Page 88 of Guardian's Soul

"And then the markings appear, with their names and boom." Nova clapped her hands. "They're back together."

"That sounds all good, but if Hannah was Suahaana, then why has Tharaax always been Tharaax and I Zaarek?" Zaarek asked.

"Oh." Hannah startled as if remembering something. "You know what? My mom said that it was the strangest thing. She wanted to call me Elizabeth ever since she found out she was pregnant, fully convinced I was a girl. But after I was born and the nurses asked what name they should put down, she said…" Hannah hesitated, squeezing my hand. "She said she opened her mouth and could have sworn she said Elizabeth, but all she and the nurse heard was Hannah. Well, not really Hannah. She said it sounded different, but that was the closest she could say."

Everybody stared at her, including me. Nova threw her hands in the air. "What in the hell is going on here? This is getting way too much into theTwilight Zonefor my taste."

But I tuned her out as guilt lifted off me. I nearly laughed atthe thought that I didn't need to feel shame anymore for loving two females since they were both the same. I hadn't betrayed either one of them, and for that knowledge, I was eternally grateful.

"Do you want to call me Suahaana now?" Hannah asked quietly.

I shook my head. "You're Hannah. My Hannah and always will be." I saw a small frown crease on her features. "Unless you want me to."

"I don't know," she confessed. "I need to think about this. This is all just a bit too much."

"Yes," I agreed. "But we're together."

She smiled at me, and her smile lit my world from the inside out. It was beyond any logic or rationality how much I loved this female. She was my one, my everything.

"I love you," she said, leaning up to kiss me.

"I love you so frygging much," I replied before I crushed my lips to hers to show her just how much.

"All right, love birds, can we stop for a moment?" Nova clapped her hands. "I'm serious. Can we please talk about this?"

Hannah sighed and disentangled herself from me. "What does your name say?"

"It doesn't matter," Nova tried, which made all of us stare at her. She rolled her eyes. "Fine! Noevah, happy?"

Zaarek looked as if someone had slapped him while a shudder moved through Nova. I didn't think she even realized she was repeating the name quietly and with reverence.

"Oh, do mine." Zoe clapped her hands, oblivious to the others.

Luph's smile, as always, was bright and beautiful. "Zoahn."

"Zoahn, Zoe." Zoe looked at Raasla. "What do you think? Raasla?"

Raasla stumbled a few feet back. His hand hit the wall for support. His silvery skin took on a grayish pallor and his facescrunched up in pain. Zoe was immediately at his side. "Oh my God. I'm so sorry."

Raasla raised his hand to embrace his mate. He tried a reassuring smile, but his pained expression didn't help. "I'll be okay."

"Okay, let's stop this for now," Hannah rallied. "So we've got some more kinks to work out. We found some puzzle pieces. Let's see how they fit." She smiled broadly, but it didn't reach her eyes. I was sure, though, I was the only one who noticed.

"In the meantime, who ate the last Oreo?"

Nervous giggles followed her statement.

"No, I'm serious, who did?"

The tension in the room broke, and warmth spread through me. This was my mate, my Hannah. My Suahaana. Perky, bright, and chipper whenever a situation needed to defuse. She was perfect for it. A borncheerleader… yeah, I admit I might have gotten a little addicted to watching human movies with her, but they were fun.

She was everything we needed to stop our dark thoughts and dwelling when we needed to.

"Let's do some more research, but differently." She grinned and winked at me. "Can you findGhost Town?"

"You can't be serious," Nova groaned. "NotGhost Town."

"Oh, I've never watched that movie. Can we?" Zoe was still hovering around Raasla, concerned, but for his benefit, she was putting on a good show, and he was starting to look a bit better, too.

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