Chapter Ten #3
Toni stood and faced him. “Brother?” She kept half an eye on the creature. The thing looked like a cross between a panther and a mythical dragon. And it whined. Its serpentine tail wagged behind it, moving so hard it was easy to believe the darn thing’s butt would fly off any second now.
“And you’re telling me that’s… Azazel?” She gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. “That can’t be… how… what?” Too many questions. Not enough words.
“Listen.” Abalim took her shoulders in a comforting grip and looked her in the eyes. “I know this is a lot to take in. But I assure you Baelon is gone.”
Arakiba snorted and crossed his muscular arms over his firm chest.
“But I’m guessing you’ve been around a lot of psychic activity lately,” Abalim continued, ignoring Arakiba. “So, it shouldn’t surprise you that Azazel is a strong one. True?”
Toni peered closer at the beast. “I guess so.” She swung her attention to Abalim. “Hey, since you claim he’s your brother, are you psychics, too?” Crossing her arms, she took in the other two. “All of you?”
Asmodel nodded. “Yes, we are.”
“Okay, so does that mean you can all turn—”
“I’m sorry, but there isn’t time to answer all your questions.” Abalim interrupted. “We’re aboard an out-of-control galactic spaceship from another dimension that we have to get a handle on.”
“Organic units.”
Toni breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the mechanical tone of JR14 loud enough for all to hear as he buzzed to settle on Toni’s shoulder. For the first time, she noticed the clear helmet over her head was gone. The air was breathable, but a sharp ozone scent made her crinkle her nose.
Do not worry about the air, Sensos whispered to her. It is perfectly fine to breathe it.
“Multiple Krystalii entities aboard this vessel exhibit erratic and destructive behaviors due to the demise of Lord Baelon and the Nexus Core, which now pose an imminent threat to us,” JR14 intoned.
“Recommendation: immediate neutralization is the most efficient course of action to prevent catastrophic system failure.”
“Yes, we’ll have to…”
Before Abalim could finish, a horrible realization occurred to Toni.
“Oh my God… Elemi!” She rushed to the pile of shredded glass and crystals where she’d last seen the sexbot get buried.
“Elemi? Are you there? Answer me!” She dropped to her knees, intending to pluck pieces of the sharp objects off the android.
“Elemi?” Arakiba's anxious voice followed close behind her. “She’s under all this?”
When Toni nodded, he put his hand on her shoulder. “Stand back. I’ve got this.”
Glancing up at him, she noticed the determined expression stamped on his face.
A tight line formed on his full lips, and his gray eyes narrowed.
Without another word, she scrambled out of the way when he lifted his palms facing up.
Bits and pieces of the broken shards rose, before disintegrating into thin air. It exposed the pink android lying on her side with her glassy eyes open.
A blast of heat covered Toni’s back as the sound of a rumbling purr above her head made her freeze. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a sea of obsidian right behind her. Something hard nudged her hand, as if begging for her touch.
She trembled. How could she forget that humongous beast right behind her? He was so big, she only came up to its knees as the rest of it towered over her like a massive building.
“Don’t worry,” Asmodel stood next to her, facing the creature. “He won’t hurt you.”
“Oh yeah?” Toni refused to turn around. She’d rather watch Arakiba croon and fawn over the unmoving pink android. “Then why is it whimpering and licking its lips like I’m next on the menu?”
A line of drool hit her shoulder. Thank God she had Sensos on. Maybe the suit would save her from those humongous fangs and claws. Maybe Sensos would turn her into the Flash so she could run fast enough to escape a crunching death.
Or maybe fish can climb trees.
Do not concern yourself. Sensos told her. This male is your mate, and he would die to protect you.
That startled her. Mate? How could this monster be some kind of mate to her?
What those men told you is the truth. What you call a monster is the male you know as Azazel. Sensos' smooth reply belied the strange story it told her. He changed form when the Krystalii threatened you, giving him the ability to eliminate Baelon. I assure you, you are in no danger from him.
Yeah, but if you’re wrong and I get eaten, I’ll blame it all on you when I write my memoir, she mentally retorted.
“I’m trying to convince him to change back,” Asmodel continued as he studied the creature with an amused grin.
It took Toni a minute to get caught up in the conversation. Talking in two different conversations was confusing.
“But so far I can’t get through to him.” Asmodel shrugged and faced her.
Toni peered at the handsome man with a frown. She sidestepped, trying to get away from the gigantic beast behind her. The darn thing only shuffled with her, scooting across the floor and snorting a huffing rumble right above her head.
