I’m coming, Ella. I’m coming for you. Do not give up hope.
It wasn’t a spoken voice in the hangar, not a shout or mixed in with the clack of boots. It was in my soul, it echoed through my blood, threaded through the air like the faintest pulse of heat. For a split second, I couldn’t tell whether it was memory or miracle. Then the name—his name—settled in my chest, and the rest of the world collapsed inward.
I bolted upright, my lungs were burning with hope, and the cell seemed far too small for the sudden rush of blood.Zaph!I screamed it, raw and animal, the single syllable tearing out of me like a prayer and a command rolled into one.
Around me, other heads turned. Nyara’s eyes were wide, a question and something fiercer flickering there. The Ohrur at the end of the corridor paused mid-step, his nostrils flaring, the thin O of its mouth widening into something like confusion. For one heartbeat, the whole room hung on the sound of my voice.
I pressed my palms to my chest, feeling the hammering there, and whispered into the damp air, “Zaph—don’t stop. Find me.”
The ship’s nav-system pinged:approaching Morrakbarr.Good. One step closer.
I’d had the Space Guardians act as though I was their prisoner so that the Ohrur convoy would carry me straight into the nest without raising alarms. It worked. The entire trip, I made them sleep, working with the information I’d pulled from the Ohrur computers and one unfortunate Guardian’s mind: hundreds of females were routed to this world for the same program—Ella among them. I couldn't access the program itself; it was under high security and multiple firewalls. The Guardian knew nothing about it. A fact that set my nerves on edge.
As the shuttle was docking, I released the Guardians from their sleep so that they couldescortme to the building where Ella was being held. Everyone around the spaceport and the hangars stopped and gaped at us,thinking the Guardians had caught a prize. I let them keep thinking it.
And then, just as we were about to enter the building, a new pulse struck me—not Ella’s cry but a presence like a flicker at the edge of a star.Sloane.Her signature burned faintly across the port’s psychic noise, as unmistakable as a glyph on stone. What in the seven suns was she doing here? Was she part of this, or was something deeper at work? She wasn't alone either. I burrowed into her mind, careful not to alert her to my presence, and recognized another Space Guardian and two Ohrurs. What in the Dark Abyss?
I didn’t have time to unravel it. Ella first. Always, Ella first.
I kept my aura low, my wrists loose in the cuffs, my face blank. My guards ushered me into a room, and I could finally unleash. Nothing was holding my full fury back now. The males who hadcapturedandheldme were the first victims of it. But they wouldn't be the last.
I sent my mind out to search for Ella. Incredible relief rushed through me when I felt her presence. She was here. I was just about to move to the door when the other presence made itself known again. Sloane.
I wasn't a male to believe in coincidences, but neither did I suspect she had anything to do with this—even though she was in very questionable company—the only logical conclusion was that a power higher than mine had sent her here. What and who I needed to determine. Butnot now —other things were in play, and Sloane might come in handy.
I sent my mind out toward the Space Guardian who came with her and found him different from the ones I had encountered so far. Interesting, but it added to my theory that, whatever the reason they were here, it had nothing to do with mine.
Ella’s presence pulsed, faint but steady, like a star hidden behind smoke. Sloane's footsteps whispered. Against my impulse to run to Ella, I let my body rest against the desk, barely taking in the carnage I had caused, and waited for Sloane to open the door. I would not let her see how frantic I was to find Ella. So when she opened the door, blaster raised, I glared at her. “Took you long enough.”
She took the dead Space Guardians in before her eyes turned on me, suspicion and irritation battled across her face.
“Hello, Zapharos,” she said, with the kind of huff mortals use when they're pretending not to be intimidated, “What do you want?”
Interesting. She wasn’t surprised to see me at all. I let the observation slide through my mind like a blade across whetstone, testing the edges of her thoughts, quick, bright, already calculating escape routes and contingencies. So she had seen me step out of the ship. Hmm. Rescue? I could work with that.
I stepped forward. “I need your help.”
“Help withwhat?” She sputtered.
“I’ll tell you on the way. Let’s go.”
She bristled but followed me. Still, she couldn't resist filling me in, "I have friends waiting for us aboard a ship. We need to get out of here."
If she thought this was news, she underestimated me. I'd already found out the bulk of her plan from exploring the mind of her Space Guardian, Vraax. As I’d suspected, they were here for entirely different reasons, but I realized that they needed to know whatever we were about to find out.
"I know." I didn't even look back at her.
Suddenly, two more Space Guardians came around the corner. Since Sloane was slight enough to hide behind me, they didn't see her at first.
One yelled, "Hold it."
"Sloane?" I commanded in a bored voice, knowing she would take care of them.
She handled them with ease and efficiency, but she was a little slow. “We need to work on your response time.” I needled her.
She didn't rise to the bait, just sent a glare at me that would have easily killed a lesser male. I ignored it; my mind was fully on Ella now. Her presence was growing stronger, and I kept sending her messages to let her know I was here and to stay strong.
"Will you tell menowwhat we're looking for?" Sloane asked, just when I felt a response from Ella.
