Page 55 of Stealing Jia

Bey gave me the Tabor version of the one finger salute.

I tackled him to the floor.

The crazy spider jumped up and I was suddenly riding him like a rodeo bronco. “Yee-haw!”

He tore up the wall. I lost my grip and crashed to the floor.

Splat! Splat! Splat! Splat!

The ass had webbed me to the floor. “That was a mistake.”

Bey crawled on top of me and black fangs erupted through his fur. “You are a foolish petka.”

I froze when he nipped at my neck. “Foolish? Maybe. Helpless no.” I zapped him.

Bey convulsed, toppled off me and his legs curled into a ball.

Cazzo! Had I killed him? I struggled against the webbing. The nasty spider had done a thorough job of gluing me to the floor. “Trayon! I need a medic.”

“Who is injured?”

“I think I killed Bey.”

Whoosh!Trayon was standing over me. “What happened?”

“Ah. Well, we had a little disagreement. He webbed me. I zapped him and here we are.”

Soval zoomed up, took one look at Bey, and ran his scanner over him.

“Is he dead?” He sure looked dead.

“No, merely stunned,” Soval replied.

“Oh. That’s good.” Until he woke up. Then there would be hell to pay.

A loud crash sounded from inside. “I have a feeling the evil twins are into the blood worms again.”

“As do I. Do not go anywhere.” Trayon stepped into our quarters.

“Har. Har.” Who knew my big, bad had a sense of humor?

A tall, gray-haired human male in armor appeared in the hallway. His eyebrows rose when he spotted me. “You have to be Jia.”

“I am. Got a knife?”

He grinned and pulled a dagger. “I do.”

“Can you cut me free before the eight-legged freak wakes up?”

“I can.” His gaze roved over me like he was committing me to memory.

Once look into his goldish-green eyes and it just hit me. He was my father. I studied him eagerly. He wore his hair military style and was a total badass in his battle armor. Holy Mother! My dad had dimples just like me. He was everything I could have hoped for. “You’re…? Are you Derek Jones?”

“I am.”

“God, I can’t believe it. I’ve been searching for you for a very long time.”

“If I had known Viola was pregnant, I would have done everything I could to find you.”

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