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  Hard Hearted

  Saving her fiancé showed Gralial's people what a freak she was and they punished her accordingly by removing her soul. Left with only intelligence and her talent, Gray must start a new life in the Alliance as the Sector Guardsman Hard Hearted.

  She is assigned to Teklan base as their healer and physician and partnered with a being that she never even heard of.

  As a Nilshan Animorph, Mist has spent his time as an enforcer for the Alliance. When he was offered this position, and Gralial as a partner, he jumped at the chance to protect the woman whose lack of a soul keeps her from caution, fear, or passion.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Hard Hearted

  Copyright © 2011 Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-55487-821-5

  Cover art by Martine Jardin

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Devine Destinies

  An imprint of eXtasy Books

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  Hard Hearted

  Sector Guard Book 17

  By

  Viola Grace

  Chapter One

  Gray huddled in the hold of her family's ship. The enclave was demanding her life and her brother was trying to talk them out of it.

  Talent was fine in men, but in women, it was not seen as a sign of strength but a sign of contamination. She had gone all of the last ten years, since puberty, hiding what she had become.

  Gray should have fought her urge to heal her fiancé. The cord that almost split him in two missed her by inches. She had skidded along the blood-slicked decks and healed Tomo before he had a chance to start screaming.

  Fire blazed along her nerves as she took his pain out of him and sealed his body. She was dazed and exhausted when the elders grabbed her and hauled her away, tossing her into the hold of her parents' ship and putting her under guard.

  Tomo would live, but he was now missing all the scars he had accumulated with his life in space, it was a shame for any warrior. Let alone a prime of Kozue.

  The Kozue were a battle race who lived their life in the stars and that was the way that they liked it. Talents were aberrations that could barely be tolerated in men and the women could not be allowed to breed a new and tainted generation.

  She didn't know how many days she had been trapped in the hold with only minimum rations being shoved through the two-inch rise of the door. They didn't listen to her pleas, merely closed the door and left her while they deliberated.

  Gralial was filthy, half-starved and exhausted when the door opened to frame her brother, Garoz. "The enclave has reached a decision. Come with me."

  He supported her down the hall as he had all her life. He was five years her elder and kept her steady as they faced the elders of their enclave.

  "Gralial, we have decided that you will not be subject to mandatory sterilization. Instead, the Alliance has offered to take you from us. We have accepted with one stipulation." Her grandfather's stern tone made her knees weaker than they already were.

  They were allowing her to live. She almost collapsed. "What is that stipulation?"

  "Separation of soul and body. They can have your body and its talent, but your soul belongs to this clan. It will be harvested and kept for future generations as an example of the price of hiding a talent from the clans."

  Take my soul? "But I didn't do anything wrong."

  Tomo came forward and crossed his arms over his chest. "You allowed our betrothal without telling me of your unsuitability."

  Clan members came forward and hauled her away. "I saved your life, you ungrateful son-of-a-bitch!"

  He scowled. "I would rather have died than had you bear my children carrying those genes."

  She kicked and fought, but her body was weak from the confinement. They carried her to the shuttle bay where an Alliance craft was waiting. A figure in silver armour waited for her, a minder in the robes of the Citadel at its side.

  "Gralial, we have been charged with removing your soul." The figure in the silver armour bowed. "Minder Zargas will be gentle, though she has never done a soul harvest before."

  The creature in silver held out an orb of swirled glass in a filigree metal cage. "Your soul shall reside here, safe and sound."

  The minder was biting her lower lip as Gralial arched against those holding her arms. "It won't hurt, but I would advise you to be still."

  She struggled against her captors, but the silver creature stepped forward. "Let her go."

  The quiet words did something to the Kozue and even Gralial stopped fighting. She stilled as the creature came toward her.

  "Gralial, you have been given this punishment duly by the elders of your enclave. By the laws of your own people, they have the right to kill you for your talent. This is the only option to keep your life and your soul intact. The other option is sterilization and a mind-wipe.

  "Your elders have sworn on their honour and that of your enclave that your soul will remain intact and held in a safe position." The armoured creature held out hands and Gray took them. "We will take care of the rest of you. A position at the Citadel is already reserved to assist you in training your talent into a workable system."

  "I will get to use my talent?" She wasn't quite sure if she could trust the mirrored face of the creature in front of her.

  "My word as a negotiator of the Alliance. My name is Negotiator Tyrell and you can call for me at any time. You will not be alone."

  "No, she will not." Garoz stepped up behind her. "Where she goes, I will go."

  Their grandfather shouted from the back. "You will not."

  Garoz nodded and bowed toward the negotiator. "I will not leave my sister alone. She will need assistance getting used to her new situation and I am impervious to damage. I will protect her."

