Page 18 of Space Daddy’s Guide to the Galaxy (Villains in Space #2)

18

MICAH

Luckily, my shields were already activated, because the terrifying sight of two man-eating-sized Venus flytraps had me freezing like a deer in the goddamn headlights.

Eek!

I only had a moment to register that the Hydrassian was holding a Celestial Cube before Ziggy grabbed me with his big Borque paws, no doubt about to star hop us away from danger.

Except… nothing happened.

“You will not be able to star hop, I’m afraid,” Uulvin casually said, as if they weren’t proving to be the witchiest bitch on the block. “Not with what was used to construct these caves.”

“Where did this rock come from?” Ziggy demanded, baring his teeth like the bad bitch he was, even as he pumped uncharacteristic panic through our bond. “No natural material on any planet can stop a Stellarian?—”

“The rock is from deep within our planet’s core,” the Hydrassian interrupted with a wave of the clawed hand not holding the cube. “However, the shields incorporated into the design were created by those with the power to do so.”

This sounds familiar…

Apparently on the same witchy wavelength, Uulvin’s gaze—all six of their gazes—focused on me before they continued. “It is similar to what your companion has for shields, although their version seems more advanced than ours. Fascinating.”

That’s my cue to bring the thunder!

Not wanting to escalate the situation, I held off on unleashing my mechanical tendrils, but I still wanted these fools to know I was kind of a bad bitch myself.

A little dark rain cloud at least…

“Yeah, well, I created my own shields—with my powers,” I replied, keeping my voice as steady as possible, forcing myself to stay calm for Ziggy’s sake. “And if you attempt to hurt us, you will witness the full force of what I can do.”

I hope.

My bad bitch card was still valid as the Hydrassian’s many eyes widened. The two oversized house plants responded by rustling their enormous leaves—almost making me turn my brown pants browner—but then I realized they were communicating with each other.

They better not be saying “feed me”…

Unfortunately, my language translator didn’t seem to speak Twoey. Luckily, Uulvin was ready to interpret.

“We mean you no harm!” the seer exclaimed. “These precautions are for our protection. One can never be too careful, especially when dealing with a species as formidable as the Stellarians.”

“How could you tell we’re Stellarians?” Ziggy growled, so pissed off, I almost shrank from his bottomless rage.

“We can see your aura,” Uulvin addressed him coolly before turning their attention back to me. “And while yours matches in tone, it is decidedly fainter… as if your Stellarian is simply coexisting within you, like the old times?—”

“You know about that?!” I excitedly cut in before attempting to back pedal. “I mean, of course you do—you’re the oldest Hydrassian here. Not that you look old! You actually look fabulous for your age. Slay, queen.”

Sigh.

Bad bitch card revoked.

By some miracle, the Hydrassian didn’t immediately tell their attack plants to turn me into fertilizer. Instead, they laughed heartily with all six snake heads, immediately diffusing the tension in the room—at least for me.

Ziggy was still tense as fuck, but I sent my man the motherload of chill vibes, silently begging him not to go full Alien Rambo so we could get the intel we came for.

And maybe some extra intel while we’re at it…

“We know about a Stellarian’s true purpose, yes,” the seer answered my original question, smiling toothily while gesturing at the two empty cushions across from them. “And if you hand over that iridium you are carrying, it would be my pleasure to share my knowledge with you.”

Ziggy made a disgruntled sound as I dragged him forward. “I bet you would. Shall I give you my entire purse now, or will you be teasing scraps of intel for more coin as we go?”

Here we go.

I sat with a sigh, careful to keep Pedro curled up and hidden in their sling while I got comfy on the cushion. To no one’s surprise, the True Stellarian in the room chose to stand, for maximum grumpy-guy-looming effect.

“The entire purse would suffice,” Uulvin sniffed—a true queen refreshingly uninterested in measuring dicks with anyone.

Slay.

