Page 36 of Interstellar Love Song (Villains in Space #3)

MICAH

My calculations were correct, as I landed directly in front of the gaping maw of an extremely pissed off Musaa.

*HAVE YOU COME TO ANSWER FOR YOUR CRIMES, GAIAN?*

It was on the tip of my tongue to sass about which crimes I’d supposedly committed—and who appointed them judge, jury, and executioner anyway—but I managed to behave.

Just stick to the plan, Micah.

For everyone else’s sake.

Subtly switching my glasses to 360 mode, I felt fresh tears well up at the sight of who exactly I was doing this for.

My intergalactic family.

Honnor and Bron floated in front of an endless sea of armored Stellarians while Leeloo and their robed Eki sparkled like all the stars in the galaxy. Pedro was perched on Bron’s shoulder, their chest pulsing red from the embedded karnilian—sending me comfort and protection from afar.

My breath caught as I noticed a reddish glow surrounding Earth in the distance, realizing the species Leeloo had “called upon for aid” were the Trols we’d protected during our last adventure.

I didn’t see any sign of Ziggy, but all that meant was he’d followed my orders to join Gabe and Dre on Earth.

Good boy.

The last thing my sweet danger baby probably wanted to witness was me being sucked in by the Musaa, but I also liked to think he knew the twins—and Theo—would comfort him, and stop him from crashing out too badly.

I hope…

Realizing the Musaa was waiting for my reply, I turned up my acting skills and dropped my gaze in deference before projecting my thoughts outward.

“I deeply regret encouraging c-coalescence among your offspring, and for… disrespecting the s-sacred ground of the collective well.”

The Musaa was silent, and a petty part of me hoped I’d just knocked them off their game with my surprise apology.

Spoiler alert: I regret nothing.

How could I regret what had brought me to this point? The moment I met Ziggy, I knew he was mine, and no force in the entire universe, or beyond, would’ve had the power to stop me from claiming him— or my destiny.

His destiny too .

Our destiny together.

Even though I was now fully terrified over what needed to be done to make things right, I also completely trusted it would all turn out okay in the end.

This is a romance after all.

Before the Musaa could announce their preferred punishment, I offered up a sentence of my own.

“I propose a trade to atone for my crimes ? —”

Unfortunately, the Musaa found their voice, mid-proposal.

*YOUR BONDED STELLARIAN FOR THEIR COUNTERPART ? —*

Even though I knew I was risking a supermassive black hole-sized tantrum, I quickly interrupted.

“No! My bonded Stellarian is… with child, which means they are no longer worth the trade.”

It pained me to say that about the love of my life and our unborn stellula, but I needed to keep Ziggy off the Musaa’s radar.

*INDEED. ARE YOU OFFERING YOURSELF INSTEAD, SORCERER?*

Oh, so you’ve heard of me?

“Yes. I am offering myself—an incredibly powerful space wizard—in exchange for my counterpart in the mirror universe. My only request is that I be allowed to speak with them on the other side before they are sent through to take my place.”

The Musaa growled—a truly terrifying sound—but they had every right to be suspicious.

Since I’m about to fuck them over.

*WHY IS THAT REQUIRED?*

As I’d told Ziggy, there was nothing I was more equipped to handle than a raging psychopath one wrong move away from flying off the handle and killing everyone in the vicinity.

Thanks again, Mom and Pops.

RIP, fuckers.

“No one here knows my plan. I need to discuss the exchange with my counterpart, so when they emerge, those I left behind truly believe they are me. That way, you won’t need to address any attempts to rescue me.”

The Musaa considered for only a moment before accepting the offer I knew they couldn’t refuse.

*VERY WELL. YOUR SACRIFICE IS CONSIDERED ADEQUATE TRADE FOR THE TROUBLE YOU HAVE CAUSED*

Perhaps you pronounce this sentence against me with greater fear than I receive it .

It was a bald-faced lie that no one was aware of my plan.

Ziggy knew, of course, but so did Honnor and Leeloo…

in a way. The message I’d sent them from the Lodger warned that I miiiiight get swallowed by the Musaa, but to hold fire if that happened.

Their safety was my first concern and I needed them to trust I had things under control.

Again, I hope.

