Page 45 of Guardian's Heart

"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 ofcaringthat 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 wordhack, 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 anythingillegal?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow at him in a dare to contradict me and an effort to support Nock on his endeavor.

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