ReEmergent -Guardians of Vesturon [4] (16 page)

“
Are you going to?” Jurek asked Sharra.

“
Going to what?”

“
Explain?”

“
Oh yes, Well that. I was going to say we could use me as bait.”

Zander flew out of his chair and yelled, “What! What in the Deity’s name are you saying? Have you lost your mind?”

Sharra rolled her eyes. “Would you give me a chance to explain, please?”

Jurek did not like the direction of this at all. Xarrid would kill him...well, not really since that clearly was an impossibility. But anyway, he would be extremely angry and...Jurek dared not even allow his thoughts to wander in that direction.

“
Okay, I’m listening,” Jurek said. He decided he’d at least give her a chance to tell her story.

Sharra stood up and said, “I believe that if I’m the bait, all those silly Xanthian officers would huddle in a room together and try to figure out what to do with me. Then, Jurek, your men could move in and overtake them. That’s when we would make our move as well to try to free some of the minions.”

“
Sharra, that sounds a little sketchy. I think it has a bit of merit, but where do you think they’d take you? And what if they take you to Xanthus where we can’t trace you and who knows where you’d end up before we’d find you? It could be days. Look how long it took for us to find Saylan.”

“
I could be wearing a tracer and you could stay close to me in your energy form so they wouldn’t know you were there.”

Jurek rubbed his chin. It could possibly work. “Where do you propose we set this whole thing up? Where will you be so they can capture you and how will they know you’re a Yarrister?”

“
I’ll be wearing a tracer, of course. They’ll remove it and then they’ll find out. Oh, it will be after I’ve told them a pack of lies about who I am though.”

Zander, who had been very quiet until now, grasped Sharra’s arm and begged, “I’ve never asked anything of you except for you to spend the rest of your life with me. But Sharra, please reconsider this. Please. Countless things could go wrong and then what would happen to you? You could die, love. I can’t stand by and watch you do this. Please don’t ask me to.”

Sharra held Zander’s hands in hers and said, “The greatest day of my life was when I met you. But I watched what my brother went through when he lost Saylan. You’ve seen these minions and what the Xanthians are doing to them. We have to stop this from happening. Yes, I know I’ll be taking a risk, but it’s a very small one.”

Sharra turned to Jurek and her eyes pleaded with him to help her. He hadn’t paid much attention to it before, but the resemblance between Sharra and Xarrid was right there...their eyes were nearly identical. Jurek was not an emotional sort, but in Sharra’s eyes, he caught the bond between the siblings and it sent a blow to his gut.

He nodded and turned to Zander. “I will ensure Sharra’s safety. She will not be alone at any time with any Xanthian while she does this. If they so much as do anything, other than remove her tracer, I will destroy them. I will see to it myself.”

Zander, who had always backed down when it came to Jurek, stood up to him then and boldly said, “Swear that to me on your life Jurek, because if anything happens to her under your watch, somehow, someway, I will find a way to destroy you.”

Jurek and Zander stared each other down. Jurek’s eyes turned black as his body tensed. Rafe and Sharra looked at each other nervously, each wondering what Jurek’s response would be. Sharra had only seen Jurek act like this a few times and she didn’t like what she saw. She moved to intercede, but Jurek stopped her.

“
I won’t harm him, if that’s what you’re thinking. He loves you and only strives to protect you. That I understand. Zander, you have my word. Sharra will be safe under my protection.”

The two men nodded to each other and Zander looked at Sharra. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the tormented look on his face. She understood he would never approve of this, but she had no choice. “Jurek, you will discuss this with Xarrid then?”

“
I will and then I’ll return here so we can make our plans.” He flashed out leaving Rafe, Zander and Sharra alone.

Rafe looked at the two of them and said, “I think I need to get some sleep.” He walked to the back of the warehouse, where their sleeping quarters were, to give the couple some privacy.

Zander dipped his head and didn’t say anything at all, which shocked Sharra.

