Stealing Jia (Coletti Warlord Series Book 13)

by Gail Koger

  I jumped about a foot when Waewae began to scream.

  Cason dropped his bone and began to whimper.

  “No like,” the evil twins cried.

  Pepe literally climbed up my armor. “No stay. No stay.”

  I gave Zarek the evil eye. Why hadn’t he teleported Waewae back to his ship to interrogate him?

  Chiara tightened her grip on me. “Can we return to our quarters?”

  “Yes, we can.” I turned to Trayon. “The children don’t need to see this.”

  “Go.”

  My arms full of kids, I stomped out. Men were thoughtless jerks.

  Chirping loudly, Adoz streaked down the corridor.

  It was a good thing Trayon had programmed the doors to admit him. A glittering blue light suddenly engulfed me and the kids. “Trayon!”

  He linked with me. “Your tendency to be kidnapped is becoming tiresome.”

  “Like it’s my fault?” If he had been standing next to me, I would have whacked him. My molecules abruptly stopped whizzing about. The light faded and we were standing on an ice-cold platform. I quickly checked the kids over. “Are you able to port us back to the ship, Chiara?”

  “Yes, Mother Jia.”

  “Get ready.”

  “Hold,” Trayon interjected. “See what Lilkee wants.”

  “Sure. Why not. Maybe we can exchange recipes too.” My gaze settled on the tall, stick thin Coletti female standing at the transporter controls. Her pointy metal hat, crimson breastplate and screaming red body suit were so bright they hurt my eyes. Her makeup made her look like a homicidal clown. Had she done that on purpose? Or was she a brick short of a full load?

  “Give me the Shani,” Lilkee demanded imperiously.

  “No.” I shifted Pepe and Cason to my left arm and plucked a thermite grenade off my weapons belt. “Your son Waewae has been captured. If you’re smart, you’ll surrender.”

  “My son is too powerful to be captured by primitives like you.”

  “Well, this primitive took him down and Zarek is tearing your son’s mind apart as we speak,” I replied.

  Her tone one of icy contempt she snapped, “Zarek is not strong enough to break through my son’s mental shields.”

  “Keep her talking. We can’t get a fix on you,” Trayon ordered.

  “Yes, my lord.” I gave Lilkee an exaggerated eye roll. “I thought your makeup was a clever disguise, but you really are a clown. A very stupid one.”

  Her mouth working like a stranded guppy’s, Lilkee gaped at me for a moment, then bawled, “I am the Empress of the Legionnaires and a Coletti princess. No one speaks to me in such a manner. Now bow down to me.”

  “No.” I held up the grenade. “I’m giving you one last chance to surrender, or things are going to get messy.”

  “You will regret your insolence. My mind is a thousand times stronger than yours. I will enjoy your screams as I destroy your feeble brain,” Lilkee snarled.

  Pepe bared his fangs at her. “Me stronger than you.”

  “Impossible!” Lilkee stomped her foot.

  “He’s telling the truth. You’re a psychic dud,” I added scornfully.

  She drew herself up proudly. “My powers exceed Zarek’s and soon all of you will be begging for mercy.”

  A tickling sensation crawled over my shields and I grinned at her. “That’s all you’ve got?”

  Lilkee blinked in disbelief. “Why aren’t you screaming?”

  “It’s like this, princess. Neither you nor your son have any power. You’ll never be Zarek’s equal. Whoever told you that was lying to you. Big time.”

  “Port,” Trayon ordered.

  Lilkee pulled out a laser pistol. “Now you die.”

  “Get us out of here Chiara.” I tossed Lilkee the grenade. “Catch.”

  The grenade smacked her in the face and rolled across the floor.

  Slurppp! We went from zero to warp drive in ten seconds flat. The horrific, twisting funnel of energy rocketed us across that weird black void and dumped us on the bridge of Trayon’s battle cruiser.

  “Ax.” Cason giggled and clapped his hands.

  His tail wagging crazily, Pepe grinned up at me. “Fun. Do again.”

  Dad let out sigh of relief and took a seat at the tactical console.

  Bey was perched comfortably on the back of Trayon’s chair. “I told you not to worry. Jones females always survive.”

