By the time they reached the aircar, Galen had sunk into a deep state of shock. He didn't respond to a word Allie said and she had to half carry him into the aircar, where he curled up on the floor in the corner with his back to the wall, looking like a stricken elf who'd drunk so much moonshine he couldn't tell the difference between his own hallucinations and reality.

The man could do with a shot of moonshine, Allie decided, as she loaded their gear into the aircar.

Her first thought was to take Galen to his apartment where he could sleep off his shock, while she reported to Ira with the dismantled nuclear weapon, but the man was a wreck. He shouldn't be left alone in his current state. Especially not if the person who'd planted the bomb recognised him and came after him at his apartment.

No, Allie decided, she'd take Galen to her place instead. There was space for two, so she could stay with him, and she was more than a match for any Human who managed to follow them to her apartment. Any Titan, too, but most Titans knew that, so they wouldn't try something that stupid. Besides, the bomb had all the hallmarks of Human technology, not Titan, especially the plutonium payload. The canisters that held the radioactive material were battery casings, for goodness' sake.

She had to tell Ira, but she needed Galen to tell him what he knew, too. And right now, the man wasn't coherent. Ira could wait until tomorrow. As long as she kept the evidence close where no one else could touch it, it would keep until morning. Galen needed her now.

She left the box and the pump casing just inside the doorway of her apartment before returning to the aircar for Galen and his things. He moved like an automaton, or someone who'd been subject to Titan mind control. Surely that wasn't possible, though. A Titan and a human teaming up...it was unheard of. Not to mention no Titan would be stupid enough to blow up the dome where Mer lived. Unless one of the Mer was involved...but few Mer knew Human technology the way she did. If the Mer had managed to get control over Galen, though...

Once he'd shuffled into her apartment and taken a seat on her couch, Allie asked, "Galen, was there a siren in the tunnels with you today? Did she give you orders?"

Even as the words left her lips, Allie didn't believe them. For all Sven's talk of support, mermen lacked the voice range to use a song to control anyone, Human or Titan. And no mermaid would dabble with explosives. None of this made sense.

"I saw her," Galen said grimly. "Because of me, she could have blown us all up. You shouldn't have saved me. Should have left me to drown."

Now Galen wasn't making any sense.

Allie narrowed her eyes, and really looked at him. He was still shaking, and his clothes stuck to him like he'd still been wet when he put them on, or the clothes had been damp from the fountain spray, or he'd broken out in a cold sweat since dressing. She laid a hand on his arm, and was surprised to find his skin colder than hers. No wonder he was shivering. She'd put her money on the man simply being in shock, nothing more.

She knew how to handle shock. "Let's get you out of those clothes and into bed," she said.

Any normal man's eyes would light up at that invitation. Even Galen's, on any normal night. Tonight, his gaze remained unfocussed and dull. It broke her heart.

"Here." She pulled him to his feet, not bothering to hide her greater-than-Human strength from him. He wouldn't notice. Allie made short work of his shirt buttons, shucking off his shirt more gently than she might have if this encounter had been motivated more by passion than pity. One day, when he was more himself, she would rip his clothes off and have her way with him, she decided. For a man who spent most of his day in a workshop, he sure had some muscle to show for it. Maybe it was moving all those heavy things around, or maybe he spent all his recreational time in the gym. She ran her hands down his chest, telling herself she was checking his core body temperature, while also satisfying her curiosity about the firmness of him.

"Ohh, Allie," he moaned. It was all the warning she got before he grabbed her and kissed her.

Slow and sensual, he made her breath catch in her throat with a kiss that was everything she could have hoped or asked for. If she'd known Galen could kiss like this, she'd have demanded a demonstration on the night they met, instead of running from it.

He broke the kiss, because she didn't want to. "My turn," he said.

"Your turn?"

He nodded. "You undressed me, so I should undress you."

Nudity had never bothered her before, but this was different somehow. This was a man who'd never seen her naked before. And who wanted to do more than just look at her naked body, she was certain. Allie swallowed. "It's been a long time since anyone but my husband has touched me like that," she said. Ten years. Ten long, lonely years. More than enough mourning.

Galen stepped away from her and bowed his head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go so fast. If you're not ready for this...if the wounds are still too raw..."

Sweet man. Misguided, but still sweet. Allie shook her head. "Oh, I'm ready. I want this. I think even Ceyx would wish me happiness, if he could. I'm just...rusty, is all."

Galen grinned. "Now, that's where you got lucky. Working in Maintenance, I know just how to get rid of all the rust, and rub you up until you feel all shiny and new."

Allie laughed. "Been practicing that line, have you? Is that the first time you've used it?"

"I've rehearsed it so many times in my head, what I'd say and what I'd do if you ever gave me the chance to make love to you," Galen admitted. "I'm still not certain if this is a fantasy or if it's real."

"It's real," Allie promised him. "But I'm all for a bit of erotic fantasy."

Now their clothes couldn't come off fast enough. Allie pulled Galen toward the bed, luring him with kisses as the logical part of her mind reminded her that she had to keep him warm. They'd barely touched the sheets before he was inside her, filling her to the hilt with all the wonderful sensations she'd missed, and a few new ones that she suspected were unique to Galen.

Ceyx had known her all her life, but he'd never given her pleasure the way Galen did now. So much for the Mer being legendary lovers – she could feel the evidence of Human superiority with every powerful thrust into her depths. They fit together so perfectly it was hard to believe they were two separate bodies and not one, so attuned to one another that at the peak of her pleasure, her cries of joy echoed his.

When they were thoroughly sated, she lay in his arms, staring at the Milky Way stretching across her skylight. Her body felt akin to the sky, for in one night Galen had ripped away her loneliness and filled her with so much more than she'd ever expected that it felt like she, too, was made of a million stars. She could hear her own heartbeat, the thrumming rhythm nothing but the tempo behind the song humming through her blood.

A siren song indeed. One she had no intention of resisting.