“I have an idea about who is behind this,” Shana said as she turned away from Kai to the Freelancer.
“How can we stop him?” Shana asked as she took a few steps away from the men.
“We can’t announce that The Hunted have survived this past century. We will become The Hunted once more,” The Freelancer said in an exasperated voice, his hands braced on his hips.
“Who are The Hunted?” Kai asked as he looked from The Freelancer to Shana.
“The Hunted are the ones with the talent of Clairvoyance. It was decided that the ones with the talent posed a danger to our society and should be eliminated.”
Shana turned to look at Kai. “We had a special police force to hunt them down. They were called The Enforcers and they were trained in a special way to block out The Hunted’s abilities. After they thought that the last Hunted was eliminated, The Enforcers were disbanded. Space travel was discovered a decade later. The Enforcers were banded together once more to enforce Space Law,” Shana continued.
The Freelancer nodded his head with each word that she said.
“Now it appears I have discovered that not all of The Hunted were destroyed after all.” She waved a hand at the Freelancer as she turned to look at him. “Not to worry, Freelancer. I won’t say a word about your talents. I am not even sure if you are still a Hunted since that law was disbanded along with the Enforcers. Your secret is safe with me.”
“As well as with me,” Kai mumbled. Shana turned her eyes to Kai and glared at him hard. “Who am I going to tell? We haven’t communicated with Earth since my ancestors left the planet. That has been over two centuries.”
Shana nodded her head in agreement. She turned and started walking back to the house. The two men behind her followed closely.
~ * ~
There was someone lurking in the shadows. A presence that the Freelancer did not sense. This man had a sense of danger about him. He meant harm to Shana. He failed once and he was not about to fail again.
“You know what to do,” the woman said as she stepped up to Carlos. He turned to look at Sonya as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Of course I know what to do. I would still like to know how she escaped the Mambo,” Carlos mumbled as she placed a soft kiss behind his ear. Immediately he began to shake with need that made him ache for release.
“I wonder if you do. You failed once. Are you going to fail me again?” Sonya said as her leg lifted and wrapped around his waist.
Carlos’ eyes closed as she pressed herself against his buttocks.
“The further she is far away from Paradise the better. Then Kai will be mine,” she whispered in his ear.
The feel of her hot breath along his neck made him hardened and lengthen. Carlos continued to shake with his need of her.
“Do you want more of this?” Sonya asked in a sultry, desire filled voice as her hand slid around his waist and into his pants. She grabbed onto his manhood and slid her fingertips down his hardened length.
Carlos inhaled sharply, then he jerked in her hand. She released him, and Carlos groaned at the loss of her touch. Her hand slipped out of his pants and she turned him toward her.
“Make sure that you don’t fail me this time,” Sonya said in a hard, lethal voice. Her eyes turned to Kai’s house with longing. “Someday all this will be mine.” She spoke in a low and determined voice as she glared at Carlos. “Make it happen, fast,” she said to him one last time before she walked off into the woods beyond the clearing.
Carlos’s eyes followed her retreating back. Then he turned to Kai’s house. He needed a plan. He needed one fast.
~ * ~
Kai looked down at Shana’s sleeping face. His eyes were soft and tender whenever his gaze was upon her.
“What are your plans for Shana?” the Freelancer asked Kai as he watched them. They were sitting on the couch discussing various topics. Shana had fallen asleep an hour earlier.
Kai had looked up at the other man’s question. “I wish to spend my life with her. She is my mate.” His thumb circled her cheek, her eyes fluttered at the movement. His action stopped, he cupped her cheek with his palm.
“Tell me how Shana was kidnapped,” the Freelancer asked as he leaned back against the recliner, his fingers steepled as he watched Kai closely. He felt the tenderness drain from Kai. Anger and fear seeped into the man. The Freelancer tried to hide the smile behind a yawn.
Kai’s eyes slowly moved from Shana’s sleeping form to the foreigner sitting across the room from him. “She didn’t tell me much about what happened.”
