Page 14 of Guardian's Legacy
For a long moment, we just stared at each other. I would not be the first to look away, no matter how intimidating he was.
Finally, he exhaled sharply, tossing the crushed remains of my tool to the floor. "We’re done here."
Then, without another word, he turned and marched toward the hallway. Right before stepping out, he jerked his head toward me. "Let's go."
"You're not actually going with him, are you?" Ava whispered in concern.
"I don't think I have a choice," I whispered back, passing Josie on the way.
"I hope he locks you away and throws away the key," She snarled. She looked jealous, as if I’d been chosen for some sacred alien ritual instead of being dragged into another round of Xyrek being an ass.
Xyrek let out an exasperated sigh. "Are you done?"
I threw my hands up. "Not my circus, not my monkeys. Let’s get this over with."
I followed him out, ignoring Josie’s seething glare boring into the back of my head. Xyrek walked ahead, his posture stiff, his entire presence radiating barely contained irritation. I probably should have worked harder to control myself, but I couldn’t stop. "So," I muttered, "is this the part where you murder me?"
Xyrek didn’t stop walking or acknowledge my words at all, but I swore I saw the corner of his mouth twitch.
XYREK
She triedto sabotage my ship for a second time!
I should have been outraged. Instead, I felt… amused. Something I hadn't felt in a very, very long time. As exasperating as this female was, she was also utterly endearing. I liked the way she was standing up to me, how she didn't cave even under my most intense glare. One that had made grown males weep. Tom, for example. The male had been about to shit in his pants. Not her, though. Oh no.
She was wary of me and scared, but she wasn't backing down. I admired the fire in her; it spoke of a strong character. As a result, I found myself looking forward to talking to her. Something else that was new to me.
I didn't have to say anything to her. But I wanted to. I wanted to fill her in on what I had discovered. She deserved to know and make up her own mind.
In a few days, we would reach Astrionis, and there, our paths would lead us in different directions. But until we reached our destination, I wanted to spend some time with her, if only to figure out why the universe had decreed we were fated mates.
From everything I read, I thought being fated to each other was supposed to come with a big boom, like being hit by a lightning bolt. Well, the lightning bolt was there, but only when we touched. I would like to at least unravel this puzzle before I work on the others. It seemed more manageable.
In order to do so, I needed to get to know her better, which suddenly seemed less of a hardship than I expected.
For once, nobody hovered in the hallway to my quarters; they were all still piled up in the cargo hold. I hoped they would band together and take care of the newcomers or, at the very least, direct them towards the stocked nutrition dispensers and let them know which of the three bathrooms they could use.
The door to my room opened, and I waved Alice in ahead of me. "Take a seat. I'll be with you in a moment."
"What do you mean, you'll be with me in—" She broke off when I opened a few cubes in front of me, staring at them incredulously.
"Are those computer screens?"
Her fingers hovered in the air. She touched one, and it flipped. "Incredible!"
Amused, I watched her as she browsed through the screens. I knew she couldn't read a word. It was all in Pandraxian, the general language of the universe. Maybe later, I would give her some translation contacts, or I might even change the comms settings so she could read it in her language; for now, I had work to do.
I let her amuse herself with one of the cubes while I pulled up another to ready a large order. Something I should have done a long time ago, but I hadn't anticipated that myguestswould be with me for so long and hadn't wanted to make a stop. At least I could rectify that error now. This planet offered everything we needed; I just had to make sure I bought from reputable sources and not slave traders.
"This is really amazing." Alice kept turning the cube.
"What else do you need besides clothes, pillows, and blankets?" I asked as I filled in the items to order.
"What do you mean?" She was still distracted.
"For comfort. I should have had those things aboard earlier, but I didn't know there would be so many of you. So what else do you need?"
That finally stopped her, and she stared at me. "Are you serious?"
