Page 24 of Space Daddy’s Guide to the Galaxy (Villains in Space #2)

24

MICAH

“You didn’t tell me they were space wizards!” I hiss-whispered to Ziggy in English, earning me an amused snort in return.

This was the best way to describe what I saw, since the three Eki standing at the bottom of the ramp were wearing full-length Jedi robes that sparkled with pinpricks of orange light.

Are those lava robes?!

Talk about the fit being fire…

Even though I was practically vibrating with excitement by the time we reached our welcome committee, I was determined to play it cool—to at least pretend I was a chill bad bitch in front of the yassified space wizards.

“Greetings!” I called out in the trade language with a little bow of my head, because why not? “We are grateful for your hospitality.”

Please don’t kill us.

I didn’t really think we were in danger, but I also knew if the Eki caught a whiff of us being a threat, they wouldn’t hesitate to turn us into space dust.

So, as usual, we’re playing Hide the Stellarian.

Besides being hella built, even by supe standards, Zig was fairly unassuming in Earthling form. Thanks to his adorable freckles and fresh-faced good looks—plus the ski lodge-inspired outfits we were both rocking—nothing about my man overtly screamed “danger.”

Except that weapon between his legs—ayoooo!

All jokes aside, Ziggy looked younger than me, thanks to the age of his chosen skinsuit. That, combined with his lack of Space Daddy armor, made my protective instincts buzz beneath the surface alongside my enthusiasm.

They better not try to hurt my mate.

Or attempt to take Pedro away from us…

“You are welcome in our city, Earthlings,” one Eki spoke from the depths of their wizard robe. “Assuming you come here in good faith.”

To illustrate we’d better not fuck around, the Eki waved a velvety black hand toward the lava encircling us, causing it to dance over the edge of its designated aqueduct in a mesmerizing display.

I am so impressed right now!

Of course I’d seen supes command fire before, but it was my understanding that spark was generated from within. There were some who influenced the weather, while others could cause earthquakes or tidal waves, but these powers were still specific to what they could directly control.

My brother Isaiah, for example, could physically connect to the Earth’s core and shock it into causing earthquakes or tidal waves—like a defibrillator restarting a heart. Unfortunately, once the quake or wave had started, he no longer had control.

And Izzy is known for leaving a trail of destruction in his wake…

But what the Eki was doing with the lava wasn’t chaos. It was easeful control, despite there being no direct line between the manipulator and the matter manipulated.

Suddenly remembering our host’s welcoming words, I smiled warmly and respectfully bowed my head again.

Playing his part of helpless human, Ziggy mirrored my actions while replying for both of us. “Our purpose here is to simply learn from you and?—”

Before my man could finish his sentence, the Eki flicked their wrist, creating a wall of lava between us they immediately threw in our direction.

JESUS!

Instead of reacting as a Stellarian—by either unleashing his tendrils or star hopping us away—Ziggy placed his vulnerable Earthling body in front of mine, fully prepared to take the brunt of the attack to keep up appearances.

Not on my watch, you don’t.

Before his murder freckles could get murdered, I surrounded my little family—including SWOL-E—with an impenetrable shield. Then, I glared at our not-so-gracious hosts.

“We told you we came in peace!” I hollered, knowing I should probably watch my tone but being too pissed off to care. “Why would you endanger my mate and my…”

My stolen nanny bot and questionably adopted child.

“We simply wished to test the truth of the manifest you provided,” the Eki on my shit list calmly replied. “And determine which one of you possessed the supposedly similar powers.”

I huffed, annoyed to find I respected their caution, if not their methods. “We have no reason to lie. If you had just asked which one of us had powers like yours, I would have told you it was me.”

Unsurprisingly, the Eki were as unapologetic as any alien or supe who shot first and asked questions later.

And since I clearly passed their little test ? —

My petulant thoughts were cut short as another Eki stepped forward and touched my shield, dissolving it instantly.

Jk.

“You are failing to pull enough varied particles from the air,” they nonchalantly remarked as I gaped.

“Good to know,” I muttered, sufficiently humbled.

Duly fucking noted, murder wizard.

“Your mate does not possess powers?” another Eki asked as all three hoods turned to stare at Ziggy.

Hearing Zig openly referred to as my mate made our bond shimmer with approval, but I could tell he was struggling to remain respectfully non-aggressive after the unexpected attack. Meanwhile, our hosts were clearly addressing me with the big questions, as if my powers automatically made me the one in charge.

Commander Babygirl, reporting for duty.

I cleared my throat and stood a little straighter, desperate to salvage my rep. “On Earth, some of the population has powers while others don’t. We are not entirely sure why.”

That wasn’t completely true. We’d learned a lot about supe DNA in the past couple of years, but there were still quite a few unanswered questions floating around.

Gotta keep the franchise going.

“I have never met anyone with powers like mine before,” I added, bringing their focus back to me. “Even my parents and siblings all had… have different powers.”

The two Eki in the background began whispering amongst themselves, but they kept their voices too low for my translation device to pick up on.

“And the baby has not displayed powers either?” The first Eki pointed a long finger at where Pedro was curled up inside SWOL-E’s sling, making me tense.

“N-not that we’re aware of,” I stammered, which was the truth… in a way. “We discovered the egg, and then they hatched on our ship, but we don’t know what species they are.”

“Where did you find the egg?” the one in front of me asked as they cocked their head, staring into my soul from deep within their hood.

“Stellaria,” Ziggy replied, saving me from fucking this whole thing up.

The best partner.