  Adoz landed on my right shoulder and twittered loudly.

  “He is angry you left him behind,” Chiara translated.

  I petted his head “Sorry, it wasn’t by choice.”

  “How long did you set the timer for?” Trayon wanted to know.

  I glanced down at my gauntlet. “Five. Four. Three. Two. Boom.”

  Off the port bow a nimbus of white-hot gases and debris abruptly appeared. The silhouette of a badly damaged ship blotted out the stars.

  “Ta-da! There’s her ship.”

  “Coordinates locked. Squad Rio you are a go,” Trayon commanded over his comm-link.

  On the main view screen Trayon’s warriors transported aboard Lilkee’s ship in full battle gear. Few of the Legionnaires had been wearing armor when the hull ruptured and now floated lifelessly in zero gravity. The fight to take the ancient warbird was a short one.

  Dad advised, “I’ve run scans on Lilkee’s ship. Their stealth technology is the prototype stolen from the Farins three months ago. The palladium blocks the electromagnetic waves our tracking scanners use. It allowed them to get close enough to our ships to activate their transporter beam.”

  “With our shields down, Waewae easily got on our ship and Lilkee was able to snatch us,” I grumbled.

  Sariel, the father-in-law from hell, studied the tactical screens. “I must have this technology.”

  I exchanged amused glances with Trayon. “Did your warriors find Lilkee?” I wanted some alone time with the bitch.

  “No. Her body was either pulverized in the explosion or sucked out into space,” Trayon replied.

  Chiara slithered up my arm. “The transporter was activated just before I ported us. It is possible Lilkee is on this ship.”

  “Merda!”

  “Scanning now,” Dad advised.

  Trayon tapped his command panel. “Intruder alert. All warriors man your battle stations.”

  “Got her! Deck four. She’s heading for engineering.” Dad teleported.

  There was a flash of black as Sariel and Trayon zoomed off the bridge. Bey clung to Trayon’s back.

  I eyed the captain’s chair. Why not? I sat down in it. Pretty cool. Built into the armrests were all sorts of controls. I could touch that icon and fire the laser canons. That one would launch a missile and… Why was the navigations officer giving me the stink eye? I glanced around. The rest of the bridge crew were ignoring me, why couldn’t he? “Relax. As much as I’d like to, I won’t blow up Zarek’s warbird.”

  “That is the High Commander’s battle cruiser,” the Navigation Officer replied snottily.

  “Oh, don’t want to blow that up either.”

  The Navigations Officer gave me a toothy grin. “It would be a fatal mistake.”

  Zarek appeared on the main view screen. “Where are Trayon and Sariel?”

  “They’re on deck four chasing Lilkee,” I answered.

  His eyes widened and poof! He disappeared.

  “We hungry,” the evil twins cried.

  Pepe gave me his sad puppy dog eyes.

  “You too, huh?”

  “Yes Momma.”

  Lunch had been a while ago and I was feeling a bit peckish myself. “The bridge is yours,” I told the navigations officer and headed for the mess hall.

  “We want mealie bugs,” the evil twins shouted.

  Pepe cried, “A hamburger.”

  Adoz chirped.

  “He wants Bahmi fish,” Chiara translated. “I would like a small bowl of Decapod.”

  “Bloos. Bloos,” Cason chortled.

  “You’ve
got it. But I expect all of you to be on your best behavior. No food fights. No webbing blood worms to any surface.” I pointed at the evil twins. “Got it?”

  “Yes, Momma Jia,” they said in unison.

  To my utter amazement, the twins were well-behaved, and Cason didn’t dump his blood worms all over the floor. Progress. Of course, I’d have to start teaching him how to eat at the table. First thing I needed to do was get him a baby seat.

  “Lilkee is still on the loose,” Trayon advised.

  “You, my dad, Sariel and Zarek are the best hunters in the galaxy. How is she eluding you?”

  “She is wearing a cloaking device.”

  “Oh. Was it stolen from the Farins too?”

  “It was.”

  “Good hunting.” I set my glass of Merlot and pasta on the table. Before I could take a bite, Lilkee burst into the mess hall. “Web her,” I told the twins.

  Splat! Splat! Splat! Splat!

