Page 37 of Interstellar Love Song (Villains in Space #3)

ZIGGY

It had been nearly three weeks since Micah had willingly been devoured by the Musaa, and I was starting to fear he’d never return.

I knew he wasn’t dead at least, because I hadn’t felt the unimaginable pain of our “invisible string” being severed again, but the lack of contact was making me go slowly insane.

Where are you, sunshine?

The twins and I had managed to telepathically connect with him for a brief moment as he passed through the collective well, but wherever Micah was now, he was unreachable, even through our stellar collision bond.

He said he’d come back to me…

He promised.

Of course, I realized my mate had most likely said many things to convince me to agree to let him go, but I couldn’t bring myself to be angry.

He’d behaved exactly how he always had—putting everyone else’s needs before his own, fixing problems he hadn’t created, and being the hero he was born to be.

How Micah could claim I was the inspiration for his heroics was beyond me. If it had been my choice, I would have trapped him in the sleeping pod and let the world burn around us.

Instead, he’d saved us all by sacrificing himself. The Musaa hadn’t been seen since, and no new distress calls had made their way to Stellaria. Honnor had shifted Astrum Force’s focus to more pressing matters, but I didn’t trust what felt like the calm before a storm.

How will I survive this heartbreak?

More than anything, I cursed myself for not demanding Micah tell me his entire plan before parting ways. Unfortunately, I was too overcome by emotions at the time—too focused on being brave for him—but if I’d known what was supposed to happen, I’d be able to tell if things were going right.

Instead of waiting here in the dark.

“Sheesh! It’s dark in here, dude. You don’t even have the sexy bi-lighting on, what the hell?”

I sighed heavily, dutifully making room for Gabriel to join me in the sleeping pod. Then I sighed again when he flipped on the pink, purple, and blue “bi-lighting” and laid alongside me.

I’ll allow it.

“I want to be alone,” I stated, for no other reason than to be difficult.

“No, you don’t,” he replied, snuggling closer. “I came to check on you and now I’m comfy… so I guess I’ll be staying a while.”

I growled in annoyance, even as my resonance began to softly hum in response to his. “Any particular reason you decided to visit today, Awe?”

Sent to spy, perhaps?

Gabriel snorted at my combative use of his supe name, but I had every reason to be suspicious.

Honnor and Bron had been incessantly checking in since I’d flown the Lodger home—especially as I’d since refused to sleep in my dreaded condo . The high-rise had never felt like home to me, and I’d rather exist where my mate and I had spent the most time together.

Right here in the sleeping pod.

Our nest.

Due to my “delicate” state, Honnor had stopped giving me missions—had ordered me to stay on Stellaria—but part of me wondered if they were worried I’d hunt down the Musaa myself.

A fair concern.

I’d ventured outside a few times, mostly to visit the bazaar and buy more guns from a favorite vendor, but everything reminded me of my missing mate.

Once I’d started hiding away, Theo joined in the daily check-in parade—which infuriated me more than his centuries of absence. Andre had blessedly left me alone, but Gabriel occasionally visited and sent a steady stream of cat videos, which helped more than I cared to admit.

I suppose I have a soft spot for sweet little sluts.

“Leeloo asked me to check on you in person,” Gabriel breezily replied to my attempted interrogation, softening my hardened heart with his honesty.

This intel shouldn’t have surprised me. Leeloo had also been visiting regularly, although—unlike the rest of my family—they weren’t easily scared away by my moods.

The Eki insisted on monitoring my progress in their signature, pragmatic fashion, but during the last appointment, the tone had changed.

“So you know I refused to have the baby until Micah gets here…” I flatly stated, feeling more helpless than ever at my current predicament.

“Yuuuup,” Gabriel replied, squeezing me closer before I could attempt to push him away. “But Leeloo explained it’s actually dangerous for you to keep the stellula inside you once their vessel starts to form.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to retort that I didn’t care what happened to me, but I wasn’t the one everyone was concerned about.

“We all know you’re hoping Micah will return in time, Zig.” He sat up to gaze down at me. “But we also know he wouldn’t want you to put the baby at risk.”

Foolish tears blurred my vision. “This wasn’t how it was meant to happen,” I choked out, knowing full well I sounded like a child who wasn’t getting his way. “I want him here. With me. ”

Gabriel gently brushed my hair off my forehead. “Understood. Would you like me to record the bir—” He paused and grimaced. “Uhhh… how are you giving birth, anyway?”

I had to laugh at the sheer disgust in his expression. “The baby will be delivered via cesarean section, which is apparently fairly common among the Eki.”

Another use for our tendrils, I suppose.

He laughed self-deprecatingly. “Thank fuck. I don’t think I could handle watching you lay an egg or anything, but I’m cool with blood and guts.”

As am I.

We remained in comfortable silence for a few minutes, with Gabriel continuing to soothe me through a combination of resonance and whatever sorcery he was doing to my hair.

