Page 23 of Crossing Quinn

“Want out,”a child’s voice cried in my head. “No like this place. Want my momma.”

Oh Goddess, a female youngling. “Where are you?”

She tugged on my mind. “Here.”

I could sense her above me. Horror roiled through me. Please don’t let her be on the slaughter ship. Please don’t let her be on that ship. Papa and I had boarded one before, and I still had nightmares. “What’s your name, little one?”

“Clio.”

“I’m coming to get you, Clio. Are you inside the ship?”

“In cage. By door. Monsters took Momma inside.”

I walked around to the loading ramp. Drekk. The main hatch was open, which meant the monsters were nearby. Just outside the hatch was a small cage with what looked like a silky black ball inside. My jaw dropped when I noticed the tentacles. Was Clio a Katanic shapeshifter? If she was, she was worth her weight in gold to the Tai-Kok. They considered Katanics a delicacy. An adult Katanic was extremely powerful. How in the nine hells had the Tai-Kok captured them? I squatted down for a closer look. Holy Goddess. She was. “Hello, Clio. My name is Xenia.”

“Want my momma.”Her glowing yellow eyes were so sad.

“I know you do. I’ll see if I can find her.”

“Hungry.”

Papa said to stay far, far away from hungry Katanic shapeshifters, but I couldn’t go off and leave her. She was just a baby. My gaze settled on the dead Tai-Kok. It seemed fitting. “How about some juicy Tai-Kok?”

“Me like.”

I opened the cage door, and the next thing I knew, Clio’s tentacles were clinging to my neck. “Scared. Momma was crying. Why they hurt her?”

I was killing every one of those drekking monsters. I stroked her trembling body. “Because they’re mean, but I won’t let them hurt you. You’re safe now.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

“You find Momma?”

I had a horrible feeling Momma had been eaten. “I will look for her, but first let’s get you some yummy Tai-Kok to munch on.”

“’Kay.”A mouth with serrated teeth appeared in her body. “Me very hungry. They no feed me.”

“I bet you are, but now you can eat all the monsters you want.”I hurried over to the dead Tai-Kok and put Clio on the ground next to them. “Eat up.”

“No like metal teeth.”

Huh? I thought Katanic shapeshifters could digest just about anything. “Just spit them out,” I said.

“’Kay.”Clio’s mouth began to grow wider and wider.

I watched in astonishment as she stuffed one head after another into her gaping maw. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Ugh. The sound was giving me the willies.

Clio spat out the melted metal teeth.

My psychic senses screamed a warning. I somersaulted behind a jagged piece of metal. A volley of energy bolts missed me by a scant inch. I psychically scanned the area. There. Just behind the burning remains of the warehouse, I could sense four males. Three were sneaking up on me from the left, while the fourth one kept me pinned down.

A laser beam struck the dead Tai-Kok. The body disintegrated into a million fireflies. The bastard was shooting at Clio. I instinctively summoned my fire and started hurling fireballs at them.

Whoosh! Boom! Whoosh! Boom! Whoosh! Boom! Whoosh! Boom!Brilliant green flames danced over the slaver’s weapons. With cries of startled pain, the slavers dropped their rifles and ran for their lives.

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