Considering how much faster Eve was than anything this side of reality, the only reason I was able to get between her and Almana was because I was already somewhat in the way.

  “Eve, Evie please, just wait—wait a minute!” I insisted, holding my hands up, desperate to keep the peace before things got out of hand.

  Well, more out hand.

  Eve strode forward and pointed her claw around me, “This disrespect will not stand! I told you what would happen if any woman tried to put her hands on you!”

  Almana continued scooting away on the floor, “Adam, what the fuck is going on, what is she!?”

  I started to look back towards Almana, and that was a big mistake as Eve took the moment to start to lunge at her, but I ended up half jumping on Eve, holding onto her from behind, wrapping my arms around her knowing she wouldn’t fight me off.

  “I’ll devour your heart, you bitch!” Eve snarled.

  “Evie, please just calm down for a second and talk to me—talk to me!” I insisted.

  Eve was barely listening as I held her in place, but her black tentacles started snaking all over the room, growing in size as they started latching onto anything nearby, grabbing and ripping and tearing into everything.

  One of Eve’s tentacles made it to Almana’s leg and started wrapping around her ankle, and she let out a terrified shriek.

  I got out from behind Eve and grabbed the sides of her face, forcing her to look me in the eyes, “Eve, please!”

  Taking up all her vision, Eve’s loud snarling lowered into a rumbling growl, and finally her movements slowed to a stop.

  “What?” She said coldly.

  I let out a quick sigh of relief, but knew we weren’t out of the woods yet, “Please, please just listen to me before you do anything, okay?”

  Eve’s eyes narrowed on me so they looked like burning yellow slits, “Talk.”

  I nodded, then turned to Almana once more, “Eve, Almana is terrified now, and she was just seeking any available comfort; she’s convinced she and her people are going to die tomorrow, so she propositioned me.” I gestured to myself, “Of course I said no, I would never betray you. But you have to give her a break, let her—”

  “She wasn’t going to take no for an answer, Adam.” Eve pointed her claw at Almana, “Look at the whore, naked, throwing herself at you, locking you into a corner; she would’ve done anything to have you.” Eve turned back to me then, “But you’re mine, you understand me? Mine!”

  I really didn’t know what else to say, had no idea how to resolve the issue. I didn’t really blame Almana for what she did and knew she was just scared and desperate—we all were. But Eve didn’t care about the reasoning, she just saw someone trying to take what belonged to her, and she warned me over and over what she would do to anyone who tried to take me from her.

  In the moment I was silent and thinking how to fix this, Almana finally spoke up, “So she’s behind this whole mess? Some Imperial weapon gone rogue, and now you’re trying to fix it?” She demanded, gaining a little fire as she stood back up.

  “Shut up, whore!” Eve shrieked.

  I looked back and forth between Eve and Almana, no idea where to start, “No, shit, it’s way more complicated than that.”

  “All the people who’ve died, all those assimilated soldiers, it was the cause of some Predazoan?” Almana continued.

  I opened my mouth to try and respond, but Eve beat me to it, “We need not explain anything to you, you’ll be dead soon!”

  “Bring it, bitch!” Almana insisted, naked and unarmed, but damn if she wasn’t brave—stupid, but brave.

  Eve snarled, and before anyone could blink she snaked a tentacle towards Almana, wrapping up around part of her body and neck, then lifting her up in the air as though she weighed nothing.

  Almana yelped as the tentacles squeezed her, and whatever bravery she acquired through her anger in thinking Eve was somehow involved in what happened to her planet died away rather quickly as the wind was knocked out of her and she struggled to breathe.

  “Eve, let her go!” I demanded.

  Eve’s face darkened into a scowl as she slowly squeezed Almana more, taking her time with it. I put my hand on the tentacle that was wrapped around Almana, “Eve, please just let her go, let me try to resolve all this—like a human.” I insisted.

  Eve wasn’t happy, and she was beyond livid, but she really did listen to me—I was her handler after all.

  Eve growled again, then dropped Almana on the ground, and promptly wrapped her arms and tentacles around me, holding onto me tightly, possessively.

  Almana had a little coughing fit, rubbing at her neck as she caught her breath. She looked over at me with a clearly accusing gaze, “What the fuck?”

  I tried to take a step forward, but Eve had me totally locked in place. I let out a quick sigh and decided to get to explaining right there.

  “The Predazoans are an ancient, extinct race of godly beings beyond anything we can truly comprehend on this side of reality. Centuries ago, their remains were discovered in deep space, and a project was established to revive them. Just a few years ago, the Empire’s top researchers succeeded, but the Predazoans couldn’t be controlled, and eventually they all escaped. Our mission is to contain or kill the escaped Predazoans, and Eve here is on our side, and the only hope we have in ending this threat; nothing in this universe exists that could stop or destroy a Predazoan except another Predazoan.” I explained.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Almana stood back up, looking at both of us with a deeply distrusting expression, “So all that talk about being a specialty weapons expert, that’s all bullshit? She is the weapon?”

  I smirked, “Yeah, kinda like you thought I was way back when.”

  Almana smiled then, but clearly, she wasn’t amused, “Then she’s one of the good ones or something? Our entire planet has nearly been taken over, and yet we’re supposed to trust this…monster?”

  “You don’t need to worry about anything since you’re going to die right here.” Eve said darkly.

  I tried to reach up and tug on one of Eve’s tentacles to reign her in, but she had me too wrapped up in her embrace.

  Almana’s expression was a mix of anger and fear, mostly anger now—or at least she was trying to hide her fear, “And how the hell do you fit into all this, Adam? From some pre-enlightened, backwater planet, how the fuck does the sole human in the Empire get involved?”