  Presto! Lilkee was glued to the wall. “Release me! Now. You filthy primitives. You have no right to hold me.”

  “Oh, but I do. You’ve broken about a zillion laws and are aiding and abetting our sworn enemy, the Rodan. That’s called treason.”

  “I am the Empress. I can do as I wish.”

  “Empress of what? That broken-down ship?”

  “My Legionnaires will destroy you,” Lilkee screeched.

  “What Legionnaires you didn’t kill off with that crazy dance ritual, you gave to the Rodan as lab rats. Did you forget that? I mean, why would they fight for you now?”

  “They would die for me.”

  “They’re dying alright, because you’re murdering them. Oh yeah, the few loyal subjects left on your ship have been captured.”

  Lilkee’s pale skin flushed with rage. “You destroyed my ship.”

  “Boo hoo.” I linked with Trayon. “Lilkee is in the mess hall.”

  “I will advise the others.”

  “My father will not allow the Askole heathens to harm me,” Lilkee crowed.

  I laughed. “I wouldn’t count on that.”

  “Zarek is headed your way. I have never seen him this angry. Take the children to our quarters and stay there,” Trayon instructed.

  “Not going to be a problem.” I gathered up the kids. “Okay guys, we need to leave so Zarek can talk to Lilkee.”

  Zarek popped into the room.

  Chiara ported us out.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The door chime rang. I frowned. I could sense Zarek in the hallway. Was he here to complain about the twins or yell at me for webbing Lilkee to the wall? The last thing I wanted to do was talk to him, but if I ignored him, he’d just teleport in.

  “What does he want?” Chiara asked worriedly.

  “Only one way to find out. I want you and the kids to go into the bedroom, while the grownups talk.”

  “We hide.” The evil twins shot under the bed.

  Adoz and Pepe followed them.

  The door chime sounded again.

  Cason wrapped his arms around my right leg. Chiara coiled around my left. “We stay with you.”

  “Okay.” Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and smiled politely at the Overlord.

  Zarek asked courteously, “May I come in?”

  “Ah, sure.” I gestured to the common room. “Please have a seat. Would you like a glass of Merlot?”

  “I would, thank you.”

  The urge to giggle hysterically was almost overwhelming. I was playing hostess to one of the most dangerous predators in the galaxy. And why was he being so nice? It was creeping me out. I ordered two glasses of Merlot from the food processor. Should I summon Trayon?

  Zarek cocked an eyebrow and shrugged.

  Merda! He was reading my mind. Time to suck it up. With the kids still clinging to my legs, I did the Frankenstein lurch back to the common room. I handed Zarek his glass. “I’m honored by your visit, but…”

  Zarek interrupted, “What do I want?”

  I nodded.

  “I wish to apologize. My actions in the mess hall frightened the children. That was never my intent. I let my anger get the best of me.”

  My jaw dropped. The Overlord seemed genuinely remorseful. Had he been hit in the head recently? Maybe I should call a medic.

  Cason crawled over to Zarek and patted his boot. “Ax.”

  I also accept your apology,” Chiara said.

  “Thank you.” Zarek picked Cason up and cuddled him. “Children are more resilient than we give them credit for.”

  Were they? I switched to English. “They were prisoners of the Rodan, and I have no idea what horrors they endured. I don’t know what they did to Adoz or the twins. Pepe was experimented on. Chiara watched her nest mates being eaten one by one. It haunts her. Can you erase those memories?”

  “I can.”

  I drained my glass of Merlot. Was it wrong of me to want to ease their pain?

  “It is not. You want our children to be happy and whole. I support any decision you make,” Trayon, the eavesdropper, advised.

  How had I gotten so lucky? I gave him a slow, mental kiss. “I love you.”

  “And I you.”

  Zarek interjected, “Or I can mute their memories. They won’t forget what happened, but it will no longer affect them as strongly.”

  “Mute them, please.” I felt Zarek’s power brush over the children and as I watched, Cason fell asleep in the Overlord’s arms. The twins, Adoz and Pepe began chasing each other around the bed. The shadows vanished from Chiara’s eyes and she joined in the merriment. Who knew snakes could slither that fast?

  “The incident at Sutri still troubles you,” Zarek said out-of-the-blue.

