Hesitation was not in Bellona's nature. She spat out the truth like it had a bad taste. Whatever she had to say, it wasn't good.

"And," I prompted.

"And I don't like how close she was to Jidden before he left to find you. Nothing happened between them, but they were almost inseparable."

I wasn't worried. I knew how much Jidden loved me. We were light bonded. Whatever he felt, his sadness and his joy, I felt too. Even while I was on the run from the Surtu, I could see Jidden in my dreams and feel his anguish as he searched for me. If he had been unfaithful, I would have known.

"They were probably strategizing," I speculated.

"HE was strategizing," Bellona sneered. "I'm not so sure about her. I could kill her for you if you want. I can make her death agonizing."

I laughed. Was she joking? We did not kill out of jealousy or contrition, no matter how much we wanted to. We only killed those who posed a lethal threat, and we only killed out of necessity. But Bellona's judgment of a deadly threat differed from my own.

The three men I had killed before meeting the rescue ship were threats. The young women they would have taken into captivity nearly became reluctant brides. I prevented a future of being forced into light bonds that they didn't choose, and being compelled to bear children that were not of their will.

I knew this truth in my mind, but my heart betrayed me when I spoke.

"I killed," I revealed to Bellona.

"And you'll kill again."

"Funny, Jidden said the same thing."

"It's why we shouldn't be here," Bellona asserted. "I do not like being passive. And we don't know who summoned us here."

I agreed with her. "We are free women. Once I am rested, we should be able to go, no matter what Godfrey says."

"Unless you're hiding a pair of wings, that's easier said than done. Godfrey has control over the ships. She's even convinced Jidden to relinquish his vessel to the cause."

Not having access to a ship created a barrier, but it did not make the feat impossible. If we could escape a Surtu invasion, we could work our way pass the directives of a General who was on our side. I wouldn't let our paradise become our prison again.

"We'll find a way," I assured her. I was determined as I thought of my family on Earth. I had not gone to them when I had escaped from Captain Fore, fearful I would lead his cruelty straight to them. Now that Earth would fall, their safety was no longer an issue. In time, they would be found, no matter how far the desert was from society.

We could not remain on the refuge for long. Our families were being turned into slaves. We had to return, and soon. The women of the Fortuna had different training than ordinary soldiers. We had highly developed skill sets more attuned to those of an assassin than those of a soldier. In Bellona's case, she was identical to an assassin.

"And if we don't find a way," I added, "then I'll let you have your way with Godfrey."

Bellona smiled. "It's good to have you back, Nightshade."

Beside us, Lucina spoke again, finding her voice. "I want to go with you," she insisted weakly. "Don't leave me here."

I looked at her critically. I wanted to promise we wouldn't leave her, but it wasn't a promise I could make.

PRESENT DAY.

Waking from sleep, Jidden joined me at the window of our hut. I thought about everything that had changed over the last month since we arrived at the refuge. I tried not to think about the distance that had grown between us.

Our relationship was strained. We barely spoke and rarely made love. Jidden was struggling with something. He was pushing me away, but I didn't know why.

"It can't last," he said, standing inches from me. The distance between us felt like a deep, lonely ravine.

I hoped he was talking about living here, not about our relationship. "The refuge?" I asked.

"Yes. The refuge. The network of deserters has grown bold. They've doubled their rescue missions. The Surtu military will soon catch on."

"The Surtu military are the network," I reminded him. "Some of them. This war is no longer human versus Surtu. It's not even right versus wrong. The outcome is the same no matter what we do. Human and Surtu must unite. It's evolution. Humanity will change forever. Humanity has changed forever," I corrected myself.

"Then what is this war about?" he asked. He remained unconvinced.

"It's about the legacy we leave our children. Do we set them up to be barbarians like Captain Fore, or do we instill within them the virtues your people used to revere the virtues your father possessed."

Jidden stiffened at the mention of his father. He was a soldier who had died many years before, not long after Jidden's mother had perished from the disease that threatened the existence of the Surtu. The deaths of his parents left the military to raise Jidden.

"My father was a good man," Jidden acknowledged, "but he was no saint. The Surtu are not saints, not even at their best."

"Neither are humans. That's what evolution is for."

Jidden edged closer to me and took my hand. "How can you speak so calmly after we invaded your world? How can you so freely accept the Surtu fate as your own?"

I hadn't seen this much affection from Jidden in weeks. Caught up in the moment, I didn't answer him. Instead, I kissed him with all the joy I felt from his touch and all the sadness I carried from the distance between us.

He kissed me back just as intently, but then he let me go, taking a step back that broke my heart.

