Page 24 of Guardian’s Heart (Space Guardian’s Mate #1)

NOVA

I had no idea what they were talking about. What in the hell was a holostreamer? I had an idea, but it sounded ludicrous. I mean, I had hacked accounts for social media streamers to get them more views, even internationally, but if Nock was a social media guru, he had to be universal, as in streaming through the entire universe. I stared at the short man. He seemed taller than when I first saw him, but even now, he appeared more like a ten-year-old than a man.

"Holostreamer?" I asked. Fully aware that this wasn't the most important question right now, but needing to know.

"Nock fancies himself a sort of reporter, except nobody wants to hire him, so he puts out his streams in hopes people will watch it," Zaarek explained.

"I’ll have you know that I have nearly a trillion followers." Nock looked offended while my head reeled. A trillion followers ? That number simply threatened to blow my mind. That was… many, many more times the entire population of Earth.

Okay, so not important right now, Nova, focus ! my mind screamed. For good measure, just in case I missed the memo, it added mating marks .

Alright, so what the hell are mating marks ?

Again, I had a pretty good idea, but my mind refused to go there.

Zaarek’s stricken expression, however, stopped all my other questions. "Zaarek?"

"Let's sit down," Nock proposed. My weakening knees liked the idea, and I slumped unladylike onto one of the stools next to Nock while Zaarek paced the mess hall.

"You're making me dizzy following you," I complained as my neck craned for the umpteenth time, trying to keep track of him.

"Then stop looking at me," he snapped but stopped his pacing.

"Uhm, shouldn't you two be more like love birds instead of snapping at each other the whole time?" Nock interrupted our brewing spat.

I looked at the black marks on my arm and followed the lines until they vanished underneath the sleeve. Nock kept calling them mating marks . Did that mean something like soulmate? I threw a surreptitious glance at Zaarek; even now, the physical pull toward him was strong, enticing me to touch him, be near him. I was attracted to him; there was no doubt about that, and our sex had been… out of this world. But soulmates?

Even if I had believed in that, Nock was right; Zaarek and I should have been acting like love birds, not like two roosters locked in an arena.

Then again, he seemed to be just as stubborn a person as I was. I remembered the few moments when we had been sweet with each other. I wasn't sure what had happened to Zaarek when he returned and started to pick on me, but I suspected something similar to what had happened to me. An inner urge to fight something that seemed to be too good to be true. Or something that had been forced on us.

I wasn't about to discuss that with him with Nock as a witness though.

"I have no idea," Zaarek answered Nock, pulling his hand through his thick, black hair. It was cut close to his head still, but he managed to mess it in the most sexy way. "You tell me how mating marks work."

"Let's back up a moment." Nock pulled out a similar tablet to the one Zaarek gave me. "Let's figure out first what species you are."

Zaarek moved to stand behind me. No part of his body was touching mine, but I was very aware of his presence and the heat emanating from him. In silence, we watched Nock tap away on his tablet, watching as his facial expression changed from happy anticipation to concern to downright disbelief.

"Nobody knows," he finally declared, looking up.

Behind me, I felt Zaarek deflate. Yet there was defiance in his voice. "I can't believe this."

Nock held up his tablet. "This comm is linked to the entire StarWeb. Whatever happened on any planet, at any time in history, is stored in the StarWeb. There is nothing, nothing about the Space Guardian's origin except that you are the keepers of peace in the universe and that you work for the Ohrurs. Nothing points to your origin."

"Does it say for how long we've worked for the Ohrurs?" Zaarek wanted to know.

"Tens of thousands of Standard Cosmic years. An exact number is not known."

"Let me see." Zaarek held out his hand for the tablet, and without hesitation, Nock handed it over. I rose from my seat to read with him but couldn’t decipher the writing on Nock’s tablet. With a grunt, Zaarek swiped a few times until another screen appeared out of thin air, hovering in front of my face, displaying the same article in English.

Which was basically a summary of what I already knew. That the Space Guardians were an elite force, working for the Ohrur Oligarchy. They upheld the law, eliminated criminals, yada, yada, yada.

One part, however, was interesting.

"So you were selected," I pointed to the text.

Training and Selection

Due to the immense responsibility and power that comes with the role, the selection process for the Space Guardians is rigorous. Candidates must demonstrate exceptional combat skills, mastery of stealth and infiltration techniques, and a comprehensive understanding of intergalactic law. Furthermore, they must possess a deep sense of loyalty and an unbreakable ethical compass, as misuse of their authority is met with severe consequences.

Zaarek shook his head. "I don't remember." He massaged his temples as if he had a headache.

"Does your head hurt?"

He nodded and walked over to a place in the wall, which opened like the shelves in his quarters. He pulled out a long wand and ran it over his head.

"What is that?"

"A healing wand," Nock replied distractedly, still reading something on one of his screens.

"A healing wand? As in, it'll heal his back?"

"His back?" Nock looked up, semi-interested.

"I got some scratches from the Mmuhr'Rhongs." Zaarek downplayed his injuries.

"It's more than just some scratches." I contradicted, rising and taking the wand from him. "How does it work?"

