CHAPTER 1 around Obi-Wan Kenobi’s wrist in a deadly barbed The tentacles appeared with no warning wrapping He yanked his hand toward his body Scalding liquid grip liquid added to his confusion and pain as he slipped and fell backward onto the hard ground A bulbously inflating acid green-spiked central body writhed making the tentacles twist tighter Obi-Wan scrambled for the lightsaber at his waist He felt the barbs sinking deeper sensed the poison about to enter his bloodstream It couldn’t end here Not like this Help me He didn’t take his eyes off the creature trusting that his fellow Padawans would leap to his defense Is that a demon squid Prie squealed in her seat across from him clapping her hands in delight Wait wait don’t hurt it She rushed around the dining table and knelt beside Obi-Wan unconcerned about the hot soup spilled
across the floor that was now soaking into her trousers and Obi-Wan’s robes Get it off Obi-Wan shouted Cut it off me Prie scowled at him in disapproval dark eyebrows drawing drawing low over brown eyes Her hair was braided away from her face only her smaller Padawan braid trailing downward She tucked it behind her ear as she leaned forward It’s only a baby See She stroked one hand down the spikes that lined the pulsing main sac of the demon squid’s body It shivered and then to Obi-Wan’s shock and relief slowly deflated retracted its barbs and uncurled from his wrist Prie lifted it off Obi-Wan’s now bright-red and weltcovered weltcovered skin cooing at it This time the tentacle wrapping a wrist did so lovingly Obi-Wan stood covered in the soup that definitely should not have contained a living predator There was no sign of further threat in the Padawan dining hall but that didn’t mean they were safe We should check the kitchens Someone must have planted this Maybe an assassin or The same liquid Obi-Wan was soaked in flew out of Bolla’s mouth streaming down his scaled green chin as he laughed so hard he couldn’t contain it His fingertips were still suctioned to his own bowl of steaming and decidedly demon-squid-free supper Ow Bolla said trying not to spill his bowl as he wiped under his mouth The spices in this soup hurt my skin 2 KIERSTEN WHITE
Obi-Wan’s hands clenched into fists Pain spiked through his raw and throbbing wrist Hot soup also hurts when it splashes all over you while a demon squid tries to inject you with poison But you should have seen your face When that first tentacle came waving up and you looked at it like maybe it was part of the meal debating whether or not to try eating it Oh I hadn’t even considered you might try to eat it That went so much better than I had planned Poison Obi-Wan repeated trying desperately to keep his anger in check Bolla had finally managed to set down his bowl and he waved one long-fingered hand dismissively his ears still twitching with mirth You would have been fine I have the antidote in my he patted his belt where a pouch would normally be and the white film over his shiny blue eyes blinked once Well I have the antidote somewhere You really would have been fine I don’t feel fine Obi-Wan grabbed a cloth napkin from the table At least they were only in the Padawan dining hall and he hadn’t just embarrassed himself in front of There you are said Qui-Gon Jinn Jedi Knight and Obi-Wan’s master Obi-Wan couldn’t tell whether Qui-Gon sounded amused or irritated to find his apprentice in this state Obi-Wan felt his face turning as red as his injured hand PADAWAN 3
