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Soulara swam as fast as she could to their island. It wasn’t just her sanctuary anymore—it was theirs. Warmth filled her, giving Soulara a staying power as she continued to swim. They were so close to ending this war. Soulara could taste it.

“At least you gave me some warning this time.” Autumn chuckled once she had finished spluttering.

“I thought it was only fair to give you a chance to hold on tight. Easier for me to keep you from drowning.”

They looked into each other’s eyes, and the pressures of Soulara’s throne melted away.

Soulara’s smile stretched slowly across her face, and she stepped up to Autumn, her magic splitting her fluke into legs so easily now. With her hands on Autumn’s hips, she pulled her lover closer, her nipples hardening to pebbles the moment Autumn’s rough coverings brushed her skin.

“Hi.” Autumn smiled, a smattering of pink dusting over her nose and on her cheeks.

“Hello.” Soulara grinned in return before moving her head forward. Autumn met her halfway, and the kiss, while soft and gentle, exploded with love in Soulara’s mind and heart.

“Now that we aren’t being watched, what happened?” Soulara intertwined her fingers with Autumn’s.

“Marshall can be trusted,” Autumn said as they walked along the beach of their sanctuary. It felt so right, and so normal. They could have been nobodies. That idea in itself was intoxicating.

Soulara looked over at Autumn, waiting for her to continue. The idea of being a nobody might have been intoxicating, but being beside Autumn was a high Soulara hoped never to come down from.

“He found the plans to a machine that will incapacitate the collectors.”

“What do you mean?” Soulara stopped walking and faced Autumn.

“Well…” Autumn took a deep breath, and Soulara sensed more than saw any specific sign that she hesitated with the information.

“Do you not believe in these plans?” Soulara stopped Autumn from having to force anymore words out.

“Oh, that’s not it.” Autumn shook her head. “I know the plans will work, if we can figure out a way to build them quickly. We’ll need more than one, for sure. I just don’t want you to think I’m stupid because I can only explain it in words I know.”

“You’re far from stupid.” Soulara lifted a hand and cupped Autumn’s cheek in her palm. Autumn pushed her skin into Soulara’s touch, closing her eyes and breathing in with a happy little sound Soulara associated with the afterglow of their making love.

“Okay.” Autumn pulled away from Soulara’s touch and shook her head just a little, as though needing to force herself back to the topic at hand. “You said you were good at making things, yes?”

“Yes,” Soulara answered, raising an eyebrow, cautiously curious about these plans.

Autumn pulled out a cylindrical tube from inside her coverings. “These are the plans to make a pulse machine. When activated, it will short out the workings of all the collectors within a certain range.”

“Why would your people have something like this?” Soulara took the tube, the metal cold against her fingertips. She stared at it curiously, wondering just what she might find in there.

“Because General Chalmers doesn’t trust anyone or anything. He has backups for the backups. His fear is that one day a soldier will go rogue and turn on him. He made sure he had a way of neutralizing the collectors if they were ever turned against him. It also shorts out other technology, so if he needs to use it as a weapon against an enemy, then he can.” Autumn shrugged a little, shoving her hands back into her pockets.

“He’s a smart man.”

“He’s a murderous bastard.”

“Absolutely.” Soulara nodded. “But planning for inevitable betrayal, that is some forward thinking. Even if it seems like a truly horrible way to survive.”

“If he’s in constant tension, that just makes my day that much better.”

Soulara chuckled despite herself. “I think you might have a bit of a mean streak in you, Autumn Walton.”

“Only for those that truly deserve it.” Autumn snorted and ducked her chin, as if she was afraid admitting that would put her in a bad light. But Soulara understood it all. She reached forward and lifted Autumn’s chin gently.

Soulara looked deeply into Autumn’s eyes, finding a well of anger and pain. Now was not the time to ask Autumn about it, to let Autumn talk about the reasons he deserved anything that would make his life worse.

“Can I see them?” Soulara’s skin vibrated with the idea and hope of what these plans might be able to offer her and her people.

“Or course.” Autumn moved out of the foam of the water and knelt on the dry sand closer to the trees.