said in unison.
“Father Trayon will punish Rakk for hurting him, but I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“We no hurt. Him is.”
Pulling my laser pistol, I stepped cautiously into the mess hall, and my jaw dropped. A web wrapped Rakk lay on the floor and his body seemed to be shrinking. Merda! LeeLee and LooLoo had their fangs buried in his neck. “Are you eating him?”
LooLoo quickly removed her fangs. “We hungry.”
“Him taste good,” LeeLee giggled and took another slurp.
Ugh. “Never eat people until you check with Father Trayon. You never know where they’ve been.” I frowned. That came out wrong.
“Yes, Momma Jia,” The twins said dutifully.
I linked with Bey, “The twins are safe, but it looks like they’ve been sucking out Rakk’s inners.”
“Children can consume someone his size in a day.”
“What?”
Trayon zoomed in, came to a dead stop, and grinned. “Well done children.”
“Help me,” Rakk moaned.
I sneered. “Not a chance.”
“I should have killed you, but he wants you and the spawn alive,” Rakk mumbled.
Trayon’s tentacles squirmed wildly. “Who wants Jia alive?”
“The human.”
“Is this the human?” I flashed him a picture of Giovanni.
Several spasms shook Rakk. “Yes. He… He said… You destroy… His lab.”
“I can’t take credit for that, but I did catch his wig on fire.”
Trayon laughed. “How did that happen?”
“The idiot made the mistake of attacking me and he accidently fell into some candles. It wasn’t my fault his wig was so flammable it burned the restaurant down.”
Adoz landed on my shoulder and held out a small metal disk.
I took it from him. “What’s this?”
“It’s a miniature encryption drive.” Trayon held his gauntlet over it and watched as information scrolled across his screen. “He downloaded all the security protocols, and he has the codes to disable our shields and weapons systems.”
Cazzo! Was Rakk working alone or did he have a partner? “What did Zarek learn from his mind meld with Cuylen?”
Trayon growled deep in his chest. “Nothing. He was found dead in his cell.”
“And I bet Rakk had just been there.”
“He had.”
Rage burned through me and I wanted nothing more than to end him. The greedy bastard had aided the Rodan and for what? Credits? “How did Rakk get Lipas and the creature onboard our ship?”
“We will soon find out,” Trayon promised.
Dad appeared next to me and whistled. “If I hadn’t seen it myself, I’d never believed it.”
“The twins were feeling a bit peckish,” I commented dryly.
“I can see that.”
Zarek teleported in with Sariel. They stared at Rakk for a moment.
“A unique solution,” Sariel commented.
Everyone moved over as the Gorum squeezed into the room.
“Incredible. We had heard Tabor children were deadly,” Bebo said.
I shifted Cason to my hip. “You have no idea of what they can do when properly motivated. Just ask Zarek.”
“They are resourceful,” Zarek conceded.
Loki and Ivan entered the mess hall.
Pepe growled at them.
“Sssh.”
“No like.”
He had a point. Which side were they on? “It’s okay. They’ll behave and if not, they’re on the Tabor’s dinner menu too.”
Loki and Ivan eyed me as if I had suddenly sprouted horns.
I bared my teeth in a semblance of a smile. “But you’re not foolish enough to follow in Rakk’s footsteps, are you?”
“No, my lady, we are not,” Loki answered.
“Good.” I turned my attention to Trayon. “I think being eaten by the Tabors is the appropriate punishment for a traitor.”
“I agree,” Trayon said.
A pitiless smile pulled at Zarek’s mouth. “I need to interrogate him first, then he is theirs.”
“Geepa,” Cason gurgled happily and held out his arms to Trayon.
Trayon took him from me. “My little warrior pursuing the enemy before he can walk.”
“What did you expect? He carries our genes,” Sariel said proudly.
What had brought about Sariel’s sudden change of heart? I picked up Pepe. “I’ll take the kids back to our quarters and let Zarek do what he must.”
“I will escort you,” Dad said.
LeeLee and LooLoo scooted up my body and perched on my head. “You belong Momma Jia?” They said at the same time.
“I do and you all belong to me. You can call me grandpa,” Dad said.
“Grandpa,” the twins crowed.
Pepe jumped on Dad’s leg. “Me belong you?”
“You do and Adoz and Chiara. You’re all my grandchildren.”
Adoz landed on Dad’s shoulder and chirped happily.
How had I gotten so lucky? Not only had Trayon claimed the children, but now my dad had too. My family was awesome.
“We hungry,” LooLoo cried.
“When Zarek is finished talking to Rakk, you may eat him.” Good Lord, I sounded downright ghoulish.
LeeLee and LooLoo bounced up and down on my head. “Hurry Uncle Zarek.”
“I will