Page 79 of Guardian's Destiny

"He was a hard man and very old-fashioned. He expected my mom and me to wait on him hand and foot. I don't think he everforgave me for not being a boy." Her smile faltered, and I saw the pain in her eyes and kissed her forehead.

"I hated waiting on my dad, and I hated how my mom would wilt whenever he was home." She took a deep breath. "Don't get me wrong, she loved him, and he loved her, but… he had a way of sucking the life out of you, just by entering the room."

I wasn't sure what she meant, but it didn't sound good. I didn't want to interrupt her with questions either, so I just squeezed her shoulder with my fingers to encourage her.

"My mom died when I was fifteen. Massive aneurysm, the doctors said. No way anybody could have prevented that, but I knew that she had the aneurysm from always having to watch out around my dad. To keep me quiet and be quiet when he came home and needed rest, to have the food ready whenever he happened to show up for it."

A sigh moved through her. "After she was gone, it was my turn, but I had sworn I would rather die than be like her. So when I turned eighteen, I enlisted into the Marines to show him that I was more than a maid. I wanted him to be proud of me."

"Was he?" I would have been, but I imagined her dad might not have seen it that way.

"He told me I was only hired because the Marines needed women to show that they diversified. He laughed into my face and told me I wouldn't make it a year."

I wished I could have laid my hands on the male. He hadn't deserved a daughter like Sloane.

"So I joined the MARSOC, a very specialist unit of the Marines, and you want to know what the happiest day of my life was?" She paused but didn't wait for an answer. "The day he had to salute me." She snickered, and I laughed with her.

"Good for you." I praised.

"He hated it. He was so angry, his face turned bright red." She exhaled softly and shook her head. "I thought I had won,you know. But a year later, he was killed during a mission." Her eyes teared up, and she impatiently wiped at them. "Sometimes I miss the hardass. Because honestly, I don't think I would have gotten where I was if it hadn't been for him."

We fell silent for a moment. I wanted her to take her time. We had several days before we reached Rodbar 2, and I wouldn't have minded at all spending that time with her here, on the couch, listening to her talk.

"Anyway," she took a deep, slightly stuttering breath that spoke of her emotions. "Not much later, the CIA recruited me. The CIA was an agency on Earth that dealt with covert operations, spies, spied on others, collected intelligence, and so on. So that's where I worked when the Cryons invaded Earth." Her hand moved over to my knee; her touch was light and comforting.

"Do you know Xandros, the Commander of the Superior Forces, and his mate, Ashley?"

"I knowofthem." Not only was Commander Xandros famous for his military exploits, but he was one of the first to take a human mate, which made her, Ashley, just as famous as him. Not only for that, though, I had heard rumors about her exploits, and from all accounts, she was a very brave female.

"Ashley and I used to be friends when I was still in the Marines."

That took me by surprise. "No kidding."

"Yeah, small world, or small universe, eh?" She chortled humorlessly. "Anyway, Ashley took me to meet Emperor Daryus."

"I'm still in shock that you know him," I admitted.

Her snicker sounded a bit more amused this time. "I do, and he offered me a job."

Just when I thought I had figured her out, this female found another way to make me speechless. It wasn't that I was awed orenvious of her meeting the Emperor, but the fact that this was a huge feat on its own merit, notwithstanding that her friend had invited her. The stars knew that the list of people wanting to see the emperor was endless, and not many people, no matter how high they were in favor of higher-ups, were ever granted such an opportunity.

"Your record must have highly impressed him," I wagered.

She nodded. "Yeah, I think so, because Ashley warned me that he might not want to meet me. So when he offered me Lady Madeema's vacant position?—"

"He did what?" I could hardly believe my ears. Lady Madeema had been the emperor’s eyes and ears of his empire and beyond. She had been one of the most prolific intelligence officers in the universe. Her fall from grace had been a scandal that rippled through the universe, so much so that even I had heard of it.

"He offered me the job as his Chief Intelligence Officer, yes." My little mate confirmed, leaving me speechless. As far as I was concerned, she could lead me straight through the Black Abyss, and I would follow her, no questions asked. She had my full support even before that last statement, but the Emperor wanting her as his Chief Intelligence Officer? That blew out any doubt I might have had. She was a born leader, and I would be an idiot not to allow her to lead us on this mission. She had been born for this.

She waited until I found my voice again. "You do know that this would make you one of the most powerful females in the universe, right?"

Sloane laughed, "Yes, and the most bored one at that, too."

"You're not taking the job?" I asked astonished.

She shook her head. "I haven't told him yet, but I don't think so. The last couple of weeks have shown me how much I'd missthe field work. I'd rather work with blasters than with words. It's more permanent."

She grinned at me. I was still working on digesting her words. Sloane being offered the Pandraxian Emperor's Chief Intelligence Officer position, was incredible. There was still so much more to this female than I had seen so far. I was sure I had barely scratched the surface.

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