The Freelancer slowly rose from the recliner with ease, and he walked over to the mantle above the fireplace and lifted a winged creature into his hand. A dragon, he thought to himself. I have seen paintings of these mystical creatures in the museum. He placed the porcelain figurine back on the mantle. “Tell me, Kai, what are you plan on doing with your Commandant Carlos?” He turned to see the puzzled expression on Kai’s face.
“What about my Commandant?” Kai slid his gaze away from Shana, as he rose to his feet and glared at him.
“He will come into command if something should happen to you, is that right?” he asked as he walked over to a painting on the far wall in the corner of the room. He stared up at the mountain peak with twin moons hanging on the wall.
“If there are no heirs. But there is a distant cousin who will be the next in line to become The Guardian,” Kai said, unsure to where this was coming from or where it was leading.
“So, what will become of The Commandant? He was the one who kidnapped your mate.”
“What?” Kai asked in a hard voice. He shut his mouth tight as he stood there and glared at The Freelancer. His heart began to pound inside of his chest, sweat beaded on his forehead. His breathing came in short and shallow breaths. One hand braced against his hip while the other hand ran through his hair. He glanced down at the beige carpet on the floor.
He wanted to know who had dared to harm Shana. He did not expect someone else to tell him who that person was. He did not expect that person to be a clairvoyant and a foreigner. His eyes traveled the length of the carpet to the couch and to Shana. His eyes softened as they lingered on her for several moments. Kai’s eyes left Shana and moved to the Freelancer then his eyes hardened to a lethal level. Without saying another word, Kai turned on his heels on stormed out of the living room.
The Freelancer watched the stunned Guardian leave the room with quiet, deadly steps. He could feel the anger rolling off the man. With a single thought the dragon from the mantle floated in the air and landed in his outstretched hand. The Freelancer smiled as he looked down into the dragon’s red eyes.
~ * ~
Kai slammed the door to the gym shut. The sound vibrated into the quiet room and echoed off the walls. The mirrors on the wall shook with the force. His shoes were kicked off and hit the mirrored wall. Kai placed his hands behind his neck and tugged off his shirt.
He threw it across the room and the Robo cleaner slid out of the wall and picked up the discarded items, then wheeled itself back into the wall.
Kai’s black leather pants gave a soft squeak as he dropped to his knees on the mat with his eyes closed. He rose to his feet with a single leap. His foot struck above his head with swiftness, then smacked down onto the mat, the sound vibrating in the room. His hands shot out and slapped the air in front of him. He moved to his side and clawed the air. Kai ran into a leap and shot his foot out, hitting the wooden wall and leaving a three-inch dent in his wake. He turned and scooted across the mat executing chops with his hands outstretched.
When he was in the center of the room, Kai stopped and did a wheel kick, followed by another one, then another. He stopped, dropped to his side with his hand above his head then kicked the air above him. He turned on his back and kicked into a standing position. Kai did a handless cartwheel, he landed in front of the mirrored wall, his hands braced on the cold glass.
Cold eyes met cold eyes in the mirror. H
e lost the leather thong that had been used to tie his hair back. He was breathing hard and fast, sweat had dripped from his face. The leather pants felt hot to the touch and glistened with his body sweat. Kai’s glanced away from his image in the mirror as he muttered a few choice words.
~ * ~
“Where is Kai?” Shana asked The Freelancer as she sat up on the couch. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the man sleepily.
“He’s cooling off right now. I have never seen a man that looked as angry as he did moments ago.” He smirked as he put the book he was reading on the end table. He steepled his fingers and looked at Shana. She is a lovely woman, he thought to himself. But she is not the woman for me. Besides, she belongs to someone else. I know that he will treat her right. Mikla will be delighted to know of this. The last time that I spoke to her, Mikla was worried about her friend. He sighed as he stopped his thoughts for the moment.
