Page 1 of Interstellar Love Song (Villains in Space #3)

ZIGGY

My family is in danger…

Must. Save. My. Family.

The only reason I hadn’t star hopped home was because of the importance of our current mission. We’d been sent to rescue any remaining Trols being held captive on neighboring planets, and I couldn’t leave the creatures unprotected on my ship.

Once again, I’m given an impossible choice.

Honnor was counting on me to complete this mission, as was Pedro, but now my other parent needed me—him and his stellar collisions.

My family.

Our family .

Theo had sent a message to the ship several hours ago, which should have been considered irregular enough to warrant my attention. My wayward creator was prouder than I was, and even more resistant to forming bonds, so the chances of him reaching out simply to say hello were slim.

Unfortunately, I’d been distracted—with my dick buried in my mate, to be exact—and assumed I could return the call once I was done. By the time Micah had passed out from exhaustion, I’d realized my mistake, because Theo’s message wasn’t something that should have been ignored.

It was a distress call.

Followed by increasingly dire messages.

:Earth under attack:

:New York and London gone:

:Twins and I collecting what family we can:

:Meet you on Stellaria:

After reading Theo’s communications, I had sat in my captain’s chair for a good thirty seconds, unsure how to process what I’d read, much less respond to it.

Who would attack Earth?

Does Earth still exist at this point?

It had taken me another minute to gather the courage to contact Honnor. When they finally answered my calls, all they could tell me was that an oxygen-filled building had been prepared for Earth’s refugees… however many actually made it there .

Honnor hadn’t been able to confirm anything more, and their distraction was warranted. The planetary distress calls we’d been monitoring for weeks had abruptly spiked—and the trajectory of destruction implied Stellaria itself might be in the line of fire.

I’d almost star hopped home then and there, but Honnor had commanded me—as Astrum Force’s Head Commander —to stay with my ship, that the Lodger might be needed to transport refugees from Stellaria once I arrived.

Assuming anyone from Earth made it there…

Theo and the twins spent most of their time in Berlin nowadays, where the Suarez’s mentor, Luca, lived with his mate as well. The larger issue was, while the rest of the family was clustered in Big City and Sunrise City, there was no guarantee they’d cooperate.

The divide between superheroes and villains had been abolished, but old habits were hard to break.

As a classified hero , Zion Salah would undoubtedly charge into battle, and the most famous hero in history had married into the Suarez side.

Both pairs had children, but it was doubtful their villainous spouses would simply agree to evacuate and leave their heroes behind.

What if Micah insists on returning to Earth to join the fray?

I pointlessly checked the radar, desperate for Stellaria to come into view. The Lodger couldn’t go any faster than the “ludicrous speed” I had it in, and even that was only thanks to Micah’s upgrades. There was one thing left to do, and I was dreading it more than what I might find when we landed.

Time to wake my mate .

I slowly rose from my captain’s chair, knowing I could no longer delay the inevitable. It was only a matter of time before Micah appeared in the cockpit with his signature curiosity, and he would be furious to learn I hadn’t shared the intel the instant I could.

But what can I possibly tell him?

Just tell him what you know, Ziggy.

Straightening resolutely, I star hopped to the bedroom, frowning when I found the sleeping pod empty and the blankets perfectly tucked into place.

Micah never makes the bed…

A quick check revealed the bathroom was unoccupied, so I strode to the kitchen, assuming he’d wandered there to get something to eat. The cold storage appeared untouched, and the sink was empty, so I unleashed my tendrils to search the ship in multiple places at once.

Perhaps he’s checking on the Trols?

He was not, and he wasn’t in my reclaimed weapons room either. Panic clawed its way up my throat as I retracted my tendrils and star hopped to every possible location on the ship—the landing bay, the gunner’s cockpit, the boiler room—only to find no sign of my stellar collision.

All that was left was my skinsuit closet.

Micah would have needed to star hop to reach it, and I assumed I would have felt the pull on my borrowed powers, but I checked anyway.

It was only when my gaze fell on the discarded Hydrassian I’d used to liberate my cargo that cold realization skittered down my spine .

Micah didn’t come with me.

He stayed behind on Stellaria.

I shook my head, my thoughts suddenly foggy and confused.

Wasn’t I in bed with him only an hour ago?

Fully frantic, I star hopped back to the bedroom and grabbed my phone off the charger, almost dropping it in my haste to call Micah. His voicemail picked up on the first ring, the same moment the overhead lights flashed yellow then red in rapid succession—the code we’d developed to signal distress.

Oh, no.

Remembering my Celestial Cube was tethered to my mate’s embedded tech, I fumbled it out of my pocket, hoping to connect to his ever-present glasses, to see what he was seeing.

I immediately wished I hadn’t.

By Stellaria…

Micah had his night vision engaged, despite it being the middle of the day, but I could still see the chaos unfolding before my— his— eyes. Terrified creatures ran in every direction while countless Star Unit soldiers floated in battle formation overhead, facing a threat I couldn’t see.

“Micah?!” I shouted, unsure if he’d be able to hear me over the commotion. “What’s happening?”

“Oh, thank fuck,” he gasped breathlessly. “Zig, listen. We’re under a-attack?—”

“By who?” I snapped, wracking my brain to think of which alien species would be powerful enough to challenge us .

“Not who…” he replied, his voice sounding strained. “What.”

What?

