, he exclaimed, "Ah frygg, please don't tell me we lost another Space Guardian."

"Don't mind him." Lady Silla waved her hand and embraced me like a long lost friend. "I, for one, am happy that so many are finding their true mates."

She let go of me and took Sloane in. "Although, I must confess, I didn't think it would be you."

"Thanks, Silla," Sloane replied with a grin I had come to miss. The entire journey had been stressful, so it was good to see that her old self was still there. "It's nice to see you again, too."

The women embraced and kissed each other on the cheek. "I missed you," Silla said, threading her arm through Sloane's.

"How's Ashley?" Sloane asked.

"I haven't heard from her since she and Xandros took off to Cronack." Silla's expression darkened; clear worry was written all over her pretty features.

"You know Ashley. Nothing can kill her." Sloane's voice was firm and reassuring and seemed to have the desired effect on Lady Silla.

"Did they send you as a replacement Space Guardian or…" Lord Protector Garth fished, turning my attention to him.

"I'm afraid I wasn't involved in the original mission, Lord Protector, but I did bring you some refugees." That took some of the tension off his body, and I hated that my next words would bring it right back. "Unfortunately, they're in a rather delicate condition."

"What do you mean?" Silla's concern was evident.

"It's a long story, but for now, you need to know that Vraax and I were on a different mission when we found them. They were captives of the Ohrurs." Sloane explained.

"Ohrurs?" Lord Protector Garth's forehead creased.

I nodded. "That's not all; they experimented on them, and several of them are pregnant."

"What?" Lord Protector Garth exploded.

Silla placed a pacifying hand on his arm. "Tell us everything."

"It's not only human females. There are some Pandraxians, too."

"Where are they?" Lord Protector Garth's jaw clenched, and fury radiated from him.

"They are in their quarters for the moment. We thought it wiser to prepare you first." I filled them in.

"Of course. Thank you," Lady Silla nodded, her eyes anxiously moved up the ramp as she stepped from one toe to the other, ready to enter and take charge. "Why don't you take our guests inside while I go talk to them?"

"As you wish." The Lord Protector didn't look happy about his mate's suggestion, most likely as unhappy to see her leave his presence as I was whenever Sloane and I were separated. "If you would follow me," he waved his arm in an inviting gesture.

"I'm sorry, something else happened, and we need to get to Darlam as soon as possible. If we could take two of your ships… We'll pay, of course." I stopped him.

"It's alright, Vraax, we can take a few minutes." Sloane surprised me.

Zapharos and Ella were staying on the ship until we had one available for them. They would board it when nobody would notice, to prevent Zapharos from being seen. They were as eager to leave as I thought we were.

"There is something I need to discuss with Silla," Sloane said. "I'm sorry, it won't take long, I promise."

"Tucker?" I asked. She had told me about the soldier she had served with and whom she suspected to be Nova's long lost brother. Sloane nodded, and I understood. I wanted nothing more than to finally be on my way to Darlam, but she was right; a few hours more wouldn't make any difference. Zapharos had assured me that the others had received his message, and there was a good chance that talking with Lord Protector Garth might shed some more light on our situation.

"So you're going to be our guests?" He looked confused.

"I'm sorry, Lord Protector. Yes. If you will still have us." I replied.

"My mate would bite my head off if I let our guests slip away," he grinned, while he led us toward a large rootrock.

I had heard about them but had never seen them in person. They were actually quite amazing. They dotted the entire landscape, some bigger, some smaller, like long, twisted, arched roots. But they weren't roots. They were actually rocks. Rocks that kept growing and were hollow inside, making perfect housing for Astrionis' population.

We chatted about humans and the other Space Guardians on the way—nothing important, just something to stop any awkward silence. We walked over a bridge, covering a moat filled with something thick and bubbling. The heat from it emanated all the way up to the bridge. Astonishingly, small kinds of animals were hopping over it.