  Tears ran freely from Gray's face as she looked at her brother, "I can't let you do that."

  "You have no choice." He touched her head and looked to the negotiator. "Will you take me along?"

  Amusement came through the speakers of the armour. "I am not seeing that I have a choice."

  "You cannot take him. He is one of our greatest warriors!" Ganath the elder was upset.

  "He is not a slave. He is coming with us of his own free will. You summoned us here to remove an unwanted talent. We are removing two of them." The tone of the negotiator had gone from amused to glacial.

  "Gralial, if you are ready, take the minder's hand."

  Minder Zargas stood patiently and when Gray was ready, she gave her brother a quick hug and placed one hand in that of the Alliance minder.

  The minder kept her hand in a warm grip and the other held the orb that would soon house her soul.

  The minder crept into her consciousness in a warm wave, lapping away at all the things that made her Gray. Each wave took a piece of her away, but it left tranquility
in its wake. The ball in the minder's hand began to glow and pulse in a rainbow of colours, but Gray didn't care.

  She had only one duty left to her clan and it was to leave.

  "Goodbye, Elder Ganath." She bowed and followed the negotiator to the shuttle while the minder entrusted her soul to her grandfather.

  Garoz hovered nearby and supported her on her way into the shuttle. "Thank you." The polite term came out without her willing it. Years of manners drove the reflex.

  "Gray, are you all right?" Garoz was next to her as she belted in to the shuttle.

  "I am well."

  He was staring at her with tears in his eyes. "You aren't there anymore, are you?"

  She turned her head. "I am here, in this seat. There is nothing more to me."

  He frowned and looked out at the gathered enclave members through the door of the hatch. "I will not rest until they agree to return you."

  "That isn't a very good use of your energies, brother. Best that you go into security work." Her logic struck her as sound. She didn't want him in the armed services where he would be in danger every day, better that he go into security where he could use his intellect and skills for his own benefit.

  "Your sister has a sound logic to her. She will be completely safe and taken care of at the Citadel. Healers of her calibre are few and far between. They look forward to seeing the extent of her abilities and training her to focus her talents."

  "Is that all she is, a talent?" His words were harsh and Gray couldn't understand why.

  "No, she is so much more, but her body and mind are sound and she will be trained to be a complete physician, not merely a healing talent. We are not going to use her, but we will let her use herself to the fullest extent." The faceplate of the negotiator showed nothing, but there was fervour in her voice that came through.

  Garoz looked into his sister's soft gold eyes and saw nothing of the woman she had been turning in to. Her gaze wasn't blank, merely emotionless and assessing. "Is this what you want?"

  "I want to be useful. I also wish to use my skills to their fullest. The Citadel can offer me this." Her tone was dry, as was everything about her. Even the soft pink flush that usually marked her cheeks was gone.

  Her soul had been taken and he was furious enough to punch through the walls.

  * * * *

  As the Alliance shuttle lifted off, Ganath fought any show of emotion. He took the glowing orb containing his granddaughter's soul and installed it in the arch of the entryway to the bridge of the ship. The Stellar Blade would sail through the stars and Gralial's soul would guide them and warn others not to follow in her web of deceit.

  Chapter Two

  Three years later

  Working in the medical facility of the Citadel was fulfilling and the knowledge she gained about a vast array of species was interesting and added to the other areas of study that she had taken on.

  Regular mail from her brother kept her informed of his activities and he had indeed headed into the job of Alliance bodyguard.

  "Healer Gralial, you have a visitor."

  Gray finished setting the bone of the patient and let her assistants complete the sedation. It was an altered Selna under her hands and she had learned early on, to her surprise, that she could not heal genetically altered beings. She reset them back to their birth specifications.

  After cleaning her hands, she exited the medical centre and walked to the visitor's garden. Her brother stood with a negotiator at his side.

  Her improved analytical senses could see that it was not the same negotiator that had removed her from the enclave.

  "Garoz, welcome to the Citadel."

  He stepped forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead in the manner he had taken on once he had given up on her response to a kiss on her cheek. "Thank you for seeing us. I see you have been busy."

  He nodded to her robes and she looked down to note that she was stained with blood from the patient in medical. "An accident. She fell out of a tree."

  "I see. Well, this is Negotiator Barks. She has a proposal for you."

  With Garoz's arm around her, she looked at the negotiator. "Yes?"

  "With the agreement of the Citadel, you are being offered a position as a member of the Sector Guard. You will receive training on Station 13 and then move on to a permanent post at another base." The featureless mask nodded encouragingly.

  "Certainly. Do we leave now or shall I pack?"

  The featureless creature in the armour held a posture of surprise. "I had heard about it…yes, you may pack and we will be on our way the moment you are ready."

