“I would expect no less. Defne is Qa’a’s child.” Zosia released me and crammed the bodies down her maw.
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Is Zosia Qa’a’s queen?”
“Not exactly a queen but close. She is Qa’a’s second-in-command.”
I let out a groan. “And I yelled at her.”
“A diplomat you’re not,” Derek said dryly.
“I wasn’t letting her leave Defne motherless.”
“Losing a family member is difficult.” There was a wealth of grief in Derek’s voice.
Kiri draped a branch on Derek’s shoulder. “Me sorry.”
“Me too.” He stroked her leaves.
When the Tai-Kok first attacked Earth, they had slaughtered millions. I wasn’t the only one who had lost family. I placed a comforting hand on Derek’s arm. “May the Goddess grant you peace.”
Zosia whacked us with a tentacle. “More food.”
Derek gave a slight bow.“Yes, Consort.” He teleported away.
A brilliant orange glow popped into existence and spun rapidly.
Kiri jumped on my back. “What that?”
I yanked out my laser pistol.“Good question. Kinda looks like a tornado, but it shouldn’t be able to form inside a ship.”
“That is a teleportation portal. It is how our people journey from one location to another,” Zosia advised.
“Oh. So, the guy who’s bringing you theCalcinite’s hearts opened it.”
“Yes.”
With a squeak, Defne scrambled up my arm and wrapped her tentacles around my neck. I stroked her. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”
“Put the pistol away,”Zosia commanded.“Laser bolts only annoy us.”
I holstered my weapon.“Good to know.”
The spinning light accelerated until a large vortex formed. Bolts of green lightning crackled wildly around the opening.
I backed away. Maybe I should teleport to the upper deck until Adan was finished teleporting.
“Stay where you are,”Zosia ordered and wrapped a tentacle around my ankle.
“Yes, Consort.”
A huge, heaving silky black mass with dozens of creepy tentacles rolled out of the vortex.
Just when I thought I could deal with anything, fate kept throwing me curve balls. Adan’s aura was that of a psychopathic killer. My first instinct was to run, but Zosia had a death grip on me.
Adan’s two burning yellow eyes studied at me. “You are a Jones female?”
“No. I’m Mayhem, a Bjarke berserker.” I touched the baby. “This is Defne, and the Rui tree is called Kiri.”
“You are a Jones,”Adan chortled.“Only they collect alien children.”