"Jidden, talk to me," I pleaded. "I don't understand what's happening to us."

"I need a shower," he said, and he headed towards the bathroom.

"Jidden!" I yelled. My frustration was emerging.

"Nothing is happening to us," he insisted before turning the corner to take his shower.

"That's the problem," I mumbled to myself.

I was a slender woman with a toned body. Even so, the bridge acting as a roadway between the huts quivered beneath my weight. The rope holding the bridge together was durable, as were the wooden planks that guided my steps. Since it was high up, it moved at the whim of the forces around it. A slight breeze sent the bridge swaying.

Godfrey had called a meeting. She didn't officially invite me, but I was going.

It was time to return to Earth.

I had given myself time to heal from my wounds. I was rested and prepared. I had no idea what remained of the resistance on Earth, but I was certain I was in better shape than they were.

When I arrived at the central building of our treetop village, I sat on a bench next to Bellona. "Are you crashing the party too?"

"I crash every party. It's important to keep your enemies close."

"They're not our enemies," I argued. "They're trying to help."

"This isn't about the war. This is personal. I don't like playing nice for my jailers."

I sighed. "Well, with hope, that will be resolved after this meeting."

An informal representation of Surtu soldiers and humans sat around us. Some humans were military, but most were everyday women and men rescued from captivity and flown to the refuge. Godfrey rose to start the meeting.

"Our worst fears have come to pass," she said gravely, moving to the front of the room. "The Surtu have captured the last of the capitals. None remains independent. The Surtu now govern Earth."

The news was expected, but that didn't make it any less devastating.

Bellona tightened her fist, expressing her grief with anger. "You should have let us fight!" she cried out. "That would mean three hundred more warriors defending the capitals."

Godfrey remained surprisingly calm. "I know how you feel. I was trained as a soldier as well. It goes against every one of my instincts not to blast away the Surtu who oppress us. But we knew victory wasn't likely. This refuge is our last hope. Rescuing as many people as possible remains humanity's best chance of survival."

I thought of what Jidden had said earlier. He didn't believe we could last here. He thought the Surtu military would eventually discover us.

I stood up. "What does the network plan to do now?"

Godfrey was offended by my question. "We will continue our rescue missions. Nothing changes for us."

"Why not? With the war winding down, the chaos will disappear as well. The Surtu military will increase their surveillance. They already know Surtu soldiers have changed sides. They'll soon realize some Surtu ships that leave or land are working against them. No matter how cleverly you time the departure of the ships, one day they will follow us and find us."

Godfrey crossed her arms. "Lynch, if this is a prelude to a speech about why the women of the Fortuna should be allowed to fight, then I'm afraid you've made my point for me. If any of you is recognized, you will be followed back here, and your prediction will come true."

"You're assuming we want to return," Bellona argued. "Earth is where we want to be. Earth is where we belong."

"Wrong," Godfrey said. "As soldiers on the Fortuna space station, you didn't train to protect Earth. You trained to protect humanity. We need you here. You are now our first line of defense. You are our army. And one day, God forbid, you could be our last hope. Here is where you belong."

She had a good point, but I tried to make Godfrey understand what we needed. Bellona was running out of patience. "If the Surtu find us, we'll meet the same fate as Earth. Let us join our brothers and sisters at home. Let us help them reclaim the capitals, before the infection of Surtu power spreads beyond control."

"I'm tempted," Godfrey admitted. "You would be helpful to the pockets of resistance that still fight, and your unique skills would benefit the rescue missions. But the decisions of the brain outweigh the desires of the heart. All the points I've made are still valid. You could be recognized and followed. And we need you here as our army."

"You're not the General of us," Bellona spat. "You're a pretender. We follow Nightshade."

Godfrey was confused. "What does that mean?"

Bellona smiled. "You'll see."

When I left the meeting, I realized Jidden had not been in attendance.

Is that how far apart we had grown? Was I so used to being apart from him that I no longer noticed if he was with me or not?

Enough was enough. I had to figure out what was happening between us. I was a warrior. If there was anything in my life worth fighting for, besides the freedom of my people, it was love.

Finding our hut empty, I went to the hover lift we used to reach the jungle floor. I stepped onto the small disc and held onto the safety rail as it floated down past the thick leaves and rainbow birds that nested in the verdant labyrinth around me. When I first arrived here, I'd found the descent peaceful. I admired the differences and the similarities between this world and my own. It was hard to appreciate beauty when everything was in ruin.

The air on the jungle floor was intolerably humid, leaving a thick mist as the heat of the suns met the fall of the rain. It was hard to breathe, but I persevered, pushing through the jungle to Jidden's personal hideaway. It was a secret within a secret.

