Page 43 of Semi-Reckless

“No, he doesn’t.” She turned back to the Kurgan. “What do your people do with beacons?”

He looked a little embarrassed, but eventually told her, “They are great sources of power. One beacon can power our entire dimension for one of your centuries.”

“Wow. That’s…a long time.”

Roan crossed his arms over his chest. “And what happens to the beacon while they’re powering your dimension?”

“They’re kept in stasis and harvested until their power is depleted.”

Well, that didn’t sound pleasant. “And when they’re all used up? Do they just…die?”

He swallowed hard. “Yes. I’m afraid so.”

“Fighting to the death is sounding better and better,” Roan murmured.

A ruckus sounded on the other side of the basement door. Haven imagined that was the sound of Hunter and Mischa holding her mother and father back.

The Kurgan nodded. “I understand.”

Haven frowned at him. “I don’t think we’re there yet, Roan,” she said through clenched teeth. Turning back to the Kurgan, she said, “Tell me about your dimension. Are you happy there?” She already knew he wasn’t well treated. Not when they couldn’t even be bothered to give him a name.

He frowned. “It’s not my place to feel happy or unhappy. It’s my place to seek beacons. But…my dimension is nothing like this one.”

She could tell by the way his voice softened that he liked it here. “What’s your favorite thing here?”

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his splayed knees and smiled, displaying a terrifying mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. “The choices. So many choices,” he said wistfully. “Humans can choose to be or do anything. On Kurg, we’re conceived for a purpose. And even if we wanted to change our purpose, it is not possible.”

He was breaking her heart! “What about friends and family? Do you have people who love you there?”

“My kind doesn’t need friends and family. We seek. Nothing more.”

“And when you bring home a beacon, then what happens?”

“I go to another dimension and seek a new beacon.”

She leaned forward, too. “What would’ve happened if you hadn’t found me here?”

He looked confused by the question. “I would keep seeking. Every dimension has a beacon. I would’ve found you eventually.”

“Yeah, I get that. But let’s say you just…never found me. Would your bosses send someone else to complete the job?”

“No. As long as I live, no one else would be ordered to search the dimension I was assigned.”

If they were in a cartoon, this would’ve been the point that a lightbulb would’ve popped up above her head. She was either having a great idea or another epiphany. She wasn’t sure which. Sometimes it was hard to tell. Glancing back at Roan, she saw the minute the lightbulb flared to life above his head, too. If he was thinking it, and she was thinking it, it must be a good idea.

But she needed a little more info first.

“If you were human, if you had choices, what would you do here?” she asked.

He cocked his head to one side and pondered her question. “Well, I’d definitely eat something I didn’t have to kill and burn first. I’m not a fan of the killing. And I like the animals here. So, I think I’d like to try…vegetables.”

He said vegetables like she said cherry cheesecake with a buttery graham cracker crust, which was adorable and sad all at the same time. “Then what?”

“Then,” he said, clearly warming to the topic, “I’d find work where I could sit down all day long…and maybe talk to people every now and then.” His eyes tipped down before lifting to hers once again. “I’ve enjoyed talking with you, Haven,” he said quietly. “I’m not looking forward to taking you to Kurg.”

“I’ve enjoyed talking with you, too. And I really don’t want to go to Kurg. But what if I had an idea that would help both of us get what we want?”

His smooth brow furrowed, and he rubbed a hand over one of his horns. “What do you mean?”

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