Commissioned In White (Art of Love Series) (27 page)

“Synar? What did you say?” Gwen demanded, needing to ask before she imploded from the need to know what was going on.

Ignoring Gwen and her question, Synar walked impatiently to the shuttle door. He was out of the craft before the landing plank had even fully lowered.

Dorian put a hand on Gwen’s shoulder to stop her from following.

“Hold the demands sitting on your tongue and use your eyes instead,” he ordered, concern for Gwen’s mental state overwhelming him once more. “At the moment, Liam is not the captain you normally serve. Remain as stoic as you can so as not to distract Liam from what he must do today.”

“What do you mean?” Gwen demanded.

“It is not for me to say,” Dorian returned, clamping down on his urge to tell her everything, to warn her about what was to come. “For once in your bloody life, Commander, use your intuition for the greater good.”

Gwen jerked away from Zade’s grip and stalked to the door, not willing to take advice from a male who continually counseled her like she was a child. It irked her that Synar let him get by with his disrespect.

When they all got out of the shuttle, Gwen could see they had landed in a barren area just outside what appeared to be a city. Looking around, she saw there were other shuttles, like some gigantic parking lot in a desert.

She saw the two suns in the sky and the one giant moon rising nearby. She knew they were in what Earth called the Taurus constellation of her own galaxy, but she couldn’t believe they were on the planet they were on. It was one of the most peaceful planets in recorded history and one known for it’s benevolence to all.

“Is this really Pleiades?” Gwen asked Synar sharply, who to her consternation just continued to ignore her.

Heaving a sigh of resentment at Synar’s lack of response, she glanced over her shoulder at Dorian who nodded briefly in answer.

At least it was a planet that had been among the first to adopt the English language, Gwen thought, so she’d be able to hear and understand what was said. She looked over to Synar who was staring ahead, his eyes unfocused and all but glazed over. She wasn’t sure he’d even come out of his meditative state. Gwen pulled herself up straighter, prepared to do what was necessary.

“Captain, this is a peaceful planet of the Alliance. Why have we landed an hour’s walk from the city instead of inside its walls?” Gwen challenged because she was the only one on the crew who could.

Synar turned to glare at her, and Gwen swallowed hard but did not back down from her right to ask him questions. In fact, it was her duty to question him.

“If the crew is at risk, I want to know,” she said sternly, keeping her voice as calm and cold as possible.

“The crew is not at risk. You are not at risk. I am working to make sure that remains true. I needed time to prepare to use my power again—that’s all,” Synar said, his gaze boring into hers. “Could we make the walk in silence while I do so?”

What power was he talking about? His Norblade warrior tendencies? Synar was not making any sense, but after searching, Gwen found her intuition wasn’t sending off any loud alarms yet.

With Zade’s advice to use her eyes suddenly seeming to be not only her best option but her only one, Gwen nodded once to let Synar know she accepted his statement. Then to reassure the crew, Gwen lifted her hand to the dirty road, sweeping it to indicate they would all follow.

Gwen watched Synar stalk off, leaving them to follow or not. It was obvious that her captain didn’t really care at this point.

The biggest part of Synar’s attention seemed to be on wherever they were going.

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