Page 16 of Guardian's Heart

He hunched down in front of me, tempting me to kick his balls and making him fall backward, but something stopped me. With everything that had happened between us so far, he hadn't really hurt me. Not intentionally. If I was being honest, he had gone out of his waynotto hurt me. He had several weapons on him that he could have used to shut me up permanently. It was worth giving it at least some thought.

"I was hired to bring you and other humans to safety," he filled me in when he realized I was listening.

I bit out a sharp laugh. "Safety? What's that?"

"Far away from the Cryons." His gaze turned a few shades of caring. "To a planet called Astrionis in the Pandraxian Empire. Lord Protector Garth took a human mate, and he is building a refuge for humans there."

A refugee? I arched an eyebrow.

"No thank you."

He blinked a few times. "Come again?"

I shook my head. "No. Thank. You. I have no intention of living in some sort of refugee camp, begging for clothes and food."

"It's not like that," he contradicted.

"Sure it's not." I rolled my eyes.

"You know what?" He rose and threw his hands in the air. "I'm done with you. You want to live out here in the forest? Be my—Argh." Suddenly, he bent over, his face contorted in pain.

"Zaarek?" Carefully, I moved away from him. He looked like he was in a lot of pain. The part of me that was, despite everything, still human, wanted to go to him, help him, but the survivalist part in me screamed for me to keep my distance. There was no telling what was wrong with him. It could be conta—

A wave of pain hit me as if my arm was being seared off.

"Fuck!" I yelled, bending away.

Zaarek was on his knees, breathing hard and staring at his arm, where black lines appeared over the silvery skin.

Another jolt of pain moved over mine, and I swiped his cape to the side. "No!"

The same black lines were appearing on my arm.

More pain radiated out from my hip, and I curled into a ball, unable to even have a coherent thought.

"No-va?" he pressed out, crawling over to me, hunched over as he was. "Nova?"

As always, my willpower was stronger than my pain; I lifted my arm with clenched teeth to show him.

He collapsed next to me.

"What is this?" I panted.

"I have no idea," he pushed out, and that was the last I heard before I blacked out for real this time.

ZAAREK

The pain was excruciating,but even worse was watching Nova go through the same torment. I had no idea what was happening to us. My only explanation was that the bush we had landed in was poisonous, but even then, I should have been immune to it.

Sweat ran down the back of my neck from the searing pain. The black lines were starting to form a sort of pattern, while the pain level rose a few notches—as if a laser was searing them in.

"Nova," I whispered her name, carefully brushing some strands of her hair from her face so I could see her better. She had passed out. Probably a blessing for her. I had no idea how her fragile body could take this kind of pain. I was ready to rip my arm off, andthatpain would have been a frygging relief.

Parts of my stomach and hips were hurting now as well, the same as my leg. I was tempted to move my cape from her form to see if the same lines were forming on her body there, too, but I remembered that she was naked underneath and unconscious.Even though my intentions were honorable, I would have been staring at her naked flesh.

Since I didn't even know what was affecting us and didn't have any tools with me to try and fix it, there was no sense in exposing her. I could call for help via my comm; a ship would be here in moments to pick us up. I considered it. But Morrakbarr wasn't one of the more civilized planets, and chances were high that slave traders or other criminals would come. I was in no condition to defend her.

I checked her breathing. It was labored but steady.

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