Page 68 of Guardian's Soul

"We're so happy to meet you," Zoe exclaimed, beaming at me.

"Uhm, you too." I looked from one to the other—don't stare, don't stare, don't stare—and managed to smile at them equally and look at them an equal amount of time. Still… Luph was very… different, to put it politely.

It took an effort not to wipe my skin where we touched because her body was covered in patches that looked like they were leaking puss. Her skin reminded me of the color and texture of an elephant's, with irregular patches of hair here and there that had been lovingly braided in places. Her eyes, however, were a bright amber, and her smile so endearing that it reversed any sensations of revulsion. I found myself hugging her back with more vigor than I thought possible.

Zoe was beautiful in a very unassuming way, with her brown hair and startling gray eyes.

I exchanged handshakes with the other Space Guardians, who all, except Vraax and Nock, wore the same mating marks.

"Come, I've prepared some snacks and refreshments." Zoe pulled my arm, directing me toward a large table that offered plenty of seating for all of us and was filled with an assortment of snacks and beverages. My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at the sight of rolls. Honest to God, real bread rolls.

"Oh my God." I stared at the basket filled with them.

Zoe snickered. "Go ahead, take one."

"Right?" Nova shook her head. "I couldn't believe it at firsteither, but Lady Silla is building a human colony with real human food, and she just loves to fill our ships with provisions."

I remembered seeing images of Lady Silla on the comm and fell in love with her the moment I took a bite from a roll that was still warm. My eyes even watered. It had been so long since I had eaten anything but mush.

"It's okay to cry." Zoe patted my arm, making me giggle.

Thrax threw a concerned look at me from across the table, and I winked at him reassuringly. He had tried sitting next to me, but thegirlshad shouldered him out of the way and were surrounding me now.

"All right, tell us your story," Zoe encouraged. "How did you two meet?"

Longingly, I stared at another roll, contemplating if it would be rude to grab one so quickly after I had just stuffed my face and did a quick calculation if there were enough for all of us to have two. I was glad Zoe interrupted my gluttonous behavior, and I gave them a quick rundown on how Thrax and I met while the other aliens listened in.

Afterward, it was their turn. Raasla had rescued Zoe from aboard a Cryon ship with many others, while Zaarek had bought Nova and several more humans at a slave auction. Noodar's story was different. He had been assigned to protect Princess Luphelia on her way to her wedding when they fell in love and simply ran away.

As different as our stories were, they all were the same when it came to the unexpected appearance of mating marks. This was where Noodar and Luph's story also differed. Neither one had been in pain from receiving the marks, and they didn't appear until they were already in love.

"This has all of us a little stymied," Nova confessed. "I mean, the sudden appearance of humans might explain why suddenly the Space Guardians are finding their fated mates, but Noodar and Luph are totally different."

"So why hasn't this happened before?" Zaarek asked the group.

"I might know the answer to this." Thrax pulled up his comm and moved to the spot he had marked. "I found a few documents stating that Space Guardians are apt tofailbetween their twentieth and thirtieth year of service. How long have you all been working for the Ohrurs?" He turned to the other Space Guardians.

"Somewhere around there, twenty-five," Noodar acknowledged.

"Twenty-six," Zaarek announced.

"Twenty-one," Raasla said.

The four turned toward Vraax, who was the only one not sitting with us at the table but standing leaning against the wall, his arms crossed as if he were contemplating killing us all. The notion created a shudder running down my spine.

"Nineteen," he finally pushed out.

"Okay, so let's assume, for the moment, that something inside usfailsbetween twenty and thirty years of service." Thrax continued, "I also discovered that we weren't the first ones finding our Soulbonds. Only the first ones to question everything else. From what I learned, other Space Guardians who found their Soulbonds reported to the Ohrurs."

"What happened to them?" Luph asked with wide eyes.

"They were terminated," Thrax stated.

"You have proof of that?" Vraax demanded.

"I thought we were past this proof shit." Zaarek glared at the other Space Guardian.

"Here." Thrax pushed the cube he had been looking at toward Vraax. "This is straight from the Ohrur database. Possedion gave me access to a fake database, but then I convinced him to give me access to the real thing."

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