Page 38 of Guardian’s Heart (Space Guardian’s Mate #1)

NOVA

Zaarek's foot kicking me in the middle of the night woke me. It took me a moment to shake off my disorientation before I realized that Zaarek was having a nightmare. His arm flailed, and I barely had time to roll myself out of the bed before his fist would have hit me. Stunned, I lay on the ground for a few seconds, trying to get my bearings.

Zaarek was always so stoic. So put together, except when we were fighting. During the last couple of weeks, I had never seen even a sign of him having dreams or nightmares.

I pulled myself off the ground. "Zaarek, hey!" I leaned over to take hold of his arm and shake it slightly. I wasn't frightened of him. I knew he would never intentionally hurt me, but the imperative word here was intentionally . Right now, he wasn't aware of what he was doing.

Uncle Boon had suffered from PTSD after he came back from one of the desert wars. And even Daddy didn't mess with him when he had been in one of his episodes. It wasn't that farfetched that Zaarek suffered from something similar. He had told me about some of his missions, and dear God, some of them sounded like he was in the middle of a warzone.

"Zaarek," I yelled louder, shaking his arm harder, ready to jump back if I needed to and keeping an eye on the door to make sure I had a free path out into the hallway if I needed to.

"Lights!" I yelled at the computer. Instantly, the room was bathed in light. Zaarek was dripping in sweat from head to toe, wrapped half in the blanket it seemed as if he was fighting it.

I grabbed hold of one end and pulled it away from him, contemplating if I should empty a dish of water over him to wake him, but again, Uncle Boon came to mind.

Just let him thrash it out, honey , Daddy had said when I asked him what to do while Uncle Boon was trashing the trailer, turning furniture upside down, and throwing glasses against the wall.

"Zaarek!" I yelled, starting to become frightened despite myself.

His eyes popped open, and for one scary moment, he didn't seem to see me at all, or if he did, he didn't seem to recognize me.

"Nova?" he finally asked groggily.

With a cry of relief, I threw myself forward onto the bed and right at him.

"You scared me. You were thrashing around and must have had a nightmare."

He shook his head as if to clear it; his eyes were still a bit unfocused.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"What were you dreaming of?"

"I…" He looked even more confused. "Something was chasing me… I don't remember what, but I knew it would kill me if it got to me."

"Some kind of monster?"

He shook his head. "I don't remember, but the funny thing… I was running through a forest, similar to the one on Morrakbarr. But the sun and moons were different. There were three moons, one was purple and…" Again he shook his head, and I handed him the blanket, so he could wipe the sweat from his face. "The sun was bright red, I remember that."

"Come, let's get you washed up," I suggested, just as a chirping sound came from his comm. I inspected him.

He motioned for me to go hide in the bathroom, something we had done before when his minder called. I left the door a crack open to hear what they were saying.

"What?" Zaarek barked into the comm.

A man appeared in the middle of the bedroom. Intellectually, I realized that Possedion was only a holograph, but he looked so real as he paced our bedroom; it was uncanny.

"I don’t know what possessed you to have a holostreamer shout out your mission to the universe, but I am supposed to congratulate you from the four conglomerates. So here it is: Congratulations."

Despite his words, a shiver ran down my spine, increasing in intensity with Zaarek's stiffening form. This wasn't good.

"Well, thank you, Possedion, that is the nicest thing you've ever said to me," Zaarek returned. The blanket was thankfully pulled all the way up to his chest, hiding his mating marks, while he leaned back in a seemingly relaxed manner, but I knew him well enough by now: he was coiled for a fight.

"Don’t thank me. I don't know what you're up to yet, but I will find out. This little stunt of yours might have brought in more customers, but I doubted that was your intent."

The figure in the middle of the room linked his hands behind his back and paced in a circle. Giving me plenty of opportunity to study him from all sides.

I didn't know anything about galactical customs, wardrobe, or values thereof, but I imagined the glittering jewel-like adornments sewn into his gown must have cost a pretty penny. So must have the oversized gem studded ring he wore on top of his large head. It looked like a crown, but something told me it wasn't more than a simple fashion statement.

His clothes reminded me of a long dress, gathered in the middle of his torso by an also gem-studded belt, echoing the design of his crown ; it gathered the cloths, making it impossible to assess his shape.

But by his spindly hands and long limbs, I would have said he was on the rather slim side. Enough so that I was fairly certain Nock could have taken him out.

His oversized head sat precariously on a way too thin-looking neck, which must have been made from steel to keep it up. Slanted, darker green eyes took over most of his face, and three dark points made me assume to be his nostrils while his mouth sat underneath it, formed in a lipless O . His entire form would remind me more of a benign species were it not for the dead, unsympathetic, cold-heartedness pouring out of his pores, perceivable even though he was only a hologram.

"One of your brethren has gone off-grid, and I'll be damned if this happens again on my watch." He stopped his pacing, staring directly at Zaarek. "Whatever you're up to, you will abort it immediately and return to your primary mission, which is rescuing humans in case you have forgotten."

"Or?" Zaarek hissed with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

No, no, keep it together . I tried to will him stay calm.

"Or else you will find out what happens to Space Guardians who disobey us."

"A threat?"

I shuddered as goosebumps crept down my spine while a chill seeped into my stomach. Don't take the bait, don't take the bait , I prayed.

"If you want to call it that." Possedion lured Zaarek in deeper.

"And who will carry out your threat? You?" Zaarek mocked.

"Your fellow Space Guardians might not like the assignment, but they will follow my orders, trust me." Possedion stared coldly at Zaarek.

I waved my hand to keep Zaarek calm, whose eyes were immediately drawn to me.

"What are you looking at?" Possedion immediately cried, turning.

I ducked deeper into the bathroom, praying that Possedion's holograph couldn’t simply follow me.

I didn't need to.

"What is that?" a burst of derisive laughter followed Possedion's statement, and I fought against my curiosity to look at what had caught his attention.

"I get it now. You don't need an ambassador to endear yourself to the other humans. You need a warm body in your bed."

Noises as if someone was picking something off the ground came from the other room.

"That is none of your business."

"You're right, it's not. If you want to amuse yourself during your missions, that's your choice."

Possedion sounded more amused than agitated now, and I dared a glimpse around the corner. Zaarek was holding a red blouse pressed against his chest. Shit. That blouse and a few other items lay strewn on the floor where Zaarek had ripped them off me last night.

Then my eyes moved to Zaarek's now naked chest. Before, he had been draped in a sheet, but when he jumped off the bed, he must have discarded it in his anger for Possedion. Shit! His mating marks were fully on display.

Possedion must have noticed them at the same moment. "What is that?"

He screeched for a second time, moving forward with his hand stretched out, pointing at Zaarek's chest.

"Frygg!" Zaarek scrambled to the bed where he usually kept his comm and disconnected the call.

"Frygg!" he shouted again, throwing the comm against the wall. I figured it was safe to step out of my hiding spot. "Now what?"

I picked the unscathed tablet off the floor. It began to vibrate immediately.

"Don't answer that," Zaarek ordered in an agitated voice.