Ziggy apparently knew a fellow bad bitch when he saw one, as he huffed begrudgingly before unhooking his coin purse and tossed it onto the floor next to the seer. Instead of dumping it out and counting like I would have done, Uulvin simply placed a hand on the pack and grew eerily still.

Are they…?

“An impressive amount of this incredibly rare metal,” the Hydrassian mused before squinting at me. “Did you create this?”

The answer was yes, but I wasn’t sure if using counterfeit coins would disqualify us from receiving witchy bitch services, so I redirected. “Is it enough for you to tell us everything we want to know?”

They continued to intently stare until Ziggy stepped closer with a warning growl, flashing those smexy fangs again.

“The coin is more than sufficient,” Uulvin replied, oddly unconcerned about the katana-wielding murder machine in the room. “You will need to lower your shields?—”

“No,” Ziggy snarled, practically pulsing with rage.

We probably have a time limit on Alien Rambo emerging…

The seer sighed heavily and glanced at my big, skerry protector. “As we have said, Stellarian, I mean you and your mate no harm.” Their unnerving focus returned to me. “However, I am unable to do my job if I cannot access their chakras.”

Witchy bitch status verified.

I squared my shoulders. “I’ll only lower my shields if you also promise not to hurt our child.”

All six snakeheads snapped to the baby sling, looking as confused as their reptilian faces allowed. “Of course. We have no interest in harming your child?—”

“Or take our child from us,” I continued, desperate for answers but needing to diffuse the Stellarian-shaped ticking time bomb in our midst. “Or take… anything associated with our child.”

Please, just don’t hurt them.

Now the Hydrassian was invested, and curious enough to concede to my mad negotiating skills. “You have our word, little…”

“Earthling,” I replied with a sigh of relief, wanting to give them something to show my gratitude. “Although not all Earthlings are like me.”

Then, I lowered my shield.

Well… most of it.

“No one is like you,” Ziggy murmured appreciatively. “Not in any galaxy.”

Staaaahp.

I absolutely did not want to get sniffly in front of this snake-headed witch and their killer flytraps, but Uulvin simply chuckled warmly. “It is unsurprising you would think so, with the Earthling being your stellar collision.”

“You can tell I’m his stellar collision?!” I shouted, like Captain Obvious of the S.S. Dumbass, before attempting to recover some of my cool. “Is it a physical thing or…”

Do I still need to put a ring the size of Saturn on my space fiancé?

“Energetic,” the seer replied matter-of-factly. “Your energies align perfectly. We would guess your Stellarian here recognized their match when you met.”

Oh?

I turned to blink up at Ziggy expectantly. “Yes.” He cleared his throat, caving immediately. “I felt a pull toward you when we met. However, I mistook it for the… usual interest.”

Ohhhh???

He flashed me a smirk. “The usual interest in taking over your body completely as my next vessel.”

Asshole.

“And have you?” Uulvin cut in, leaning forward with interest. “Taken over completely?”

Ziggy snapped his attention to the seer and swallowed thickly. “Not… completely, but we have?—”

He cut himself off this time, and for a moment, I assumed it was because he didn’t want to continue sharing in front of an audience.

No… that’s not it.

All at once, I realized that—thanks to his disconnected childhood and the old Astrum Force’s single-minded regime—the big idiot still didn’t trust himself.

I trust you, Space Daddy.

“Not completely,” I confidently filled in the blanks, keeping my gaze locked on his. “But you did fully inhabit this vessel with me—when we worked together to take down Astrum Force.”

Like a couple of bad bitches.

Uulvin hissed, and I grimaced, hoping what got confessed in the cave stayed in the cave.

“We did not realize we were in the presence of the one—the ones,” they nodded at both of us, “who were foretold to free their fellow Stellarians.”

Borque-Ziggy frowned, which looked grumpy-cute as hell. “How do you know about that?”

Who’s Captain Obvious now?

The Hydrassian scoffed and held up their Celestial Cube. “Because your last Astrum Force commanders once used this to pay us for our prophecy, yet they refused to listen when we warned of their inevitable downfall.” Uulvin grinned triumphantly. “They were entirely uninterested in humoring the prediction that an orphaned Stellarian born of two rebels would somehow topple their empire of lies.”

