CHAPTER THIRTEEN #2
‘Your parents?’ The dumb question was all I was capable of. I was already surrounded by the smell of their food, the memories of their home and the nostalgia of what I’d lost. Now Theo had dumped fear on top too.
‘Yeah, they’ve been nagging me this entire time.
How’s Lena? What’s Lena up to? When is she going to visit?
Seriously, you’d think they’d have forgotten about you by now, but no, they still want to hear from you.
’ He rattled off the complaints, wafting a hand in the air like they were flies he was trying to swat.
They still asked about me. Or did they? I watched Theo for a sign of betrayal, for some clue that would let me know it was a cruel prank.
I saw nothing, just the same pretty face I’d known since we were eight years old.
He knew better than to bring parents into our fights.
Yes, he’d screwed me over so I’d lost my only shot at a career, but this would be a deeper betrayal than that.
He was twitchy, shifting his weight from side to side and running his fingers along the lip of the window.
‘Come on, Paldon, help me out. They always liked you. If I can get you to talk to them, or just send them a comms message, I’ll be back to being their favourite.’
‘You’re an only child.’ My voice was flat as I considered it. The wounds it would open to see them again. The guilt that was already building for the silence of the past five years. Had they really been waiting?
He grinned. ‘Right, I’m always the favourite, but you come a close second.’
‘I just—’
‘It’s not a big deal.’ Theo cut me off. ‘You get to race, I get some peace and my parents get to know you’re okay. Pops too. Plus, I know you’ve been missing his stew. If you show up to the house he’ll make it for—’
‘Fine.’ It was my turn to interrupt. Anything to stop talking about it. There was a weight in my chest that was getting heavier every time he spoke of them.
He bounced up on the balls of his feet, smiling wide enough for his dimples to show up.
‘Perfect. Wait here, I’ll go change for the gym. I can’t wait to see how much you’ve deteriorated over the years.’
That spark of annoyance finally landed, setting my competitive fire alight. If he wanted to test me, he could go right ahead. I wasn’t sure if I’d follow through with my promise, but I was more than willing to remind him who had always been better at combat training.
We passed through the breezy blues and deep greens of the Prevere and Victrolia carriages to reach the riders’ private training carriage.
Also known, very unofficially, as ‘the squat box’.
Unlike the others, no one could enter without the correct pass card.
I kicked myself for not taking Thorne’s before handing him over to Cam.
Since I hadn’t, Theo got to feel smug over letting me in. The door hissed open, a rim of light shining around the frame as whatever augments it used came to life.
Theo skirted past me, clearly more relaxed at going into the private carriage. He’d changed into shorts and a sleeveless shirt, both in the deep purple of Ballenir with a vibrant blue stripe down each side. With his arms exposed I was far too aware of the tattoo on the back of his bicep.
It was surrounded by a few others now, yet that singular one stood out to me. Fast and Fair. Simple and clean in black ink against his brown skin. My hand twitched as I resisted raising it to the same place on my own arm, covered by my sleeves. The irony of the words weren’t lost on me.
The carriage ahead didn’t have a corridor, instead it opened up into a wide white space.
A set of shelves by the entrance was filled with towels, bottles of water and bowls of fruit.
A couple of benches stretched in front, with small lockers embedded underneath.
Frosted glass blocked my view from further in.
The floor was a shiny and cool white stone, with veins of grey running through it.
‘Marble? Really?’
I’d muttered it to myself, but I saw Theo’s shoulders wobble from a laugh.
He would, of course, love this kind of thing.
He loved spas, skin care and brands so expensive they didn’t have logos.
It was a lifestyle he’d been raised in and dragged me into when we’d been friends.
It didn’t matter how often I’d taken a glimpse into his world, it was never normal.
Theo pulled out two towels, identical to the one Omar had had over his shoulder. Then two glass water bottles, chilled and with floating fruit. They’d even managed to make water luxurious.
When my hands touched the towel I had an internal crisis. It was the softest thing I’d ever felt. Fluffy without being heavy, absorbent yet not rough to the touch. The luxe life wasn’t normal for me, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t appreciate it.
‘Soft, right?’ Theo nudged me ahead with an elbow.
I tossed the towel over my shoulder. ‘I guess.’
The clouded glass door to the next area slid open. I’d heard about this carriage enough to have expectations. A fully kitted out gym, training area and steam rooms for the riders. As such, I’d been preparing myself to walk into a wall of sweat and musk.
My expectations were thrown out the moment I saw it all.
Like Gottyk’s cabin the roof was entirely glass, letting in natural light to bounce off the blonde wood floor while the walls held racks of equipment.
Regular workout gear lined the sides of the long room: free weights, cable stations, benches, training mats and more.
Then it got more specific – resistance-training equipment for any and every body part affected by G-force while flying, high-end augments for reaction training to keep the riders sharp and racks of faux weapons for combat practice.
At the end of the carriage were smaller areas blocked off by more clouded glass.
Beautiful soapy smells drifted from that end of the carriage – the spa.
I smiled. Thorne hadn’t ever used this train, deeming it too lowly for him.
Yet I’d have made a decent bet on him wanting to trade spas with me now.
It was everything I could ever need to hone my skills – and it was just a bonus carriage on the train. The facilities at the headquarters of Kiestral were likely bigger and better. I couldn’t even imagine what Victrolia had as the most well-funded team.
Theo was watching me, holding his towel around the back of his neck. ‘What do you think?’
I took it all in. Maybe I didn’t need Theo to get the most out of this. I could borrow a pass from Josie and sneak in at night. ‘I am going to get so ripped.’
His head fell back as he let out a laugh that echoed around the gym. ‘All right, but you need to let me spot you the first time you use this stuff. It can get intense.’
I rolled my eyes, but followed him anyway. I didn’t need lessons for the regular equipment and thankfully, Theo didn’t offer. The G-force setup though he sat in to demonstrate. I’d heard of it before, seen it briefly on behind-the-scenes Volitant casts, but had never had the opportunity to use one.
‘Okay, your turn.’ He got up from the low-slung seat.
As I prepared to get into the tangle of elasticated bands one of the clouded rooms opened. A plume of steam began to escape, but was sucked away through vents in the walls – that explained the lack of gross man smell.
Through the cloud came another rider. A flop of red hair, wet and dark, made it clear who it was before the steam cleared: Quinn Potts.
A fellow rider from Gedeinia, quiet and ridiculously talented.
He’d been flying for Prevere for six years after winning the Wyvern Cup the year before we – before Theo – had.
He was also only wearing a towel around his waist.
‘Hey, Quinn, what’s up?’
Theo addressed him like he couldn’t see the pale six-pack still glistening from the sauna. Like the square jaw, freckles and dark eyebrows weren’t at all distracting from the green eyes that flicked between us.
I was staring. I wasn’t entirely sure if my mouth was open or closed.