Page 36 of Craze

She is a feat of engineering, but also forbidden from me because she is human.

My insides feel like they’re ripping apart. I cannot even consider claiming her as a mate now. And yet my urges are no different. If anything, they’re stronger than before I knew what she was because I know what she’s endured to become like us.

Navi may not be a soldier, but she stood between the enemy and the innocent. She has the heart of a Titan.

I have to protect her.

She might be the most important connection we have to our ancestors, to our Creators. She can bridge the gap and save us like Cara. Or she could use us and sell us out like the augmented CSP soldiers. I don’t get the feeling she’ll do that, but we aren’t helping her by pushing her to be a Titan when she isn’t one.

But she felt like one,Tangle admits.

I realize I’m thinking openly and switch off.

Tangle looks at me and throws his hands in the air. “Moody.”

I can’t stand the idea of feeding Navi rations. I want to give her the best I can offer.

I collect my survival backpack and storm past Axe.

“Where are you going?”

“They need food.”

“What’s wrong with ours?” he asks.

I stop and face him. “We are machines. They are not. They need fresh meat, especially with the healing they have to do. Protein, iron, fats. Don’t you have your human rescue programs pulled up?”

“No, you seemed to be handling that just fine,” he teases. “It’s dark tonight, no moon. You should stay close. Patrols will be heavy.”

I turn away. “I will hunt in the tunnels.” And it is my prey that should worry because I am burning with desire for Navi and with a need to take out every single living thing that ever laid a hand on her.

She faced her death head on, fought for her friends, and endured horrible agony to acquire the technology she has if the only memory I have of being Created is anything similar.

I cringe at the clicking and snapping sounds from that flashback, the blades of pain that cut into the folds of my brain, making my body tremble and my insides scream. And then, somehow, I was no longer human, not flesh but synth.

I’m certain Navi has felt such agony and emptiness. It is uncomfortable to leave that stage of life behind, to know I will never be human again. The Creators made us immortal as long as our cores aren’t damaged. But seeing Navi struggling makes me wonder if death would be easier.Perhaps I should not pity the deceased. They are spared from further pain.

As I draw my rifle to hunt the tunnels for welvirs, I consider the strength it takes for a soul to survive such a transformation, even a piece of it. Units like Poppy are rare. Navi made it through and maintained her sanity, something all Titans value and respect.

I just hope the others aren’t as interested in her as I am.

Just thinking about her crushed beneath me on the hoverdrone has me getting hard again. And as I think back to her fighting to save her friends and the first time I saw her face beneath her hood—her love for her sisters, not just her hatred of Solcrue—I let go of every plan. All I knew was that I had foundher.

A revelation comes to me.That’s what has to change. We have forgotten to enjoy each other on our journey to freedom. It’s more than simply working together, planning, and action.

A growl in an adjacent tunnel makes me flick the gun’s igniter on with a thumb. From a strap on my pack, I draw the zembi.

As the sword ignites, I get a good look at the eyes of the towering welvir with teeth as long as my fingers.

“Ooh, you’re a big boy.” I grin, spin the sword into ready position, and block out my concern that he might actually be too strong for me. “We’ve both got families to feed. So who’s it going to be? You or me?”

Chapter 11: Navi

All night, visions of Rochir’s bloody grin haunt me. Painful pulses and screams dots my vision. My skull feels like it’s splitting open from the back to the front.

He knows what I am.

He knows I can talk to Titans.

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