Page 56 of Rarely Pure and Never Simple
"Well, of course it sounds shitty if you put it that way.Jerk. I'm just worried."
"Not your place to worry about him."
Shudder put his head on his arms to gaze up sideways at Blaze. "You really like him, don't you?"
"Don't be stupid. I hate everyone."
"You do. Except Damien."
"Maybe."
"I should probably save him from you."
"Leave him alone, McKenzie, or I kick your ass from one coast to the other."
Shudder laughed. "I've missed you, you know."
A hard spike of pain shot through Blaze, one that should have faded long ago. There it was, though, that open acceptance of who and what he was. The reactions had been different, but Shudder had always accepted him, too. "Shouldn't have left me, then."
Shudder just shook his head and looked away. Maybe a different man would have said something then, something to mend fences and to ease the pain echoed in Shudder's eyes. Blaze set his jaw and stared at the stratified layers of rock.
Without interruptions, Damien finished his packing and securing in less than twenty minutes, perhaps some sort of personal record, since he seemed pleased with himself.
They kept close to the rock faces as much as possible during the daylight hours. Three men on foot might not raise alarms, but so much depended on the security and the level of paranoia up ahead. A little after noon, though, they ran out of rock. Damien stopped, tensed like a deerhound scenting the wind. If he'd had pointed ears, they would have been pricked forward.
"We need to stop."
Shudder adjusted his rifle strap, forehead creased. "Tired already?"
"No. Looks like it's open ground from here. Dark would be better."
"Makes sense to me." Blaze moved toward the nearest rock wall, searching for a place more sheltered from the wind. "Come on back, here, Twitch. May as well get some rest while we can."
Damien wandered over to him, clutching the strap on his pack. "Don't think I can."
"Of course you can." Blaze leaned in and kissed Damien's forehead, even though he knew Shudder was watching. He pried Damien's fingers away and eased the pack off his shoulder. "Don't be an idiot."
He unstrapped the insulated bag from the bottom of his own pack, set it on the ground, and inflated it. Damien still hovered, shivering, so Blaze tugged on his hand until they were both kneeling by the bag. "Climb in, genius. That's what it's for. I don't even care if you keep your boots on."
It was a tight fit, but Blaze crawled in with him and sealed the edges halfway up. Once again, Shudder was left to his own devices to keep warm, and Blaze felt bad about that for half a second. When Damien snuggled back against him with a soft sigh, he no longer had room in his heart to care.
They had spottedthe lights to the compound about two miles out. While obviously a secret installation, these people were either arrogant enough or powerful enough that they really didn't care who discovered they were out here.
Now, at approximately half a mile from the impressive fence, Damien called a halt again.
"Perimeter alarms, you're thinking?" Blaze murmured as he pulled out his scope and clicked it over to the night setting.
"Yes."
"Good thinking." Shudder flung himself down in the brush and pulled out his field glasses as well. "Notice something weird, Blazey?"
"Yeah. Guard towers every twenty feet."
Damien tried to puzzle out if the spacing itself was strange. "Why would that be odd?"
"Every one I see has a gun placement. All the guns are pointed inside the compound."
"Oh."
