Determinant, a YA Paranormal Romance (Book 3 of The Guardians of Vesturon)

by A. M. Hargrove

  On the third floor, the spacious bedroom suites were divided by the main staircase. All of my siblings stayed on one side, leaving the other side for guests.

  Each floor had a gallery that contained artwork and marble busts of Vesturon’s past rulers, my ancestors.

  My mother, being the perceptive individual that she was had given January the room next to mine. I showed her where she would be staying and during the brief tour, she barely spoke a word.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about all of this?”

  “Would it have mattered?”

  She looked pensive then blurted out, “Nope. I don’t think anything could keep me away from you. It’s just insane to me when I think about it all. I mean how long ago was it when I was scrounging around for change to buy a hot dog? And now this! It’s a bit over the top and all, but it’s not gonna run me off if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  I must have been looking at her oddly for she asked quietly, “Was that the wrong answer?”

  “It could not have been more right. I was thinking that most females would flock to this lifestyle and you were thinking the opposite.”

  “Well, I’m glad you finally figured that one out! I’m not most females!” she winked. “Don’t you think it would be a good idea if you took it easy...you know, chilled for a bit. You still have some major recovering to do.”

  “I am tired, but I should like to talk with my family first. Come.”

  “Geez, always the demanding one, aren’t you?”

  “Me? I’m the most mild-mannered one in the family. Wait until you’ve spent more time around Rayn and my father!”

  *****

  We joined my family in the den. Rayn, Maddie, Tesslar and my parents were present. I quickly made the necessary introductions and we launched into the status of the Xanthian situation.

  “They’re demanding the release of Counsellor Druaha. They are also demanding control of Earth,” my father began.

  “What?” I was shocked.

  “All space travel is suspended unless you are part of an armada. No Space Transporters are allowed to go unescorted. That was a blatant attack on you and Rayn. They knew you would be heading to Vesturon. They were tracking all space traffic to and from the Milky Way.”

  “What will happen to Earth?” January asked.

  “We will do what we can but we make no promises. It is the beginning of a terrible time for our universe. The Xanthians are trying to garner support from other planets. There are enough unsavory ones out there that they are sure to gain numbers.”

  “Father, what of Xarrid, Therron and Sharra?” I wondered.

  “Sharra should be here soon. She is coming back with a team of fighters and she will be training others here until we can build up our forces again. Therron and Xarrid are the ones I fear for the most. Xarrid will not leave Xanthus until he locates Saylan. We finally heard from Therron a few days ago. A Xanthian spy posing as a Guardian compromised his position. Therron has no idea how much information the spy had passed to the Xanthians before he was caught and dealt with. Therron’s shadars both malfunctioned, so he was trapped for a time. Therron will not leave Xanthus without Xarrid.” My father rose and began pacing. The creases around his eyes and mouth and deepened since that last time I saw him.

  “What about Zulietta?” I asked.

  “She arrived safely here and other than being shaken up, she was fine,” Father explained.

  I lifted my eyes to Rayn and his look matched my father’s.

  “Rayn, how are you feeling?” I asked.

  “About the same as you. Glad to be here, thanks to you,” he grinned ruefully.

  “So what can we do?” I wanted to know.

  “You two need to rest up because you are going to need your strength in the days and months ahead,” my mother suggested.

  “I assume the Herdekian claimed his sister?” Rayn questioned.

  “Yes, and all went as we expected. I think we should engage him as an ally. January could help us, could you not January?”

  Anger diffused through my body at the mention of his name and I said, my voice tinged with menace, “I do not want January within one hundred light years from him.”

  “Rykerian, you are taking this the wrong way. Anyone could see they have formed a friendship of sorts and he will not harm her. It would help our cause if she was there.”

  “I could not care less about our cause or any cause for that matter. I do not want January near Jurek Herdekian!” I bounded to my feet and began pacing.

  My father looked at me intently and then asked, “January, how do you feel about him?”

  “He is my friend,” she said softly.

  “Elucidate,” he demanded.

  “We’ve faced a lot of the same issues during our lives and I think it’s kind of thrown us into a friendship type of thing. It sounds strange and convoluted and all but there is nothing between us but friendship. I could ask him whatever you want. And I wouldn’t feel unsafe around him. I’m sorry Rykerian.”

  My father stared at me and I felt the fingers of his mind probe, making their way into my head. There was no use in denying him for he was extremely powerful and would find a way to accomplish this. I granted him entry and waited for him to finish.

  He sat back and gave me a look that I recognized. His eyes softened as he spoke. “You have no reason to fear this if it is as she says. I know this is something you do not desire, but the greater good of the people is at stake here. I am sorry my son, but we must have January contact him. His kind may be the key to keeping the Xanthians from wreaking havoc on the universe.”

  The muscle in my jaw twitched furiously as my anger intensified. My family was betraying me.

  “No, we are not betraying you Rykerian. We would not be doing this if we were putting anyone in harm’s way,” my father stated, tersely.

  I jerked my head in mimicking a nod, and headed up to my room.

  Chapter 11

  The situation continued to deteriorate on Xanthus. Xarrid teleported to the Guardian Command Center for a briefing on the situation. He only agreed to come because we dangled the proverbial carrot of our potential alliance with Jurek Herdekian.

