Page 59 of Arresting the Warlord

I frowned. “Is training exercises another word for cannon fodder?”

“It is.”

The roof creaked ominously, and pieces of ceiling tile rained down.

I backed away from the bar. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Jake agreed.

Snap! Crack! Pop!The roof crashed down. Churning dust and debris rolled across the parking lot.

“Shit! Billy Bob,” I cried.

Jake grabbed me before I could climb into the rubble. “Relax. He boogied about five minutes ago.”

“Whew! Dead people create a shitload of paperwork.”

“As do you,” Zarek commented.

I flinched when Zarek’s predatory gaze settled on me. “Ah, well, in my defense, I’m not used to dealing with Askole warriors. But the good news is, we found the perfect woman for Trayon.”

A brief smile touched his mouth. “Have you?”

“Yep. Jia Stanka is thirty-two. Her talents range from the ability to confuse minds to manipulating electricity.”

“You neglected to add she is a master thief and assassin,” Zarek replied.

Crap, he was reading my mind again. “That’s true but a docile, Susie Homemaker type wouldn’t last five minutes with any Askole. Zia will keep Trayon on his toes.”

“Undoubtedly. You have my permission to hunt her.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Jake, I am impounding Drax’s shuttle. Have CeeCee fly it back to the ship,” Zarek instructed.

“Me? Really?” I gave a little hop of excitement. “Awesome.”

“You were instrumental in exposing Drax’s traitorous intentions.” Zarek shot me a wolfish grin. “But the cost of transporting the sheep is still coming out of your pay.”

My excitement died. “Oh, great.”

“Askole warriors can be very literal. Think of this as a learning experience.”

“Yes, sir.” To my relief, Zarek teleported away. “Well, there goes my vacation savings.”

“Let me guess. You were planning a trip to Italy,” Jake said.

“I was.”

“Not gonna be a problem. Jia’s in Italy.”

I brightened. “True and maybe I’ll even run into my sperm donor too.”

“Plan on it. Ready to fly a shuttle?”

“Hell, yeah.” Grinning like a kid at Christmas, I trotted over to the shuttle and stepped inside. “Wow. This is kinda fancy for a combat shuttle.”

Jake closed the hatch. “This is Drax’s personal transport.”

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