ReEmergent -Guardians of Vesturon [4] (3 page)

The pain in Jurek’s eyes tore through Xarrid. “You do understand then. I’m sorry for your loss. I never knew.”

“
There aren’t many who do. Look man, I don’t want this to become one of those gushy moments, but brother, you have to let me in so I can help you. Your pain is palpable. It radiates from you and it’s ripping you apart. I can deal with your tears, your ranting and raving. I can’t deal with you holding it in and letting it destroy you.”

Xarrid nodded and said, “I know but I don’t know how to begin.”

“
We begin here, today. You’ll stay here and until you feel better about things, you don’t go back. Lean forward.”

Jurek put his hand on Xarrid’s forehead and let his power wash over him. He could see the tension leave Xarrid when he saw his fists unclench, his shoulders relax and his jaw slacken. “Feel better?”

“
Yeah, much.”

“
This is what I’m talking about. Now, whatever you want to eat, call out to Brinna, and she’ll bring it to you. This is your place and if you want to run around naked for the next month, it’s fine with me. No one comes here unless they’re invited.”

* * * * *

Ten beams of lights streaked over Xanthus, over fields and across mountains; they flew through buildings, soared over cities and every other imaginable place. In and out, up and down they searched. After two days, they had exhausted every inch of the planet, nine of them returned to Praestan, while one headed to Vesturon.

Jurek met with all the Yarristers. “She’s not on Xanthus. We’ve scoured the planet again. I’ll do it once a week if I must, but she’s not there. We have to come up with another plan if we’re going to find her. They must have moved her somewhere, and the only logical place would be Earth. Maybe she’s part of some scheme to populate Earth so they can assume control of it. That’s what they wanted all along anyway.”

Rayn was the first to ask. “How is he?”

“
Better, but not close to being there yet.”

The brothers shared grim looks between them.

Jurek crossed his arms and tapped his foot. “Don’t pull this crap on me. I hate it and you know I can just read your minds if I want.”

“
We told him we were pulling all troops off Earth. With the news you just gave us, he’ll deal with it worse than he did before.”

Jurek gave each of them an intense look before speaking. He cocked his head in that weird angle of his, which was so indicative that he was of a different species. In fact, everything about him screamed unique...the way he moved, predatorily, like a panther; his gestures, his lavender and silver eyes, not to mention his supernatural powers.

“
You have made this decision, why?”

“
We can’t spare the troops and our hands are tied down there.”

“
Hmm, so your motto of helping the humans is no longer relevant?”

Rayn’s hackles rose and he faced off with Jurek. “You don’t understand our position. Besides, if you hadn’t let that bloody virus loose in the first place, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.”

“
Touché, Guardian. However, I have not abandoned the humans. I admit to my sins and am trying to atone for them. Hindsight is twenty twenty, as the saying goes, and I should have disregarded my family commitments. My selfish sister has never cared for anyone other than herself and my father never cared for anyone but her. Maybe they deserved the circumstances in which they found themselves. In any event, I can’t turn back the clock and make it all disappear, so I am trying to right what I did wrong. How is leaving Earth going to help you, may I ask?”

Rayn let loose a long sigh. “I’m not even sure it will. I only think it will escalate the war with Xanthus.”

“
So you will allow them to take over Earth and not try to give it back to its rightful inhabitants. Sounds odd, coming from a Guardian.”

Rayn rubbed the back of his neck and then his forehead. “I suppose it does. I’m sure the decision isn’t the best, but it’s what we must do for now.”

Jurek nodded. “Where’s January? I’d like to see her before I leave. My team will start its search of Earth in one week. I’ll keep you apprised.”

Moments later January walked in the room.

“
Come walk with me outside. That is if your overbearing and jealous mate will allow it.”

Rykerian rolled his eyes and left the room, but not before he kissed January.

“
Does he do that to try to make me jealous because you are like my sister and that’s sort of disgusting?” Jurek asked.

