Let’s get this over with.
“I’m sorry, Zig,” Micah whispered before he stripped me of everything I was.
The instant the shields locked tight, the discomfort I’d experienced while in Uulvin’s cave washed over me—only this time, it felt magnified, like a tidal wave of distress.
Because it’s being caused by my mate.
My body was vibrating with the need to flee, and since a Stellarian rarely backed down from a fight, thishelplessnesswas simultaneously terrifying and humiliating.
“He truly hates this, hmm?” Leeloo calmly observed, circling me like a predator. “Such avisceralreaction.”
“Yeah…” Micah eyed me with concern as I inwardly unraveled. “It’s not his favorite. Can I remove?—”
“Your shields are still lacking… something.” The Eki raised a hand, hovering it over the invisible surface, taunting me with freedom.
Let. Me. Out.
Instead of dissolving my prison like I knew they could, Leeloo glanced at Micah. “You are familiar with Stellarians, correct?”
My mate blinked. “Y-yes. We were on Stellaria recently, when we found the egg?—”
“Do you understandhowthey take over another’s body?” the Eki continued conversationally. “How the process works, that is.”
Letmeoutletmeout…
Micah was visibly sweating, shifting on his feet as his gaze darted between us. “From what I’ve heard, they connect to their host like synapses in the brain and then control the bodily systems from there?”
He replied as if he wasn’t certain, but my stellar collision knew firsthand what it felt like for me to control his movements from the inside out. It was a trick webothenjoyed. I would force him to touch himself during playtime, to bring himself to the edge of completion, only to stop right before he tumbled over the edge.
Usually while keeping him under.
Not even the thought of my mate at the mercy of my desires could quell the panic bubbling up within me, so I begged for help in the only way I could.
LET ME OUT!
Micah gasped as his hand uncontrollably jerked upward, reaching for the shields entrapping me as I desperately manipulated the piece of my core lodged inside him.
Please…
“Not yet!” Leeloo lifted a scolding finger, making merage.“I need you to think about how a Stellarian controls living cells—organic matter, if you will. It’s a similar process to howwecontrol inorganic material.”
Even though I couldfeelhis growing anxiety on my behalf, Micah gave the suggestion careful consideration. “But I can’t connect with the lava directly…”
“You can,” the Eki interrupted, still sounding as patient as when this exercise began. “It is a series of smaller chain reactions, from particle to particle, until you connect with your mark. You are already doing it when youcreateitems—like with your shields—but you can use this same method for destructive purposes, to both assemble and disassemble.”
Despite my distress, I couldn’t help recalling when we’d first learned of a similar duality from the lone Stellarian survivor of Theo’s massacre.
“Earthlings are capable of both destruction and creation, so why not us?”
The signs were always there. Even Stellaria’s two smaller moons—GeneroandInteritus—translated ascreationanddestruction.
Meanwhile, our largest moon,Apotelesma,meantthe effect of the stars on human destiny,because it was humans—Earthlings—specifically who were uniquely suited for us to meld our consciousness with. As Bron had once explained, humans and Stellarians were the perfect symbiotic match.
“A species easily inspired to create and destroy, and a creature eager to serve as inspiration for either.”
Like a pair of muses.
Like stellar collisions.
