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He nodded. “I like your thinking. But we have to be quick. The Siblet have a head start on us.”

“I want to make the Siblet suffer, but I agree with you. We’ll dispatch the asshole planning to kill the white tails then move them to a quiet location.”

“I’m all for a little subterfuge.” It was a risk, but they’d been searching for these animals for a long time, and this was the closest they’d ever gotten to them.

Georgia led the way back along the corridor. They headed toward the room where they’d found the white tails.

She held up a hand and looked back at Ash. “I can hear movement.”

“Let me go first,” he whispered.

“I’ll go first. I’m not the one with a ton of sedative pumping through my veins and making me slower than a sloth when he’s having a day off.”

“A what?”

“Look it up later. I’m taking point.”

“I can barely feel the effects of the sedative.” That wasn’t entirely true, but the drugs would soon be gone, and Ash could handle one Siblet even when he wasn’t at full strength.

Georgia shook her head and lifted her chin.

“Then we go in together.” He grabbed her hand and tugged her forward.

She let out a sigh but accepted the compromise.

As soon as they entered the room, Ash spotted trouble. A Siblet stood in front of the cages, a syringe in his hand.

“Awwww! Aren’t they cute?” Georgia rested a hand on her hips.

Ash stared down at her. What was she doing?

She winked at him. “Honey, look! Adorable alien creatures. Can we buy one and take it home?”

The Siblet spun around, and his eyes sparked with anger. “You’re supposed to be dead, and you’re supposed to be unconscious.” He jabbed a finger at Ash.

“Sorry to disappoint, tin man, but it takes a lot to kill a human, and Apexians are indestructible. It’s a shame you didn’t know that.” Georgia threw herself at the Siblet.

Ash was on her heels. He slammed the syringe out of the Siblet’s hand and smashed a fist into his stomach.

The Siblet scrambled for his weapon, which leaned against the wall next to the cages, but Georgia was too fast for him. She landed on his back and punched him.

The Siblet staggered and hit the ground, while Georgia kept pummeling him.

“Enough!” Ash grabbed her arm and tugged her off the Siblet. “He’s done.”

“He’s done when I say he is!” Rage burned in her eyes as she looked at Ash.

The Siblet rolled away and headed for his weapon.

Georgia leaped over him, grabbed the weapon, and fired it at almost point blank range into his chest.

Ash dashed to her side as the Siblet hit the floor. “Feel better now?”

She nodded and smiled. “I don’t know why people say revenge is a bad thing. I’ve never felt so good now we’re ruining these bastards’ plans.”

Ash dragged the body away and concealed it at the back of the room behind a pile of empty crates.

Georgia knelt in front of the cages. “These poor creatures are terrified.”