Page 51 of Craze

“Must be the nanosolution. Mine is really strong.” Tucking myself back in my pants, I zip up and click my buckle back together.

I draw her against me and kiss her hard. The mint in her breath is strong. But when I try to remove her cloak, she giggles and leans back.

“What, you don’t want me to give you another ride?” I ask. I want to. I’m already getting hard just thinking about it.

She takes my hand and guides it inside her cloak and down the front of her pants. As I slide my fingers into her folds, I discover just how hot and wet she is. Then she tugs my hand out. “Don’t need it.”

Navi got off pleasuring me?I lick my finger and savor her musky nectar. “Another time then?”

As she smiles, the wall behind her bursts. Concrete crumbles and showers the room. Claws of a hoverdrone cinch around her waist as I lurch forward, scrambling to hang onto her.

“Navi!”

“Craze!” Her fingernails claw into me. But the fear in her eyes is what tears me apart.

Flaming bullets pelt my chest and shoulders. My nanos surge to the front-facing panels of my synthskin, bolstering my natural armor. I run and hang onto her wrists, but the force of the rapid fire bullets is too great. I’m beaten back by hot, heavy rain.

I can’t see through it to fire back, and I don’t want to hurt the one I want to call my mate.

I should’ve asked her. But I don’t need her permission to know she is the one I want. The only one.

I crouch in the dirt, arms covering my head as the assault threatens to bury me.

The hoverdrone races over the cliff, finally out of firing range. I get up and sprint after them, but the vessel is faster than I am. Navi is gone.

Her screams fade as she whizzes down into the valley, far away from me. Macabre slides to a stop beside me, out of breath, rifle humming and ready. Axe and Tangle are right behind him with weapons of their own.

“How did they find us?” Tangle swears a blue streak that reflects how I feel. “We were so careful!”

I look over the edge and consider jumping. I’ve taken a fall from much higher up with little damage. But the other patrols that converge on the hoverdrone below suggest I’m too outnumbered to make it far.

“I just want to know why they took her and not the rest of us.” Axe scans the area. “Doesn’t matter right now. We need to move. They know we’re here.”

“Where can we go?” Tangle asks.

“We need Jeela.” I turn back for the building, where RamBash stands guard outside. “There are more buildings we can access. I saw them on the map.”

“Brother, slow down,” Macabre calls. “We need to get under cover and rethink our plans.”

I pry up a board in the floor and find a vent shaft like I saw on the new compound’s plans. I clear the area until the door is accessible, then hop down inside the crawl space of the building and lug the door open. Below is a series of carts. “Who’s up for a rollercoaster?”

“What’s that?” Jeela asks.

“Ancient human technology that was supposed to be for fun,” Macabre explains. “Not sure that’s as safe.”

“Looks risky,” Tangle mutters.

“It’s an old terraforming transport system.” Desperation knots my insides. I don’t care how dangerous it is. “I’m going after her because she stood up to Tav. She faced her own death, fighting for her people, her friends.”

I grab the release handle of the cart. “We need that kind of dedication if we want to win this war and take back our freedom.”

Aeri climbs into the second cart. Tangle jumps in beside her.

Shavih glares down at us. “Fooling around takes your mind off of priorities.”

“Yeah,” I admit with more force than I intended. “It also gave me memories to hold onto and a more personal stake in this war.”

“You—love her?” Shavih asks as the others load in the carts behind mine.

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