Page 43 of Guardian's Destiny

"Alright."

I turned to leave, but Vraxx's voice stopped me. "Sloane, wait."

He jumped out of the captain's chair and moved toward me with such determination that my heart skipped a beat. The ship shuddered under the impact of another hit.

"Vraax, the ship." I tried to stop him.

"Can wait," he said, grabbing my face not too gently between his humongous palms and bringing it up to his, before he leaned down to kiss me. I'd never been theweak-in-the-kneeskind of girl, but that kiss? Wow, just wow. My legs trembled so badly, I swear all that kept me standing were his hands still holding my face. It was just his lips on mine, no tongue, just a simple, forceful kiss that laid his emotions bare, and I reciprocated in kind, pressing myself against him.

"Be safe," he said when at last he let go of me.

It took a tremendous amount of willpower to stay on my feet.

"Grab some blasters and knives on your way," he suggested.

Another jolt shuddered the ship.

"Make sure to stay in one piece," I replied.

"I'm planning to," he grinned that boyish grin of his that resulted in my pussy drenching. Fuck, being aroused was the last thing I needed right now. Even though, by the looks of the bulge between his legs, he wasn't much better off.

I kicked myself into gear and pushed all thoughts of this gorgeous man out of my mind. I had a mission to fulfill.

True to his word, I did know exactly when it was time to jump. I held on to a rope in the cargo unit when I felt the ship slow and the hatch open. The ground underneath was still moving by with incredible speed, but we were so low, I worried the ship's hull would scrape the roofs of the mansions underneath us. And then we stopped on a dime. It was one of the most incredible things I had ever experienced. One moment, we were going so fast, everything below was a blur, and in the next instant, we stalled. I wasn't even thrown off balance. Unbelievable.

I didn't have time to consider it, though; I knew this was the moment Vraax wanted me to jump, so I did. Straight onto the leveled roof below me, that didn't look like Moddekdum's house at all. I landed in a crouch, and when I turned, I saw Moddekdum's mansion, or what was about to be left of it. Vraax shot a blast at it, which made the foundation crumble. Fire erupted from several windows. I didn't have time to take in the spectacle, though; this was go time.

I ran to the edge of the roof and noticed a shorter roof below me, reminding me of a gazebo. I jumped and shimmied myself down to the ground, which I hit running, straight for the neighboring house in flames.

Thankfully, the wall between Moddekdum's house and this wasn't too high, probably the reason Vraax had picked it as a drop off for me. It had been a while since I scaled a wall, especially without any equipment, but muscle memory is a wonderful thing, and my blood sang in my veins to be in action again. It had been far too long since I had been in a situation like this. Instead of sending others to their deaths, I was the one doing it, and it felt incredibly good.

I jumped the seven feet down on the other side, right into a bush that broke my fall, while the first Ohrurs came screaming out of the mansion. Using a tree as cover, I quickly scanned my surroundings. A male Ohrur came out, coughing. He stared up at the burning house, trying to figure out what the hell had happened. Vraax had shown me a picture of Moddekdum. It was hard to imagine that I would be this lucky, but that was undoubtedly him.

A scream from inside distracted me, and it sounded like someone was trapped in the same room Moddekdum had just exited. He must have seen that person, too; I was sure he heard her just now because he turned to look just as he was moving backward.

Coward.

He turned and made a beeline for the end of his estate. Other Ohrurs were running, not paying any attention to him or me. This was my chance.

Another scream from inside distracted me.

Fuck.

I couldn't stand by and listen to someone burn to death. I didn't care if it was an Ohrur or not. Moddekdum, I knew was evil, but I had no idea about whoever was trapped in there.

I put my blaster on stun and shot Moddekdum, who went down like a felled tree without anybody noticing. Good.

With an irritated curse at myself, I moved to the jagged-looking floor-to-ceiling window Moddekdum had used to escape the house. The room inside was in flames, but I noticed a smaller form on the ground; a shelf had fallen and landed on her feet, trapping her. It wouldn't take any effort at all to free her. Moddekdum could have done so in a heartbeat on his way out; that he didn't was telling enough.

The fire was like any fire on Earth. Burning acid in my throat, tickling my nose, and making my eyes water. Maybe more sothan on Earth, but that was probably more likely because of the furniture and house that was burning than anything else.

The closer I got, the surer I was that the person trapped underneath the shelf was indeed a woman. When she saw me, her eyes widened in fear. She had probably never seen a human before. Whatever, she wasn't exactly something to look at either, with her greyish skin that was duller than Moddekdum's.

"Easy, I'm just going to help you, alright?"

Her green eyes were large with fear, but then a beam fell with a loud crash, sending a wave of heat toward us. Given the choice between burning to death, she must have figured that I was the lesser evil.

The shelf was heavier than it looked, but the Ohrur showed courage and pulled on her legs the moment I got the shelf up enough to give her some wiggle room. She cursed and hissed in pain, and I worried she might have broken her leg or ankle.

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