The Blood Racer (The Blood Racer Trilogy Book 1)
Page 21
Celina appeared just as repressed as Andre. She looked to be about my age, but she carried herself very stiffly, her arm linked in her father’s as if she was afraid she’d fall over. Her blonde hair was pinned flawlessly into a side bun, and she wore a dress that was completely black, so black that it didn’t seem possible. It was made of some kind of fabric that I didn’t recognize, but I was sure it was smooth and comfortable. It had small ruffles around the wrists, and around the top, which ended just above her cleavage. Her skin was alabaster white, which made for an eye popping contrast with the dress. Her exposed shoulders and collar bones seemed to be gleaming as brightly as the lights in the place. How much sun did this girl ever get? Is that why she seemed so unsteady? Were her bones brittle from lack of vitamin D?
She smiled at us, her big green eyes looking rather excited. She didn’t say anything, but waited for her father to speak instead. He took his cue rather well.
“Hello, my friends,” he said cordially, gazing around at all of us. “I wanted to introduce myself to the brave contestants of this year’s race. My name is Andre Villefort. This is my shipping warehouse.”
I knew enough about high society to know that it was customary for them to stand up when meeting one another, but no one at our table made the effort. The most we did was give nods of acknowledgement.
Realizing we had nothing to say to him, he swallowed hard and gestured to his daughter. “This is my oldest, Celina. She was excited to meet the contestants.”
At this, Celina gave a small wave, and I had to fight to keep the look of contempt off of my face. “Hello,” she said, her voice small and dainty. “It’s so lovely to meet you all.”
At once, Rigel bolted out of his chair and to his feet, wiping his hand on the leg of his pants before holding it out to her. “Hi,” he said, sounding mystified. “My name is Rigel Campbell. The pleasure is mine.”
The blush in Celina’s cheeks stood out brilliantly as she set her petite hand in his. Without missing a beat, he brought it to his lips and placed a kiss on the back of her pristine knuckles.
Andre looked rather bemused at the gesture, but said nothing, not even when Celina let out a small giggle, nervously smoothing out her already perfect blonde hair. “I…I have never met a racer from beyond Shiloh,” she said.
Rigel quickly hopped to the nearest table and grabbed two extra chairs. “Here, have a seat,” he said politely, offering them to the Villeforts.
Andre gave him a nod. “Why, thank you, young man,” he said, sitting down next to Killian. Celina took the seat to the right of Rigel, right next to me.
“These are my friends,” Rigel said, grinning stupidly at her. He gestured around the table to all of us. “This is Darby, Killian, and my friend from Adams, Elana.”
Celina turned toward me, her green eyes wide. “Elana Silver?” she asked. “The Blood Racer?”
I don’t know why, but I immediately disliked this girl. Rigel, however, was beaming at her like she was some sort of divine angel. I desperately wanted to be away from them. “Yes, that’s me,” I said flatly.
Andre placed his hands on the table and pushed himself back a bit, blinking at me as if allowing his eyes to adjust and focus. “My word…what a pleasure!” He stood up and offered his hand. Taking the opportunity to leave my seat, I got to my feet and gave his hand a quick shake before turning toward the door.
“If you’ll all excuse me, I need to make sure my ship didn’t take any major damage in that challenge tonight.”
Rigel’s face briefly flashed a look of confusion…maybe even concern…but it was gone as soon as Celina turned back to him. She had his full, undivided attention, Andre, however, was leaning over the table to ask Darby about her falcon.
With everyone distracted, I quietly slipped away, walking briskly toward the door and practically stumbling out of the warehouse. I just wanted to be as far from Rigel as I could be, at the moment. As soon as I was out in the cool night air, I took a few deep breaths to calm myself. What was wrong with me? What exactly was I feeling? There was definitely anger, but there was also something else…something that felt a little like jealousy.