  I could not contain my shock at his haggard yet hewn appearance. He had lost weight and his skin was stretched tightly across his taut muscles. His face was now chiseled, having lost all his youthful appearance. The light had been extinguished from his eyes, but in its place burned an intense fire that alarmed me. His usually neatly trimmed hair was now long and scruffy, as was the beard on his face. Although he had never had much interest in fashion, he was always smartly attired. The Xarrid of old seemed to have been replaced by one that dressed with purpose. He not only wore his shadars, he also carried daggers attached to his belt and had one strapped to his thigh. There were all sorts of deadly throwing devices attached to various parts of his clothing. An air of danger surrounded him. He no longer bore any resemblance to the brother and Guardian I knew from a short time ago.

  “Have each of you seen enough?” His impatience rolled off his tongue as his eyes flicked around the room. “I am quite aware of my appearance so either put a cork on your thoughts or leave this room.”

  Maddie ran up to him and threw her arms around him, but he shrugged them off and backed away from her reach.

  “Xarrid!” Rayn admonished curtly.

  “Look, I didn’t come here for a little social gathering or love session. I took a huge risk leaving, and I’ll take another one when I return. I’m not sure any of you get it! Xanthus is a pressure cooker right now and it’s not getting any better!”

  “I believe you underestimate our intelligence brother. We have been most concerned about you and Therron and Maddie can hardly sleep at night due to her concern over you and Saylan’s disappearance,” Rayn said.

  “How touching. Now quit wasting my time and get to the point. Why did you call me here?”

  “There is someone...or rather an entire species that you a
re unfamiliar with that may be interested in furthering our cause in stopping the Xanthians,” Rayn began.

  “Go on.”

  “We have recently been introduced to them. They are known as Praestani.”

  “What’s so special about them?”

  “You shall see,” Rayn said.

  “Okay, well, this has been great, but I have things to do, places to go...you know the line.”

  He held up his shadar but was interrupted by a popping noise. The room became electrically charged as Jurek and five of his men appeared.

  January immediately ran to him and all but threw herself at him. His entire demeanor changed when she reached him. His face lit up and his eyes even changed color.

  And so did mine. I could feel them darkening as each second passed.

  “Stop fretting Guardian. You have nothing to worry about where January is concerned. She is your female through and through.”

  All eyes swung to me and I could feel my face burn. I was sure it was a mottled shade of purple by now.

  Jurek whispered something to January that I did not want to hear or speculate on, and then she was back by my side, squeezing my hand.

  Xarrid’s eyes were fixated on us and I noticed the muscle in his jaw twitching.

  “Xarrid, this is January, but the way,” I introduced them.

  He nodded curtly, and then swung his head to Jurek.

  “Who are they?” Xarrid demanded.

  “I am told your rear end is in a sling and we are here to help you get it out. For a large fee of course,” Jurek smirked.

  That male had the most irritating way about him.

  “Jurek!” January admonished.

  “I speak only the truth.”

  “Well, aren’t you full of yourself?” Xarrid mocked.

  “No. Just honest.”

  “What makes you think you can help?”

  “Because we are powerful, nearly indestructible, and know how to properly treat the Xanthians.”

  “Okay. Rayn, this has been an amusing little diversion, but I cannot afford to waste any more time. It’s been nice...”

  Xarrid had gone to use his shadar to teleport, but before he knew what happened, Jurek was holding it in his hand. Xarrid was staring at his own naked wrist.

  “Looking for this?” Jurek wanted to know.

  “What the...” His eyes bounced between his wrist and Jurek several times. “How did you do that?”

  “As I said, we are powerful. You cannot stop us. You cannot kill us.”

  Xarrid stretched out his arm and boomed, “I command you to your knees.”

  Jurek looked back at him and smiled. “Your Powers are also useless on us, even Command.”

  “How can that be?”

  “Accept it Xarrid for it is the way of things,” I said. “Jurek and his people are gifted, in a much greater way than Vesturions ever dreamed.”

  “How so?”

  “Would you care for a demonstration?”

  No sooner had the word, “Yes,” left Xarrid’s mouth, he found himself stretched out and suspended in midair, trapped and unable to move. Jurek hadn’t moved so much as an inch.

  “Enough!” January shouted. I arched a brow at her, interested in her rescue of my brother.

  Jurek shrugged, “No worries, friend, he is in no pain,” and Xarrid was back on his feet.

  “How do I know that’s not the extent of your so-called powers?” Xarrid questioned.

  Jurek instantly shifted into his alternative form and brushed against Xarrid, dropping him to his knees, sending him into fits of agony.

  It only lasted a second, but it was enough to convince Xarrid of Jurek’s powers. After he recovered from his brief contact with the Praestanus, Xarrid was ready to strategize on how Jurek’s men could take out and destroy key areas on Xanthus. Even though Xarrid was livid when he discovered it was Jurek and his men who were responsible for the pandemic on Earth, we persuaded him to accept the Praestani’s help on ending this war sooner.