I’d started to doze off when he absently spoke. “I wonder why the Musaa didn’t try to swap out the other Micah to take his place in our universe…”

My eyes shot open as I abruptly sat up. “What?! You don’t… you don’t think that was Micah’s plan, do you?”

The last thing I want is “other Micah.”

“No, I don’t.” he huffed. “But it might have been what he let the Musaa believe, so he could get himself sent there.”

My throat closed up as my anxiety reached a fever pitch—made worse by the enormous stellula seemingly trying to punch their way through the walls of my abdomen. “Why… Why would he want to go there at all? ”

Gabriel chewed his bottom lip. “Well, besides placating the big ass black hole threatening Earth… I picked up on a fragment of Micah’s thoughts when he was passing through the collective well.

He seemed really focused on how the inhabitants of this other universe didn’t know about stellar collisions and inventus bonds… ”

The impending panic smoothed out as clarity swept in. “Are you implying Micah went there specifically to cause problems?”

That… sounds highly possible.

We stared at each other for only a moment before wild laughter overtook us both. Unfortunately, my emotional rollercoaster was still in full swing as tears also started to fall, and there was simply no stopping the horrific display.

This is the worst.

“I’m sorry…” I mumbled against Gabriel’s neck as he yanked me into a hug. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

The question made me think of the last time I saw Micah, when he told me how human it was for me to experience this vulnerable hellscape of emotions.

“You miss your man, that’s what.” The sweet supervillain pulled back to softly smile at me. “If you’d succeeded in taking Theo away from us, I would have gone dark— like, scorched earth, you feel me?”

I do.

“Well, I could do without all the crying,” I snapped, violently snatching a tissue from the nightstand to dry my eyes. “It’s?— ”

“Not weak!” Gabriel interrupted, wagging a finger. “And I bet Dr. Micah has told you that many times.”

Ugh.

He has.

“If it makes you feel better, Theo cries all the time,” he added.

“That does make me feel better,” I murmured, laying down again to continue rotting. “Thank you, Gabriel.”

“To be fair, it's usually after Dre is done with him…” he added, quite unnecessarily. “But also when the big feels hit—like with how worried he’s been over you lately.”

I snapped my attention to the man beside me. “Theo’s been worried about me?”

What in the multiverse indeed?

“Yeah…” Gabriel dropped his gaze. “We’ve all been worried, Zig, because we care. I know you don’t like the attention, but you need to realize the sooner you pop out this stellula, the sooner we’ll leave you alone. We just wanna fuss over the baby, fam!”

Duly noted.

Fresh tears were threatening to fall, only this time, from gratitude. “Thank you. I’ve spent so much of my life having only myself to count on, it’s difficult to recognize care like this when it’s given.”

Micah had taught me to recognize and receive, of course, but he wasn’t here, and there was no knowing when he would be back.

He said time passes differently inside a black hole .

Whatever that means…

The only thing I could do was keep going in this universe, and that started with accepting there were others in my life now— many others— who would gladly support me in his absence.

This is what family feels like.

“I’m happy to help,” Gabriel chirped, because he was ridiculously sweet for a so-called villain.

I suppose we’re all less villainous nowadays.

“Could you…” I cleared my throat. “Could you tell Leeloo to come tomorrow? I’m ready to meet my baby.”

“Yes!” He clapped his hands, suspiciously excited for someone who claimed to not want children of his own. “I can message them from Theo’s cube when I get ho?—”

“No,” I interrupted, practically shoving my cube into his hands. “Use mine. I don’t want… Can you stay the night as well? Please?”

He smiled warmly. “Of course I can stay, Space Daddy. Lemme just…” Gabriel’s gaze went momentarily distant before he snapped back to focus. “Okay, I let Dre know what’s going on. Hold up…” Distant again. A sigh. “Theo wants to know what time he should arrive tomorrow.”

Let the circus begin.

I sighed. Heavily. “He can arrive after the baby is born. I think I’d prefer it to just be Leeloo during the… process.”

Blood and guts.

Probably more tears .

And… emotions.

Gabriel nodded before sending off his psychic reply to Theo via Andre and messaging Leeloo on my Celestial Cube.

“Okay, everything’s all set for tomorrow, Ziggy. The big day!” He handed back my cube and smiled down at me. “What do you need right now? I could make you some food if you want.”

I peeked up at him. “I wouldn’t mind watching some cat videos.”

His lips twitched as he stretched out next to me again. “My favorite thing.”

Oh, we know.

After about an hour of cat video therapy, I cleared my throat. “I… also wouldn’t mind if you were there tomorrow, Gabriel. Only you.”

He kept his gaze on the screen, but gently nudged his shoulder against mine. “You got it, dude. Anything you need.”

I need Micah.

While the presence of Micah’s “bestie” would help calm my nerves during the birth, I knew I’d still mourn the absence of my mate. The best I could do was to take it one day at a time, and trust that the love of my life would be able to keep his promise and return to me someday.

Please, sunshine…

Please. Come back to me.