Page 68 of Game on Askole

The fucker had screwed my DNA all to hell, and I didn’t even merit an apology? Or the courtesy of a face-to-face meeting? Was I suddenly that repulsive to him? I thought he loved me.

The sense of loss hit me like a freight train. My knees buckled, and I hit the floor. God, I felt like such a fool. Was everything Tihar told me a lie? I kept telling myself he loved me. I tried so hard to keep my fear and doubt from clouding my judgment. But now? I didn’t know what to believe. If he loved me, why hadn’t he contacted me? Hot tears rolled down my cheeks. I quickly brushed them away. No tears. Not until I knew the truth.

Musa rubbed against my face and chirped soothingly.

“We here. We no leave,”KeeKee said, snuggling under my chin.“Love you.”

“I love you too.”

Aunt Tess was suddenly in my head.“What’s wrong?”

I took a deep breath and told her.

“God, I’m so sorry.”She gave me a mental hug.“He’s an alien.Happily ever afterisn’t in his vocabulary.”

“All I wanted was for Tihar to love me as I loved him.”

“Oh, honey. A little tequila and a ton of chocolate will fix you up.”

“Will it?”

“Probably not, but it’ll numb the pain until we can come up with a plan to make the bastard and his father pay,”Aunt Tessa responded.

“Tihar’s on the other side of the galaxy.”

“We’re a bunch of devious bitches. We’ll figure something out.”

Poof.Rho and Aunt Tess appeared in my room.

I shrieked,“What’s he doing here? He’s one of them.”

“I needed a lift, and he’s leaving now.”Aunt Tess nudged him.“Right?”

After giving me an appraising look, Rho vanished.

Bree and Zoey teleported into the room, carrying beer, chocolate, chips and salsa.

Musa and KeeKee made a beeline for the food.

Just kill me now. “You told them, Aunt Tess?”

“We Jones girls stick together,” Aunt Tess said, handing me a shot of tequila.

I downed it. The warmth eased the knot in my stomach. I wasn’t alone, forgotten, or abandoned. I had my family. The not so jolly black giant was about to find out what that meant. Hurt one of us, and you dealt with all of us.

“Tihar just made the biggest mistake of his life,” Zoey said, squeezing my shoulder. “He threw away the best thing that ever happened to him. You.”

Bree wrapped an arm around me. “Feel like killing something?”

“Oh, hell yeah. What did you have in mind?”

“Naugers.”

The image of a bulbous body with a long snakelike neck and the head of a raptor flashed through my mind. It wouldn’t be as satisfying as killing the Tai-Kok or kicking a certain Askole warrior’s ass, but they’d do. “I’m in. Where are my favorite Barets, Rio and Cokie?”

“Jaylan took them hunting Tanezumis in the lower caverns.”

Detja and Kaylee appeared in the room, carrying our armored battle suits.

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