“You stole from the Stellarians?!” they hissed while the others gasped and looked skyward, as if the infamous body snatchers might appear at any moment.

Who’s gonna tell them?

Not me…

“No,” Ziggy continued, so effortlessly cool and sexy, I almost swooned. “The egg had been abandoned near a gem dealer’s stall. Before we could attempt to find the parents, Irathians attacked the planet.”

“Irathians?” they all murmured, their confusion apparent even without being able to see their faces.

I was pumping so much pride through our bond, I knew my man could feel it, but when I glanced at Ziggy, his pretty blue eyes were fixed on the Eki.

So effortlessly badass.

“Yes,” he confirmed, continuing to watch our hosts closely. “It seemed like odd behavior from what we’ve heard… Unless you know otherwise?”

Space Daddy is on the case!

Hunting down undocumented intel…

Guilt gnawed at me once again as I thought of the potential intel Ziggy left behind on Marox in favor of rescuing my dumb ass when I let a goddamn Maroxian onto the ship.

“It certainly sounds like ill-advised behavior,” the first Eki mused before glancing at the others. “Bad advice, perhaps?”

There was something off about their tone, but Ziggy shrugged, flashing that goofy jock smile from when he was undercover back on Earth. “Yeah, well, it didn’t concern us, so we grabbed the egg and flew to the nearest Muonova.”

“Why not simply leave the egg behind?” our interrogator asked.

My gaze snapped to where I thought their eyes might be. “Because it was a helpless baby!” I blurted out, breaking our script by getting emotional all over again. “Because no one else was around to protect it.”

“Because it’s what heroes do,” Ziggy quietly added, but when I glanced at him, I could tell he thought he was only talking about me.

Why don’t you see yourself the way I do, Zig?

“May we see the baby?” One of the backup Eki stepped forward. “Perhaps we will recognize what it is.”

I only hesitated for a moment, knowing any longer would seem suspicious. “O-of course,” I stuttered, turning to reach inside the sling. “But I’d prefer to keep their shields up, if you don’t mind…”

Obviously, these creatures could remove my lame shields if they wanted, but I didn’t want to risk anyone sensing the karnilian.

And I’m really hoping they don’t recognize what Pedro is…

With a deep breath, I lifted the sleeping Trol out of the sling, cradling them in my arms as I turned to face our hosts once again. The Eki went perfectly still in the way only supernatural creatures could, and I immediately knew the jig was up.

They know exactly what Pedro is.

“So what do you think?” Ziggy interrupted in a big, dumb cheerful voice. “Ever seen something like this before?”

My man was one of the most observant people I’d ever met—if you didn’t count identifying big feelings— so I knew he’d noticed the Eki’s reaction, despite how he was playing up the himbo vibes.

A master of disguise.

“No,” the first Eki replied, lying through their wizard teeth. “Who sent you here?”

“A couple of Kaalas we met at the Muonova,” my man smoothly improvised like the pro he was.

Okay, so I guess this is our story…

“They saw my mate using his powers and mentioned there was a planet full of ‘matter manipulators’ like him,” Zig continued babbling, as if he didn’t have a single thought in his pretty head. “I guess they have a famous library, so they know this stuff. The Knowing, or something.”

“The Knowledge,” the Eki in charge corrected before stepping closer to Pedro. “They did not know what this creature was?”

Ziggy glanced at the curled up Trol and shrugged. “It sleeps a lot, so it was hidden in the sling.”

By some miracle, the Eki seemed satisfied with this answer—with all the masterful half-truths Ziggy fed them. While we had discussed our story a bit beforehand, I knew my man liked to pivot if he sensed things were going sideways.

And pivot he did…

Meanwhile, I was over here just praying I hadn’t fucked things up with my emotion-fueled input. It had been the whole-truth that I’d never met another supe like me, and despite Ziggy being weirdly impressed with my powers, most everyone else in my life had always brushed them off.

Ekistron was my chance to level up, to actually become a bad bitch like my stellar collision. Yes, I’d managed to finish off the last corrupt commander in Astrum Force, but whether I could truly back up Ziggy in battle remained to be seen.

He insisted I was fine the way I was—that I didn’t need to prove my ‘usefulness’ with him—but I wanted to offer more to this relationship than comic relief and a fantastic ass.

Listen, I know my strengths.

So, while my first priority on this planet was protecting Pedro, followed closely by making sure Ziggy’s cover didn’t get blown, I was also desperately hoping these ‘matter manipulators’ were going to teach me all their space wizard ways.

Pick me, please, coach!

“Your shields might impress a lesser species,” the first Eki addressed me. “Unfortunately, by our standards, they are lacking.”

“Okay, t-thank you,” I stuttered as my dreams were dashed with a single sentence.

I could feel Ziggy about to step in, but I shook my head at him.

This is my loss, not yours.

“However,” the Eki continued, “it fascinates us that a creature such as yourself can manipulate matter at all. You have potential, and we would like to help you hone your powers during your stay with us.”

Oh.

My.

Gawd.

Like a Padawan!

“I would be honored.” I bowed my head again to hide my ridiculous excitement. “When do we begin?”

The Eki in charge gestured at the Lodger. “Gather what you need, and we will show you to your rooms. We can begin your training after you are settled in and ready.”

I was born ready.

With that, they turned to their companions and began discussing something in hushed tones again, but I wasn’t even offended by the blatant dismissal. I was pumped for this opportunity, practically vibrating out of my skin with unhinged excitement for what lay ahead.

Ya boy is gonna be a space wizard!