He raised his gaze to the sky above and I choked on air. Something was looming over the entire planet—something large enough to block out the light from our sun and all three moons.

“Ziggy…” Micah snapped me back to attention. “It’s not looking good. I… I don’t know how much longer I c-can hold this shield.”

By. Stellaria.

All at once, I realized Micah had created a shield to surround the entire planet— that the soldiers were backup, ready for the moment his defenses fell.

What if this is a battle we can’t win?

“I’m coming to help you,” I stated, willing my tone to remain calm while I internally panicked.

Micah was silent for a long moment before blowing out a shaky breath. “I can’t let you do that, Zig.”

Excuse me?

While I usually enjoyed Commander Babygirl taking charge, in this instance, I had no intention of obeying.

I also didn’t give a shit that Honnor had told me to stay with my ship and protect the rescued Trols.

My stellar collision—my family— needed me, and Micah knew he could count on me to be by his side in battle.

Until I return to the stars .

“I’m on my way,” I insisted, before immediately star hopping home.

Attempting to star hop…

I hit an invisible barrier surrounding my ship and grunted as I was tossed to the floor.

No.

“Sunshine…” I choked out, tears stinging my eyelids. “What have you done?”

“Saved your life,” he tiredly replied before turning his gaze to reveal Theo and the twins standing beside him, lending him their power. “Because these fools won’t leave me, but I refuse to let you make the same mistake.”

They’re all there…

“LOWER THE SHIELDS!” I screamed, noticing it had grown so dark on Stellaria that even Micah’s night vision couldn’t show what was happening. “Let me die with you, please!”

“I’m sorry, Space Daddy,” he whispered, his breathing growing more labored as I felt the last of his strength give out. “I love you too much for that.”

I choked on my reply as the connection to his tech was abruptly severed, before doubling over in pain as our stellar collision bond also went dark.

No!

Nononononono—

“Hey, hey, Zig, you’re okay… C’mon, just wake up?— ”

“Micah?!” I gasped, snapping awake and immediately scrambling across the sleeping pod to cover his body with mine. “Thank fuck, you’re here…”

“Where the hell else would I be?” he released a muffled laugh against my shoulder, wriggling until his arms were freed enough to wrap around me. “Poor baby. Were you having a nightmare?”

A nightmare?

“I… I don’t know,” I replied honestly, my borrowed heart still pounding from the terrifying non- events I’d just experienced. “It felt so real…”

Micah silently rubbed my back for a few minutes until my breathing—and emotions—regulated. Realizing I was probably crushing him beneath my larger body, I rolled onto my side to face him, although I remained as close as possible.

Aside from crawling inside him.

Which is tempting…

He searched my face, clear concern written across his. “Do you want to talk about it?”

No.

Of course, I didn’t want to talk about what would have been the worst moment of my life. Unfortunately, Dr. Micah had all but trained me at this point to talk about my feelings—even when it was difficult.

Especially when it’s difficult.

“Stellaria was under attack…” I haltingly began. “I was on a mission with the ship but you’d stayed behind for some re ason. By the time I connected with your tech, you’d created a shield to protect the entire planet from… whatever it was…”

But it was too late.

Micah’s deep brown eyes were wide. “Jesus, that sounds stressful. I don’t think I could create a shield that big, or hold it for very long.”

I swallowed thickly. “Yes, that was the problem. Your shield was the only thing holding back certain death and as I spoke to you it faltered.” My voice caught. “I tried to star hop, but you’d created a shield here as well, so I couldn’t… I-I couldn’t get to you.”

So I lost you and everyone else I care about.

“Oh, Zig…” Micah pulled me close, skin to skin, and I greedily breathed in his sunshine scent. “I can’t even imagine being forced to let you fight without me…”

His words trailed off and I tensed, realizing he could easily imagine that exact scenario.

Because I once did exactly that to him.

“I’m sorry, Micah,” I mumbled, beyond ashamed for my past actions. “Now I know how you felt when I put you to sleep so I could fight Astrum Force Command alone.”

“It’s okay, Space Daddy.” He squeezed me tight, loving me unconditionally, as always. “I forgave you for that a while ago, because I probably would have done the same?—”

“No!” I barked, pulling back to glare at him through my ridiculous tears. “You need to promise to never stop me from fighting alongside you. We are a team. You fight, I fight. You die, I… ”

Oh, no…

He’s going to die before me.

I’d thought being unable to save my mate in a hypothetical battle was the worst possible scenario, but a far more terrifying reality awaited me.

Supes lived far longer than normies, but an Earthling’s lifespan was a blink of an eye compared to the countless millennia a Stellarian existed.

I would never age in this skinsuit but Micah would, and I’d one day watch him fade into dust with nothing but lonely eons ahead of me.

How will I live without him?

Whether he was tapped into my train of thought was unclear, but Micah’s expression softened before he leaned forward and delivered a gentle kiss to my pursed lips.

“Hey, space fiancé.” He pulled back and smiled. “Would it help to look at my ‘Space Married to My Space Husband’ Pinterest board?”

“Yes!” I rasped, grabbing his phone from the bedside table with a tendril and practically shoving it into his hands. “Absolutely.”

Because I need to join us as one in every way possible.

He chuckled and snuggled against me before starting up his usual wedding-related narration of the various pins. The difference was that I was now laser-focused on not only making his ‘Space Wedding’ dreams come true, but learning if there was a way to bind him to me permanently.

Until not even death can part us.