Chapter 24

24

ZACK

" F ind anything useful?" I ask Chaz. I glance at the massive pile of new books he bought on Sevten a week ago. Every book is about changed ones, the ones who used to be worshipped. People don't know what it used to be like for the changed ones, and the only reason we do, is because of the people in the mountains on Fiaten. They protect the changed ones. The only problem now, is that I don't want to send Cassandra to Fiaten. I don't want her to leave . I look down at my hands, remembering how she looked at me. It wasn't with disgust like I expected. No, it was filled with lust. Possibly with love . Something I never thought I'd be lucky enough to have.

"Nothing about a female changed one," Chaz says, sitting back in his chair and pushing the book shut.

"The king will be sending every guard to find her after the auctions. There is no way someone didn't recognise Hunter," I say, keeping my tone neutral, but Chaz still picks up on something in my tone as he looks over at me. It's hard to keep how worried I am out of my tone. I would kill anyone who tried to take her from us, and the only one that would stand a chance is the king.

"She's lovely. The books never say anything about the beauty of a changed one. The only other female changed one I've seen is very lovely, too," he says, and I nod, looking away. We all know how that ended for everyone. Hunter and Ryland know best.

"She is beautiful," I say.

"She understands so little of men and doesn't realise how she is with us all. I don't want to confuse her, but I have feelings for her. I won't lie to you or anyone else about that," Chaz says, and I nod. That's true. She would have picked up on all our feelings for her by now if she knew what she was doing. It doesn't surprise me that he has feelings for her, I know all the guys do. When we realised she was missing, we all went mad. I should have known one of the guests would mention the changed one on our ship. We paid them not to mention her, but that clearly didn't work. I believe fear seems to dictate people's minds when it comes to changed ones. They don't listen to logic, because they fear the powers of the changed ones. People don't understand how the powers work. Changed ones need their chosen before they can use their powers. Cassandra doesn't have any chosen or we would have known. Chosen are always protective or in love with their changed one. I think back to when we had a changed man on board. I don't know how he was hidden, but we found him running away on Foten. He had three women with him, all wearing his mark on their foreheads, and they all loved him dearly. He explained that when he marked them as his chosen, he then got a gift with the first. The second and third enhanced his powers.

"I want her to stay on the ship," I tell Chaz, and he doesn't seem shocked.

"Me as well, but we can't all have her," he says seriously, leaning back in his chair.

"Why not?" I ask, and Chaz laughs.

"We would end up killing each other," he says. I think about seeing him with Cassandra, and my hands tighten. I don't know how I would feel, but I couldn't let her go now. Cassandra will always need the protection of all of us, unless we let her go. Fiaten would be the only place that could keep her safe, but I can't do it. I can't let her go, and I know I would follow her anywhere.

"I would never harm any of you. You saved my life more than once, but I feel something for her," I tell him.

"Let's just see if she wants to stay first. I don't believe she will," Chaz says and looks down at the floor.

"Then I'm going to give her a reason to stay," I say. Knowing at this point, there isn't any other option. This ship is my home, and I want it to be hers, too.

"So am I," Chaz says, making me laugh before I walk out of his room.

So that makes two of us. Two out of six.