  *****

  Hours later, Xanthus’ weaknesses were bared to the Praestani and plans were established to disable all their power generating stations. Ten teams of Jurek’s men would go in and disable all available ships in their docking stations so they would have nothing to transport them to other planets. They would be effectively stranded on Xanthus.

  They were targeting the Xanthian rebel headquarters to gain information on the allies they had established so they could initiate a breakdown of those relationships. They would sabotage everything the Xanthians had put into place thus far, making the Xanthians appear to be even more untrustworthy than they were.

  Jurek would send a contingency of his men to Earth to make sure the Xanthians there were rounded up and sent back to Xanthus. We did not know how many of them had infiltrated Earth, but we wanted to make sure we didn’t give them an opportunity to establish any kind of strong hold.

  I observed Xarrid and Jurek interact and it struck me as odd, but they reminded me of each other. Xarrid’s tough persona was a new experience for me, but Jurek seemed to get him. It was amazing to see these two warriors planning covert missions and they even laughed a few times at shared remarks.

  I still had trouble wrapping my brain around Xarrid’s transformation. As I stared at him he caustically remarked, “Look pretty boy, if you don’t stop staring at me, I’m going to start thinking you have a thing for me.” Jurek sputtered at his words.

  I, on the other hand, gave Xarrid a scorching look and fumed, “That is disgusting Xarrid and you well know it. What in the bloody hell has gotten into you? What has happened to the brother I knew so well?”

  Xarrid threw his shadar down and thundered, “I’ll tell you what the bloody hell has happened to me! I’ve been trying to survive in a bloody war zone for the last several months, while you’ve been living the high life, chasing your mate around laughing and carrying on. I’ll tell you what the bloody hell has happened to me! I’ve been existing on the barest hours of sleep, trying my damnedest to find Saylan, searching every possible corner of Xanthus and coming up empty handed. I’ll tell you what the bloody hell has happened. The love of my life—my mate—has fallen off the face of the planet and no one seems to know a bloody thing!” By the time he finished speaking, he was in my face, poking me in the chest with his finger, and screaming in anger.

  I wrapped him in my embrace and he struggled at first to break free, but I held on, not allowing that. The harder he fought me, the tighter I held him, until I felt the fight flee him and he returned my embrace.

  “Bloody hell Rykerian, what am I going to do?” he sputtered onto my shoulder. “I’ve searched everywhere and I’ve done everything I know to do. It’s like she simply vanished into thin air. Even her tracer came up blank!”

  The pain in his voice tore me apart. I know exactly how he felt, for I had been there with January.

  “We will find her Xarrid. Dead or alive, we will find out what happened to her. She didn’t just vanish. She is somewhere and we will find her. I promise!”

  I glanced across the room and Jurek caught my eye. My mind was instantly infused with his thoughts.

  “I need a description of her along with her last location, living quarters, complete name and history with the Guardians. I will send one of my men right away to begin a search for her. We will locate her.”

  I nodded back at him and he left the room.

  “Come. Let’s get out of here for a break.”

  “Yes, I could use one. Sorry for being such a jerk to you. I have no excuse except I am a jerk. Please forgive me?” he asked.

  “There is nothing to forgive, brother. I know exactly how you feel. Trust me.” We made our way back to the palace.

  Chapter 12

  Later that day, January and I sat on the terrace overlooking the Vesturion mountains. I knew she would love it here—I just hadn’t realized how much.

  “I want us to get married right away. I don’t want to wait. I know this ma
y sound selfish and this is a terrible time for your family, but we could do it right here with just us. If we don’t do it now, it may be forever, with the situation being what it is.” She stopped talking and took my hands in hers and asked, “Rykerian, will you marry me?”

  “Yes!” I kissed her quickly then said, “Follow me.”

  We went up to the family living quarters. Rayn, Maddie, Tesslar and my parents were all sitting there.

  “I’d like to discuss something with you please. January and I have decided to have a private unification ceremony.”

  Everyone did their obligatory “Oohs” and “Aahs” and patted me on the back and congratulated us.

  “This is a terrible time for Vesturon now and it does not look like it will improve anytime soon. So we thought a private ceremony with just us on the back terrace would be appropriate.”

  Everyone was smiling and happy. My mother asked when.

  “Tonight.”

  You would have thought a blaster went off. It was total silence and then a million questions.

  “Please. Hear me out. There will not be a good time for this in a very long while. We don’t want to wait. Our souls are bound together so why not tonight?”

  “Well, why not indeed?” my father asked.

  “Exactly!” I said.

  “I second that!” Rayn said.

  “So, can you get a clergyman?” I asked my father.

  “What time?”

  *****

  Several hours later, dressed head to toe in traditional Vesturion formal white attire, I stood at the edge of the terrace waiting for her to appear. My father, Rayn, Tesslar and Xarrid stood beside me. Across from us stood Maddie and my mother. Victus, the clergyman stood with us as well.

  January had insisted on three things: Jurek escorting her down the aisle; Pachelbel’s Canon in D playing when she walked down the aisle; and finally, carrying a bouquet of freshly cut flowers. That wasn’t normally done here, but she was so fond of them, and to her point, Vesturon had stunning flowers, she had gotten her way.