Page 61 of Stealing Jia

Chapter Twelve

I burst out laughing.“I wished I could have seen Zarek’s face when he realized he was trapped in the twins’ webbing and four bowls of blood worms were suddenly raining down on his head.”

“He was not amused,”Chiara said.

I chortled.“I can imagine. He got his butt kicked by children.”

“The Overlord knows you are laughing at him,”Bey stated.

“No way. He’s not omniscient.”

Bey’s eight eyes regarded me as if I were too stupid to live. “Yes, he is.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No, I am not.”

“Him knows,”LooLoo said.

LeeLee added, “Big scary.”

“Help. Me,”A male voice whispered in my head.

My amusement died a sudden death. “Did you guys hear that?”

Adoz chirped in alarm and took flight.

“Me did.” The hair on Pepe’s neck stood up.

Bey’s fangs sprang out of his fur.“The mental signature does not belong to a human.”

“It sounds a lot like Adam,”I countered. God, please let it be him.

“Help. Me,”the voice said again.

“Adam? Is that you?I was having a hard time getting a fix on him. “Where are you?”

“Don’t. Know.”

“Look around. What do you see?”

The blurry image of a lab formed in my mind. “Hurt. You. Must. Free me.”

“I will, but first, I need to know where you are.”A twinge of alarm shot through me. Bey was right. The entity talking to me wasn’t human. Had Giovanni already experimented on Adam? Was he now a monster?

“Port. To me.”

Port? Adam didn’t know about Chiara. I winced as my head was suddenly full of angry males. “Ouch!”

“It’s a trap,” Dad bellowed.

Trayon commanded, “Break the link. Now.”

“It is not Adam,” Zarek snapped and struck the mind trying to ensnare me.

I heard a shriek of utter agony before the link broke. A knot formed in my stomach as it hit me. “The mental signature doesn’t match Adam, but it’s a dead ringer for that Rodan scientist who’s working with Giovanni.”

“The scientist’s name is Mallox.”Trayon flashed me an image of a space station littered with headless corpses. “He was responsible for the massacre at Pictoris 335. Three hundred Coletti citizens died.”

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