With a loud sigh, Zaarek showed me, and I moved it over his back, watching in astonishment as the deep scratches healed in front of my eyes.

"While we're at it…" Zaarek took it back and moved it over his little finger. I had forgotten that I broke it when we first met. Oops.

But then, I reeled back. How in the world had he been fighting and functioning with that broken finger the whole time without saying a word? I looked up at his face and a sudden rush of warmth overcame me, swelling my chest. There was so much more to this man than met the eye, and this feeling of caring that just spread through me indicated that I was becoming way too attached to him.

"Back to this, you're right. It implies that Space Guardians are selected, yet," Nock said, scrutinizing Zaarek, "no offense, but you all look the same."

"Trust me, we don't," Zaarek replied dryly, putting the wand back.

Nock pulled up a screen and actually projected it against the wall. It was an image of several Space Guardians standing together. The image was a little grainy and didn't look like the high-tech ones I had come to appreciate, making me wonder if this image was older.

"What do you think, Nova? Do they all look the same?" Nock put me on the spot.

I looked closer, but besides the close-cropped black hair and silvery skin, I didn't think they looked all the same. Nock was right; there wasn't much difference in muscles and height to them, but each face was that of an individual man, not a clone. "Not really."

Zaarek shook his head. "This makes it sound as if there is a competition to become a Space Guardian as if we are selected from all over the universe."

Nock scratched his head. "How are you selected?"

"We aren't. We were raised this way."

"By whom?"

"The Ohrurs."

"You don't have any parents?" I interjected.

Zaarek's eyes were dark pools of unreadable emotions. "No, we are raised and trained by the Ohrurs." He rubbed his head again. "Can we talk about something else? This makes my brain hurt."

"But you must have come from somewhere," I insisted. "They didn't just grow you in a lab." The moment my last sentence left my lips, I slapped my hands in front of them.

"She's right," Nock agreed.

"I was not born in a lab," Zaarek hissed defiantly, and again, my heart went out to him.

"Maybe, maybe not. It's still more than curious that you have no memories at all about your parents, where you're from, anything," Nock insisted, and Zaarek took a seat by the table.

"Whatever it is, I don't think the Ohrurs are the kind of people you think they are, Zaarek," I added.

"There's something going on here," Nock added, shaking his head. "The Ohrurs…" he trailed off when we both noticed Zaarek holding his head in both of his hands with a tortured expression on his face.

"Let's not come to any hasty conclusions.” Nock coughed, nodding at Zaarek and looking at me. I got the message. Let’s let this rest for a bit and not mention the big bad Space Guardian, who is having a small breakdown.

“Let me hack into the Pandraxian data system. They might have more information.”

At the word hack , I was all ears. "Can I watch?"

Nock looked up. "Why?"

I pulled my lower lip and cursed myself, but the cat was already out of the bag. "I was a hacker on Earth. I have some experience with databases, and I would like to learn how this one works. I mean, I’m going to have to live here, right?"

"You both know that hacking is illegal?" Zaarek interrupted, already looking better once we got off topic. Interesting. I filed this little bit of information away for later use. I didn't want him to turn into a ball of pain again, no matter how many questions burned inside me, needing to come out.

Nock and I stared at him. Nock was the first to recover. "So is killing people."

A wave of affection for Nock moved through me when I realized he was provoking Zaarek on purpose to help him get over his strange reaction to being prodded about his past.

"Criminals," Zaarek pointed out.

"You've never done anything illegal ?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow at him in a dare to contradict me and an effort to support Nock on his endeavor.

"He kills people for a living," Nock threw in again.

"Criminals," Zaarek repeated stubbornly.

I was sure these two could do this all day.

"Stop, okay? Just stop."

"Why is this so important anyway?" Zaarek asked. "It doesn't matter what species I am or where I came from. I am a trained Space Guardian, and I work for the Ohrur. I will take these humans to Astrionis. The Ohrur will get paid, and I will move on to my next assignment."

He turned to leave, but I stopped him by putting my hand on his forearm, inadvertently touching his markings. A deep hiss escaped him, and a tingling sensation ran through my body.

"That's why," Nock mocked.

My heartbeat accelerated, and I was unable to lift my hand off his arm. Instinctively, my eyes moved up to meet Zaarek's, whose nostrils flared.

"Nova," he said hoarsely.

No sound escaped my lips, and I was sure, had we been alone, we would have collapsed on the next table and fucked in wild abandonment. As it was, the craving to do just that was strong enough to simply kick Nock out of the room.

I wasn't sure if he was simply not picking up on the sexual tension between Zaarek and me or if he wanted to diffuse the situation. But the sound of his voice broke the spell, and Zaarek pulled his arm back. "We should contact other Space Guardians and see—"

"No!" Zaarek sounded pissed.

I liked the idea, though. "Nock is right, we—"

"No!" Zaarek moved out into the hallway, stomping away from us.

"Well." Nock scratched his head. "I'll do some more digging into the Ohrurs as well. I've had an instinct about the Space Guardians all along, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe it's not them but the Ohrurs? What do you think? No—"

I didn't listen anymore. I knew it was wrong, but I ran after Zaarek. Pride be damned.