Guardian [New World Book 6] (17 page)

“Get dressed,” Roam demanded, waking Jinx.

“What’s wrong?”

Furious with himself Roam realized his need for her had made him lapse in judgment. It might cost them their lives. His thoughts flashed back to the Zargonnii warrior he had been so critical of. Roam had just placed his mate in danger.

The blast that suddenly hit Roam flipped him back away from Jinx before he could shield her. In his thoughts he knew—he knew, this was exactly how Slay was separated from Tia. Tia died—so too had Slay.

* * * *

Jinx screamed when the alien came at her. It was at least eight feet tall, bald gangly, ugly. She expected the creature to attack—it simply stood focusing on her. Her hands shot up to grab her head. The creature was suddenly in her mind. Roaring pain filled her like a migraine times ten. Turning slightly, Jinx took a fast gaze to where Roam was. Roam was battling three Tonans, all three creatures had long tails. Taz didn’t have a tail. The Tonans used their tails like whips, or slithering snakes trying to creep around Roam’s legs or arms.

Roam couldn’t get to her. A frightening thought of this was how Roam’s warrior mate had died popped into her mind. His mate was attacked, but not before she saved two other women and a child.

The pain was excruciating. So much so Jinx dropped to her knees. If she died, Roam would die, she knew it in her heart he would follow her into death. The idea of losing him when she just mated him made her furious. All the suffering she had been through on Earth would be for nothing if she perished on another planet.

She wished a gator would snap the bastard’s legs off. The image was so strong within her thoughts Jinx could see it happening. The second she thought it, the beast fell to its knees. Jinx blinked with surprise. Her thoughts rolled with the creature’s. The foul being had been brain stormed by her. This was the deadly Gorgano she mind-battled with.

Oh, now I get how this works.

Slay’s mate, Tia had mind-battled six aliens, while Slay was kept occupied by rogue Tonans. On shaky feet Jinx hobbled to find her balance. Next, a lion ripped through the alien’s head. From a distance Jinx had seen a marsh deer slaughtered by a big cat. She knew where each slice was to go.

The Gorgano fell. Jinx screamed and with her thoughts pushed five talons into the beings chest and shook it the way her father had died. The creature moved no more. The Gorgano were right in their assumption—human females could be deadly, at least to the Gorgano. Helplessly she watched Roam battle the Tonans. Her memories spiraled back to when her father was killed, how helpless she had been.

Roam was a pinwheel of action. Jinx watched as he sliced a Tonan shield down with a razor claw. She was surprised; she thought nothing could penetrate a shield. A closer look revealed the Tonans didn’t have the same weapon as Roam. When the Tonan fell to the ground, his shield began to close back over him as Roam was attacked by the other two protecting their fallen comrade.

It’s not fair.

Jinx hated the Tonan on the ground. She hated watching him heal, she wished he would explode. The Tonan screamed. His hands to his head. All three warriors stopped and watched as his armor squealed and rusted, turning to dust. All three looked at Jinx. Roam was the first to react. His claw dragged down a Tonan face. The second the warrior was exposed Jinx blew him up in her thoughts.

A lightning streak grabbed her and enclosed her in a shield. Taz was there. More warriors followed. The rogue Tonans were outnumbered. Cobra went to Roam. He looked from the fallen Gorgano to the two dead warriors.

“What the hell happened?” he asked.

“Jinx killed all three,” Roam said, he looked stunned.

“I scented you on her. I knew I could shield her,” Taz sounded bewildered. “You mated her. But there is no child as yet.”

When Taz lowered his shield Jinx ran to Roam. His armor dropped and he crushed her to his chest.

“Holy shit, you saved our lives,” Roam said.

“I was so angry. The Gorgano had a taste of Earth hospitality. The Tonans I blew up in my thoughts and they just keeled over,” Jinx said.

“This is good to know,” Cobra said. “It means, unshielded a Castian warrior could suffer the same fate. Forewarned is forearmed.”

