Page 73 of Rarely Pure and Never Simple
"Dryad got people out when we couldn't." Damien shouldered his pack and turned toward the valley entrance. "We're losing daylight."
"That's our Damien's way of sayingstop arguing about dumb things and get moving," Shudder said with a chuckle. "Thank you, Shade! We'll be back, hopefully in not too many days."
He scrambled into his own pack and jogged out front, which Damien appreciated. As much as he liked Shudder, he needed a moment's peace to corral his skittering thoughts.
The trip back through the tunnel and fissure was much easier with Shudder walking on his own. Blaze took the lead with Dryad once they were back on open ground so he could interrogate her. How fast could she grow plants? Not very. Did she have experience with firearms? Yes for handguns, no for rifles. And so on.
Whistling and bouncing along as if he'd never had a head injury, Shudder dropped back to walk beside Damien. "Has this been typical for one of your contracts?"
"No." The answer had been too short and sharp, so Damien went on. "I'm usually looking for one or two people. I find them. The authorities swoop in. There are generally fewer gunshots and explosions."
"Same, same." Shudder raised his eyebrows at Damien's skeptical expression. "No, really. Beyond property destruction, I don't go in for violence."
"And no one's ever shooting at you?"
"Eh." Shudder waggled a hand back and forth. "Sometimes nonlethal rounds. The people in charge want an apprehended criminal, not a dead martyr."
Damien wasn't certain what to say to that, though he regretted the conversation as the magpie brightness of Shudder's eyes dimmed, possibly recalling some of thosenonlethalrounds.
If I weren't… me, I'd know what to say. What to do. For comfort. For all this. For all of us. I don't because the three of us are fey and damaged and ultimately alone. Shudder would be less dangerous for Blaze, but neither would ever budge. They'd end up breaking apart again. We'll all end up apart.
"Oh look! A bluebird!" Shudder's smile returned with the flash of brilliant blue across the landscape, the sudden pall lifted from the day as he trotted forward to join Blaze and Dryad's conversation.
As good as his word, Shudder didn't falter on the way back to the vehicles, and they reached the spot well before dark.
"Check your skimmer." Blaze gave Shudder a little push toward his vehicle. "Make sure it hasn't been tampered with."
"Uh-huh." Shudder flashed a quick single-digit salute. "Which one of us has been living out here while the other one lives posh and clean in the cities? What was that? Not you?"
Blaze growled but left it at that while he crawled under the Raptor to check for sabotage while Damien opened the back to check gear. Not that there was a single sign that anyone had approached, but Damien appreciated Blaze's paranoia.
"We moving on?" Blaze hopped up onto the open tailgate to watch Damien secure the items he'd taken out to count.
Tempting to say no. Damien's trails had quieted since finding Dryad and the kids whose journeys had ended safely in the valley. The active trails weren't nearby, not in this direction, and the distance would've allowed him to rest. "I'd like to get a few hours driving in today. Just until dark."
Blaze put a hand on Damien's knee, his palm warm and solid, and gave him a little shake. "Please don't take this wrong. But you look so much better with even a couple days rest. You sure you want to rush forward?"
"Half a league, half a league, half a league onward," Damien murmured.
"I don't know that one." Blaze scooted closer to let Damien lean on him.
"The Charge of the Light Brigade. It's about a doomed charge into cannon fire from a war no one remembers anymore."
"Glad to see walking with Shuds lifted your spirits," Blaze said at his driest. "All right. We'll drive." Blaze hopped off the tailgate and raised his voice. "Mount up, folks. McKenzie, you're with me. You try to pilot and I'll knock you back out. Dryad, you too. There's room in the skimmer, but the Raptor's gonna be comfier than a jump seat."
Damien gave a little tug on his coat. "You should ask first."
"Ask…? But I did?"
"Whether I wanted to take the skimmer again."
"Yeah, but… you're a better pilot. And the rental."
"Yes. It's fine." Damien dared to boop Blaze's nose, taking his flummoxed expression as an odd victory. "Still nice to be asked."
Feeling bold, he stole a kiss and jogged over to reintroduce himself to Shudder's skimmer, wondering if he should be worried about mood swings now. Because something bright and fierce had taken the place of the trails that had been crowding his head since the Academy—something he didn't quite trust, since they were going into a probably hopeless situation to do possibly hopeless things.
Though maybe this is what charging into cannon fire is supposed to feel like.