January shrugged and grabbed his arm so they could go outside.

“
So, you have something you wanted to discuss?”

They stood at the edge of the terrace that overlooked the mountains. It was where January and Rykerian were married.

“
I remember the day I walked you down this aisle to be mated to Mr. Jealousy.”

“
So do I. It was the best day of my life.”

Jurek lifted a brow at her comment. After all this time, he still couldn’t understand why she’d chosen that fool for a mate.

“
So you are going to have another baby, huh?”

Her cheeks turned pink as she smiled. “I never could hide anything from you, but can’t you keep your mouth shut? We weren’t going to tell anyone for a few more weeks.”

“
I’m going to be an uncle again!”

“
Did you not hear a single word I said?”

He picked her up and swung her around in a circle.

“
Hey! Watch it buddy. You know how I am when I’m pregnant. Miss Vom over here.”

He scrunched up his face in disgust. “Did you have to spoil my moment?”

“
Yes! You were about to get hurled on! I actually saved you so you should be thanking me.”

He pulled her to him and hugged her tightly for a moment. “I’m worried about Xarrid. I have to find Saylan. He knows she’s alive. He can feel her soul. You know how that is January. He’s not imagining this. He allowed me to trance him and I entered his mind. It’s all real. Saylan is alive.”

January hugged her belly, even though there wasn’t anything there yet. She was just thinking of how she would react if Rykerian were missing. Her heart rate accelerated and her palms grew damp with sweat.

“
Calm down, my friend. I didn’t mean to alarm you.”

“
No, I was thinking if it were Rykerian.”

Jurek pulled her to him and put his hand on her forehead. She felt his power bathing her with instant relief.

“
Ahh, I just love the hand on the forehead thingy. Thanks!”

“
I’m going back to Praestan and next week my team will begin a search for Saylan on Earth. It’s the next logical place the Xanthians would move her. Reach out to me if you need me.”

“
Jurek, let me know how he’s doing. I don’t want to be a pest, but Rykerian is super worried about him.”

Jurek nodded once and was gone.

Xarrid

Maddie was right. I couldn’t deal. First Saylan, then Therron. Therron had been my rock, the glue holding me together. When he was gone, the adhesive disintegrated and so did the hold on my sanity.

It started with the dreams. First they came once a week, then more often, then every night. Heart racing, skin damp with sweat, hyperventilating...I had all the signs of anxiety. I’d retreat somewhere inside my head, pushing everything down, locking it away. I couldn’t hide it anymore.

When Maddie looked at me the way she did, knowing and understanding what I was feeling, I crumbled. My guts twisted and my throat burned with those damn tears I’d refused to let loose. She finally gave me permission to let them go, but sweet Deity, I didn’t think they’d ever end.

I was never so glad to see anyone, as I was to see Jurek. He’d stood by my side and saved my rear end when Therron was killed. If it weren’t for him, Rykerian and I would be dead too. I owe him so much, not to mention the countless hours he and his men spent searching for Saylan. Sometimes a man needed someone close, other than family, to share his innermost feelings with. I knew I could do that with him. He put it best when he said we were brothers in every way except blood.

He understood, really understood how I was suffering. He and I shared another bond. One I wouldn’t wish on anyone. I never knew he’d been mated before, but what a tragic story. How painful it must have been to lose not only your beloved, but also your child. I don’t know how he coped. No wonder he was so hardened.

I have to get through this. I know she lives and if I’m to find her, I need to be healthy in mind and body. Getting to her in time is something I think about every minute. I have to find her. Jurek and his men are searching and he’s given his word that he won’t stop until they either find her dead or alive, or find out what’s happened to her. I trust him as much as I trust my brothers.

I feel so damn helpless though. It’s a place I hate because it makes me feel weak. I’ve never been weak; I’ve always been strong and focused. I have to stop asking myself how this happened and move forward to solving the mystery. Finding Saylan and bringing her home is now my priority. As long as I feel her soul is still present on this realm, I will search for her.

