“I hear you,” I said. “I said it before, but I’m grateful you were willing to get closer to that territory to help everyone out. I have things I don’t like thinking about or getting into and I know what it takes to go there.”

“I didn’t even really think about it so it’s not all that,” Kenzie said.

“Are you okay?” I asked. “Is there anything I can do?”

“Talking is good,” Kenzie said, eyes on where the strap was wound around her ankle and foot. “You ever—have you ever been so humiliated that you wished the earth would open up and swallow you up?”

“I think everyone has. It’s part of being young, that you fumble your way through things.”

“Urgh,” she said. “I… I once embarrassed myself really, really badly.”

“Yeah.”

“And it wasn’t just one Earth that split open but a multiverse of them. I was so humiliated an alien actually noticed and reached between those Earths and into my head. And now I—everything’s messy and hard.”

“Sveta and the others seem to think you’re doing better.”

“I am. I’m mostly good. I backslide now and again, but I get a handle on things and I have people who help when I do.”

“That’s good,” I said. “That’s an achievement, especially when you’ve got an alien tied to you. You’re swimming with an anchor around your waist, and you’ve reached the shallow water. That’s incredible.”

Kenzie nodded. She didn’t smile.

“He saw me not long after everything went wrong. And then he saw me a while later when I joined his team and I wasn’t exactly great then either. Even if he saw me at my best now I don’t know if he’d be able to look past all the bad he’s seen before.”

“You might not be giving him enough credit,” I said.

“Maybe,” Kenzie said. “But I might be giving him just enough credit, and I might be really worried that this cool heroine who’s helping us out might see or hear about the bad and then she not be able to see past it, either.”

“The others have heard some of it, haven’t they?”

“From my mouth. That’s different.”

“They’ve heard it and they want you on their team. They respect you. Whatever happens, I don’t think Houndstooth can say anything that’s going to have more weight than what Sveta says, because Sveta’s awesome and I respect her a ton.”

“She’s great,” Kenzie said, staring down at her feet. “She’s the best.”

“And,” I said, pausing. “Whatever he says, I don’t think it should have more weight than what you say, either. Not when people like Sveta trust and respect you and I trust and respect her. Okay?”