“My lord!” Zes called out to us. “Wait a moment! The oars have come loose…” He turned to one of his subordinate guards. “Hurry up and grab it, you fool!”
“I can’t, sir!” the guard said. “It’s too far out for me to reach!”
“Then go swim after it!” Zes said.
“We can push off the shore with the other oars,” the second guard said.
“How about we move one of the oars on that side to this side?” the first guard said.
“Whatever you’re going to do, just hurry up!” Zes said. “They’re getting away!”
We powered around the corner as the guards scooped the first oar from the water.
“Quick!” Sirena said. “Let’s get to the nearest shore!”
I did as she asked. She leaped out the moment we came to a stop. Then she shoved the boat off the shore and pushed it so it floated into the middle of the lake.
She took my hand and led me through the trees and undergrowth. She had no idea where she was going, so I took the lead. We came out on the other side of the forest and scaled a steep incline. We were puffing and panting by the time we reached the top.
I pressed my hands to my head and breathed heavily.
“Were you always a naughty girl?” I said.
“You have no idea,” she said with a wink.
We shared a laugh.
I heard the guards’ voices and we dropped to the ground. Sound carried well once you were out of the forest. I crept on my elbows to the edge and lay flat on my stomach to peer over the side.
Zes waved his arms and yelled at the other two guards. They were wet from head to foot. Zes stomped off in one direction and the other two guards headed in another.
“Looks like they’re going to take a while to find us,” I said.
I leaned back and bumped into something.
Her.
She lay beside me, her tight body was so close I could feel her warmth coming off her in waves. Her hair fell about her face and she defeated me with her smile.
“I think we did it,” she said.
“Yeah,” I said, my voice hoarse. “I think we did.”
She placed a hand on my arm and peered at me through her long eyelashes.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Thank me? For what? You were the one that got us away.”
“For trusting me,” she said. “I know it’s risky, you creeping away like that.”
“It’s nothing,” I said.
At that moment, if she wanted me to walk over hot coals for her, I would have.
Her eyes dropped to my lips and she nibbled on her own.
This was becoming unbearable.
Her lips were so close.
Within easy range.
All I had to do was lean forward and she would be mine…
“Beacon,” I said.
She frowned.
“Sorry?” she said.
The memory of my wife flashed before me again. I cleared my throat.
“This is a beacon,” I said.
I turned to the cube of piled wood behind us. I rolled up onto my feet and dusted off my hands and ass.
“My people light this in times of danger,” I said.
“Oh,” Sirena said.
I choked on her obvious disappointment. I choked on my own for that matter.
But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t bring myself to kiss her when I was still thinking about my wife. Sirena deserved better than that.
It was hard not to taste her, especially with her looking so good.
“Not just anyone can light it,” I said. “Only someone of House Taw can.”
“Why?”
“There’s a mystical bond between Titans and nature. It’s how we became so good at mining. We can sense ore deposits beneath the surface. We never do more harm than necessary when we take from the earth. House Taw built this beacon, and we’re the only ones that can strike the light.”
“Did you light it when the aliens attacked?” Sirena said, trying to cover her disappointment with idle conversation.
“No,” I said. “I could have. If I did, it would have spread across the whole moon and every Titan in the empire would fight.”
“Why didn’t you?” Sirena said.
“We were outnumbered,” I said. “And outgunned. A lot of innocent Titans would have died.”
“Would you have lost the battle?” she said.
“Titans don’t often lose battles. But this would have been the hardest fight we’d had in a very long time.”
“You surrendered so your people would live. That’s a good thing.”
“Yes,” I said, without conviction.
By avoiding her lips, I had stumbled into the topic that’d been on my mind since the Changelings began this bloody war.
“Keeping your people safe from being murdered is a good thing,” Sirena said. “I…”
She seemed unsure about what she was about to say next. She thought again and continued.
“I was born in a country at war,” she said. “If someone could have stopped the war from happening, it could have saved a lot of lives. Including my parents and my brother. He was about five at the time. No one knows his age for sure. A monastery took me in and found foster parents to raise me. I was very lucky. I could have grown up in those ruins the same way most kids did. So, I know what war is like. It’s best avoided. Always.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. I truly was. I had no idea…
“You should be glad you made that decision,” Sirena said. “So should every Titan everywhere. You are glad you made it, aren’t you?”
It was such a simple question. It demanded a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answer, but I didn’t have one for her. Did I answer with how I truly felt or how I needed to respond?
I only managed to say, “I—"
“My Lord?” Zes said, bracing his knee with a hand as he joined us on the plateau.
I searched Sirena’s eyes and she searched mine.
He’d unwittingly rescued me in the nick of time. I had no idea how I would have responded otherwise.
“We had a malfunction with the
