No one moved as Eve and Nyla stared each other down—Alpha-03 and Gamma-12 dressed in fucking bikinis in a sandy cabana on some paradise space station. Eve just barely put herself before me and reached her arm out to put me directly behind her. I noticed Nyla didn’t share that protectiveness with Tremaan.

  “What do you want?” Eve said sharply, her tone quiet and commanding, all the musical qualities gone to be replaced by menace and scorn.

  Nyla almost looked surprised, “What do I want?” She gestured to herself, “I want to be left alone, you’re the one who came in here spreading your spores all over everything. What the hell do you want?”

  Eve looked over at Tremaan who suddenly looked rather statuesque, “So what about your story—you and Tremaan, college and your parents and everything, what was all that?” She gestured to the blue alien man, “Who is he to you?”

  Nyla shrugged, “All just camouflage, same as you—an alias and an alibi.” She gestured to me, “I assume Tremaan is the same as your Adam over there.”

  Eve snarled and I heard a subtle echoing growl in her throat that sounded wildly inhuman, “Don’t you dare say his name, he isn’t some lifeless thrall to be controlled!”

  Nyla cocked her head to the side, really looking confused now, “You mean he…you haven’t assimilated him?”

  Eve almost lunged forward but I put a hand on her shoulder to stop her—holy shit, I actually could handle her; they better not fire me from this position.

  “Nyla, what did you do to Tremaan?” I pressed.

  Nyla didn’t seem concerned, merely curious. She turned to Tremaan and reached to the top of his chest and pulled down just slightly as though peeling back wallpaper, revealing a writhing netting of hundreds of black tentacles inside him.

  Tremaan was nothing more than a lifeless puppet.

  Nyla zipped him back up, “I only bring him out when I’m around other couples, easier to blend in that way. Otherwise, I’m content to just lounge around these stations, well, forever.” She offered mildly.

  Eve was baring her teeth at Nyla now, and honestly while it was disgusting what she did to Tremaan, I had no idea why Eve was so immediately angry, “Is that really all you desire? What about consuming biomass—what about your supremacy drive?” Eve demanded.

  Nyla smiled, “Ah, I’ve actually discovered the perfect way to stay nice and hidden and consume all the biomass I want.” She held a finger up and we saw a little drop of blood bubble on her skin and then it floated off into the air, and I lost sight of it. As though to answer my unasked question, Nyla held out her other hand as a dozen of those little blood droplets landed on her and then fused into her skin, “I send out my cells and collect a small sample of biomass from the thousands of people cycling through these stations every day; I can live in leisure, in secret, taking my time to reach perfection.”

  “You don’t kill or consume people for the biomass, just take little samplings every day?” I inquired.

  Nyla tilted her head back and forth, “I mean I’ve had to kill a few here and there—people to impersonate, a few to enthrall. But for the most part no, I don’t have to kill anyone—don’t really want to since it’s much easier to stay hidden this way.” She admitted.

  Eve was still growling at Nyla, so I kept my hand firm on her shoulder to keep her in place. “Okay, so just to be clear, you don’t want to kill anyone, right? Then let’s say we could get you some kind of proper Imperial identity, would you be okay to live on these stations without killing anyone anymore, just taking away a little sampling of that biomass?”

  Nyla smiled, as though she found me wildly amusing, “Who is this silly little monkey? He’s very funny; have you found yourself a pet?”

  Eve lunged again, and this time I had to almost jump on her back to stop her from going after Nyla. Eve was crouched low as I held onto her shoulders, and I could see her mouth and teeth elongated to look more like a shark’s jaw at this point.

  Nyla crossed her arms and glared at Eve, “I don’t get why you’re so upset; I’ve found my little corner in the universe, set to mind my own business. You can do whatever you want for all I care—take your pet and go.”

  I pulled Eve’s wrists together behind her back while she growled, and I was surprised how easily she allowed me to control her. Maybe she really wasn’t exaggerating when she said she had to obey my orders. Now that it was put to the test, you bet your ass I was going to put it in all my reports.

  “Listen, we’re part of a team that’s making sure the Predazoans aren’t causing any trouble for the Empire. If what you’re saying is true, I’m sure they’ll let you live peacefully in these stations.” I gestured to the area around us, “What are your plans from here?”

