When he breaks the kiss and looks outside, I know Holo’s talking to him. The flashes of code I see in his eyes confirm it.
“Okay, let’s go.” I frown. Thruster sets me down.
He hikes below first, his rifle ready. Once Thruster has confirmed the area is clear and no one has wandered into our shielded area, he motions me to the ground with him.
I close up the FeatherLite and lock it with my hand. Then, I join Thruster at the cave's entrance. We cross the narrow meadow and climb the ramp of Holo's ship.
Thruster motions me to the co-pilot's seat. "I am ironically not a great pilot."
“You’re kidding.”
He grins. “Yes. I’m kidding. But I like your maneuvers.”
I waggle my brows. “You do?”
Holo purses his lips and shakes his head as he closes the ramp with a tap on a dash screen.
“What?”
“You two are like horny hot skins experiencing everything for the first time.”
“When you get your first flight to heaven, Holo, you will understand.” I wink back at Thruster, whose seams glow like a blush.
Holo lifts us up and sets us on a course toward the valley where the rebel camps hide. He glances back at Thruster, who clips into a charge port and then grips our seatbacks, watching ahead. "We managed to take down thirty-seven of forty fighters. The other three fled back to the Marst mothership. Savage wants you back on patrol, Thruster, and for Kelta to join up with Coil in the tunnels so he can get her to Clover."
Thruster shifts and grunts a note of disapproval.
“Speak your piece,” Holo calmly says as he checks the scanners.
“I don’t want another Titan touching her.”
Holo laughs haughtily once. “Don’t worry. She smells like you. They’ll know she’s claimed.”
“Shifter might not. He doesn’t seem to care.”
I notice a sprinkle of dots on a scanner and tap it to zoom in. “Shifter?”
“He can slip through cracks in walls, hide in them like he’s part of the structure.”
“Sounds cool.”
Holo nods like he agrees. “But we’ve had trouble keeping him out of the women’s cave.”
I point to the screen as his words hit me. “You just called us women.”
“That’s what you are.”
“All the Titans call us females.”
Holo cocks his head like he isn't sure why he said it either. "Perhaps it's because I've overheard Diesel speaking with Rhee more than others. He has used to the term. But right now, we need to focus on the incoming assault squad."
Thruster disconnects, lights up behind us, and opens a side door. “I’ll take care of them. Just get Kelta to the BlazeStar.”
"Copy," Holo replies like it's just another day at work.
I reach for my buckle, wondering if there’s a way I can help Thruster, like the gun I saw in the back of the ship.
“Stay,” Thruster says just before kissing me and walking back to the open door.