One positive out of this is the dreams are becoming less frequent. I’m sleeping again. Though it’s not the peaceful sleep I’d like to have, at least it’s sleep. Sometimes I worry I’ll forget what she looks like...that I’ll forget those special moments we shared. When those dark spells hit me, I feel myself being pulled back into that hole I was living in for so long. I don’t want to go back there. Jurek has been a lifesaver for me. He’s taught me how to deal with some of this. I can’t push it down, I have to face it and live with it or it will eat me alive. He’s taught me how to do that and not become that crazed person I was again. He reminds me all the time that I need to keep myself together for the day they find her and bring her home.

Planet Earth

Atlanta

Jurek and his men walked through the city streets and didn’t miss a thing as they moved. They were in their mass forms, inspecting the state of the city, looking for any clues to see what the Xanthians might be up to.

The beauty of downtown Atlanta had long ago disappeared. It was amazing how quickly the buildings had gone to ruin, morphing into hunks of crumbling bricks and concrete, covered in kudzu vines and other invasive plant life. Electricity no longer existed and nighttime was when the vermin crawled out of their nests and holes, searching for whatever prey they could find.

Gangs still ruled, forcing the good citizens that had survived the disease to abandon the town by any means they could, leaving behind the dregs of humanity. Anyone living here now was cutthroat, dangerous and willing to kill for the tiniest of reasons.

Jurek prayed Saylan wasn’t forced to live in this rat-infested place. If Xarrid could see Atlanta now, he might revert to the shattered existence Jurek found him in a few weeks ago. Jurek briefly wondered where the people here got their food, since all the grocery stores had long ago ceased to exist. There were no farms growing food anymore, or raising animals for meat and dairy. Supplies had to be coming in from somewhere and the only logical explanation was they were being outsourced from another planet.

“
Xanthians,” Jurek said aloud.

“
Where?” Tak, his second in command, asked.

“
No. I was thinking out loud. I’d been wondering where the people here could be getting their food. The only logical explanation is it has to be coming from someplace else.”

“
So you think it’s the Xanthians?” Tak asked.

“
Yeah, and my guess is they’re supplying the gangs so they can control them.”

“
Cargo ships?”

“
Huh uh. I think they’re teleporting it in. It’s faster and more efficient.”

Tak looked at Jurek for a minute before he gave his rebuttal. “Impossible. Xanthus doesn’t have the resources. Not to mention, their teleporting system was destroyed so they don’t have the means to teleport to Earth. They have to be teleporting from a cargo ship in space,” Tak explained.

Jurek walked around, peering into the window of a building they were standing in front of, making sure it was empty inside. When he didn’t detect any activity, he motioned for his men to follow him.

Once inside, he ordered his men to give the interior a thorough search. The building looked to be a former office of some kind, with cubicles everywhere. It took them a little while before they searched behind each cubicle, making sure they were the only ones inside.

“
Tak, I disagree. I think they’ve aligned themselves with another species and are using them to get supplies here. They want to throw off the Universal Free Rule, so they don’t want the spotlight on themselves. And yes, you are right. They don’t have the means to get the supplies here themselves either.”

Ludo, another one of Jurek’s men overheard them and joined in the conversation. “So who do you think is helping them?”

“
Don’t know that answer,” Jurek replied. “It doesn’t matter right now either. Our focus needs to be on Saylan. What I’m thinking is that the Xanthians may be using her and a team of people like her to get the supplies doled out to other Xanthians here. In other words, they’re using them to do their dirty work. They don’t care if they put them in danger. The gangs here are vicious. They’ll kill for anything, so the Xanthians are sending out these people as delivery agents of a sort. Let’s start looking for something like this. What we need to focus on is finding these gangs and where they’re hiding out and then we can locate the Xanthians.”