Heart Of The Sun by Victoria Zagar Read Free Book Online Page A

says. “Thank you for your concern, Alan. I would not be here if it wasn’t for you.”
    “I’ll let you rest,” Alan says. He makes his way to the door and it slides open. The guards nod. One leads him back through the maze of corridors while the other stays outside Vash’s room. Of course they’re going to guard him. It’s just to make them feel safe. Still, he must feel like a prisoner in there, prevented from using his magic, unable to directly communicate. I guess his reluctance isn’t so surprising. Still, did he expect to be welcomed with open arms? The Karalians haven’t been kind to us as a people.
    The door to his room opens and Alan slips inside, the guard walking back to his post. Feeling suddenly exhausted, he lies down on the bed and promptly falls asleep.
     
    ~
     
    Alan doesn’t stir in the dead of night when his door slides open and Vash slips in. The Karalian just stands over Alan for a moment, listening to the slow rhythm of his breathing and watching the rising and falling of his chest. He rubs the sore rings on his wrists where he broke the anti-magic cuffs with brute force. Alan’s lips part for a breath and Vash is overwhelmed with the sudden desire to kiss those lips, to say goodbye one last time. He knows the guards he’s knocked out in the hall won’t stay down for long, but he can’t resist one last look at the Human who brought him so far. 
    He turns to leave, then turns again. He knows it will be the last time he ever sees Alan, and so he stalks back to the bedside, summoning his courage as he goes. He leans over the bed and brushes Alan’s lips in a feather light kiss, then races out of the room before Alan can wake. He hurries down the hallway to the exit and is gone before the guards can wake up from their magical slumber.
    Alan stirs and opens his eyes. Was someone just here? I could have sworn I felt someone kiss me. He smiles. Just a dream, Alan. Go back to sleep. Drowsy and somehow contented, he slips back into his peaceful slumber completely unaware of the guards sleeping outside in the hallway.

Chapter Seven
True Believer
     
    Day Fourteen
    Earth Base, Rinax Mountains
     
    It’s before dawn when Alan is rudely awakened by Commander Macey storming into his room.
    “Wake up,” he says. He grabs the doctor, who’s just arrived for his shift. “Wake him up. I need to talk to him now.”
    Alan’s eyes open. “I’m already awake,” he says. “What’s the meaning of all this?”
    “Your Karalian friend skipped out on us last night. Gone to inform his superiors about the location of this base, no doubt.” Macey grabs the front of Alan’s robe and pulls him upright. “If you know anything about this, you’d better speak now or face trial as a traitor!”
    “There’s no way,” Alan says. “Vash isn’t a spy. The Karalians are trying to kill him!”
    “Or so he claimed. Could be a good cover story to get him in here. Or perhaps he’s trying to get back in with them by throwing them a bone. Either way, we’re fucked unless we do some damage control.” He shakes his head. “I’ve got my best men tracking him across the desert. They know his location and report to me hourly. I won’t make the same mistake twice, Karvakian. Unless you can give me a good reason why I should spare his life, he’ll never make that report.”
    “He’s not a spy!” Alan shoved Macey’s hands off him. “There has to be a good reason he went out into the desert!”
    “With all those commandos looking for him? He’s either a spy or insane. I can’t take the chance that he’s spying on us and will undo two years of work. Do you hear me?”
    “You have to let me go after him!” Alan was on his feet. “He’s not a spy! He’s just scared! Let me convince him to come back.”
    “He broke off his anti-magic cuffs and put twenty of my men to sleep with his magical powers. What chance do you have against that?”
    “If he was a spy, he would have killed those men,” Alan