Page 38 of Guardian's Soul (Space Guardian's Mate #2)

HANNAH

I woke refreshed and relaxed. As soon as I opened my eyes, I found Thrax sitting in one of the beanbag chairs, watching me, with a warm smile on his face.

"Good morning, beautiful."

"Good morning," I greeted back, stretching.

He came over to the bed and sat down next to me to lean in for a kiss.

"You sleep like the dead," he stated when we parted.

I laughed. "I've been accused of that before."

"Are you hungry?"

I shook my head, noticing he seemed antsy. "No, what's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. I actually have good news," he stated, filling me in on his comm call during the night while I slept like the dead . I couldn't believe four men had been in our quarters, and I had slept through that. Well, four holographs of men, but still…

"We're going to meet them in two days," Thrax filled me in.

Excitement filled me, but there was some dread as well. "This is going to be dangerous, isn't it? "

He turned serious. "Yes. If you're not up to it, we can?—"

I put my finger on his lips. "This is the most important thing I've ever done in my life, and I'm with you, one hundred percent. I couldn't walk away from this now if my life depended on it."

I meant it, too. I was just as committed to this cause as he was, not only because of my love for him and the Soulweb Glyphs but also because I was utterly disgusted by what the Ohrurs had done and wanted to find out the full scope of their atrocities and make them pay for it. I knew all the old saying, curiosity will kill the cat, go looking for danger and it will find you, play with fire and it will burn you , yadiyadiyadi. I was aware of the risks, but still, this was not something I could simply walk away from and not regret doing for the rest of my life. I had never felt this convinced of something before. I would never be able to pay the Cryons back for what they had done to us, but it was within my power to punish the Ohrurs. I might have been projecting my anger toward the Cryons to the Ohrurs, but I didn't think so. The hate I felt for them was much more even than for the Cryons.

First things first, though. "You promised you would run some tests," I reminded Thrax.

He looked lost for a moment. "About having kids together," I added.

"Oh, yes, absolutely." He moved to his comm and brought out the strange healing wand.

"It only needs a sample," he said, using a tool that looked very much like a cotton swab, except it didn't look like it was made from wood but metal, and I doubted the tip was cotton.

"It already has all my information. I just need to—oh, you know." He grinned as I opened my mouth, ready for him to do the deed.

"Watched it on TV a few times. Beats having your nose swabbed any time of the day. "

"Nose?" He creased his brow.

"Yeah, they stick it way up there. You'd think they poked your brain with it." I shuddered at the memory of it.

"You humans are very mysterious indeed." He swabbed my mouth before he inserted the probe into the wand.

"Now what?" I wanted to know.

"Let's go talk to Possedion. Once we're done with him, the results should be ready." He appraised me, "Unless you're too tired or?—"

I jumped off the bed. "I'm good." I marched to the built-in cabinets where my spare clothes were stacked. The ones I had taken off last night had already been taken away by the cleaning bots, and later, I would find them cleaned and neatly stacked on the shelves. I had no problems getting used to this part of my new life.

Possedion was sleeping when we entered but woke the moment the doors closed behind us.

"Let's have another chat," Thrax said, pulling out a chair for Possedion.

Warily, the Ohrur walked over and sat down.

"Tell me about the forcefield," Thrax questioned without preamble.

"There's nothing to say. It can't be breached," Possedion answered defiantly.

"Hannah, do you mind filling up the pitcher?" Thrax reached for the pitcher on the table and handed it to me.

"It'll be my pleasure," I responded sweetly. I might have balked at him for not doing so himself, but I understood that he didn't want to leave Possedion and me alone in the room, even though the bathroom was right there.

"That won't be necessary," Possedion protested.

"Just a precaution."

I heard the threat in Thrax's voice when I returned with the filled pitcher .

Possedion took a deep inhale. "Fine. No other ship but an Ohrur ship can pass through, and only if there are at least three Ohrurs on board."

"Hmm." Thrax studied him and must have concluded he was telling the truth. "Does it only allow for Ohrurs to be on board, or can others be on it too?"

Possedion opened his mouth to reply, but Thrax stopped him, "Remember, you'll be onboard as well."

Possedion glared at him. "No, only Ohrurs can go through."

"How can you turn the forcefield off?"

"It can only be turned off planetside," Possedion replied. It would have seemed smug, but the hint of terror on his face and body posture ruined the effect.

Thrax didn't look happy, and I didn't blame him. This sounded to me like one of those bio-imprint security devices I had seen in movies where people had to have their retinas scanned or even leave a drop of blood. In one show, the hero cut a dead man's hand off to gain access.

"Maybe we can make an Ohrur skin coat from him and wear it," I suggested, wondering when I had gotten this vicious and if I even considered following through with the threat.

Possedion seemed to think so, while Thrax looked rather amused at me.

"That's not going to work. The forcefield recognizes a specific biological and energy signature, meaning they have to be alive."

At that, Thrax sent an appreciative nod at me. He looked even more impressed. Damn. I might have to up my game.

Thrax pushed his comm toward Possedion. "We'll figure that out later. Give me full access to your database and your real database."

Possedion glared but took the comm into his hands and began tapping away .

"No tricks," Thrax warned. "It'll be really easy to send the drones back in or to pour water over you."

Possedion stopped to look up. I swear his expression screamed murder before he focused back on the comm. After a few minutes, he pushed it wordlessly at Thrax, who tried it out. When he seemed satisfied, he nodded.

"When are you going to let me go?" Possedion demanded.

At that, Thrax laughed coldly. "First, you're going to meet some old friends."

The plates above Possedion's eyes drew up in question.

"It's going to be a surprise party."

With that, Thrax rose, and I looked at him questioningly. I would have assumed he would interrogate Possedion for hours.

When we were back in the hallway and the door to Possedion's cell closed, I asked him about it.

"I'm sure the others have questions for him as well, and I don't think right now I can stomach more of his atrocities."

His words hurt my heart, and automatically, I grabbed his forearm in support, letting him know I was here.