  “Actually, Eve is what brought me out into the Empire; she crashed landed onto my home planet, and I took care of her and we bonded, then the Empire snatched us both up and put us to work hunting down the other Predazoans.” I explained.

  “And you trust her—I should trust her after all this shit, after everything we’ve been dealing with on our planet, all the nightmares and monstrosities, and we’re just supposed to hope your friendly monster there will take care of it all for us?” Almana pressed.

  Before I could answer, Eve laughed, and it sounded shrill and cruel, “And why should it matter if you trust me? I already told you I was going to kill you.”

  Almana smiled and crossed her arms under her breasts, “If you were going to kill me you would’ve already done it.” She waved towards me, “Seems Adam there must hold your leash or something.”

  Damn, Almana really was sharp, but for as smart as she was, she was being really stupid taunting Eve like that; I might’ve stopped Eve from killing Almana right away, but that didn’t mean we were in the clear yet.

  “It’s true, I’m Eve’s handler, but we’re also lovers, and the Empire uses that connection to their advantage. Out here, all we have is each other, so you can understand why Eve’s so possessive of me.” I explained.

  Almana cocked her head to the side, “You make it sound like the Empire has you working against your will.”

  Shit, I didn’t really want to get into that now—or with anyone on Vyrane really, but I did need to warn Almana to keep the Predazoans secret.

  “Look, all I can tell you is this shit is top of the top-level secret; people have died to keep the Predazoans secret, so you really, really need to be careful with how you proceed from here.” I said pointedly.

  Almana could tell what I was driving at, “Right, the Empire will do anything in its power to keep their dirty little bioweapon secret.”

  I nodded once, “Exactly.”

  Almana was quiet for a few moments, thinking over everything I said and everything that was at stake. Eventually, she just let out a long, weary sigh, “Despite all the bullshit and all the secrets and lies, I honestly can’t help but trust you Adam—just you; not the Empire or your team or even your monster, only you.” She smirked, “You’re just some guy that got involved in something way over your head and hit the ground running, exactly the same as me.”

  I sighed in relief, thankful Almana knew well enough to keep the secret. That was exactly the problem with those Imperial soldiers Seash and his men executed, they wouldn’t back down and were about to expose the Predazoan secret. I didn’t want to outright tell Almana she would die if she started talking, but she was smart enough she could read between the lines.

  At least I was able to prevent one more tragedy.

  Almana gestured between me and Eve, “And you two, how exactly does that work?”

  I laughed at that, “As well as we can manage, honestly. A mortal dating a god, we have some legends like that back on Earth, does Vyrane have anything similar?”

  Almana looked rather amused then, smiling to herself like she had some hidden secret, “More than a few, I’ll say that much.” She looked over at Eve and bowed her head respectfully, “And really Eve, I’m sorry I made a pass at Adam. Like he said, I’m just scared and lonely and looking for comfort wherever I could find it, I should’ve never made such an outrageous proposition. I apologize.”

  Somehow, it seemed like we were able to avoid a violent outcome; I didn’t know if I was a good mediator or if Eve was just finally listening to me, but the fact we came to a peaceful resolution was honestly quite surprising, but I was more than glad for it.

  Suddenly, without any warning, Eve thrust her tentacles forward, wrapping around Almana’s limbs and neck, spreading her wide as she lifted her in the air.

  Eve trilled a dark little laugh, “Did you really think I would let that insult go so easily, you stupid sow?”

  “Eve, stop—” I started, but before I could protest further, Eve wrapped a tentacle around my mouth, silencing me completely.

  Eve continued to stretch and pull Almana by her limbs, causing her to cry out in pain.

  “So, how shall I deal with you? As much as I’d like to kill you, the complication of your death would cause more trouble than it’s worth, and I don’t possess the ability to assimilate your corpse to at least puppeteer you through the rest of the mission, constrained as I am.” Eve said tauntingly, as though discussing dinner options.

  I tried to break free of Eve’s grip, but she held me tight; despite my strength enhancements, I was still powerless before Eve.

  Eve pulled Almana down towards her, “A little bit of torture would be nice; I could hurt you in ways you can’t even imagine—something to damage or disfigure that slutty body of yours you tried to use to seduce my Adam. Yes, that would be nice.”

  Almana tried to stifle her screams, to mask her pain—to show herself strong. She looked down at me, but it wasn’t with a pleading expression, no, it almost looked like she was worried about me—concerned for my safety.

  Eve of course noticed it right away, and her expression darkened as she snarled again.

  “I don’t believe it; you still want him—you still desire what belongs to me! You nasty cunt, you think you even deserve Adam—you think he would ever sully his hands by touching you?” Eve tossed Almana over to the bed, then with her tentacles she took the metal framing of the bed and locked her in place, binding her hands and legs so she was forced to sit up and look at us.

  “I can inflict pain later, but you know what will really hurt you now? If I indulge in the comfort you sought from my Adam, right in front of you—force you to watch.” Eve said in an almost giddy voice.

  “You’re fucking crazy, Eve!” Almana spat, but suddenly looked more afraid than she did when she was threatened with pain.

  Eve trilled an excited giggle and clapped her hands together, “Oh, I’m going to have fun with this.”

  Still keeping my mouth shut, Eve used her tentacles to remove my armor with dexterous precision, then carried me over to the bed, placing me down right in front of Almana, naked.

  Eve removed the last scraps of her armor so we were all completely naked together, then she walked over and sat on the bed beside me, trailing her black nails along my exposed skin teasingly.

  “Yes, I think this will do nicely for a punishment, at least to start.” Eve smiled viciously, then swung her leg up and over so she was straddling my lap, still locking eyes with Almana, “I’m going to fuck my Adam now, going to give him pleasure you can’t even imagine, and you’re going to watch it all.”