Page 81 of Game on Askole

“Waewae tama-nur-ra. Waewae tama-nur-ra. Waewae tama-nur-ra.”

The roaches did a little hip-hop routine.

Every life form in the bar, including the Prithvi, stopped drinking, watched for a moment, and then fled.

The Yaggas were right behind them.

To my astonishment, Knock-Knock bolted out the doors too. For an Askole to run meant we were seriously screwed. I climbed up on the bar.“Are the cockroaches that scary?”

“The Romi are very difficult to kill. They like to eat their prey alive.”

“As do the Tai-Kok. I’ve killed a lot of them, and exterminating a few bugs shouldn’t be a problem.”

The warriors repeated their dance and bellowed, “Ka nate whakatu. Tutu ngarahu. Ka nate whakatu. Tutu ngarahu. Waewae tama-nur-ra.”

The Romi chittered and bounced from side to side.

It felt like I was in one of those old television shows where they pranked you.“You have any bug spray?”

“No.”Adan’s body rippled and began to change.“Few life forms interest me. Fortunately for you, you are one of them, and you did save my daughter’s life. Now I save yours.”

Interesting life form? His daughter?“Who is your daughter?”I blasted away at the Romi.

“Detja.”Adan’s skin turned black.

Say what?“Detja is a Farin.”

“I adopted her after her parents were killed by the Tai-Kok.”

Bet that was one interesting story. I gaped in horror as Adan transformed into a huge heaving silky black mass. Just when I thought I had seen it all, fate threw me a curve ball. Holy Mother of God. His aura was one of a psychopathic killer. My first instinct was to run, but dammit, there was nowhere to go. If it was my day to die, I was taking as many with me as I could. I eyed Adan’s ghastly form.“Who? What are you?”

An enormous mouth edged with hundreds of serrated teeth appeared in the mass. A sticky tongue shot out, smacking me in the chest and jerking me forward.“I am a Katanic shapeshifter. I only assume my true form when I feel the need to kill someone or I am hungry.”His ran his tongue across my face.

Ewww.Please don’t eat mewouldn’t stop him and seemed a bit cowardly. I glared at him and wiped the slime off my face. Not only was my rocky road ice cream melting, it was that time of the month, and I was feeling a tad homicidal. How would Adan deal with a woman with a bad case of PMS?“Are you going to talk me to death, or are you going to do something about those assholes?”

Adan’s two burning yellow eyes stared at me.“You remind me of Detja.”A tentacle wrapped around me and tossed me on top of a high cabinet.“Do not move from that spot. I haven’t fed in a while.”

Oh, dear God.“Yes, sir.”A hysterical giggle escaped me. Yippee! I wasn’t on his dinner menu. Or was I?

Dozens of long ropy tentacles shot from Adan’s body. They quickly grabbed the Romi and stuffed them one after another into Adan’s widening mouth.Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Ugh. The sound of the Romi being eaten was truly horrible.

The Legionnaires must have been seriously freaked out too and sent out a mayday. Sixty seconds later, a transporter’s glittering blue light engulfed them.

“Dammit! Adan, they’re getting away.”

“No, they are not.”He rolled into the transporter’s energy field. The Legionnaires and Adan vanished.

I linked with Detja.“Pardon me, ma’am, but do you know a Katanic shape-shifter by the name of Adan? He says he’s your father.”I shot the remaining Romi before it could scurry out the front door.

Detja’s shocked horror rolled over my mind.“Where are you?”

“In The Tipsy Gorum. A bunch of bounty hunters tried to kill me, and things got a little messy.”I gave a girly squeak when Zarek invaded my mind.

“Adan ate only the Romi?”

I looked around. The room was empty except for the Bjarke and Askole sprawled on the floor. Yep. They were still breathing.“As far as I know, but who knows how many Legionnaires he’ll eat.”

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