Lord Protector Garth took us through a large hall into a more intimate room. A table was already set with dishes as he pulled a chair out for Sloane. "Please, have a seat, eat." He noticed Sloane's protest on her face, but he shook his head before she could voice it. "Please. Silla would never forgive me if I made you wait for her. When she heard you were coming, she set the cooks to preparing Earth food for you."

"Oh," Sloane exclaimed as she sat down and lifted the lid of one of the covered dishes. "Pizza?" She looked at Garth.

"She said you were very fond of it last time," Garth replied with a proud tone in his voice.

"She is amazing." Sloane grabbed a slice of something red and yellow that had been cut triangularly and whose end was hanging down most unappetizingly.

Without any reservations, she took a big bite. Her entire face lit up, and she moaned, "Hmm!"

I waited for Lord Protector Garth to take a seat before I followed his example next to Sloane.

"Oh you guys, you need to eat this," her mouth was full and she was hard to understand, but I had never seen her happier. With trepidation, I reached for a slice, determined to tell her I loved it even if it looked slimy and disgusting. For her, I would do anything.

Surprisingly, the pizza didn't taste bad at all. It wasn't slimy, but gooey and strangely comforting.

Lady Silla didn't join us until the end of the meal. One look at her and Lord Protector Garth rose to fold her into his arms.

"That bad?" He asked.

She nodded against his chest, and he gently brushed her hair back. His eyes met mine; they were cold and hard and delivered one message: We need to talk .

The opportunity didn't come until the table was cleaned, and we took our seats in a comfortable seating area surrounding a cozy fireplace. Lady Silla's color had returned, and she looked more herself.

"I need to talk to the Space Guardian and Sloane about what happened. They need to leave soon. Are you alright, or do you want me to take you to our quarters?" He asked his mate.

In answer, she slapped his arm, "If this is about the Ohrurs, I'm not going anywhere." Her voice was hard and determined, showing the steel I knew she must have in order to deal with a warrior male like the Lord Protector.

"What can you tell us, Space Guardian?" He turned his full attention on me.

I wasn't sure how much to divulge, but we had nothing to hide either. The Ohrurs were very aware of our defection, and if they had any sense, they would bring their full force to Darlam. If I could gain any allies for us, it would be in our favor, specifically the Pandraxian Empire. They were one of the most powerful species in the universe, even more so since they had usurped the Cryon into their Empire.

So I filled him in, holding only the fact of Zapharos’s presence back, not for Zapharos, but for Sloane and, by extension, keeping Emperor Daryus's secret.

"I think your report warrants some serious investigation on our part. I will personally see the emperor and inform him of these atrocities. He treats any injury to any of his subjects as a personal injury." Lord Protector Garth said this when Sloane and I readied ourselves to leave. "I can't make any promises, but I'm certain he will lend his support to your cause."

I wasn't stupid. I knew that the emperor wouldn't simply do so out of the goodness of his heart or to avenge the injury to his citizens. Gaining the support of the Space Guardians would very much work in his favor. And with the Ohrurs out of the picture, Space Guardians would be free to choose new employers if we so wished. Even if only a handful of us would join the Pandraxians, supporting us would be worth any expenses he might accrue.

"Also please inform him that I was here, that I finished the mission. Tell him to watch his trade routes, that some members of the GTU have found new allies outside their ranks, ones with a history of war rather than diplomacy. Their hunger for conquest has never faded, only waited for the right opportunity. And now, they’re being invited to the table."

Garth stared at her unblinking for a moment, before he composed himself, "If you're saying what I think you are… this is a dangerous development."

Sloane nodded. "Yes. One he needs to be aware of."

With that finished, I thought we would be ready to leave now, but Sloane had other plans as she turned to Lady Silla, "One more thing. I was wondering if you might have a record of one Tucker Beauvier in your database."

"Hmm, let me see." Lady Silla pulled out her comm, and Sloane watched her intently as she entered her search. Surprised, Lady Silla looked up. "He just arrived here a few days ago. I haven't seen or spoken to him, but one of my intakers has and mentioned he is looking for a Nova Beauvier. Is that our Nova?"