Page 6 of Guardian's Soul

Lately, I had begun to experience dissatisfaction. With my job, my life, my minders. Even chasing after the bad guys wasn't what it used to be. Bringing a criminal to justice still gave me a sense of satisfaction, but it wasn't as fulfilling as before. The last grain of sand to overfill my resentment had been this mission—a glorified babysitting assignment. Killing Cryons and other scum was too easy. Having a cargo full of humans was simply too strenuous on my sense of solitude. No, there was nothing about this mission that even remotely excited me.

The question of what next had been haunting me for months.

Sure, the Ohrurs were handsomely paid formysuccessful missions. But what aboutme? Did I want to do this until the day I died? I had been working for them for as long as I could remember, twenty-what, four, five Galactic Standard Years?

I didn't mind the idea of dying on a mission, but if I survived, was I ready to live like this for another ten years—or more? That simple question led to another, one that should have had an obvious answer: what was my species' life expectancy? No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn't find an answer. Neither did I for the logical follow-up question: what species did I belong to?

That, among other questions torturing me, had brought me to this void-cursed planet at the outer rim of the exploreduniverse. The last outpost before mostly unchartered territory spread out for an endless amount of space.

That brought me back to the female walking only a few steps behind me. I could physically feel the dread emanating from her. On some level, I should have felt pity for her. I should have turned around and assured her and told her that I was going to take her to Astrionis and safety. Maybe it was from too many drinks. Maybe it was from my own tortured mind that I didn't. Too wrapped up in my misery.

I was sure she was exhausted, but I didn't realize how much until she bumped into me when I stopped. I barely caught her by the waist before she hit the ground.

"Will you give up on being stubborn now and let me carry you?" I snarked.

Too tired to nod, she didn't offer any resistance when I picked her up. For a moment, I considered renting a strato glider but dismissed it. It would only take a few ticks before we reached the spaceport. There, a shuttle would take us to my ship. It also feltniceholding her. Right.

As soon as I sat down next to her on a shuttle bench, I realized she was asleep. Some strands of her dark brown hair were plastered against her skin from the blood still smeared around her mouth.

Rage shot through me at the thought of her taking the male's cock into her mouth, rage that made me clench my fists in need to slam them into his face. But there was also pride for what she did. With nothing left to fight, she had still come out as the winner. More tenderly than I had ever handled anything, I brushed the strands loose from her face, thinking that I would wash her face first when we got to my ship. I didn't want her to wake up seeing the blood.

I shook my head. What was wrong with me?

Consideration had never been part of my vocabulary.

The first searing pain shot through my arm when I pickedher up after the shuttle came to a stop. It made me stumble, and I nearly lost my balance. Pain was nothing new to me. I had received plenty of it during my long years working for the Ohrurs. I didn't go unscathed through many encounters with the scum of the universe. Occasionally, I engaged in heated exchanges like the one I had with the Pronex before. But this pain was by far the most excruciating agony of my life. It felt as if my very skin was on fire. No, scratch that. More like the nerves underneath my skin were.

Aware of my carrying a still-sleeping female, I managed to stay on my feet long enough to get her and me into my ship's cargo hold. It took all my willpower to lay her down on one of the benches gently and not simply throw her down, and even more to activate my comm to close us in. At least we were safe now, but the pain raging through me moved from my arms to my side and hip as if a hot knife was carving into my skin. I rolled up my sleeve, expecting to find raw flesh exposed. Instead, my eyes fell on thick, black lines snaking up my forearm.

What the frygg?

Just then, the human female groaned as well. I turned to her as another wave of pain grabbed me, and I nearly fell to my knees. I used the wall to keep me on my feet, which wasn't easy since my left ankle was still giving me trouble and needed to be looked after. When I checked on her, my eyes widened in disbelief at seeing the same snaking black lines move up and down her nearly naked body. Her arm, shoulder, and side, to be exact. Just like mine.

"Frygging space abyss," I moaned. I wasn't an idiot. I had a pretty good idea what they meant, but there was no way in the everlasting netherworld that I would simply accept this.

"Oh God!" the female screamed, waking with a start and falling off the bench I had carefully placed her on. "Oh… ahhh," she moaned, rolling herself into a tight ball.

I breathed through my own agony the way I had taught myself over the years and made my way over to her side. It was a bit harder lowering myself to the ground, but somehow I managed.

"What did you do to me?" she screamed, her eyes wide and filled with accusation.

HANNAH

The most excruciatingpain I'd ever experienced in my life sliced through me. It felt as if someone was pulling my nerves from my arm and side. No, scratch that, as if someone had laid them open and was setting them on fire.

I contorted in pain, barely aware of a set of arms holding me against a wide chest. I briefly thought the pain might be from my arms having been tied for too long, but then I saw black lines emerging, creeping up and down my skin. Like tattoos being inked by invisible hands using acid.

Hysterically, I slapped at my arm, clutched at the black lines that resembled tribal tattoos, without any success in stopping them or taking them off.

The silver alien was still holding me, but I noticed that he, too, was tensing in pain. The same black lines that were appearing on my skin were also on his.

Was this some kind of alien disease?

"What did you do to me?" I screamed right before I clenched as another spasm of pain overwhelmed me.

Oh my God, was this how I would die?

"It's gonna be all right." The alien tried to reassure me.

---