Page 94 of Stealing Jia
“Where did he go?”
“I have placed him in the stasis chamber,”Oni replied.
“Thank you.”
Dozens of tentacles sprouted from the slug creatures and they quickly stuffed the Yak bugs down their deformed gullets. Within minutes they had eaten most of the alien insects.
My mouth went dry and my heart began to pound. “Got any more bugs?”
Shock and horror flashed across Oni’s face. “No.”
“Gorums are incredibly hard to kill and have been known to eat the entire crew of a spaceship. Do you have enough stasis chambers to hold them?”
“No. There is only one,”Oni answered.
An explosion shook the cavern. Dirt and debris rained down on us.
“They have breached the security gates,” Oni said.
A cold knot formed in my stomach. “Chiara can you port the twins back to the ship?”
“I cannot. The metal shielding inhibits my abilities.”
I turned a frantic gaze on Oni. I had to get the children out. “Can you lower your shields?”
“No. The cavern is lined with adamantium and only thequantum beam can penetrate it.”Oni pulled a silver sword.
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Like that was going to work against a mutant Gorum. “Your sword, my laser pistol and energy balls are useless against those slug monstrosities. My mate and our Gorum allies can defeat them. I need you to transport them here, now.”
“Males are forbidden from entering our sacred place.”
I really wanted to punch her.“Your holy place has already been violated by Mallox, Giovanni and their monsters. If we don’t get help soon, they will eat us and desecrate your tombs.”
“Mother Jia does not lie,” Chiara added.
“We no die,”the twins wailed.
A crocodile creature charged toward us.
I hit him with an energy ball, knocking him into a lion-headed statue. The carved figure toppled over, setting off a chain reaction.Boom!Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!The last sculpture hit the pyramid and broke into a million pieces. I winced. I had just taken out over a thousand years of history.“Sorry. Didn’t know that would happen.”
“Visualize your mate and the Gorum,”Oni growled.
I did as she requested.
The crocodile mutant crawled out from the broken statues and roared.
I nailed him with another energy ball. To my utter surprise, he burst into flames. “Whoa!”
“Behind you,” Chiara warned.
I spun around and got smacked across the face by a long, slimy tentacle. I literally saw stars. My knees buckled and down I went.
The mutated Gorum gave a cackling laugh. “I will feast on your flesh.”
“Up, Momma Jia,”the twins yelled.“Up.”
A tentacle reached for me as I struggled to get to my feet. A gray whirlwind erupted around us. Twenty seconds of falling down an endless black hole and we appeared on the fifth level of the pyramid. “You’re a life saver, Chiara.”