“It’s time I took Jinx back to her sister,” Rand said stepping forward. “They have been separated too long. My little warrior will know you as family, Roam. It’s only fair the two females have time together.”

Roam knew he was right but still he wanted Jinx close. He made a move to go with them but was stopped by Cobra.

“You have another pressing matter.” Roam studied his leader quizzically. “There is a little girl who needs you.”

“Scarlet,” Roam whispered. “I planned to go to her the second we landed but…”

“But you mated and then battled for your life,” Cobra interjected. “Your little one needs you now.”

Realization slammed him hard. Cobra was right—Scarlet was Roam’s little one now. Roam allowed Rand to return to the hive with Jinx, promising her he would come to her later, they needed to talk. Jinx didn’t mind having Roam’s son but Scarlet was Roam’s now too. As he entered the huge dome, Roam dropped his armor. It wouldn’t have mattered, Scarlet would have been able to identify him even shielded, as would Jinx now. None of the children in the room were afraid of the warriors.

The pretty little four-year-old was sitting alone, staring off into space. Roam settled onto his knees before her. Her big blue eyes gazed up at him; her long blond hair fell into her eyes. Roam brushed the locks back.

“They’re gone,” she said. A precocious child, Scarlet wasn’t into baby talk or beating around the bush.

“They live in here,” Roam replied and placed her hand over his heart when he picked her up. His large hand settled over her chest.

It was true. Roam could feel the essence of his warrior mate in Scarlet the second he touched her. It’s what connected him to the child. If they blindfolded him and set him amidst a thousand children, Roam would be able to find Scarlet. She was also part of Roam. Scarlet gazed at him quizzically.

“There’s a lot of people in there,” she whispered, her hand still pressed hard to his chest.

Roam smiled. The child would sense Taz, she was his family now. All of Taz’s family would belong to Scarlet as well. Now that he was mated to Jinx, Scarlet would automatically love her, she wouldn’t be able not to; Jinx was part of Roam. Because Roam’s essence mixed with Scarlet, the woman and child would be connected.

“Are you going away too?” Scarlet asked.

“No.”

“I feel so many people inside your heart. Is there room for me?”

Roam lay her head against his heart. If she were a full-blooded Castian, she wouldn’t need to ask. It took her a moment to connect with all the thoughts inside of her. She would have her father’s memories, if not her mothers.

“Can you sense them, little one?” Roam asked.

“Maybe. But there are weird things, not Castian and not human.”

Roam chuckled. It was Taz she was sensing. “You have a new cousin and one on the way.”

“Did you have a baby?”

“No. While I was on Earth, I warrior mated with another to help protect his family.”

She leaned back eyes wide. “Did my father know?” she demanded.

“It was his idea.”

Scarlet looked thoughtful for a moment before laying her head once more against Roam’s chest. Roam could scent her confusion, but there was something else.

“Maybe father knew he was going to die.”

Roam cupped her chin. “Now where is that coming from?”

“Some people have pe-mi-nitions.”

“You mean—premonitions. How did you even know that word?”

“What’s a sixth sense? Is it a different way to spell? Or does it mean does six make sense?”

Their conversation was odd. Scarlet was smart, but she was still only four. When Roam looked into her cherub face, he saw her eyes flicker as though she were reading a book.

“Scarlet?”

“You’re different.”

“In what way?”

Scarlet gripped one of his hands. She studied his fingers closely until her gaze centered onto the finger that would curl into a claw once shielded. She looked deeply into Roam’s eyes.

“You cut through armor.”

Roam blinked in disbelief. “How do you know?”

“I saw it.”

“That’s impossible.”

“No, it’s not.”

Roam spun around and stood with Scarlet clutched to his chest. When Scarlet saw Jinx the child immediately held her arms out to her. Jinx held her so she could look into Scarlet’s eyes.

“You called me,” Jinx said in confusion. “I could see you.”