There was no time for thoughts and prayers now as I was abruptly sucked into the depthless black so violently, I nearly passed out.

FUCK!!!

Luckily, I was able to activate my shields as a buffer against this Mach 300 ludicrous speed mashup, but not before a distinct message made its way to me through the ether.

“I’ve got your back, sunshine. We all do.”

I glanced around as I sped through the in-between of the collective well, tearing up all over again to sense the presence of countless Xuni and Hydrassians raising hell in what was also their domain.

Rebels, all of them.

Most importantly, I felt the support of my stellar collision—alongside those special few who shared our resonance. And that brief, drive-by taste of Ziggy’s unconditional love reminded me I already had everything I needed inside me.

I’ve got this.

Little did the Musaa know, but speaking to the other Micah was only part of my plan.

Unfortunately, the Star Unit soldier who’d been dropkicked back to our universe hasn’t been lying about the journey making you forgetful.

As I tumbled out into the other Milky Way galaxy like a wonky pile of space trash, everything I’d just experienced in the collective well turned hazy, like a memory just out of reach.

What am I doing here…?

I didn’t have time to contemplate the mind shift, because my Eki robe hood had awkwardly fallen over my face, obstructing my vision as I hit something hard and unforgiving.

Something incredibly familiar.

The Lodger!

Without thinking, I star hopped into the cockpit, only to be immediately swung at by a half dozen razor sharp tendrils.

Good thing I kept my shields up, sheesh.

“Ziggy, STOP!” I shouted, and we both froze.

Shit.

“Who are you? How did you board my ship?” the Stellarian growled in the trade language. “State your name and business before I finish you.” He tore off his helmet, revealing the most gorgeous face in every universe, glaring at me with so much hatred, it felt like a punch in the gut.

He doesn’t know you, Micah…

“I-I’m sorry,” I muttered, lowering my hood so I could explain. “I’m?—”

“Micah. Salah,” Other Ziggy gritted out with a fresh dose of fury.

Oh .

So he does know me.

“Fuck!” I yelped as my not-husband attempted to disembowel me again. “Just… fucking, stop it —by Stellaria!”

He stopped, but only to glare at me some more. “How do you know about Stellaria? No one has that intel on me.”

Maybe it was the stress of the situation, but a harsh clarity washed over me. Suddenly, I remembered how I got here, my many adventures with the alien who stole my heart, and my incredibly loose plan to not only dismantle the Musaa’s system but blow it up completely.

Figuratively speaking, of course.

“Because I know you, Zig,” I sighed, wishing Other Micah was here to make things clearer. “I know you came to Earth to get revenge on your maker in Astrum Force’s name. I know you think bringing him back to Stellaria for trial will heal you, but it won’t.”

He scoffed, although I caught a flicker of uncertainty in his expression before he buried it. “You can’t possibly know?—”

“I know you found your Earthling form in a back alley in the Midwest, dying of alcohol poisoning,” I continued, my heart breaking for how lost he still was in this reality.

“I know the original owner also never felt accepted by his family, which is why you prefer this vessel over all the others tucked away in your secret skinsuit closet in the back.”

Other Ziggy swallowed thickly. “What kind of sorcerer are you? I have never told a soul any of this.”

The piece of Stellarian embedded in my chest started to vibrate with a familiar resonance, and I placed a hand over my heart. “You told me, Zig. In another universe where you and I are stellar collisions.”

Other Ziggy was staring at my chest, rubbing his own with a gloved hand even as he continued to glare. “Stellar collisions are a myth.”

Lowering my shields, I tentatively stepped forward, noticing how he deeply inhaled—as if he couldn’t help himself.

I see you, Space Daddy.

“You feel a recognition, don’t you,” I murmured, hoping I wasn’t about to get sliced up like Corpus spongiosum. “And I bet you feel even more than that every time you're around your Micah in this universe.”

That snapped him out of his daze. “He’s not mine! Micah Salah is nothing but a pesky, bastardized alien amalgamation with a misplaced hero complex standing in the way of my mission.”

Rude.

But… good for him.

I sighed again. “Does this universe’s Micah still live in his parents’ pompous fucking mansion outside Sunrise City?”

Other Ziggy’s lip twitched. “Yes, although I would have used a less flattering word.”

I bet you would have.

