31. Zyrus

I watchedthe human woman limp down the hallway, her dark hair pulled back into a messy bun and her face pale from her stay in the hospital wing.

Was she beautiful? Would she be when she was fully recovered?

I"d known that, once, I was sure. I could tell beauty in a glance or learn to appreciate its more complex presentations after study. Now? Nothing. There"d been nothing for six years, four months, and twenty-seven days.

I"d never asked if other soulless Detyens tracked the time from their procedure. I doubted they did. Why would it matter? At most, it would track the time to my likely demise. Few soulless made it longer than seven years.

And here I was, heading straight for that cliff.

I"d already faced that death once, when I"d second guessed an officer"s order that would have lead me into certain death.

And in a way, I"d died the day I went under the knife and let them remove my soul.

All for the minute hope that one day I might meet her again.

Now she was standing in front of me, and she didn"t recognize me.

It was only fair, I supposed. I could see her with my eyes, but there was no deeper recognition, not the soul deep certainty I"d once experienced the first time we"d met eleven years ago.

Did I look so different?

She hadn"t changed a bit. Except for the scar on her face.

"So, you"re going to be my bodyguard?" Astrid asked. "I think this is my room." We were just down the hall from Noelle and Pippa.

I didn"t tell Astrid this room belonged to a woman who had been murdered not too long ago. People with emotions could be weird about such things. It was just a space; it held no echoes of the terrible things that had happened there.

"Yes," I said. "I will make sure nothing happens to you."

"Do you have a name? Noelle didn"t mention it." She smiled up at me, though there was a bit of a wince in it. The pain from her injury must have not been fully healed.

"Zyrus."

Her eyes narrowed then, and she took a closer look. "Zyrus …" She stepped forward, but before she could go any farther, she jerked her hand back and stepped back. "Nice to meet you. And thank you."

"You don"t have to thank me."

I"d do anything to protect his mate. Even if she didn"t know who he was.