  Gray nodded and went to get her clothing. She removed the set of robes she was wearing and sent them down the laundry chute. With fresh robes and a small satchel, she was ready for her next assignment. Perhaps there would be more to learn in the Sector Guard.

  * * * *

  "Don't you want your soul back?" Haunt was amazed. She tilted her head and threatened to turn intangible.

  Eating across from Haunt and her husband, Gray shook her head. "I want to stay warm, I want to be fed, I want to keep learning and I occasionally want to sleep. That is all I want."

  "Well, you are going to be heading out to your assignment on Teklan soon. Are you, at least, looking forward to being in charge of your own medical facility?"

  "I suppose. As long as Garoz is happy here, I will be happy there."

  Haunt smiled. "Hardcore is enjoying himself immensely. The female support staff is drooling all over that Kozue-warrior physique of his."

  "Interesting image."

  "You know what I mean."

  "Not really, but I can guess." That was her life now, guessing innuendo and making sense out of emotional declarations. The crew had dubbed her Hard Hearted to match her brother's Hardcore. He thought it was funny, so she didn't fight it.

  Haunt sighed. Her face showed her frustration. "You can't be happy living like this?"

  "Happy? No. I am not happy. Neither am I sad, angry, depressed or elated. I exist. I get through every day and I am being as useful as I can." She finished her meal and sipped at her hot beverage.

  "That you are. Our medical staff has never been more alert. Apparently, you walk on silent feet."

  She nodded. "Kozue dance training. I can be silent even with a full complement of belts covered with bells. Since I am never late, I am never in a hurry and therefore can take my time."

  "You know how to dance?"

  Tears of the Star slid in next to Gray and grinned as she dug into her meal. "That was a skill I was never able to master."

  "You worked in a mine. There would not be a lot of time for dancing."

  Tears of the Star looked at her with pity in her eyes. "You are correct, of course, Gray. Your day has been busy?"

  "Yes, treating the burns from the fire on Mikkli station was difficult, but aside from one woman who had her cosmetic surgery reversed when I healed her, they received the repairs fairly well."

  Gray sat while her companions laughed over the image her words had painted. She was lying when she said she felt nothing, her frustration at being unable to participate in the laughter was a dim flicker in the back of her mind.

  "I am sure you did an excellent job and she can have the work redone now that she is whole again."

  "I doubt it. She is in the late stages of her life and few if any reputable physicians will take her on."

  The other two stifled more giggles as they ate their meals. Haunt finally asked, "When do you leave for Teklan?"

  "This afternoon. All of the operatives are on assignment and the commander stayed behind so that he could walk me through the facility. General Brodin seems most affable in his command position."

  "He is the most cheerful dhemon I have ever met. Maybe the two of you could be complimentary." Haunt was trying to match make.

  "I understand that many of the women are mated to their partners, but I cannot see a male being interested in the hardhearted woman that I have become."

>   "You have many fine qualities, Gray. You are lovely for one thing and your navy blue hair is truly extraordinary." Zenina put her arm around Gray and hugged her.

  "I am aware that I have a certain appeal, but I am talking long term. Who knows if any male could put up with this for an extended period of time?"

  Her friends were looking at her in surprise, so she changed the topic. "Zenina, how is your mate's transformation to stellar avatar going?"

  "It is almost time. My father will take a position here at Station 13 and Rolland will spend time with the star until they are one. Then, when he is back under control of his radiation, he will return here and by then, Balen will have finished his work on the planet below. Dry land is already appearing, but the winds are not warm enough to do much good."

  Kaylee smiled and shook her head, "You just had to get her started."

  Gray shrugged. "It was preferable to her picking into my nonexistent love life."

  "You know what you signed up for when you joined the Guard."

  "Well, I signed up because it made Hardcore happy. He was so despondent over my…condition. He needed something to make him perk up. He is perking plenty here."

  Kaylee sighed and idly passed her hand back and forth through the condiments on the table. "You have to live you own life, Gray."

  "I need to have him safe. After all, he gave up his life for me."

  "And your enclave took your soul for you being less than forthcoming about a talent that would have gotten you sterilized. The cycle has to end sometime. One stupid sacrifice does not earn another."

  Gray blinked and shook her head. "I may not have access to my emotions, but right and wrong, black and white are still very much in my mind. He became an anchor when I was at sea and he will be a driving force for this new branch of the guard. For those efforts on my behalf, I owed him joining the Sector Guard and training here for my permanent assignment. In fact, I am going to have to go and finish packing now. I only have nine uniforms and I want them all to come with me."

  Kaylee and Zenina stood, hugging her unresponsive form. "Good luck, Gray. Call us if you need us for anything."