I entered the glade that was shielded by a wall of flora. Jidden was there, shirtless and active, beating down a twig-stuffed target with his bare fists. His sweat and the rain washed blood down his knuckles. I watched him silently, trying to understand the frustration that ruined our peace. He has lost his way here, I knew. But we were all lost together. I couldn't understand what was traumatic enough for him to push me away.

"Jidden," I called out, revealing my presence.

Immediately, he stopped what he was doing. He became a tense statue in the training yard. He was not unhappy to see me, but the light in his eyes did not sparkle the way they once did when I was near him. I wondered if that was because he had less affection for me, or if it was because he was hiding a secret.

"Terra," he greeted me formally.

I plucked a leaf in half and went to him. The leaf had an ointment inside that helped heal wounds. Jidden could heal himself. All Surtu could. These days he chose not to.

I knew he was punishing himself though the precise reason was as much a mystery as everything else happening between us. He allowed me to rub the ointment over his knuckles. For that, I was glad.

"Tell me what's going on," I implored. My voice was hoarse with emotion.

"I don't know," he answered. His willingness to speak the truth surprised me. "I don't know what I'm doing here."

I knew he didn't mean to attack me personally. He hated our situation. It still hurt to hear. More than ever, I was determined to find our way back home.

"I know you feel like you betrayed your people but doesn't having fellow Surtu soldiers here strengthen you? You are no traitor. You've chosen a better way. All of you have."

He huffed and shook his head. "You've always had such faith in me. Yes, I'm dealing with my decision to turn on my own kind, but my frustrations are not as admirable as that. I was the Lead Officer of my ship. I answered to myself. I like to be in command. I want to be in command again."

I didn't judge Jidden for his desires. He didn't want power, but he wanted control. It made him feel secure.

"I know, but the people here are not ready to follow a Surtu leader. For now, a human needs to be in charge."

"I thought the war was no longer human versus Surtu. Why should a human have authority over me?"

I smiled, rubbing the last of the ointment into his wounds, happy he was finally opening up. "This is coming from a man who wants to be in charge."

"You chose this man," he said, and I felt him relax, breaking the tension between us.

"I did choose you," I returned, becoming aroused instantly. I set his injured hand on my breast, over my chest, so that he could feel how recklessly my heart beat for him. Even the rain that fell on us couldn't stop the heat rising in my body. If anything, the drops of rain that ran down the hard lines of Jidden's bare abs intensified my desire for him. "And you are all man."

Because I was connected to Jidden through our light bond, I felt the intensity of his desire grow with mine. I lifted his hand to my mouth and sucked lightly on his index finger. The sweet, sticky residue of the ointment had slid down his knuckles, leaving a delicious taste in my mouth. As I sucked on his finger, I looked him in the eye, offering myself to him, body and soul.

His cock hardened in response, bulging through his uniform. Like his body, his cock was large and welcoming, capable of causing me both pleasure and pain.

I trailed the sticky mess of his finger around my lips and down my neck, stopping at the edge of my smoky black sundress civilian clothes made at the refuge. When escaping a war zone, there was no time to stock a wardrobe, including panties. It worked in my favor. I wore a sundress and nothing more. In the rain, my nipples protruded through the wet fabric, which clung to me like a second skin.

Jidden shuddered with violent lust. "Let me be in charge," he demanded seductively, his voice dark and thick.

"You're in charge," I admitted, guiding his hand to its final destination just under the short hem of the dress.

He grabbed my thigh like it was his last wish. "You're wet," he murmured hungrily. He didn't mean the rain.

"So are you," I said, running my hand through his dark hair. It had grown a little over the last month and was the only thing soft on his rock hard body.

Jidden picked me up into his arms and carried me over to a wide, flat tree base that he used as a table for his training equipment. He kicked the gear off the tree base and set me down before reaching for an arrow. From the top of the arrow, he plucked a red feather, fallen from one of the birds that lived with us in the jungle. It was not like the feather of birds back home. The tip looked like everything I imagined in a feather, the plume supple and tender. The shaft of the feather was thick and consisted of a jelly-like substance, solid but not starkly so.

"Lay back and close your eyes," he instructed. I did as I was told.

Moments later, after waiting in delirious anticipation, he ran the feather over my body, starting with my lips. He traced the exposed lines of my neck, following the same path I had forged with his finger, moving down to my thigh. But he didn't stop there. He reached beneath my dress and used the feather to caress the flesh just outside my core, dampening the soft plumes with my wetness. It gave me the same pleasure as a tongue, but it was lighter, as if the mist of the jungle around me was taking me, making me its lover.