“Tell me why you have not told Kai the truth behind the kidnapping?” he asked, his eyes never leaving hers.
“I...” Shana began but stopped when she felt Kai’s presence nearby. She looked away from him to see Kai standing in the door to the hallway. She could tell that he had been working his anger off in the gym. She gulped in several deep breaths.
“Why did you not tell me that Carlos was the one who kidnapped you?” Kai demanded as he walked over to her and kneeled at her feet. He clasped her hands in his and tightened his grip.
“I don’t know,” Shana said in a hushed voice. “I guess I needed some time to think things through.” She looked away from him and closed her eyes. “When my memory came back that night of the Tetre attack, everything was a jumble in my mind. I just needed some time to think.” Shana looked up at him with sad eyes that nearly made Kai weep. It broke his heart.
The Freelancer decided that this was the time to leave the two of them alone. While they were staring at each other, he walked over to the door and stepped out into the bright sunshine.
Kai stood up and helped Shana to her feet. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to him. Feeling her close helped to ease the shivering deep inside of him. He still held the fear that Shana would be leaving him now that her memory had returned. He felt her hands slide over his chest and around his neck.
“When did your memory return?” he asked softly in her ear. He felt her shiver and his arms tightened around her.
“The night when I escaped. The night when I was almost attacked by the...” Shana mumbled as she pressed herself closer to him.
Kai placed his hands on her shoulders and stepped away from her. “Then you know that I...” Kai didn’t finish the thought. He turned his back on her, raking his fingers through his hair. A moment later he turned back to Shana, to find her no longer in the room with him.
~ * ~
Shana ran from the house. How could she have forgotten that Kai had lied about everything? She paused at the flower garden, her feet barely touching the soft brown soil, her arms crossed over her chest. She gulped in several deep breaths as she stared down at a pink flower that sat in the center of white, peach, and red flowers. She remembered seeing that flower once before on Earth.
How can I still have these feelings for him after what he’s done? How he lied to me? Did he know why I was sent here or was it something else? Why didn’t he tell me the truth in the beginning? Shana thought to herself and she inhaled deeply as tears misted in her eyes. She rubbed her thumbs over her eyes, drying the lone tear that had slipped forth. Her thoughts took another turn.
What about the danger the Freelancer had spoken about? she thought. President Grogan, is he the one who is behind it? The way my ship...? Shana shook her head. She thought back to that moment on the ship once more.
A virus? How can that be? Shana asked herself. “The ship was designed to eradicate all viruses that came in contact with the ship,” she muttered under her breath as she began to walk down the length of the flowerbed. Only the President knows when agents go on missions. He knew the exact moment when I was leaving on a mission. Shana stopped when she got to the end of the flowerbed. When would he have had the time to plant the virus, and why didn’t the ship eradicate the virus on it’s own?
She thought back to when she was already deep in space. She was struck in the rear of the ship when she was about a day away from arriving on Paradise. There was another ship in the vicinity at that moment. Shana had returned fired on the ship and they took off rapidly.
“My God,” Shana whispered as she turned to look at Kai who had quietly walked up behind her. “I wasn’t supposed to arrive here. He wanted to make sure that I didn’t return to Earth at all.” She looked up at him with tear filled eyes. “He wanted to kill me. Why?” She turned away from him. “I need to go back to Earth,” she mumbled under her breath.
Thirteen
Kai stood still as he watched Shana’s retreating back. He couldn’t get her last words out of his mind. I need to go back to Earth.
“No,” he whispered. “I can’t let her go,” he mumbled to himself. His hands fisted at his side as he watched her enter the house. He closed his eyes and turned his head away from the closing door. “This can’t be happening,” he said under his breath as he looked back at the house. Emotions filled him that he had never before felt. His nostrils flared as he thought about what had happened these past few days. Kai started walking back to the house when the Freelancer’s voice stopped him.
“She’s right, you know. She has to go back to Earth.”