“All right.” I cracked my knuckles. “This is how we’re gonna do this.”

And then I star hopped the entire Lodger to the front lawn of my old house .

By some miracle, it was the middle of the night. By another miracle, my mother didn’t come flying out of the house like the goddamn tempest she was named after. Before our luck could change, I reached across a gaping Stellarian to activate the ship’s cloaking device.

“I enhanced that feature back in my world,” I couldn’t help but brag. “Since yours only works half the time.”

“By Stellaria…” Other Ziggy murmured, turning more babygirl by the minute.

Just how I like him.

Submissive and breedable.

“C’mon.” I grabbed his arm, ignoring how he flinched at my touch. “It’s time for a crash course in communication.”

Then I star hopped us to my old bedroom.

Empty.

Oh, wait.

With a chuckle, I hopped us to the more logical place to find the fixer known as Exo-Tech in the middle of the night.

My workshop.

“JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!!!” Other Micah hollered as we appeared, glancing between us as if he didn’t know who the bigger problem was.

Definitely me.

“We come in peace!” I cackled, more relieved we hadn’t caught him— me —working on a tentacle sex toy than anything.

“Okay, so listen. I’m from an alternate universe where a massive black hole creature is randomly sending entire planets here in a weird attempt at ethnic cleansing.

In my universe, the two of you—us—have joined forces to take down Astrum Force Command.

” I turned to Other Ziggy. “Because they’ve lied to you, and all Stellarians, about your true purpose. ”

Unsurprisingly, he scoffed. “My true purpose is to hunt fugitives for the?—”

“Glory and continuation of Stellaria, yeah, yeah,” I tiredly parroted before running a hand down my face.

“Listen. I know this sounds crazy but, back in my world, I just married and knocked up my Ziggy, so the sooner I can spread the gospel of stellar collisions and inventus bonds, the sooner we can trick the Musaa into sending me home.”

Both doppelgangers were staring at me like I had three heads—which was fair—but as their gazes shifted to each other, a distinct blast of lust flavored the air.

Ohhh, okay.

We have an enemies-to-lovers situation here.

“You know…” Other Micah tapped his lip. “I’ve always felt like the narrative during clan leader meetings didn’t track.”

I laughed. “Yeah, it’s a load of bullshit that heroes and villains are different—just something to keep the corporations in business… Wait. Why are you in clan leader meetings? Isn’t Zion the first-born?”

Does Zion… not exist here?

Other Micah gave me an odd look. “Why would birth order have anything to do with it? The position goes to the most powerful in the family, which is me. I’m not technically clan leader yet—not until my parents decide to hand it over to me.”

That’s never gonna happen.

Other Ziggy huffed, probably also knowing power would need to be wrestled from the cold dead hands of Lady Tempest and Major Obscurity. “I could convince them to do exactly that in exchange for you handing over Theo Coatl.”

I hid my smile beneath a cough, realizing Theo had most likely used the dirt he had on the Salahs as leverage for asylum the instant the heat was on.

Opportunists, all of them.

The shady business dealings of my parents were the least of my concerns at the moment. Other Micah seemed open to the idea of rebellion, but Other Ziggy was still in his Astrum Force Pride Phase.

“What do you think, Zig?” I asked, eyeing him carefully. “Are you ready to help your fellow Stellarians be free?”

He scrunched up his adorably freckled face. “Free? Stellarians are the most impressive creatures in all the galaxies?—”

“No, you’re not,” I laughed before casually levitating and unleashing my starry and mechanical tendrils, all while conjuring several Mr. Terrific-style T-Spheres for dramatic effect.

“I am. And the sooner you two link up so you can level up, the sooner you can take down your respective corrupt governments as the baddest bitches around.”

And the sooner this Musaa with a god-complex can be thwarted by free will .

“Let’s start with you talking to Theo, Zig,” I gently suggested, holding up my hands when he scowled. “There’s a reason he massacred his Star Unit and escaped. Are you ready to hear it?”

Because I’m ready to wrap things up and get back to my man.

Luckily, Other Ziggy was still the rebel I knew and loved beneath the unhealed baggage, misguided loyalties, and trust issues. He blew out a slow breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the blue was eclipsed by swirling stars. “Very well. I’m ready.”