Page 72 of Guardian's Heart

A grunt from me confirmed his assumption.

"Alright, here goes nothing." He looked straight at me when he started talking.

"Hello, my trusted friends. As you've noticed, I have been quiet for a while. Some of you have even been concerned that the Space Guardian I'm currently shadowing has harmed me. Let me assure you, I'm fine, and so is he."

"You're not showing me, are you?" I waved my hand in alarm.

Nock grinned. "Don't mind him. He's a bit shy today. It's not every day that he's called a hero! But that's what he is. You all know I'm not a big fan of the Space Guardians, but Zaarek has opened my eyes to the fact that these brave males are more than just exterminating machines. We just returned from Astrionis, where we unloaded eight humans Zaarek rescued. Eight! Let me tell you, the work Lord Protector Garth and Lady Silla are doing is invaluable. Those poor humans are being used for slavery, medical experiments, and the gods only know what else." I moved my hand to move this along, but Nock only glared at me. His hands danced over his tablet, and I realized he was pulling up pictures from Astrionis to show to his audience.

"Is this live?" I demanded.

Nova boxed me in the side again, and Nock glared one more time at me.

"From what I understand, Emperor Daryus has not shied away from paying a fortune to hire four Space Guardians to rescue even more of these humans. We should all follow this shining example.

"Something completely unrelated. I want to follow up on my mating marks show, especially the ones that emerge unexpectedly." Nock winked at me. I closed my eyes, hoping this was subtle enough for the Ohrurs, although I was sure Possedion would give me an earful for allowing a holostreamer aboard my ship and streaming live from it.

"Zaarek has offered me a ride to UX938, where I heard of an outbreak of unexpected mating marks affecting the most unusual couples. Couples of different species! You know me, Ineed to investigate this a lot further. I'll be sorry to leave Zaarek, but this new development is calling me, and this holostreamer has to go where fate takes him."

He flicked his head to turn his camera off, looking more than satisfied with himself. "What do you think?"

"Genius." Nova beamed.

"Now let's hope he watches this," I mumbled, doubting he would.

"So we're going to… UX… whatever?" Nova asked, looking excited.

"Yes, but you will need to stay on the ship," I warned.

"Oh, come on," she pouted. "I went with you to Astrionis, and that was fine."

"Space Stations are notorious for illegal doings," Nock filled her in before I had a chance. "Astrionis is filled with humans; on a Space Station, you will be like a beacon to all criminals to get their hands on and sell you."

"What about a disguise? I could wear one."

I pulled her into my arms and held her tight. "I'm sorry, Nova. It's just too dangerous."

I felt bad. I understood her urge to leave the ship and see other things besides it and Astrionis. She might have been an introvert like me, but she needed more stimulus than what I was able to give her right now.

"Will it always be like this?" she asked in a small voice.

"No." I kissed the top of her head. "I promise I will take you to Pandrax and other, more advanced places where humans won't stand out as much."

"Alright." This one little word, spoken quietly but with all her trust in me, nearly broke me. It did make my heart bleed. I wanted to give her the universe, and all that I could give her right now was a male who didn't even know who he was. A male chasing shadows. I loved her so frygging much, it hurt. I wantedto make her happy and let her see her fill, but because I loved her so much, I needed to keep her safe.

NOVA

Zaarek's foot kicking mein 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 wasintentionally. 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 hadtold 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.

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