Page 48 of Space Daddy and a Boy Called Twink

“One of the perks of being with her, if you can call it that, is that I know her strengths and weaknesses. As I said, I can keep her from controlling me again. I just have to figure out where to start looking.”

Twink took another sip of water before setting it on the coffee table. “I think I can help in that department. Roger said there’s a Reddit where they discuss the sightings.” He pulled it up on his phone, scrolling through before reading through the entries. “Looks like she was first seen at that gas station on PonnyBoulevard. Then there was another sighting a few nights later, at two a.m., on Carson Avenue.”

“She’ll prefer a dark space. My last home with her was in a dark, damp cave. That’s what she’ll gravitate to. But I can’t imagine anything like that around here.”

Twink’s expression came to life. “Like a sewer?”

I angled my head, trying to remember any information I’d encountered about sewers.

“Under the city,” he said, “there’s a network of tunnels where water flows. Sewage water. It’s gross, but if she likes that kind of environment, she could find it underground.”

“That sounds right.”

“She definitely wouldn’t have to worry about anyone bothering her there. Maybe that’s how she’s kept from being discovered.”

“I should start searching the area where she was last seen. See if she found her way there. How big is this sewer system?”

“It’s massive, spanning the whole city. If she decided to go down there, she could be anywhere, really.”

This would be a problem. “I’ll take a look tomorrow during the day. She needs twelve hours of rest and can only do so in darkness. She’ll use that time to rest underground. By now, as I said, she likely already has a few drones at her disposal.”

A new sensation rose up within Twink, drawing my attention. It was all tension and shaking… It made me hate myself for burdening him with this.

“She’s not gonna hurt them, is she? Her drones?”

I wished I could have been more confident, but when I didn’t respond right away, he pressed.

“Daddy, you’re saying she could go around killing innocent people?”

“She will be reluctant to do this. From my own experience as a parasite, I can say that doing anything so dramatic capturesthe attention of the native species, especially a social one like yourselves. It’s more likely she would use them to procure food.” I stopped there, deciding against sharing that, if she discovered he was whom I wanted to bond and mate with, on top of losing his head, he would likely be on the menu. Didn’t seem like helpful information to divulge just then.

Twink chewed his bottom lip. I took his hand, gripping gently, in the way I knew reassured him, but it didn’t do as much good as it had in the past.

“If I can get on top of this, there’s a good chance we can stop her before she does any real harm.”

“And by stop her, you mean…?”

My gut twisted up. “I haven’t really thought that through.”

“Are you going to kill her? I mean, I know she did terrible things, much worse than anything Carter did to me, but you said you loved her at one time. I can’t imagine that’ll be easy.” He placed his free hand on top of mine, concern all over his expression. This was one of the most beautiful things about Twink—the compassion. I wondered if most humans shared this trait, but regardless, it was beautiful to witness.

“I don’t know that it’s something I could do even if I wanted to,” I admitted. “As much as I despise her, once a Furker has bonded to a mate, there is always going to be some connection that can’t be severed.”

“Then what?”

“I’m still working on a plan. I’m close to fixing my communications panel. Maybe I can send a signal out to the Intergalactic Justice Department, and they could send someone to arrest her.”

“And where would you keep her until they got here?”

“TheKaylogcan accommodate a prisoner, but that’s assuming I’ll even be able to capture her. Sheila isn’t foolish, and she’s far smarter than me.”

“You’re very smart.”

“This wasn’t meant to evoke an unearned compliment, as your species sometimes desires. I’m aware I’m intelligent, but I’m also aware of my limitations, and Sheila’s brain is perfectly suited for critical thinking and strategy. It will make her exceptionally difficult to catch.”

“Oh…well, you’re still very smart.”

Seeing his cute little dimples again set me at ease somewhat, but it couldn’t completely quiet the discomfort and anxiety I’ve been experiencing since discovering that Sheila was running around Harmony Springs, searching for me. Which brought with it other considerations.