Page 9 of Guardian's Destiny

"Long story," I tried to evade her question, but my mind was already in full gear coming up with a plausible explanation. I was good at making up stories. Very good.

Nova scooted underneath my right side, and Zoe followed her example, slipping underneath my left. "Alright, that should do it. Can you walk?"

"That'll work," I acknowledged as we made our way out of the bathroom, with me limping. "When you sayguys, you're not talking about human men, are you?" I checked.

Zoe giggled, "No. Our men are Space Guardians and?—"

Oh fuck. I tuned out the rest of what she said. I had heard about Space Guardians, some elite force that patrolled the universe, killing off criminals. Something that would normally not faze me, but given the fact that right now I was a wanted criminal, this didn't bode well for me. Fuck!

On my best days, I would have had a hard time fighting a Space Guardian, and I sure as hell wasn't at my best right now.

I could only hope that the GTU hadn't put out an alien equivalent of a BOLO out on me yet, otherwise I was going to be in deep shit.

It was too late now. From a few feet away I watched Hannah talk to three silver hunky aliens, who stared at me like I was a demon from hell. Imagine the Hulk a bit leaner and taller and silver instead of green, and you get the picture. Had I not been in the situation I was in or in a bit better physical condition, I might have appreciated their good looks even more. The Pandraxians were well built and gorgeous, but compared to the Space Guardians, they were like models from a Sears catalogue compared to Iron Man magazine. I had seen plenty of aliens since the Cryons invaded. None of their strangeness fazed me all that much any longer, but I wasn't about to not admire a well-built body. One of the hunks separated himself from the others and came toward us. I tried to keep my head down but instinctively sensed that wouldn't fly. So I met his gaze straight on, but he only had eyes for Nova.

"I'll carry her," he offered. "It'll be faster."

I hated the idea of acting like a damsel in distress, but like it or not, that's the situation I was in.Zapharos, I told myself.You're doing it for Zapharos, a thought that only reiterated how much I despised the Arkhevari.

The alien picked me up like I weighed nothing, and judging by his size, I was pretty sure that's how I felt for him, too, and we made our way to the chutes. Chutes were like elevators here, only they looked more like those pipes at the drive-through banks where you could shoot your deposit to the teller.

"Hold it, that female is a wanted criminal," a voice called out as three GTU soldiers approached us.

I wanted to hit my head against the hunk's chest. We were so close. So close. Damn it.

"Perfect, we're Space Guardians and have this under control," one of the other men shouted back.

"You have no jurisdiction here," the same GTU soldier announced.

To my surprise, the Guardian carrying me never stopped, didn't even hesitate. He moved us straight to the chute and jumped with me still in his arms. It didn't take long before we exited, and he took off running. When I peeked over his shoulder, I noticed Zoe and Nova following close behind us.

"Stop!" A voice demanded ahead of us, and the Space Guardian came to an abrupt halt.

"What did you do, female?" The Guardian asked with a hint of what I could have sworn was amusement in his voice as we stared at ten GTU soldiers.

The others had followed us as well, and one Space Guardian separated himself from the group, moving toward the GTU soldier who had called out.

"Do not interfere with Space Guardian business." He moved intimidatingly forward until they were nearly nose to nose, staring menacingly at the soldiers.

"This female is our prisoner," the head soldier said, standing his ground.

To my astonishment, the guardian pulled his blaster and pointed it straight at the soldier's face. Who the hell were these guys?

"Do you really want to interfere in Space Guardian business?"

More blasters were drawn and aimed—the Space Guardians at the GTU soldiers and the GTU soldiers at the Space Guardians.

"Thrax!" Hannah called out in a choked voice.

"Your choice. We can fight this out, and you'll die first, or you can let us go." The Guardian named Thrax threatened.

The hatch to where I assumed their ship was docked opened before two more Space Guardians stepped out, making me wonder if I had walked into some kind of nest. I wasn't aware that Space Guardians worked together like this. From what I understood, they only worked alone.

Both of the newcomers held their blasters in hand, and with interest, I assessed the one to the right. I had a thing for muscular men, and this one fit the bill. He must have been over six feet tall, probably six foot eight or so, which made him a foot taller than me. His silvery skin glowed under the light, and I noticed that his body was not tattooed in contrast to the others.

I had no idea why my attention had flipped to him; several blasters were pointed this way, and a fight could break out at any moment, but something about him drew me to him.

The alien carrying me didn't waste any time. The moment the other two Guardians joined, he moved us straight for the open hatch. Unfortunately, the passage was too narrow, forcing the Guardian whom I had been appraising a few steps back, but it wasn't enough. My bare leg still brushed against his bare arm, and a jolt ten times worse than an electrical current moved through me. Setting all my senses on fire. We were out of the GTUs' soldier's reach now, but my entire body hummed fromthe inside, pulling all my attention away from the fact that I was safe.

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