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 idiotstilldidn’t trust himself.
I trust you, Space Daddy.
“Not completely,” I confidently filled in the blanks, keeping my gaze locked on his. “But you didfully inhabit this vessel with me—when we workedtogetherto 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—theones,”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 usedthisto 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. “Ofcourse,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!
Ziggyfinallysank 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 forreal.
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 seeanyone’sdestiny?” 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—butonlyif it has been written.”
That’s gonna have to be good enough.
“What about ourchild?”I began, placing my hand over Pedro’s sleeping form as Ziggy tensed all over again. “Can you tell ustheirdestiny?”
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 thoughthiswas 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 actingmorepossessive 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.