  Nyla shrugged, “Same as they’ve always been, relax and enjoy my freedom while slowly accumulating biomass.” She waved me off, “Your sudden appearance won’t change that.”

  I nodded, “Okay, is it cool if we meet up again tomorrow to have another discussion about all this?”

  Nyla nodded along and turned away, as though it was all beneath her, “Sure, have Eve reach out to me on the comms.” And with that she left, followed by Tremaan who moved like a marionette without strings.

  The second she was out of sight I slammed open my communicator and called for an emergency meeting, declaring we just made contact with Gamma-12.

  ***

  Everyone gathered up so fast we were actually the last ones at the diner. Eve had been holding onto me so tight I was worried she would bruise my arm, with her tentacles wrapped around me for extra protection. I’d never seen her get so desperately possessive before.

  Before we even fully sat down in the booth we were assaulted by questions.

  “Was she camouflaged?”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “What appearance did she take?”

  “How did you find her?”

  “Was it Eve’s spores?”

  “Are you sure it was her?”

  “People, please, give them a moment to breathe.” Doctor Gorgam said calmly, waving them all down. Then he turned to me and Eve, “Now, let’s hear the story.”

  Eve clearly wasn’t in the mood to talk, looking around the diner like a guard dog holding onto a scent, so I regaled them all with the thrilling details of Gamma-12 impersonating a regular passenger and taking us completely by surprise, revealing herself and asking Eve why she’d been spreading spores through her station like that.

  Yun looked over to Kianna, “Is it possible this Predazoan is actually peaceful?”

  Kianna shook her head slowly, a thoughtful look on her face, “To an extent, maybe, but you heard how callously she killed and assimilated that Tremaan guy.” She looked over to me, “Did she say anything about having other thralls available?”

  I shrugged, “She mentioned killing a few people to impersonate or assimilate but gave no more details.”

  Gorgam nodded, “You were right to come back here immediately rather than try to handle the situation on your own.”

  I quirked up an eyebrow, “You think? I was worried about letting her go.”

  Gorgam shook his head, “Better that and risk needing to find her again than proceed without expert consultation.”

  Kianna nodded too, “This way we can meet up with you guys together, perform a proper threat assessment before we make any definitive moves.”

  “Provided she shows up to that meeting.” Roote offered mildly.

  The researchers were more than tired of dealing with the agents at this point, “And what would be your plan then? Use our complete lack of resources to contain her somehow?” Zyno pressed.

  Roote shrugged, “We should’ve kept eyes on her, put a shadow on her.”

  Gorgam shook his head, “No, there’s no agent in the universe who could remain hidden from Predazoan senses. Adam and Eve handled the situation perfectly.”

  I smiled at that and felt a little hopeful; maybe things would work out for me and Eve after all.

  “Alright, did you two set a meeting time for tomorrow yet?” Kianna inquired.

  “No, she just told Eve to reach out to her through the comms.” I answered.

  “The earlier the better, and we should pick a place we can stage a little, at least to hopefully control the environment as best we can.” Lobae reasoned.

  Gorgam nodded along, “We’ll just have Kianna and I at the meeting along with Eve and Adam of course, no need to overwhelm Gamma-12—Nyla.” He turned to the agents, “We’ll have you lot standing by on the comms, get some sensors in place and a few trackers so we can keep a lock on her location from this point on.” He turned to me next, “We’re still on threat assessment so they won’t want us making any big moves yet, but you need to send the report on your first contact to mission command immediately.” He turned to Zyno, “Would you mind…?”

  Zyno waved him off, “I got it.”

  Known for my piss-poor reports, Zyno was set to help me out. From there the meeting dismissed as the agents got to work getting their sensors and trackers ready once Eve had the location for the meeting. Zyno went over my report with me, and helpful as ever, he made sure it was all very clear how well Eve and I worked together—even how I held her back from attacking Nyla, although we were careful in how we worded her immediate inhuman anger. After the report was finished Zyno and I split up, so Eve and I returned to our room together, with her hanging onto me protectively all the while.

  “Evie, sweet-thing, you know you’re kind of hurting me there.” I told her once we were back in the room together.

  Eve, who had been silent during the entire meeting, looked up at me as though I was the first person to speak to her in hours, “What?”

  I gestured to the arm she was holding and had her tentacles all wrapped around, “My arm, please?”

