Bay of Sighs (The Guardians Trilogy 2)

“I got a couple selfies.” He demonstrated by holding his arm out, pretended to click a camera.

“Oh! That’s clever.”

“But I can teach you. Never hurts to have a backup for documenting.”

“Then I can help you take pictures in the water, and out of the water. I hope we can walk in the hills.” She gestured toward the mountains. “I know we might find her there, have to fight her there, and the quest is the most important. But the walk would be exciting and new. All the things to see we haven’t seen before.”

He gave her a shoulder bump she knew was a sign of affection. “Gotta have the bright side.”

“The bright side helps us face the dark.”

“Can’t argue.”

“In the last battle, I was afraid. I believe we’ll win, we’ll do what we’re meant to do, but I was afraid.”

In a gesture she knew was affection and comfort, he brushed her arm with his hand. It made her want to sigh.

“We’re all afraid, Anni.”

Surprised, she looked up at him. “No one seemed afraid but me.”

“Every last one of us,” he corrected. “If we weren’t afraid, we’d be crazy. You know what courage is.” He said it, didn’t ask it, but she nodded.

“It’s bravery. It’s facing the dark.”

“That’s right. It’s facing the dark, even when you’re afraid. That’s every one of us, too.”

She tipped her head toward his shoulder, knowing since he thought her brave, she could be braver still.

“Why don’t you have a mate?”

“A . . . Well, um, I’ve had to move around a lot. Getting to this point, it’s taken some doing.”

“But there was sex?”

He took off his hat, swiped his fingers through the thick, streaky blond hair she wanted to swipe hers through. After he settled the hat again, he pushed his hands into his pockets.

“You know, if you want to know about that kind of thing, you should talk to Riley or Sasha.”

“Oh, I know about sex. It’s not so different in my world. We can have sex as we like. It’s a bright side.”

He had to laugh. “Definitely qualifies.”

“But when we find our mate, when we pledge, there’s no other after. Like Bran and Sasha, there is only one.”

“That’s nice. It’s what most people hope for.”

“So there has been sex for you, but no mate.”

“There you go.”

The way went narrow, with buildings closing in. He distracted her from talk of sex by pointing to a shop window.

“Oh, we can come back to shop! I have the itch.”

“Tell me. You’ve always got a shopping itch.”

“No, no, the payment. The . . . scratch!”