Page 35 of Time Traveling Space Bastards

T he food I just ate felt like lead in my stomach and I lied when I said I might have masturbated to a hot dude feeding me tacos. I totally did. More than once. That fantasy just came true, and it was everything I wanted it to be. Torrek had me snuggled into his chest and was feeding me churros, but I really didn’t know what Enix was about to say.

We were nearly out of time to save my life. It was supposed to happen in about eight hours and we still had no clue who did it or how to save me and know to come back and save me. Whatever Enix found was probably it unless Ghol managed to find Valtens.

Still, Enix looked excited, so I should be, too.

“The entire police file is a lie. Baxter’s body wasn’t found in a few hours. Her body wasn’t found at all. They did the wellness check on a Friday morning a week later than what they actually said. Probably so if anyone picked the cold case back up and decided to look at Owen again, he might be able to provide an alibi that time if they lied about the date.

“Also, Baxter wasn’t strangled and stabbed. They found her apartment covered in blood, but her body wasn’t there. It was so much blood that there was no question she’d died there. They lied about finding her body and there being no fingerprints or DNA on it because they were worried if someone tried to find it, they might find Owen’s.”

“Sorry, but if you don’t have kings and queens here, then why is anyone going through this much trouble for Owen?” Omi asked. “That kind of deception would be expected for Valtens or Kuka, but anyone else wouldn’t get that treatment. If they didn’t want to give an alibi, they’d go straight to the top of the suspect list.”

“Yeah, but there are two justice systems here. There’s the one my broke ass is under and then there’s the one people with money play under. If you know someone or you’re rich, you don’t have to follow the same rules.”

“I still want to kill Owen,” Torrek said.

Kuka started laughing like a madman. I perked up because I also did that when I had a great idea. I was pretty sure Kuka had figured this mess out.

“So, listen, I know how to fix this,” he said, jumping up and pacing. “We’ve got time now. No version of me would ever let an innocent die, even if I didn’t like them, but I’m actually very fond of Baxter, so I would have done literally anything to save you.

“You’re in danger with my brother here, but I wouldn’t know that unless something drastic happened. And Omi stowing away is perfect. Sorry, Torrek, but we need her.”

“I don’t get it,” I said.

“I don’t, either,” Torrek said.

“Would it work?” Kuka asked Omi.

“The P2X has never done it before, but since you brought one just in case, I think I can make it work like that.”

“I think I’m getting it,” Torrek said.

“Someone want to explain? I’m totally lost.”

“If someone is injured and needs blood on our planet, it has to come from a family member. You can be the same blood type, but your body will reject it unless it’s familial. A lot of people move away from their families or they have a falling out and their family doesn’t want to give blood to save them.

“That’s where the P2X comes in. If you take a little blood from the patient, it will replicate it and you have enough of an exact match to save their life. It’s never done human blood before, but we’ve used it if someone is visiting our planet and gets hurt, so technically it should be able to replicate your blood.”

“Are we talking about faking my death and fucking off this planet?”

“Technically speaking. Does that offend you?” Kuka asked.

“Um, not dying and leaving the entire planet? It’s kind of sexy.”

“Not to dampen the celebration, but Valtens is still a danger,” Ghol said. “He only operates in extremes and he usually manages to pick the wrong choice in any situation. He’s abandoned the ship and didn’t know how to fly it anyway, but if he’s watching her, he’ll know you’re here.”

“I’d love to say my brother wasn’t dumb enough to come after a human with two Saki here and think I’d take him home after that, but he really is.”

“She’s my Zovea. I won’t be able to stop myself if he tries to hurt her.”

Omi just shrugged.

“She’s my sister now. Like, my sister, not my sister-in-law that I have to tolerate because of my brother. I’m going to have some instincts there, too.”

“I don’t enjoy violence, but I might if it’s Valtens trying to hurt Baxter,” Enix said.

“I can’t kill him unless he’s trying to kill me. It’s the rules of the contest. The only way any of us are going to be able to excuse hurting him over a human is if that human is the Devouring Mother and I don’t think we should tell anyone back home that.”

“Um, what about the last book? I’m a slow writer. It took me a year to finish the last one. Don’t you need it?”

Kuka just gave me a sexy smirk.

“I’m working on that. I can concentrate on it better now that we’ve got breathing room and I’ve figured out how to save your life.”

I shifted.

“Is anyone going to get mad if I thank you privately?”

Because seriously, Kuka was hot, and he had amazing hair, but his brain got me going. I wanted to get carnal and then snuggle while talking about time travel. I mean, I wouldn’t if Torrek said no, but I really wanted to.

Torrek just gave me a little love tap on my ass.

“Go play, Zovea.”

Yeah, he was definitely made for me.