Page 44 of Craze

He exchanges a nervous glance with the other Titans. “I don’t know. Sevrin found us shortly after that, but we assumed it was because he had a stick up his ass about not capturing Tangle.”

RamBash stirs a pot of something that smells like sweet and smoky baked beans my father loved. “It did seem like he was more interested in you.”

“I am the most likely to survive an ambush,” Craze offers, taking a stack of dented metal cups and setting them on the floor in a row for RamBash. “It could just be because I stood in the way.”

Shavih and Eliana return first, looking eager for something to eat besides meat.

“We can discuss the plan after we do some scouting, tomorrow.” Macabre hands a filled cup to Shavih and another to Eliana. Then he gets up and backs into the tunnel, his body blending with the shadows, leaving only his red eyes gleaming in the dark. “I will keep first watch. Tangle, you get the second shift.”

“Is there any hot water left for her?” Craze teases as Jeela and Aeri sit down.

Aeri points toward the shower, confused.

“I’m kidding. I know it does.” Craze motions for them to sit by the stove and hands them each a cup of beans. Then he tilts his head toward the shower. “It’s all yours,Navillera. We will eat and bathe when you are done.”

After one wary glance at all of them, I walk alone into the back cavern. A pale blue light hovers over the shower. Besidethe heater is the lever to open the pipe. I flip it over and run my fingers through the hot water, tearfully grateful for something I thought I hated as a child.

I reluctantly slip out of my cloak and set it aside. Then I step into the water and wash the grime from my clothes. When they’re as clean as I can get them, I remove them and rinse them out with ceremonial slowness.

That life is behind me now.

A shadow passes through the light of the cook stove, glazing the walls in magenta light.

Craze stays close. He’s the self-sacrificing type, respectful, kind, like the other Titans. But I’m still not sure I completely trust them because I don’t know them.

Time and trials always expose the best and worst sides of us.

I think back to Sevrin promising to give me my vision back. He never said anything about the torture I’d endure to have it.

But I was just a dumb kid.

This universe is even more dangerous than my parents ever mentioned. My trust has to be earned. And only time can prove Craze’s trustworthiness not a front.

I lay my clothes over the heater to dry and scrub the dirt from my skin until I feel like myself again. Standing under the hot water, enjoying the way it soothes my scalp, I figure out how we can get in.

Craze>>Navi: Are you okay? You’ve been back there a while. Aren’t you hungry?

Navi>>Craze: Showers were my thinking spot on Herebus because I had todisconnectin the water. Anyway, Jeela is our answer. She can take us in. We can be her prisoners. We just have to get her a uniform and some shackles for the rest of us.

A warm scrap of fabric brushes over my back. Startled, I turn and see Craze’s magenta digibadge glowing in the dark. I’mcertain he’s heard me. But by the smoldering look in his eyes as he scans my scarred skin, I know he’s no longer worried about the days ahead. I just don’t know what kind of mission he might be on in this moment, with me.

Chapter 14: Navi

I lean around him to see if anyone is watching us. He braces my bare shoulder with a hand and continues his gentle cleaning of my back.

Craze>>Navi: Your friends are asleep. Tangle and RamBash are eating. They won’t bother you.

Craze>>Navi: Please tell me why you are so scarred if you have no body augments.

Instinct grips me as I finally unlock my body from the shock of his presence. I wheel around and back up.

Craze, who has removed his shirt and harness since I saw him last, takes me in like a hungry animal. Then his eyes find the scars on my chest and soften with pity. He walks through the spraying water and reaches for them.

His body tenses. Craze turns away, grabs two rocks from the floor, and growls. His breathing quickens, and he curls his fists, crushing the rocks until they fall like sand from his fingers. When the sand has drained, he sighs and runs his hands through his hair, then paces a circle.

The pulse in my ears eases. I don’t think his plan is to hurt me, but the way his chiseled muscles flex, I know he could, easily.

Craze calms, then faces me. He stalks through the water and cups my bare shoulders with his hands. “Why do you have your name carved in your beautiful flesh? Did you have a digibadge? Did they cut it out of you?”

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