CHAPTER NINETEEN #2
My head grew even more fuzzy as my anger spiked again. They’d been aiming for me. With visibility so low one Kiestral rider would have looked much like the other.
Not just this race, but the whole time. Any time I’d overtaken them, got close or blocked them, the two Bolls had targeted me. More than anyone else. Like it was payback for something. Because Thorne wasn’t being paid to win … Mirendi was paying him to lose.
Josie had been right.
If I had stuck to flying like Thorne instead of imitating my hero they would have known the difference. If I hadn’t left him behind this wouldn’t have happened. It was my fault that Rosinder and Bach had fallen victim to the Mirendi riders’ dirty racing.
My chest began to tighten as I considered what it would mean if they weren’t okay. If Bach Lotiere never raced again. I’d hated Theo for years for abusing the knowledge that I wouldn’t hurt anything with wings, yet I was the cause of the worst Volitant crash in years.
‘Who do you think you are?’ Eduard Moss stormed into the atrium, fixated on me and me alone.
Too lost to put up a fight, I let the Kiestral boss grab me by the front of my armour and haul me up so only my toes scraped the ground.
‘Where is Thorne? Why are you flying one of my dragons?’
All valid questions really. For the first time I was at a loss for the answer.
‘You really expect us to believe you had no idea about this, Moss?’ Kristoff Pierce stepped forward. He didn’t look at me. He didn’t seem surprised. He’d been more pissed off that I’d made it than the fact I wasn’t Thorne.
My heels thumped down to the ground as Moss let go of me, his anger drawn to his Mirendi counterpart.
I felt a hand on my elbow. My peripheral vision was still recovering from the eye gouging, but the bright purple smudge was enough to guess who it was.
‘Oh, of course!’ Moss opened his arms wide. ‘Kiestral is known for letting just anyone play at dragon racing, even random little girls.’
He didn’t even recognize me. I’d been working for this man for four years, two of those inside the aviary with the racing team, and he didn’t even know who I was.
The constricting sensation in my chest tightened.
‘That little girl would have earned you more points in this race than Thorne did the first half of the season.’
Everyone turned. Bach Lotiere limped into the wide room.
My mouth fell open at the sight of him. The top half of his armour was gone and what was left of the bottom half was scratched and torn up.
The orange of his flight suit was marbled with the red of his blood.
Bandages covered his left arm where his fireproofs had been cut away and patches of gauze and tape were scattered on his neck and face.
A medic in a bright yellow jumpsuit fussed behind him, clutching a pain-relief augment that Bach was ignoring.
He looked right at me, his blue eyes piercing me. In one look I felt him pick out my anger, fear and despair. The eyes that saw ten moves ahead during a race were now trained on me. I didn’t want to know what he saw in my future.
‘Do you know where Thorne is?’ Bach’s voice was as steady as his gaze.
He’d asked a very loaded question.
‘No.’ It was true. While I could take an educated guess at where Thorne was, that wasn’t what I was being asked. Plausible deniability.
He addressed Moss next. ‘He’s skulking around the aviary. I’ve just seen him on my way here. We could all take guesses at where he’s been, but from what I gather Miss Paldon here has been covering for him for weeks. I think you need to show her a little more respect.’
A murmur spread through everyone gathered, riders and bosses alike. Moss’s face was going from red to purple.
My legs went weak. Maybe from the adrenaline drop, maybe from being tackled in the fight, or maybe because Bach Lotiere had just covered for me. Theo’s hand tightened on my arm.
‘If I were you I’d accept the eight points she’s earned for the team,’ Bach continued. ‘If it weren’t for my crash she’d have doubled that by ending up on the podium.’
Pain shot through my forehead to the base of my skull.
I blinked it off, almost grateful for the very real feeling that proved I wasn’t in a dream.
How was this happening? Why was Bach doing this?
How the hell did he know how long I’d been doing this for?
I could believe that he’d seen Thorne on his way here, but no way would Thorne have told him the truth.
The team bosses all started shouting. The Boll brothers joined in.
‘We can’t allow this!’
‘This breaks at least fifty rules—’
‘She’s not even a Kiestral employee. She can’t fly for them! She needs a licence—’
‘It’s not against the rules,’ I said, too quietly. Only Theo noticed, letting go of me. ‘I’ve not broken any rules!’
They all turned, as if surprised to see me.
‘I’m a keeper for Kiestral. I’ve been working with Gottyk since he was a hatchling. I have a licence to fly and have done so regularly. Other than’ – I gestured to the Bolls. – ‘getting into a fight with them, I’ve not done anything that breaks Volitant rules.’