Abalim stood next to Asmodel and eyed the beast with his arms crossed. “I can’t get through to him either.” He looked down at Toni, then at JR14 on her shoulder. “Any recommendations, JR?”
“Hang on.” Arakiba drew their attention before the bot answered.
Toni sucked on her bottom lip when she watched him hold Elemi in his arms.
He stood in a widened stance as Elemi’s prone body lay stiff and lifeless in his muscular embrace. “I’m going to take Elemi back to Elemi to reboot her. If you need me, you know how to get me. Later.”
He and the android disappeared.
The man’s declaration of taking Elemi back to Elemi made zero sense. Not to mention how he vanished like that. Toni opened her mouth, but when the beast nudged the back of her head, she stilled. Nope, not gonna move one bit. Maybe the slobbering thing would go away if she pretended it wasn’t there.
Glancing at the remaining brothers, she gasped.
Without a sound, another creature stood where Arakiba had been.
Toni jerked and put a fist over her thundering heart.
What the hell is that? Its slim body was the epitome of elegance, with a gooey luminescent skin that she swore glowed.
Its two arms had elongated limbs, each ending in long, triple-jointed, elegant fingers.
What she found amazing was it appeared neither male nor female.
Studying it made her swallow with a dry throat.
On the top of its oblong head was a crown of golden spines, and it had almond-shaped eyes that shimmered in an array of mesmerizing colors.
“This is Rerqel,” Abalim introduced the creature. “He’s a… ah… colleague I met on Qorath, where I found your friend Lisa.”
“Lisa?” Toni squeaked.
The beast rubbed its nose against her side, purring.
“Is she okay?” It’d be nice to know if one of her friends from that prison cell on FiPan made it out.
“The human female Lisa is indeed in optimal health.”
The alien glided close enough it was easy to see it wore some kind of plated armor under its flowing robes.
“And is awaiting the return of her mate.” Its gangly fingers waved in Abalim’s direction.
For the first time, Toni noticed the strange way the creature talked. The words didn’t come out of its razor-thin mouth. Instead, it spoke in her head. Flat and unemotional but layered as though it spoke in a multitude of voices. Well, wasn’t that just eerie as hell?
“Rerqel and his people plan to take over this ship and house the Krystalii on their planet.” Abalim stated.
The firm conviction in his tone told Toni he didn’t doubt a word he said.
Asmodel narrowed his eyes at the alien. “You’re going to take this ship to your planet and somehow take the billions of Krystalii on it to live there?” He glanced at Abalim. “How’s that possible?”
JR14 buzzed off her shoulder until he was in the middle of the group.
“Clarification: in accordance with their advanced interdimensional translocation technology”—the bot intoned— “the Xeltrains of Qorath have devised a method to transport the remaining Krystalii through stabilized rift corridors, overlaying their perceived reality onto an artificial construct indistinguishable from their native world. This ensures the Krystalii containment within a controlled dimensional pocket, eliminating their existential threat to this universe while preserving the species inside their cognitive stability.”
“How do you know that, gizmo-bot?” Toni slapped her palms on her hips.
“Fact: my brother, JR15, informed me in extensive detail of his interaction with Abalim and the Xeltrain on Qorath,” JR14 replied in his matter-of-fact tone.
Oh, sure. That made perfect sense. She dropped her hands when the beast licked the back of her neck. “Stop that!” Without thinking, she turned and swatted its nose that was as big as her head. Oh shit. Now she’d done it.
The animal yanked its head back with a sniffle. Its once-gold eyes were now warm mahogany filled with luminescent tears.
How dare the darn thing turn its big, sorrowful puppy-dog cartoon eyes on me?
She wasn’t maid of stone, you know. “Oh, I’m sorry,” Toni crooned and rubbed its springy dark-purple nose.
It was soft as a dog’s and just as wet. When it didn’t bite her hand off, she wagged her finger at it. “Now, stop licking me and behave.”
The beast dropped onto its belly with a bone-jarring thud, the sheer mass of its body sending a shudder through the floor.
Loose shards of crystal and glass skipped away in frantic little hops, and powdery dust puffed upward in gritty clouds.
Beneath its bulk, the ground groaned and shifted, a faint tremor rippling outward as if the ship itself recoiled.
Its eggplant-colored tongue lolled from its maw, glistening in the dim light, as a slow string of saliva stretched toward the floor before snapping free.