“Why is it so important that she go back?” Kai said in a stiff voice, his eyes hard, boring into the Freelancer.
“It’s not my place to say,” he said offhandedly. He looked past Kai’s shoulder at the house. “Shana holds the key to unlocking the President’s secrets. Instead of coming to Paradise, she was to be intercepted and sold into slavery.”
Kai’s face paled at what he was just told. He remained speechless.
“She does not know of this,” the Freelancer said as he looked away from the house and at Kai. “There is a lot about Earth that is kept quiet. Even the people of Earth are unaware of what their leader does to keep Earth thriving. Slavery was a thing of the past. But little do people know that slavery is still happening around them. They have an underground market. Most of the slaves are women and children. They are what you call ‘Love Slaves’ which is illegal in twenty galaxies.”
Kai nodded his head, still stunned at what he had just been told. He braced his hands on his hips again as he turned to look at the house. His face hardened and his eyes turned to a smoky color. She was to become a ‘Love Slave’. Kai felt sick as he thought of how he had rescued her from a terrible fate.
“Why would the President of Earth do such a thing?” Kai asked in a hard whisper, his eyes remained on the house.
“Greed and power. They are the most deadly combinations that will cause people to do evil things,” The Freelancer had spoken in a bewildered voice.
Kai turned to look at the Freelancer with a stunned look. Those words were foreign to him. He did not understand this man that stood before him.
“People will do almost anything within their power to achieve money and more power,” he explained as he walked over to the flower garden and plucked the pink flower that was in the middle of the arrangement.
A far off noise drew Kai’s attention back to the house. Prix came running up to him and Kai turned to look at the Freelancer, only to find that he had disappeared. Kai looked all around him but couldn’t find a trace of where the man had gone.
“Kai, I am glad to find you home. There has been another landing on Shadow’s Peak.”
“When?” Kai demanded as he took as step toward Prix.
“Early this morning.” Prix said as he took in several deep breaths. “I am not sure how they penetrated our defense but they did. I have people working on tracing their trail and how they managed to slip through our fingers.” Prix wiped sweat from his face.
Kai nodded his head as
he looked over his shoulder to try to locate the Freelancer, but he was still unseen. He slid his arm around Prix’s shoulder as he led them back to the house. In a hushed voice, Kai told Prix, “I want you to do something for me. I want to find anything, and I mean anything, about Freelancers on Earth--who they are and what they represent.”
Prix stopped walking to look at Kai with a puzzled expression. “I have never heard of Freelancers. Who are they?”
“He is claiming to be one of these Freelancers--and one of a group called The Hunted. He was sent here from a friend of Shana’s to take her home, to Earth. But there is something else that he told us. There is danger lurking around her from Earth as well as here.” Kai’s expression turned hard once more as he related to Prix about what was said about Shana and Earth.
Prix gave a low whistle and turned away from Kai, his eyes unfocused as he took in what Kai had told him. He turned back to Kai and asked, “Are you going to let her return to Earth?”
“I don’t know.” Kai raked both of his hands through his unbound hair. “I’m not sure of anything right at this moment. What will happen if I let her go? Will she return to me?”
“Or you can go with her and protect her. Make sure that she is safe from the harm that is surrounding her,” Prix said as he watched Kai’s face change from a hard look to a softer one.
Kai nodded his head as he started back to the house. As he got to the back of the house a noise heard from the front got his and Prix’s attention. Both men looked at each as a shout from Shana had them running as quickly as possible toward the front.
Kai stopped in mid-run as he watched Shana struggle with two men who had a hold on each of her arms, dragging her to a hovercraft that Kai did not hear arrive. He watched as Shana dug her feet into the ground, halting the men. She pushed her arms in front of her and the two men staggered forward. Then Shana pulled her arms back and the two men lost their hold on her. She leapt into the air and fly kicked the man on her right. When Shana landed on her feet again, she was a good foot away from the remaining man.
guardianofparadise_260-1e3.htm Page 13