Page 60 of Craze

I get up from my seat and collect two guns from the weapons locker. “Because I thought you were gone. I thought I killed you with that pulse, the one I didn’t really intend to set off when the data downloaded from the battledagger. The opportunity just presented itself. I wanted to help you not watch you die. It just wasn’t in me.”

He stands from his seat, walks to me, takes my hand in his, and kisses my fingers. “All I have ever secretly wanted was to know I was worthy of love, of Brothers and Sisters that endured beside me, to know I am notunhingedorunserviceablelike many Creators said. They only put me to work because of the desperate need for Titans.”

I guide his hand back to my mouth and curl my tongue around his index finger. The stirring lust on his face tells me my distraction worked. “Craze, they sent you into battle because when they weighed their options, they ultimately felt—when push came to shove—you would function as intended.”

He draws me close and presses a kiss into my hair. Craze doesn’t like my changes to his plans. I know he’s afraid he’s going to lose me. I’m more worried about him.

“Be careful,” he says.

I smirk. “Will you?”

He laughs softly and shakes his head.

“Then I won’t hold back either. Whatever it takes.” I slap the Open Ramp button and switch on my body shield. “Go get your brothers. I’ll round up the team.”

“I love you.”

I glance up at him.

Craze winks. “You look so good in a tactical harness. I’m going to rip that off of you later.”

I kiss him through the air, steady my guns in my palms, and hustle out of the Skysprinter, heading for the main landing zone.

Craze runs in the opposite direction. I know Ranger is on his mind.

The battledagger Jeela and her crew were supposed to sneak onto still sits on the tarmac, but having left the moon for a short time makes me unsure of who is where.

Navi>>Local: Status.

RamBash>>Local: North of landing area. Pinned down. Request assistance.

Squads rush past me like I’m not a threat. I realize with my black hair and Solcrue uniform that I might be passable. But I’m usually too thick to be interesting. Perhaps I have lost enough weight in recent years that inside the bulky uniform, they can’t tell my size.

I search for a Solcrue vehicle that I can steal, one still in operation. The tarmac and the old plant complex are littered with flaming debris, crumbled concrete, and twisted metal.

Navi>>RamBash: Is Eliana still with you?

He clicks back. And that’s when I find them, tucked behind an overturned hoverdrone, taking fire from multiple positions.

Macabre>>Local: Where did you go? Is Craze with you?

We don’t have much time to waste. So I give him the simplest words I can.

Navi>>Local: Space. He fine, but no. We need to get out of here. Two more Solcruean warships on approach.

Macabre swears over the local channel.

Macabre>>Local: We need cover. We’re stuck like RamBash. Tangle too.

I scan for them and brackets open in my vision, indicating their spread out positions. Macabre is cornered under a crumbled chunk of the building. Tangle and Aeri fire from behind a crate near the other battledagger.

It’s impossible for me to help them all. So I start for Tumble, who is closest. I skirt the debris, burning crates, and overturned equipment across the cracked ground toward Tumble’s location. I find the squad holding him down, aim, and fire a string of shots, knowing I’m not even close to as accurate as the Titans.

My splay blinks with messages.

Low and to the right. Adjust up and left.

It gives me a form of measurements I don’t understand, but the targeting brackets help.

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