Page 28 of Space Daddy’s Guide to the Galaxy (Villains in Space #2)

28

ZIGGY

Micah had barely sat up before I was dressed and flinging open the door between our rooms.

If Pedro is hurt, someone will die.

There was an injury, but it wasn’t the Trol. The nanny bot was sprawled on the lava rock floor, halfway to the door, as if its legs had given out while headed for the exit. Closer inspection revealed the wiring connecting its joints had been gnawed through by what appeared to be two rows of sharp fangs.

Of course.

Unfortunately, the perpetrator was long gone, judging by the Pedro-sized hole clawed through the exterior rock wall.

“Holy shit!” Micah stumbled into the room, his Han Solo pants still unbuttoned and his “Y’all Need Science” tee shirt halfway over his head. “Is Pedro?—”

“Pedro did this, yes,” I sighed, more than a little impressed with the creature. “And now they are loose in Nuclei City.”

“Shit,” Micah repeated as he kneeled beside the droid and turned off the alarm before getting to work on repairs. “Maybe we should have fed them when we got back…”

I cleared my throat. “It’s my understanding that if a baby is sleeping, you should let them sleep.”

As soon as the damning evidence was out, I wished I could take it back, but I breathed through the discomfort, just like Dr. Micah had taught me.

He knows all my secrets anyway.

Almost all of them…

To his credit, Micah attempted to hide his smile while keeping his gaze on his task. “Oh, yeah? Is that something Zion told you?”

Sigh.

Nothing is sacred in this family.

“Your brother gave me barely usable intel,” I huffed. “I did my own research.”

Again, I tamped down the instinct to flee after such a confession and was rewarded for my efforts.

“You’re such a good Space Daddy…” Micah murmured, gazing at me with glassy-eyed lust. “And your competence is so fucking hot.”

The feeling is mutual.

The urge to take him back to bed was strong. While my mate had attempted to wipe our collective cum off himself, I could still smell it on him—tempting me to continue marking him as mine. But finding Pedro was the most pressing mission at the moment, especially as I wasn’t convinced the Eki wouldn’t try to claim the karnilian for themselves if given the chance.

Which gives me an idea…

Albeit a dangerous one.

“Are you able to remove Pedro’s shields from afar?” I forced my tone to remain even—to not betray anything. “It would help me track them.”

Micah chewed his bottom lip as he stood the repaired droid back on its feet and grabbed the baby sling for himself. “I could, but…” He turned to face me with an unreadable expression. “Do you really think that’s a good idea? With how some people can sense the karnilian, I mean.”

We stared at each other for a moment as I discreetly unleashed a few tendrils to better gauge if I was included in this concern.

As I should be.

Of course, nothing escaped my mate’s notice. His gaze tracked the movements that should have been invisible before meeting mine, and I braced for being called out yet again for my unnecessarily duplicitous actions.

“I think Leeloo can see my aura, Zig.”

Wait…

“What do you mean?” I carefully asked.

“They kept looking at the space over my head…” He gestured to demonstrate, although all I could see was empty air. “And it got me thinking about how I can sometimes tell if someone is a Stellarian or has a Stellarian riding shotgun inside them… Maybe the Eki have similar powers?”

Dread was clawing its way up my throat at the implications. “If Leeloo can see your aura, they know exactly what I am.”

And they possess the technology to trap me here.

Which they’ve probably already done…

Needing confirmation before my anxiety consumed me, I opened the front door and stepped outside, immediately scanning the crowd for any sign we were being watched.

Despite Nuclei City’s underground setting and unusual architecture, it operated like any intergalactic metropolis and, just like with most major cities, anonymity was almost a given. Countless Eki bustled past—entering and exiting various buildings or shopping at the nearby stalls—but none were paying me any mind.

They don’t need to.

The instant I gathered my power, I knew it was futile. Just like how Micah had protected The Knowledge on Kaalanesea with Stellarian-proof shields when the planet was under attack, the Eki had fortified their entire city with an impenetrable barrier of pure power.

There’s no way out.

Not unless they let me out…

My only saving grace was, I could still unleash my tendrils if need be, but it was probably only a matter of time before that was taken from me as well—since Micah had already demonstrated how easily I could be contained.

How will I protect my mate?

And…

“Is everything okay, Zig?” Micah was suddenly behind me, pressing his palm to my back, somewhat settling me.

“Yes,” I lied. “But you need to lower Pedro’s shields so we can find them and get them back on the Lodger.”

Then, I can blast a way out of here.

“You got it,” he replied, trusting me without question. “Okay, his shields are lowered.”

He didn't need to tell me. A wave of almost suffocating power washed over me— called to my more primal instincts—sharpening my focus, promising me everything I’d ever wanted….

“Zig?” Micah dropped his hand, his voice wavering with uncertainty.

“This way,” I growled, stalking in the direction of my prey, knowing my stellar collision would follow.

The Eki we passed continued to ignore us—or at least, they pretended to.

They know.

They all know.

Stellarians were rightfully feared, but we were ambush predators. Our supremacy lay in our ability to remain undetected within our vessels until it was too late. If this element of surprise was eliminated, we were more easily thwarted or captured. The first time Micah had mentioned seeing my tendrils—and again when he’d identified a Stellarian in the wild—unnerved me, but I trusted my mate implicitly.