  I winced. How much of my mind had he read? “People died because of me.” The awful memories of that day flooded my mind. The once bustling town was an incinerated ruin. Butchered corpses littered the streets. Marauders and fighter jets battled overhead as panic-stricken people ran for their lives.

  A harsh laugh broke from me. “A Tai-Kok attacked me. Imagine my surprise when a glowing green orb formed on my hand and I used it to kill him. Then another monster tried to eat me and another and another. I just kept hurling energy balls, until my strength was gone. I didn’t want to be eaten so I ran.”

  “Your actions allowed hundreds to escape.”

  Tears welled in my eyes. “I could have saved more lives, but I chose to live.”

  “Your powers were gone, and you had no weapons. Dying would have accomplished nothing,” Zarek stated.

  Trayon asked, “How many people have you saved since then?”

  “A dozen or so.”

  “You have saved eight hundred and thirty-two humans, not including the street kids you rescued,” Zarek said.

  “That many?” I felt him mucking about in my mind. “What are you…?” The battle for Sutri faded away along with my soul-eating guilt. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off me. A part of me was angry with his interference. Another part of me welcomed it. I was tired of the nightmares. “Thank you.”

  Zarek handed Cason to me. “You are part of my family now. Gratitude is not necessary. I will arrange a playdate for Thor and Haki and your children.”

  Playdate? Zarek had definitely been hit in the head and I wasn’t quite sure who Haki was. “Thor’s Kaylee and Talree’s son, right?”

  “Yes, he needs more social interaction with other children.”

  That sounded a bit ominous, but Cason was unique, and he’d need powerful friends. “Thank you, I’m sure the children would enjoy that.”

  “Excellent.” He teleported away.

  I got myself another glass of Merlot and checked on the kids. All the excitement had worn them out. They were curled up in a big pile on the bed and not a blood worm in sight.

  The door chime sounded again. My stomach dropped. It was Sariel. What did he want? I tapped the release button, and the High Commander strode in. “Trayon isn’t here.”

  “I am aware of that.”
His gaze fell on the children. “Zarek has officially made himself the children’s godfather.”

  “That’s very kind of him.”

  Sariel’s smile was a little too toothy. “Kind? It was a political move. He likes to have some measure of control over all the Jones females.”

  “Maybe, but you’re the one who paid six times the bride price for me,” I countered.

  “Female warriors are rare.”

  “Not on Earth.”

  “I will admit, your species is unique.” Sariel’s tentacles seemed to be staring at me.

  Was he trying to freak me out? Cause it was working. “I know you think I’m child-sized and weak, but I’m not. And Trayon’s wealth isn’t the reason I agreed to mate with him.”

  Sariel’s eyes narrowed. “No, you did it to keep the Rodan spawn safe.”

  “Are you afraid Cason’s going to taint the Askole bloodline?”

  “No. Askole blood will overcome the child’s puny Rodan genes. With the proper training Cason will be a formidable warrior.”

  Huh? Sariel sounded almost proud of that fact.

  “Guard the Shani carefully. Many will try to take her from you, including Zarek,” Sariel said.

  “Chiara’s part of our family. I won’t let that happen and I don’t think Trayon or you will either.”

  “Any who try to take her will bring the wrath of the Askole Empire down on them,” Sariel drawled ominously.

  One look at the remorseless malevolence in his gaze and I believed him.

  Whoosh! Moving faster than the eye could follow, Sariel grabbed me and stuck my hand in his mouth.

  “Hey! What are you doing? Let go.” I yelped when he bit my index finger. His forked tongue licked up the blood. “If you’re hungry I can order you a meal.”

  Sariel bared his fangs in a terrifying grin and released my hand. “Our tongues are able to sense molecular changes.”

  “Didn’t know that, and what exactly are you looking for?”

  To see if your change has started. It has not. I will take another sample in two days.”

  “No, you won’t. Trayon will.”

  “As you wish.” Sariel dropped me to the floor. “The sooner you are Askole, the harder you will be to kill.”

  He had a point, but I hadn’t really thought about the changes that were going to occur. Holy Mother. Like tentacles, scales, and fangs. Ugh. A horrible thought struck me. “My hair! Am I going to lose my hair?”