Page 71 of From the Noblest Motives
"Listen." Blaze reached across to give his hand a squeeze. "I told Damien, now I'm telling you. Stop apologizing for every damn thing."
"So—" Shudder snapped his mouth shut. "You're right. It's a terrible habit."
"We need to call another press conference."
"What? Why?"
"You said I was right."
And there it was—an actual, uninhibited Shudder laugh, allowing the world to come right at least three notches. No time for heart eyes and mushy stuff now, though. The passage in the cliff was coming up, the one covered by a holographic image that made it look like an uninterrupted rock face. Blaze told himself to stop fucking around and concentrate.
"Just a smidge higher, hon," Shudder murmured.
Blaze let out a frustrated growl. "Asmidge? Can you be anymorevague?"
Not that his growling intimidated Shudder. Not even a little. He only smiled. "Stay centered on the bike pack. They'll guide you through."
Pull back on the controls. A little left rudder pedal. A little right.Blaze's palms were damp on the yoke by the time they'd slid through the hologram, but he he'd held position between the bikes. Fine. He wasn't as confident a skimmer pilot as either Damien or Shudder, but he wasn't going to admit that to either of them.
He landed competently with no bounce in the center of the caldera, while young people rushed toward them from the caves dotting the rock face, from the lodge house, from the grove. He knew there were about fifty of Shudder's minions living here now, but it seemed like hundreds.
Shudder managed to get a foot on the ground before one of the bike pack lifted him in a spine-cracking hug. "Boss! You're here! Gods, we thought you were dead. Then you weren't! Now you're back!"
"Gently, Toby," Shudder wheezed. "I'm a little fragile still."
With apologies, Toby set Shudder on his feet, and the deluge reached them. Shudder greeted every single one of them by name, of course he did. That was part of what made him Shudder. He had something to say to each one, too, and he listened patiently to the repetitions ofWe're glad you're homeandWe're glad you're okayandWe knew you didn't kill anyone. Finally, a tall redhead Blaze recognized, the healer, Airmed, shooed them all back.
"You're too thin. Your pulse is too fast, and your blood pressure's too low." She ran a hand over Shudder's head with a frown. "Maybe you should go up to your cave."
"I just got here, and already you're sending me to my room," Shudder said with a shaky laugh.
Meanwhile, the kids from Cyril's house had gathered in a tense knot by the passenger door, watching the chaos with huge-eyed trepidation. And Damien hadn't emerged beyond putting a foot near the doorframe. Dr. Parma stood beside that foot like a guardian sphinx.
Blaze shouldered his way through the crowd to her and peered inside the skimmer, where Damien sat half turned toward the door, rigid, breathing unevenly, and clinging to the armrest.
"Twitch? You with us?"
"I…" Damien shook his head violently, as if trying to shake words out, any words.
"He woke up when we landed and didn't have time to orient before…" Dr. Parma waved a hand at the crowd. "All this."
"Hey." Blaze put a hand on Damien's knee, softly, carefully, gratified when Damien transferred his death drip from the seat to his fingers. "Slow breath. Just one. Good job. Now another. We're gonna get you somewhere quiet, sweetheart. Can you stay with me?"
Damien nodded while Dr. Parma rummaged through one of the supply bags and put a pop meal in his hands. His hands shook far too much to maneuver the thermal tab, so Blaze did the fine motor work gently without taking it out of his grip.
The noise was dying down, and Blaze turned to see a gaggle of Shudder's people leading him off to his room, and the new kids running to hug Wave, one of the older kids from the original search, who had obviously recognized them from school.
"Everything all right here?" Airmed had stayed, peering into the skimmer from a safe distance.
"Yes," Blaze snapped out of habit, then caught himself with a sigh. "No. Can you… Is there somewhere quiet for Damien? A place he can have of his own?"
She thought a moment, bright-ginger eyebrows drawing down. "Yes. We have a good space since Scorch decided to move in with Obscura." She peered around Blaze again to address Damien directly. "Whenever you think you can."
Damien finished his dinner and gazed at the empty container a moment as if it might magically produce more. Then he collapsed it into a tiny cube, put it in a side pocket, and clutched his backpack to his chest.
"No one's gonna take it, sweetheart. Promise."
Blaze held out a hand and waited until Damien slid out of the skimmer into the protective circle of his arm. When Dr. Parma buttressed his other side, Damien started putting one foot in front of the other.
