Stealing Jia (Coletti Warlords #12) - Gail Koger Page 0,7
minds. Give it a rest. It won’t work on me. I’m also aware you’re a master thief and a paid assassin. But I’m a shaman.” CeeCee turned and blasted the cell door with a huge bolt of lightning. Kaboom! The door disintegrated.
My eyes bugged in shock. Holy Mary Mother of God!
“Truce, or do I leave you behind?”
“Truce. That bastard is using my, ah, brother as a test subject.”
“What does he look like?”
I sent CeeCee a mental image of Adam as I had last seen him. He was a tall, athletic teenager with way too many tattoos, a sneering skull tee-shirt and his thick black hair stood up in spikes.
“Do you know where he’s being held?”
“Si. In Giovanni’s lab. It’s down this corridor, through a burial chamber and the second door on the left.”
CeeCee’s interrogation continued. “What’s your brother’s name?”
“Adam Stanka.”
“Do you have any idea how many test subjects Giovanni has here?”
“Adam, his band mates and twenty of their fans were taken from a bar in Verona,” I replied.
“Did you go to the police?”
I gave CeeCee a look. “No, but I hacked into their servers. They’ve done this before. Almost a hundred people are missing from Verona alone.”
“Do you know if Earth First is involved?”
“I don’t have any hard evidence, but a lot of the test subjects are missing psychics.” Boom! The floor bucked beneath my feet. My mouth tightened. “Your team?”
“Yes. What has Adam been able to tell you?”
“Not much. Giovanni keeps him sedated, but I keep getting flashes of an older Rodan injecting a blue liquid into him and the other captives.”
CeeCee’s lips drew back in a feral snarl. “The Rodan consider psychic brains a delicacy and human meat is a big seller at their version of a supermarket. “Are you sure that bastard’s working with the Rodan?”
“I am.” I backed up as lightning bolts crackled around CeeCee. Merda! She had a bit of a temper.
The energy bolts abruptly stopped and CeeCee took a deep breath. “We need to take Giovanni alive.”
“What? No! That monster dies today,” I snapped.
“Sorry, but Zarek wants him alive so he can interrogate him.”
I gasped in alarm, “You work for Zarek?”
“I’m his new investigator.” CeeCee didn’t seem very happy about that fact.
A soul-haunting howl echoed through the catacombs.
I shuddered. “That poor creature.”
“Probably one of Giovanni’s lab creations. Speaking of creatures, eight of Giovanni’s super soldiers are running loose in the catacombs,” CeeCee said.
The images of what had once been human males formed in my mind. They were now hairless, white skinned monstrosities with elongated snout-filled with sharp crocodile teeth. Blood-red eyes and claw-tipped fingers completed the horror show. “Dio mio.” I crossed myself.
“Shrek and my uncle are the two best healers in the galaxy. They should be able to help your brother and the others.”
Who was Shrek? I’d play along with their little game for now. “I pray you’re right.” My mouth a grim line, I pulled my sword with a dramatic flourish, and waved it around. “Those monsters die today.”
CeeCee stared at me for a long moment.
What could I say? I had flunked fencing, but I was very good with a knife and this was one way to appear harmless.
“Two of those monsters are coming our way,” CeeCee abruptly announced.
The old guy pranced down the passageway without a care in the world.
“That old fool is going to get himself killed.”
CeeCee smiled. “My uncle is many things, but his harmless act is just that. An act.”
Two hairless, white-skinned monstrosities charged toward him.
Golden waves of energy swirled around CeeCee’s uncle. Poof! Like magic, he transformed into a gargantuan bear.
I gaped at him. “Your uncle turned into a bear! How is that possible?”
“Uncle Jesse is a one-of-a-kind Skinwalker and a damned good tow truck driver too,” CeeCee replied.
Skinwalker? Was that another word for shapeshifter?
Roaring ferociously, her uncle attacked. The super soldiers were no match for his ten-inch claws and fangs.
CeeCee grimaced as blood and body parts splattered her. “Unfortunately, standing too close to him can get a bit messy.”
“Merda!” I wiped the blood off my face and took a step back. “What kind of magic is that?”
“Navajo.” CeeCee frowned. “Rodan soldiers are in the catacombs.”
“Can’t the all-powerful Overlord deal with them?”
Boom! Boom! The walls shuddered and bits of rocky debris rained down on us.
Adam suddenly linked with me. “Help me. I don’t want to die.”
His pain rolled over me and I caught fleeting glimpse of a Rodan injecting him again. I took off running. “They’re hurting Adam.”
“Wait! It could be a trap.” CeeCee ran after me.
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