Page 26 of Defying the Relic Hunter

The image of a hoodoo shaped like a weird alien skull appeared in my mind.“My cage is beside it.”

My gaze locked on the one of a kind rock.“Gotcha.”The floor of the cavern was strewn with broken armor and the skeletal remains of long dead warriors. I bent down and examined the armor. It looked Aztec to me. The treasure had to be close!

“Do you wish to join the dead female?”

“My name is Kizzy, and no, I don’t.”

“Then move your ass,”Adan bellowed.

I increased my pace.“You sure you’re not Coletti?”

“I am not.”

I grinned at the note of outrage in his voice.“How did the Tomb Raiders capture you?”

“I do not wish to discuss it.”

“They snatched me with a transporter beam,”I confided.

“Which Coletti has claimed you?”

“Ethan Jones.”

Adan sniffed.“An adequate warrior.”

I came to an abrupt halt and gaped at the occupant of a glass cage. It was a kid and he was a dead ringer for that boy in those wizard books. Minus the glasses and funky scar. I stomped up to the cage.“You’re gonna get us out of here?”

Adan’s burning yellow eyes stared at me.“I can and will.”

“What are you?”Those weird eyes didn’t belong to a human.

“I am Katanic.”

I took a step back. Damn. He was a shape-shifting alien who could out-eat the Tai-Kok.“How long have you been locked in there?”

“Too long.”

“If I let you out, what’s to keep you from eating me?”

“My word,”Adan snapped.

Fear skittered up my spine when his face contorted, and hundreds of serrated teeth appeared where his mouth should be.“Only a fool would let you out.”

“The enemy comes. Free me and I will eat them.”

On the far side of the cavern over a dozen glittering blue lights materialized in the darkness. Were the Tomb Raiders coming or had they sent their henchmen to collect me? Either way. Not good.“Tell me what to do.”A series of symbols popped into my head.

“Touch the appropriate symbols on the keypad.”

I did and the door to the cage slid open. I gasped when Adan transformed into me. My double had one hell of a sunburn, her hair looked like a rat had nested in it and her tee-shirt was a filthy mess. Did I really look that bad?

A long, ropy tentacle shot out from my double’s body. It wrapped around my waist and dumped me on top of the alien skull.“Do not move.”

“Not moving.”I shivered.Watching yourself was kinda unnerving.

Fourteen heavily armed warriors with long purple hair cautiously approached Adan. Each was carrying an oddly shaped laser rifle. I had a sick feeling the rifles had been used in Adan’s capture.

A hulking warrior with green tattoos covering his face snarled,“Get back in your cage or die.”

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