Page 29 of Guardian's Soul

Which left the options of either staging a crash landing or bailing before the ship landed.

I liked the ship, and we might need it later. I was also confident that Possedion would send more guards to the ship if it landed as planned. A crash would arouse his suspicions, and he might request extra guards.

All right, time for some more detailed planning. I left the bridge and walked down the hallway. The door to the exercise area was open, and from the sound of strained breathing coming from inside, I figured Hannah was up and running, so to speak. I stopped for a moment, frowning at the reminder that our mating marks were suddenly allowing us some distance. Interesting. Did that mean their hold was waning?

Unexpectedly, I didn't like that idea one bit. What I should have felt was relief. Instead, what formed inside my gut could only be described as dread. The realization was too confusing for me to dwell on more. It meant I was starting to feel more for her than simplycaring, and I wasn't prepared to dive deeper into what that may or may not mean.

The equipment room I was walking to was only a couple of doors down from the exercise room. I paid special attention to my marks, but once again, they remained still as I walked away from Hannah.

Once inside, the collection of weapons and tools I had accumulated over the last twenty-odd years in Ohrur employdistracted me. They may not have been paying me well—or at all—but they had never once barked at any expenses I incurred. They even had special tools shipped to me when a new gadget came on the market.

Now I would use them to take down one of their own.

I perused the assorted weapons and made a mental list of what I would need until my eyes fell on the object I had been looking for—a very old-fashioned jumpsuit. I had never used it before, but for this mission, it would be perfect.

The dead charge was a simple fix. Once plugged in, it would be ready to go by tomorrow. Then I would check it over to make sure it was in perfect working condition. We still had a few days to finalize the finer points ofOperation Possedion. Right now, it was probably about time to fill Hannah in. I wasn't sure how I would handle it if she didn't like the plan, but I figured the sooner I found out, the more time I would have to convince her.

HANNAH

The simurunner had freakedme out enough to stay away from it for a while. I wasn't going back inside that thing again anytime soon. The chances of me going back were even slimmer without Thrax around. Without him, I would have ended up on the ground with a split open head the first time I was inside.

Speaking of Thrax… I didn't like how I had reacted to him calling outhername.Suahaana. Not one bit. I had no rights to this man. I didn't even want to have rights to this man…

Liar!

I wished that damn annoying voice in my head would shut up. Unfortunately, it was right. The more time I spent with Thrax, the more he… grew on me. Not just because he was a very attractive man. He was, but the side I had seen of him last night had brought us closer and had driven it home to me that he was aperson. A person with emotions, vulnerabilities, and a story of his own—one I had barely begun to understand.

And one that somehow, inexplicably, seemed interwoven with mine. No, there was no logical explanation for me feelingthat way, but I couldn't simply dismiss our mating marks or the weird thing that had happened in the simurunner. I still tried to convince myself that the machine must have somehow read my mind and projected the images I had conjured up in my head to the wall. I felt a whole lot better assuming the machine had entered my mind than the alternative, which was that somehow I hadknownwhere I was and hadrecognizedthat alien planet. I could also not simply dismiss my reaction to the nameSuahaana. It, too, felt oddly familiar.

Pulling my mind away, I found myself working out on one of the other machines. It wasn't as satisfying as running, but the newness and technological advancement of the machine were enough to occupy my mind and distract me from my confusing thoughts.

"You want to go over some simple hand-to-hand combat skills?" Thrax's voice startled me. I had been so absorbed in my own mind I hadn't heard him enter.

"Do you think I'll need them?" I asked evasively. I had picked up a thing or two from Danny, but physical conflict was still something I didn't feel very comfortable around.

"If it's up to me, you won't be in any danger, but I would feel much better bringing you along if I knew that you could handle yourself if you needed to," Thrax replied.

"All right," I agreed, disentangling myself from the machine. "What are we going to do?"

He tapped on one of the wall monitors, and to my utter amazement, the entire fitness equipment vanished into the floor. Replaced by black mats.

"I'll leave the setting for soft," Thrax explained.

"What other settings are there?" My curiosity got the better of me.

"Anything you like, rocks, water, space…"

Yeah, these aliens were definitely several levels ahead of us humans in technology.

"Okay," I said lamely, shaking out my arms and legs.

"What are you doing?" Thrax watched me, amused.

"Getting limber," I shot out defensively.

"Okay," he drew the word out but started hopping where he stood and shaking his arms and legs out, copying me. "Hey, that's not bad."

I grinned. "I do have a few things I might teach you."

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