But that was crazy. Why would I be jealous? Just because some fancy tart was hogging my best friend? Or was it because he was looking at her like she was the greatest thing ever? Either way, I didn’t like it, and I didn’t want to keep thinking about it. I hadn’t lied to the table. I did need to check the Kicker to make sure it was still in good shape. I had taken a bullet from Audra’s hidden gun, after all.
I turned down the alleyway toward the docks, but the sound of my name stopped me. “Elana!” Killian called, jogging toward me. I was only just now noticing that his long hair and beard were both frazzled. He looked like he needed some sleep as much as I did.
“What?” I asked. “Is something wrong?”
He scratched his scruffy chin and smiled. “I was about to ask you that same thing,” he said. His voice had lost its boisterous flare. He was serious now, which meant more to me than I would have expected. “You left the table in quite a hurry.”
I did my best to return his smile. “Yeah, I’m…don’t worry about me. It’s okay. I just need to go for a walk, or something.”
His eyebrows were still pulled together, but he nodded. He knew I was holding back, but he wasn’t going to press me about it. I was glad.
“All right,” he said. “Be careful of the radio hosts. I saw them lurking around the building as we were coming back from-”
“Elanaaaaa Silverrrrr!”
Reed’s booming baritone voice rang out deafeningly loud, pinging off the walls of the narrow alley and making Killian and I both wince.
“There she is!” Lex said excitedly. “Hey, girl. We’ve been hoping to get an interview with you. Have you got a minute?”
I looked over at the two of them, who were walking with a small entourage in tow, and gave a very weak smile. “Sure,” I said dryly. “Why not?”
Reed, whose height was still surprising, marched up to me and flicked a few switches on the metallic box that hung on his side. From the look of it, I assumed it was a radio transmitter. Sure enough, as he pulled out a small, thin microphone, I knew I was right.
Tapping the end of the mic, Lex slipped on an oversized pair of padded headphones and gave his partner a thumbs-up. “On you,” he muttered.
Reed nodded. “All right, ladies and gentlemen of the Dominion. I’m here with none other than Elana Silver, and we’re about to get an exclusive that you won’t hear anywhere else.”
I felt my forehead beginning to wrinkle. I already wanted to walk away.
Before I could, Reed leaned down toward me with his eyes wide. “So, Elana…everyone listening wants to know…we’ve been hearing rumblings of a feud between you and last year’s winner, Audra Carina. What can you tell us about this?”
With the combined annoyance of these two, in addition to Rigel in the warehouse behind me, I wasn’t in the mood to mince words. “She’s threatened by me,” I said bluntly. “She sees me as direct competition, and she doesn’t like it. I’m just as good as she is…and she’s scared.”
By the looks of surprise on both their faces, I had just given them a fantastic answer. I guess it had been pretty good, full of juicy words that were sure to cause drama. Reed and Lex exchanged glances and decided to continue.
“All right, we’ll see if we can get a word with her, too,” Reed said, grinning madly. “In the meantime, I wanted to ask you about your friend here.”
I turned to Killian, noticing that he looked a little bewildered. I was surprised he hadn’t walked away already. I looked at him questioningly, silently asking if it was all right to introduce him. He didn’t give an indication otherwise, so I assumed it would be okay.
“This is Killian Hardwick,” I said. “And yes, he’s a friend of mine from Ravencog.”
Reed and Lex nodded. “Interesting,” Reed drawled. “So it’s safe to say you two have formed an alliance?”
“That is definitely fascinating,” Reed said, clearly intrigued. “We’d all love to know how that came to be.”
Killian turned to me and gave me a nod. It was a simple gesture, but I knew what it meant. He was going to stay and distract the radio hosts so I could make my getaway. Using the darkness of the alley, I slipped behind Killian and made my retreat, making sure to draw zero attention to myself.