  Eve looked down, debating whether she should actually let go or not. Finally, she let out a weary sigh and released me, “Sorry darling, I’ve just got a lot on my mind right now.”

  I nodded, “I can imagine.” I led us over to the couch and sat down and Eve promptly got into my lap, “You wanna fill me in on some of those thoughts of yours?”

  Eve slowly shook her head, “I should’ve just killed her right there, I’m fast enough she wouldn’t have been able to do anything—couldn’t react before I had my fangs on her core.”

  I held her chin in my hand and forced her to look at me, “Evie, why are you so angry? I’ve never seen you like this before, is it something to do with being around another Predazoan?”

  Eve looked into my eyes, her own eyes glowing insanely now, “Adam, remember how upset I was when that couple, Glemsh and Tyarm propositioned you? I said they didn’t even see you as a person, just a conquest?” Her eyes narrowed, “For Nyla it’s even worse, she looks at you as some thing—a collection of biomass she could consume at any time, and she feels she has the right to do so.”

  I nodded, “Yeah, but we established you would protect me.”

  Eve shook her head again, looking like I wasn’t hearing her at all, “You still don’t understand Adam, I don’t want to talk to her, I don’t want to try and work anything out, I want to kill and consume her and then take you far away from here—away from The Radiance and the Predazoan researchers, away from the Empire. I want to head back to Earth and live a peaceful life where people look at you and see you as a person, not a tool or a thing, but the real you.” Tears started welling up in her eyes, “I don’t want to live in fear you might be taken away from me, that you might be hurt or killed, I can’t stand the thought of living without—”

  I wrapped my arms around Eve and pulled her in close as she started crying now. I rocked her gently and made soothing shushing sounds as she cried into my chest, “Evie, oh Evie, I’m so sorry you feel this way. My sweet-thing.” Seeing her suffering like this made me feel horrible—like my heart was breaking, but I wasn’t sure what all I could do to comfort my adorable little alien.

  “I hate it! I hate all these emotions, these fears and anxieties. Sometimes I wish I could just turn them all off, but then I wouldn’t be human—then I couldn’t be with you.” Eve sobbed.

  “We have to take the good with the bad, Evie. I know it sucks, but that’s really what keeps us human.” I told her.

  Eve hiccupped in that pathetic way and then pulled back, looking at me again, “Remember you made me promise I wouldn’t take away your freedom even if it was something I thought would be better for you—control you to protect you or keep you safe?”

  A little shiver ran down my spine, “Yeah?”

  Eve looked down, trailing a fingernail along my chest, “I’m trying really, really hard right now to keep that promise…” She admitted.

  I sighed and pulled her back into my embrace, and she melded against me like she was made to fit there, “It’s all part of the human experience, dealing with the happy times together, and the bad times too. I know I keep saying how much I trust you to keep me safe, but I’ll admit I’m kinda scared too.”

  “Really?”

  I nodded, “Yeah, it’s scary being in this crazy position in the middle of two Outsider gods clashing, no telling how it might turn out. But it really does give me comfort knowing you’re there to protect me, and I’m here to protect you. No matter what all we face, we’ll always face it together.”

  “Will you make me a promise then?”

  “Sure, what is it?”

  Eve looked up at me again, “You have to stay beside me all the time now, at least while we’re dealing with Gamma-12. If you remain within arm’s reach, no matter what Nyla does, I’ll be able to protect you.”

  I quirked up an eyebrow, “Even if she destroys the space station?”

  Eve smiled, “So long as you’re right next to me, yes, I can protect you.”

  I smiled too, “And where else would I rather be? I’m pretty sure I’ve been within arm’s reach for at least 60% of this vacation so far—maybe 70%.” I said, giving her a little squeeze.

  Eve trilled a little giggle, “Okay, but it needs to be 100% from now on.”

  I nodded, “Of course, sweet-thing.”

  Eve looked up at me as her tears finally stopped, and I could see hope and happiness shining in her eyes again, “Adam? I love you.”

  It was funny, normally we went on and on about how much we loved each other, why we loved each other, how we wanted to love each other, saying all kinds of silly romantic things with random cute additives, but right there in the simplicity of her telling me she loved me, it hit me harder than ever before; I really, truly felt loved in that moment, and I knew I would be safe and secure with Eve forever—through all time and space.

  “I love you too, Eve.”