The gratitude in her grin almost broke his heart. Gemma closed her eyes, and within moments, she was fast asleep.
Calabez held her, glad for a moment of respite. He loved being able to feel the weight of her in his arms, feel her breath stirring against his chest. He’d never felt this way about a woman before, and it was a dangerous game he was playing.
He knew now that he was irrevocably tied to her. There was no way he could let her go. Which meant he’d be forced to flout the rules of his home planet. Vartik males mated Vartik females, especially members of the royal family. The line had to carry on.
But, Calabez realized now, he wouldn’t be the first one to throw those regulations out the window. In fact, it seemed a royal Vartik was now more likely to mate an off-worlder than a Vartik female. Three brothers before him had accomplished it, with minimal pushback from society. Maybe the fact that they were all blessed by the Goddess of Light, the patron god of his planet, had something to do with it.
Cal decided then and there that Gemma would be his, and he’d not put her aside for a more suitable female. He couldn’t. She held his heart in her delicate little hands.
Still, he knew loving a Guardian wouldn’t be easy. For one, she now seemed to be a super genius merged with some kind of spectral angel.
But then again, he wasn’t that easy to live with either. Hell, with his smart mouth and his tendency to leave dishes in the sink too long, he might be getting off easy compared to her.
Grinning, Cal began to drift off into sleep. When he woke, he wasn’t certain how long had passed. Gemma slept silently at his side, but he could hear a noise coming from the hallway. It sounded faintly like music, some kind of march that had been perverted until it was beyond absurd, on the verge of frightening.
It grew louder, and he could see light in the crack under the door. Cal was surprised that Gemma hadn’t stirred at the music that was now loud enough to vibrate the walls. He carefully disentangled himself from his sleeping beauty and rose, quietly dressing and then moving toward the door.
As carefully as he could, he cracked the door open and peered outside. The walls were painted in a cavalcade of colored lights that seemed to rotate, making him feel sick to his stomach. What the fuck was going on in the hallway?
Then he saw Juston stumbling down the hall, looking back over his shoulder. When Cal could see his face, he realized his brother was more scared than he’d ever seen him before. Without thinking, he leapt into the hallway, grabbing his brother and shaking him.
“What is it? What’s happening?”
“They’re here, the police.”
“What?” Cal didn’t understand. The police wouldn’t make sense of the flashing lights and insane sounds he was hearing. "“Juston, explain!”
“The fucking police are here, looking for us. The Vanfians too! Fucking feline females looking to capture us. We’ve got to get out of here before they succeed.”
Juston’s words were slurred, and the expression on his face was confused. His brother wasn’t making sense. Was he drugged?
Then he heard it, the yowl of a Vanfian female. Like a housecat on steroids. A figure turned the corner and Cal stiffened. It was a female with yellow eyes and dark fur. She pointed a sharpened claw in his direction, and a mass of uniformed interstellar police surged from behind her, in their direction.
There was no time to grab Gemma. Cal grabbed his brother and ran, trying to process what was going on.They don’t know about Gemma yet, he told himself, vowing to come back as soon as he could lose the assholes pursuing them.She’ll be safe until I can figure out how to fix this.
He wondered how they’d found them. Was it the dragnet that Gemma had just mentioned, or had one of the Seekers decided to involve the authorities? To what end?
Cal felt a sudden burst of pain in his back. The Vanfian bitch had just scratched him. He picked up his pace, putting some distance between them as they turned the corner. But there, at the end of the hall, was the end game.
A line of police stood waiting for them. There was no way to prevent their capture now. The only thing he could do was rely on Juston’s powers to get them out of this.
Cal glanced at his brother and saw that his eyes were glazed over and his head was drooping, even as he ran forward. Juston was so out of it, Cal knew he’d never be able to control his powers enough to evade their captors right now.
He reached out to grab his brother and pull him to a halt, then lifted his hands in the universal sign of surrender.
I’m sorry Gemma. I’ll be back as soon as I can. I promise.
He prayed that she somehow heard his thoughts.