“
I’m sorry Zander.”

“
Are you really? Don’t say it if you don’t mean it.”

“
Of course I’m sorry.”

“
If you were really sorry, you wouldn’t be doing this. You know how I feel about you going in there.”

Sharra let loose a huge breath. “Zander, you have no siblings so I don’t expect you to understand. Xarrid is my brother.”

“
Obviously.”

“
There’s no need for sarcasm here.” Sharra glared at him.

Zander returned her glare and didn’t back down.

She threw her arms up in the air and exploded. “What would you have me do?”

“
I would have you stay here, where I know you’re safe. You’re Vesturion. You understand this burning need I have for you to be protected and yet you completely disregard that.”

“
I’m not!”

“
Yes, Sharra, you are. You are putting everything else before me.”

“
I can’t believe this. You are the one being selfish now,” she accused.

“
Oh, that’s right. Turn the tables on me now.”

Their anger erupted from them, and neither of them was willing to budge.

“
I guess we will agree to disagree on this then,” Sharra declared.

“
I agree to nothing. You took that opportunity away from me when you made this decision, without consulting me at all,” he said, his voice laced with steel. “You know where to find me when this is finished.” He turned and stormed away from her, leaving Sharra staring at his back in disbelief.

“
What in the world?” she thought. Sharra was very inexperienced in dealing with conflict in relationships so she didn’t know what to do. Instead of following him, like she really wanted to, she sat down on the floor and cried. Her heart ached over the words they had exchanged. She’d never meant to hurt Zander, but then he’d hurt her too. Is this how things were between two lovers? And they weren’t even lovers in the truest sense yet.

Oh great heavens, this is much more than I bargained for. Why can’t men be more like females and make more sense? They were so confusing.

Sharra had somehow overlooked that the real problem in this whole equation was the way Vesturions protected their mates. Zander’s soul was irrevocably tied to Sharra’s and because of that he was unable to release his hold on her. Inexperience in dealing with this was making things worse. She heard footsteps and opened her eyes to see a pair of black boots in her line of sight. Seconds later, Zander was crouched in front of her.

“
I’m so sorry,” they both said simultaneously. Then they both chuckled a little. Sharra suddenly found herself jerked into Zander’s arms and his lips were on hers, kissing her possessively and passionately. She wound her arms around him and held him tightly to her, as she kissed him back, tasting every part of his mouth.

His tongue twirled with hers and he knew he’d never tasted anything sweeter in his life. When the need for air eventually tore them apart, he breathed against her lips, “I am so afraid of losing you after just finding you. I can’t bear the thought...”

“
Then you must not think it Zander.” Her fingers twisted in his hair and she rubbed her cheek against his.

“
But how can I help it? I love you Sharra and you own my soul.”

“
As you own mine.”

He leaned away from her so he could look into her eyes. She saw how troubled he was and placed her palm against his cheek. He put his hand on top of hers and bent his head so their foreheads touched. “I don’t know how else to say this so I’m simply going to spit it out. I would like for you to release me from this mission.”

Sharra’s eyes grew wide as she pulled herself away from Zander. “What? What are you saying?”

“
What I’m saying is that I can’t be this close to you and sit by as you put yourself in such a precarious situation. My heart can’t take it Sharra. It would be better for me...for both of us...if I’m away from you when this all goes down.”

“
No! No, you can’t leave. What will I do without you?”

“
You’ll go through with your plans to help your brother find those horrible Xanthians and hopefully, you’ll survive to return to Vesturon to tell me all about it.”

Sharra just gaped at Zander, not believing what she was hearing. “But...but, what about us?”

“
What about us?”

“
What will happen?”

“
I’m yours forever. I thought you understood that. You have to see it from my perspective. Watching you go in there and do what you are proposing is like suicide to me and I can’t do it. You won’t back away from this so the best thing for me is to leave.”

“
But Zander, I need you here.”

