Page 39 of Stealing Jia

Trayon caressed my face.“You did what was necessary to survive. There is no shame in that. You are not alone anymore. You are now part of my family. Eat.”

I nodded and watched him walk out. How big was Trayon’s family?

Chapter Eight

I got my answer sooner than expected when the doors slid open and in strolled two enormous Askole warriors. To my alarm, they walked over and sat down on either side of me.

“You must be Jia,” the one on my right said, exposing his fangs in a rather terrifying smile.

“I am.”Using my napkin, I tried to clean up the spilled blood worms.

“I did not know humans ate blood worms,”the warrior on my left commented.

“We don’t.” I drained my glass of Merlot. “Cason, my son eats them.”

Both warriors sniffed me, and their tentacles danced over my hair.

The warrior on my right said, “You have not given birth to any children.”

“Or had sex with Trayon,” the other warrior exclaimed in disbelief.

Zzzzzt!An energy ball formed above my hand. “That’s rude, none of your business and who are you?”

The warrior on the left grinned. “I am Juri.” He pointed to his friend. “He is Dway. We are Trayon’s kindred.”

Dway gazed at the energy ball in delight. “Are there more soft skins like you?”

“Ask Zarek.”

“We must travel to Earth and claim one.” Juri tried to stick a talon in the energy ball.

I smacked his hand. “Don’t touch it!”

He looked at me in surprise. “Something so small cannot harm us.”

“Yes, it can.”

“Silly female.”Dway prodded the ball.Zap! Heflew backwards and crashed into the wall. His tentacles stood on end.

“What part of don’t touch didn’t you understand?”I yelled at him.

Dway groaned.

Juri broke into hooting crackle. “Trayon chose well.”

Idiots. I linked with Trayon.Do you know some Askole warriors by the name of Juri and Dway?”

“They are family. What humans would consider cousins. They are harmless.”

Uh huh. Harmless wasn’t a description I would use.“Okay, they dropped by to say hello and Dway kinda got zapped.”

“Zapped? Does he need a medic?”

I eyed the wisps of smoke rising from his tentacles.“That’s probably a good idea.”

Whoosh!Trayon zoomed in with Cason cradled against his chest. A few seconds later, a pygmy Askole entered the mess hall carrying a med kit. He hurried over to Dway.

“I told him not to touch my energy ball.”

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