Page 3 of Guardian's Destiny

The first meeting with Zapharos didn't go too well. He was the most insufferable alpha asshole I had ever met.

Through encrypted messages on my comm, to which I was unable to reply and unable to trace, Zapharos had invited me to this space station since space stations were easier to navigate than a planet. Planets had a lot more security measures than places like this that made a living of people coming and going. Plus, most of the visitors minded their own business.

I had no idea if Zapharos was aware of this or not, but the station he had picked was one on which humans were becoming a more recognized species, one in the firm hands of the Pandraxian Empire.

We were supposed to meet in a rented conference room and I wanted to be early. So when I hastened around a corner and a man slipped out of the darkness like a living shadow, I did what I was trained to do. I attacked. He found himself on his back with my blaster pressed to his temple before he could sayboo.

"You are Sloane Storm," he said, his voice smooth and cold, his expression didn't acknowledge that he was on his back,seconds away from death. "Former MARSOC, recruited by the CIA before the Cryon invasion. A ghost in the system ever since."

Nobody knew what an Arkhevari looked like. They were nothing more than fabled beings. So-called gods who had once existed, if one believed in such things. I was still new to this alien world, and there were still many species I had yet to meet, but there was no doubt in my mind who the man underneath me was. It was more a sense than his words. I had been in the game long enough to know how easily the things he said could be dug up, but I recognized him as the man I was supposed to meet.

"You have no room talking about ghosts," I said, pulling the blaster back and rightening myself. He followed my example, dusting himself off in the process and holy shit. He was a sight to behold.

He hadn't given me much time to assess him when he emerged from the shadows, but now that he stood in front of me? He was the most beautiful, dangerous-looking man I had ever met. He was easily close to seven feet tall. His features were chiseled and would have put any model to shame, just like his well-proportioned muscles that would have won him theMr. Universe title.

That wasn't all there was to him, though. A golden aura surrounded him, which could deceive one into thinking he was an angelic being. He wasn't. His amber eyes burned with an intensity that was far from angelic, more like the fires of hell.

"I'd love to stay and let you ogle me all day, but what do you say we move this conversation to a more secluded spot?" he suggested.

I put the blaster back into its holster by my thigh but kept my hand on it and a healthy distance from Zapharos. Disregarding his words for the bait they were. I wouldn't engage in a petty back and forth spat. "Lead the way."

He assessed me coldly before he turned and led us a few paces down the hall. I had memorized the way to the conference room I had rented, but he moved toward another door opposite it. The entrance opened, and Zapharos bowed sarcastically toward me, waving me in first. The fine hairs on the back of my neck stood up when I walked by him too close for my comfort, knowing fully well he was doing this only to unnerve me. That was my first indication of the kind of bastard Zapharos was.

It didn't take him long to prove my theory.

The room we entered was a monitoring station and should have been occupied by several Imperial Forces soldiers, but there was nobody here. Countless screens on the walls displayed the hub of the space station. I turned to Zapharos.

"Where are they?"

Zapharos jerked his chin toward another door, which I supposed to be either a bathroom or supply room.

"Occupied," he grunted. "Let's get down to business."

He tilted his head, studying me like I was some puzzle he was too bored to solve. "So you are the Emperor's newest pet project?"

Normally, I wouldn't rise to an obvious bait like this, but he had already raised my hackles, so I responded curtly, "I'm nobody's pet."

Proving why it would have been better to stay cool, he chuckled, a low, mocking sound that made my teeth grind. "That's cute. I bet you think you're here on your own terms."

"I'm here to arrange a meeting between you and the emperor," I bit out. "A meetingyourequested."

He sighed dramatically. "That would make you his errand girl. I thought you were a big bad spy."

I took a step forward before I could stop myself. "I don't care who you think I am, but I'm not playing games. Do you want to arrange a meeting or not?"

His eyes darkened, and his amusement shifted into something more calculating. For a long moment, he didn't speak. Then, finally, he exhaled. "Fine. Have it your way. Tell the emperor I will be waiting for him on Zycada, at theWings and Tits."

He winked at me. "I trust you will tell your boss I am who I said I am?"

I ground my jaw. It wasn't like I could ask him for his references. But I was a hundred percent sure this man was who he claimed to be, an Arkhevari. And if he wasn't, he was still someone we better keep an eye on. "Why do you want to meet him?"

For a moment, I thought he wouldn't answer, but then he said, "I need to warn him."

"Cryptic," I remarked.

His enigmatic eyes flickered with amusement. "I trust you will be there, little errand girl?"

"And miss meeting you again?" I asked in mocked horror, shaking my head.

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