His eyes told her everything his mouth didn’t. They were filled with such profound sadness and pain...deep pain, Sharra knew she’d been pierced with a knife. She hugged herself with her arms as she drew her knees to her chest.

“
I’m sorry Sharra, but I think it best this way. If I’m not here, I won’t be in the way, making you feel awful about what you need to do.”

Tears rained down on her cheeks as she lifted her head. Zander didn’t want to leave her like that, but he also knew that if he didn’t leave now, he never would.

“
When Jurek returns, I’ll ask him to take you to Vesturon. Not because I want him to Zander, but because I understand how you must feel. I’m sorry too for all of this. But I swear to you, we’ll be together. I swear we will. Nothing will happen to me.”

He framed her face with his hands and wiped her tears away. “I’ll miss you Sharra and won’t be worth a damn until you’re back in my arms.” Then he grabbed her and roughly pulled her against him, squeezing her tightly. “My days and nights will seem like years without you.” He held her close until her sobs eased.

“
Are you insane? Because that is the most preposterous thing I’ve ever heard!” Xarrid exploded.

“
It is not, and if you’d calm down long enough to listen you bloody fool, you’d know I was right.” Jurek was getting frustrated with his friend. He’d returned to Lare-Stell and had been trying to explain the plan Sharra came up with to Xarrid, but Xarrid was so adamant against anyone helping, he was refusing to listen. “Now, if you don’t calm down, I’m going to force that issue. Are we clear?”

“
Crystal,” Xarrid said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Jurek slammed his hand on the table. “If you think a bloody rotten attitude with me will score you any points, you’re sadly mistaken. Now, Sharra only wants to help in locating the officers. She wants us to use her as bait, but...” and Jurek held out his arm here, because Xarrid had already flown to his feet and was getting ready to scream, “I’ll be with her constantly in my energy form, so no harm will fall on her.”

“
Explain.”

Anger rolled off Jurek. “You know, you’re really starting to piss me off.”

“
Tell me something that I care about. Are you going to explain?”

“
Do you want my help in this mission of yours or not? Because right now Xarrid, I’m this close,” Jurek held up his hand and pinched his thumb and index finger together, “to calling this whole damn thing off.”

The two men stared at each other. Xarrid’s nostrils flared as his cobalt eyes deepened in color. The tension between the men filled the air until Jurek extended his arm and placed his hand on Xarrid’s forehead. Xarrid’s posture relaxed as the rigidity fled his muscles.

“
Better?” Jurek asked quietly.

After taking a deep cleansing breath, Xarrid nodded and answered, “Yeah. Much. Will I ever get over being so damn emotional about this?”

“
I doubt it. But I wish you would because you drive me to the point of insanity sometimes, you hardheaded fool.”

“
Sorry. So, tell me about Sharra’s plan.”

“
It’s sound my friend. You know I wouldn’t allow her to be placed in any kind of danger. I’ll be with her and I’ll bring Marik along too. They won’t touch her.”

“
I swear if they do, I’m not sure I’ll survive that.”

“
Xarrid, you know I won’t let you down. You know that.”

“
So, I’m listening.”

After Jurek explained how it would work, and after Xarrid objected as many as a dozen times, Jurek convinced him it truly was the way to go. They could accomplish their mission at one time and grab all the officers and perhaps free the minions too.

So, they called in Marik, Naroo, Ludo, Tak and all available hands on Lare-Stell to put their plan in place. Xarrid wanted this to be executed as quickly as possible.

A few hours later, with plans in motion, Xarrid told Jurek he was headed back to Vesturon to see Saylan.

“
When do you plan on being united?”

“
That’s what I want to discuss with her.”

“
Do you want to get this all done first?”

Xarrid rubbed his neck. “Yeah, I think I would, if at all possible. I don’t want her to suspect something and if I do it after, she’ll know something’s up.”

“
Well, hurry back then because we’ll need to get a move on here.”