“You called me,” Scarlet said with as much confusion.

Jinx stood mouth agape for a moment before whispering, “The Gorgano.”

“They better not come near me or I’ll blow them up like you did,” Scarlet said, her little girl voice that of an excited twitter. “Except what was that big ugly green thing that bitted him?”

“A gator.”

Jinx looked like she had been hit by a truck. Roam wondered how much of a connection Jinx and Scarlet had between them because of their bond with him. The Gorgano must have intensified their feelings. More importantly how could Jinx learn to tune the child out or hide memories. There were some memories Jinx had that Roam was certain he didn’t want little Scarlet privy too.

“I better get you two home,” Roam said.

He dragged Jinx to his chest and, as his shield closed over her and the child, Jinx was lifted up to wrap her legs around his waist. She didn’t bother to hold onto him, she didn’t need to. It would take more than a nuclear blast directly on top of him to drop his shield.

By the time Roam had climbed high into the hive to reach his domicile, Scarlet was asleep in Jinx’s arms when his shield dropped. Roam gathered the child to his chest and went to settle her onto his bed. He looked around the large room, pondering.

“You look lost in thought,” Jinx said.

She went to him and laid her head against his bare chest. Roam wrapped his arms around her and held her easily. He
was
lost in thought. This had been his home for hundreds of years. Once mated, he could have stayed longer; even after the birth of their first child, they could have stayed for a while. But it was too dangerous for a four-year-old female with no baby shield this high up. If somehow she managed to open the door, there was a sheer drop off no more than a foot away.

“You look sad,” Jinx said.

“No, not sad,” he said.

“I’m already in love with Scarlet,” Jinx said. Roam knew she was, he should have remembered it worked both ways. Roam loved the child—Jinx would feel what he felt.

He then went on to explain they needed to move immediately. Roam knew Cobra would offer him Slay’s domicile. It was near Taz on the bottom level. Roam knew Taz could use some help. Haven was annoyed with only being thirteen. If she mated at twenty-one she would be unable to have a child until the next must cycle hit, not for hundreds of years. Roam couldn’t exactly see what Taz saw, but his bond was as strong as it had been with Slay. There was something though—something else.

It hit Roam then, he felt as though he had connected with his shadow. His warrior mating was so much more complex than it had been with Slay. Jinx was staring up at him expectantly.

“We have to move,” Roam said.

Jinx smiled. “I kinda guessed when you stepped onto the landing and immediately opened your door. Your home is different from Jade’s and Rand’s. It’s much higher.”

“I was a bachelor.”

“Now you’re mated with a small child to care for.”

“I can feel Taz’s annoyance. The warriors must be all over Skylar. She’s of age and they are in must.”

“Is she in danger?”

“No, not really.”

“Not really?”

“The warriors may get too pushy, not with her, with each other. No one would dare hurt her. Who wants to mate with a hurtful male? But the warriors may fight between themselves, and she could get scared.”

“Hmm, huge hunky guys fighting over me would certainly terrify me,” she said dryly.

“No one will be fighting over you. You’re
my
mate.”

Jinx stood on tip toe for a kiss. After their kiss broke, she traced his chest with her finger. “I feel you inside me.”

Roam grinned and was about to respond when an alarm sounded. Scarlet woke sobbing. Jinx gathered her quickly into her arms.

“What is it, Roam? What’s happening?”

Roam grabbed them both to his chest and his shield went up. He was on the move to the lower level.

“We’re at war.”

Chapter 10

Jinx watched out a huge window in an open room. The room was filled with women and older female children. Roam had only a few moments to explain to Jinx a human male could be turned Castian, if he warrior mated. All human males had chosen to make the change. The females were protected by numerous Castian and Tonan warriors, one of which was Taz. In another room were other women, alone. Taz explained those females were pregnant and woe be to any intruder who tried to touch them. It made Jinx wish she was carrying.