Page 71 of Guardian's Destiny

Unperturbed, I heaved him up—God, he was heavy—pried his eyes open, still nothing.

I repeated the same process with the other—still nothing.

Fuck it.

I knocked.

With my blaster ready, I prepared to shoot whoever was on the other side. Turned out it was Zapharos, glaring at me. "Took you long enough."

Two Space Guardians lay crumbled in the corner. I had no idea if they were dead or alive. I figured with Zapharos, it was a fifty-fifty shot. I hadn't spent much time with the Arkhevari, but had he been human, the word psycho would have been the first to cross my mind. I didn't think that he had one ounce of a conscience.

"Hello, Zapharos," I replied, trying to mask my annoyance and relief that he was ready to go. It took me a few seconds to compute that thought. Ready to go? Why the hell was he here inthe first place? If he took care of these Space Guardians so easily, why… "What do you want?"

"I need your help," he stepped forward, hovering unnervingly above me. Like always, when I was in his presence, I fought the urge to kill or fall to his feet to adore him.

"Help with what?" I sputtered.

"I'll tell you on the way. Let's go."

He didn't glance back to see if I was following him. He tsked when he stepped over the unconscious guards as if they were a major obstacle or as if he was put out having them in his way. His light, white hair looked almost golden in the light spilling out from above us as I followed him.

"I have friends," for a second I contemplated elaborating, but thought better of it, wanting to keep it as short as possible, "waiting for us aboard a ship. We need to get out of here."

"I know," he didn't even look back at me. He was so tall and wide that I easily hid behind his back, which came in handy when we ran into two more Space Guardians who had just entered the building.

"Hold it," one yelled.

"Sloane?" Zapharos’s nearly bored-sounding voice grated on me. Nevertheless, I didn't have a choice but to pop out from behind him and take the two Space Guardians down with two shots.

"We need to work on your response time." He declared impetuously.

I was tempted to shoot him. The only thing that stopped me was that I would have to be the one dragging his unconscious ass down the airfield. That and my curiosity was aroused. What was he looking for? What did he need my help with?

He entered an elevator, waving me in with an impatient move of his hand.Right. Asshole.

"Will you tell me now what we're looking for?" I asked as the elevator descended.

"How do you humans say in your line of work?" he sent one of his condescending looks at me, and the urge to plug his eyes out made my fingers itch.

"I have no idea?—"

"It’s a need-to-know basis," he nodded to himself as if just remembering.

The elevator came to a stop. Zapharos raised his hand for me to wait, then he waved me on to be at his back again, which made an excellent target. I even raised the blaster; I was really tempted now.

Why the hell wasn't he wearing a shirt? Or the cape he usually draped around his broad shoulders. At least I wasn't attracted to him any longer.Thank you, Vraax. It wasn't like I had been salivating over him, but there was something very appealing about him. From his tall frame to his muscular physique, not to forget the aura of power emanating from him that could make a girl dizzy.

Light danced over his skin as if it was made from diamonds. He was by far the most beautiful being I had ever laid eyes on. Complemented by his exotic appearance, he could make a saint salivate over him.

"Quit staring at me. Your Soulweb Glyphs give you away as someone's mate."

So he had noticed. I had been wondering.

"What are we doing here?" I asked, without acknowledging his latest reproof.

"Take care of them." He ordered suddenly.

"What? Who?" And then I heard the faint sound of footsteps. Zapharos stepped to the side as if it were beneath him to get his hands dirty when six Ohrurs came into sight. I had no idea howZapharos had known, but now wasn't the time for questions. I opened fire, and all six ended up in a pile on the ground.

---