“Major Zan?”Call me curious.
“An adversary.”
My psychic senses went on red alert, and I racked a round into the shotgun.“Shit! Got a hostile nearby.”
“Not the Tai-Kok,”Kaelen stated. Poof! He was standing next to the jeep and armed to the teeth with human weapons.
Squawking loudly, two chickens and three wild turkeys burst out of the bushes and fled down the creek bed.
Long black tentacles shot out of the undergrowth, snagged the turkeys and yanked them into the bushes.
“Oh, hell, that bastard ate my turkey dinner. Why would Gael return to Earth?”
Kaelen’s face hardened.“He has not. Stop General Jones! The Overlord would be angry if I allowed you to be eaten. Return to the ranch house. You cannot help us.”
“I never run from a fight,”Uncle Saul spat.
“Please, Uncle Saul, bullets won’t kill a Katanic shapeshifter and even Zarek won’t take them on.”
“I’ll be in the sniper’s nest.”
My shoulders sagged in relief. Testosterone should be outlawed.“Yes, sir.”
An aged, pale-faced male with glowing yellow eyes stepped into the creek bed. Three snakelike tentacles hovered above his wispy black, hooded cloak. The effect was nightmarish.
The power radiating off him was terrifying. I laid my shotgun on the passenger seat and tried to look harmless.“Qa’a?”
“Yes. Do not annoy him.”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing. Qa’a had turkey feathers stuck to his mouth.“Yes, sir.”
“You find me amusing?”Qa’a asked, his voice was pleasant and menacing at the same time.
“No, sir. Not at all. It’s just…”I wiped my mouth hoping he would get the hint.
Kaelen interjected,“Gael is no longer on this world.”
“I wanted to meet the female who freed my son from the Tai-Kok.”
My stomach knotted.“All I did was remove the control collar and he ate all the Tai-Kok soldiers guarding him.”
“What form had Gael taken?”Qa’a’s slimy tongue swiped at the feathers.
I flashed Qa’a the image of the skinny Vaziri.
“My son made no attempt to eat you?”
Kaelen snatched me out of the jeep and held me tightly.
“If you make any attempt to teleport Battle Commander, I will stop you. Your mate needs to answer my questions.”
A cold chill skittered up my back. I had a horrible feeling that things were about to go south.“Gael made no attempt to eat me, but I could feel his hunger, so we fed him some sheep. Unfortunately, the monsters had been starving him for far too long and he needed more to eat. Since I didn’t want him chowing down on my people, I told him about the Tai-Kok battle cruiser hiding behind our moon and he left.”
“When did Gael return?”
I glanced up at Kaelen.
“Gael took me from my warbird twelve hours ago and brought me here.”