Everyone else, not so much.

Most species didn’t possess the technology to kill us, but with what I’d already seen of the Eki’s powers, I wouldn’t put it past them to be one of the few.

Breathe, Ziggy…

I couldn’t seem to slow my racing heart or my panting breaths. I felt raw and exposed, like an open wound on a fragile skinsuit before it healed, with no means to force this feeling away. Dr. Micah would tell me to “lean into it”—to start by identifying my emotions.

Panic.

Helplessness.

Vulnerability.

Everything I hate.

“I’ve got you, Zig,” Micah whispered as we finally left the city limits, and I could have wept with the relief that washed over me—from his words, his calming presence, and the lack of watchful eyes.

Now to find the karnilian.

I mean… the Trol.

It wasn’t farmland we’d reached, but a series of lava tubes, burrowing deeper into the bedrock in various directions. I could easily sense which one Pedro had traveled down and, luckily, they seemed to have stopped moving, which would make retrieving them easier.

Since I can’t fucking star hop.

Micah’s high tech glasses had night vision to rival mine, so I knew the lack of light wouldn’t be a problem. We entered the nearly pitch-black tunnel and continued in a silence that weighed heavier with each step, like a ticking clock counting down the seconds until my talkative mate couldn’t take it any longer.

“Zig, are you sure we’re going the right way?—”

“Of course I’m sure!” I barked, sharper than I meant to, but my tone didn’t discourage the one creature in all the galaxies who could match me.

“How do you know?” Micah asked, quieter this time, abruptly stopping in his tracks.

Fuck.

I stopped as well, because even with the karnilian mindlessly dragging me forward, the invisible string connecting me to my stellar collision was stronger.

“Because I can smell them, the same as when I track you,” I lied again.

I lied, because the thought of Micah keeping me away from Pedro felt like a tendril to my borrowed heart.

“Fine.” My stellar collision turned away too fast for me to properly read his expression, although the spike of anguish in our bond was crystal clear. “Let’s just find our baby.”

Our baby.

He wants that too…

Confessing my deepest desires to my mate earlier had been shockingly painless. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, because there was always unconditional acceptance waiting for me when it came to my mate.

The worst part was knowing the same would happen in this instance. I should simply tell Micah what was troubling me about Pedro, because he wouldn’t judge. If anything, he would offer a solution— multiple solutions, probably along with his support. Yet I still couldn’t bring myself to admit how much control this ridiculous gemstone had over me.

It’s making me weak.

A Stellarian is never weak.

With a growl, I stalked onward, fueled by the familiar well of self-loathing bubbling up to the surface.

“Karnilian conquers planets. At least, it has the potential to… in the right hands.”

Or the wrong ones…

Like me.

That feeling of worthlessness only grew when we rounded the corner to find Pedro perched on a pile of rubble as if nothing were amiss. I took a step forward but paused when Micah immediately reactivated their shields.

He knows.

Of course, he knows…

Again, we stared at each other, each of us refusing to be the first to name the issue, refusing to communicate.

I. Fucking. Hate. It.

“Pspsps…” Micah called, patting the baby sling he was wearing to encourage the creature to go to him instead of me.

It’s probably for the best.

“What now?” I asked, partly to break the tension, but mostly because I needed him to step up and take control of the situation.

In case he needs to take control of me.

Please.

Micah arranged Pedro in the sling before glancing around. “Well, I was hoping to continue my training with Leeloo, but I’m getting the feeling…”

His voice trailed off as something behind me caught his eye. I instinctively spun, preparing to unleash my tendrils if necessary—ready to protect what was mine.

Both of them.

My brow furrowed to find nothing there, but Micah hurried past me, activating the headlamp feature on his glasses to illuminate the tunnel wall.

“Holy shit!” he whispered, and Pedro chittered in response, as if also excited about the discovery. “Look, Zig— cave paintings!”

Cave paintings weren’t what I would call rare on other planets—climate and conflict dependent, of course—but they were generally only found in societies that valued creative expression and the preservation of accurate history over destructive supremacy and one-sided political narratives.

Hence why they are so rare on Earth.

And Stellaria…

Given what we knew of the Eki, I wasn’t surprised to find them here. If nothing else, their existence proved just how long this species had lived underground. What else this discovery provided was a conversation starter—a way to redirect my scientifically-minded mate to safer waters than the proverbial elephant in the room.

The Trol in the lava tube, I should say.

I moved closer, feeling my anxiety lessen simply from having both these creatures in close proximity once again.

“What do you see…” I began, trailing off as the pictures came into view.

The scene before me sent a cold shiver down my spine. A large blue sphere dotted with green continents floated in a sea of stars. Farther down the wall were crude renditions of humanoid figures and the unmistakable arrival of Lacertus to their primitive world.

This much I already knew, thanks to similar discoveries on Earth. What caught my eye, however, were the starry auras hovering over certain Earthlings, spreading outward like invisible strings—like tendrils —back in time to what were apparently the original invaders to my stellar collision’s home planet.

The Eki.