“But I didn’t…” Ziggy stuttered, glancing down at me. “I didn’t do it alone.”

“Is refusing to listen a Stellarian trait?” Uulvin huffed, dismissively tossing the cube aside—probably because they didn’t possess the DNA needed to even operate it. “Of course, you did not do it alone! The only way you could have fulfilled your destiny was by fully connecting with your stellar collision. That is the entire point!”

Tell him!

Ziggy finally sank down onto his assigned cushion, looking like a lost little Wookie puppy dog who’d just had his mind blown.

It’s okay, Space Daddy.

Let the witchy bitches consult the chakras.

I had a million stellar collision-related questions of my own, but I didn’t want to embarrass Zig by asking a complete stranger if we could ever get to baby-making for real.

Even I know when to have a filter.

Instead, I refocused on the reason we’d traveled to this planet. The one currently snoozing, safely curled up against my non-existent womb. The one in danger.

The one I might be putting in more danger…

“Are you able to see anyone’s destiny?” I carefully asked, still unsure how much to reveal.

Uulvin nodded decisively. “We see what the stars wish to show us—past, present, and future—but only if it has been written.”

That’s gonna have to be good enough.

“What about our child?” I began, placing my hand over Pedro’s sleeping form as Ziggy tensed all over again. “Can you tell us their destiny?”

Tell us how to get them home.

Uulvin intently stared at the baby sling once again before glancing at me. “Tricky Earthling… In order for me to get a clear reading, you will need to lower the child’s shields as well.”

I…

Even though this was what we’d come for, I hesitated. I still wasn’t completely sure how the Hydrassian—or their leafy bodyguards—might react to seeing Pedro, but mostly, I was concerned about Ziggy’s reaction. He’d been acting more possessive than usual lately, and I didn’t want to set him off again by revealing our precious ‘asset’ to those he might consider a threat.

I don’t know what to do.

“We will show you the child if you release my tendrils,” Ziggy gritted out, and my jaw dropped.

What?

WHAT?!

I’d had no idea he couldn’t access his tendrils this whole time, and a fresh wave of anxiety bubbled up in my chest.

How powerful is this witchy bitch?

“The precautions were for our protection,” Uulvin sighed, as if what they’d done wasn’t completely uncalled for. “We should all trust each other, we suppose…”

They must have released whatever—possibly mental—hold they had on him, as Ziggy unleashed his tendrils with an unearthly growl, aiming two dozen razor-sharp points at the Hydrassian and the Dionaea muscipula.

“Zig, no!” I hollered, unleashing my tendrils as well.

Before I could stop him from inflicting unnecessary violence once again, Ziggy froze and then retracted his tendrils until they hovered around me and Pedro like a barbed wire fence.

Jesus…

The oversized plants were flapping their leaves and snapping their jaws but blessedly not moving their roots to attack us. Uulvin, on the other hand, looked as unbothered as they’d been when we first walked into the room.

Bish probably saw this coming.

The seer coolly addressed Ziggy. “After you leave here today, we want you to remember how it felt to be trapped within this room—within your vessel—unable to connect to your true purpose or to your stellar collision. That is how your fellow Stellarians felt as they blindly went about their lives beneath the old Astrum Force rule, except they were unaware of their bondage until you came along to liberate them. You may be able to topple regimes, Stellarian, but you cannot fight destiny. Embrace it. Otherwise, it will eat you alive from the inside out.”

Tough love from the queen.

Ziggy wisely retracted his tendrils and kept his trap shut, so Uulvin refocused on me.

On where Pedro was still hidden.

“Show us the child,” the Hydrassian soothed, only marginally easing my anxiety. “Let us tell you what the stars have to say about their destiny.”

With a deep breath, I reached into the baby sling and lifted Pedro out of their hiding place, hoping I wasn’t about to ruin everything.

Please don’t let this be a mistake…