I made my way back to the docks and held my breath, hoping that the crowd had once again dispersed. Mercifully, they had. The action was over for the night, and it was getting late. No one was foolish enough to stay out in the brisk night air for no reason. Rubbing my bare arms with my hands, I hustled across the docks and to cradle number 9 where the Cloud Kicker was waiting for me.
As I rounded the side to enter, though, I saw that the hatch was already open.
It wasn’t wide open, but it was definitely cracked, and there was someone moving around inside. I immediately glance around the docks. I knew a high-class city like this would have plenty of security, but I saw no one. I debated on running back to the warehouse and getting some backup, but whoever it was might be gone by that time. They might have burned my ship to the ground by then. In my gut, I knew it was Audra. She was looking for a way to sabotage me. Well, I wasn’t about to let that happen.
Silently, I pushed the hatch open and crept inside, careful not to set too much weight in one spot. My rivets were creaky, and I didn’t want to give myself away just yet. In the darkness, I couldn’t make out who the figure was, I could just see shadows moving in my cargo hold. I made a quick dash for my dome light and flicked it on, bracing myself for a fight. Instead, I felt my hardened expression disintegrate. It was replaced by total surprise. It was not Audra in my cargo hold. It was an Archon…Beatrice Montgomery herself.
As the light illuminated the hold, Beatrice shot upright in surprise. At her feet was the satchel that I had received from Dan Canter, the one that held my gas mask, as well as the personal things from back home. In her hands, she held the copy of Ascension: The Future of Mankind that Nichols had sent to me.
“What are you doing?” I asked, doing my best to sound threatening. It didn’t quite come off right.
Pursing her lips, Beatrice worked her jaw back and forth as she stared at me. In the dim light, I could see that her face was slightly flushed. Clearly, she was just as stunned to see me as I was to see her. Dropping the book back into the bag, she took an uneasy step toward me, trying hard to regain her composure.
“I…thought I heard gunshots during the competition tonight,” she said, gazing around my cabin. “I came to confiscate any illegal weaponry that you may have possessed.”
“Well, the shots didn’t come from me,” I told her, hardening my gaze. I was tempted to tell her that Audra was the one that had done the shooting, but then I imagined she would immediately rat me out in return, telling the Archons that I actually did possess a gun of my own. I decided to keep quiet.
Beatrice continued to stare at me awkwardly for a moment, and then let out a sigh. She took another step toward me, and I could see the blatant sneer on her face. She was done acting now.
“You are in over your head, girl,” she said darkly. “You’re brash, and you gallivant, because you have no respect for this race, or what it represents.”
“Oh, yeah?” I said, trying hard not to take a step backward from her. “And what exactly is that?”
She scoffed, still glaring daggers at me. “The fact that you even have to ask that question is evidence enough that you do not belong here. You should have stayed in your shack on that disgusting mountain of yours…back with the other filth.”
I felt my fists clench at my sides. I had almost punched her right in the face just then. An Archon! Even in my heightened state of anger, though, I knew she was just trying to bait me. If I attacked her, she could dispose of me easily. I was not about to give her that satisfaction.
“I have just as much right to be here as anyone,” I told her firmly. “In fact, I’ve done better than most, even the ones from New Eden. Maybe that’s why you’re so mad.”
Beatrice smirked at me. “Blind, untested arrogance. I would expect nothing less from a child. You need to learn your place.”
“You mean first place?” I shot back. “Because that’s where I’m gonna be.”
She gave a small chuckle. “We shall see, won’t we?”
She made to step around me, but I didn’t move an inch. “Did you come here to sabotage my ship?” I asked, staring down at the bag that she had been rifling through. In that moment, I noticed that something was missing.
“I don’t need to sabotage you,” Beatrice said, skirting around my left side. “There are plenty of other…dangers…in the race that would do it for me.”
She reached my hatch and was about to step out when I spun to face her once more. “Beatrice,” I said politely. “I’d like my brooch back, please.”
Looking back to me, a nauseatingly sweet smile slowly spread across her plump lips. Without a word, she reached into the top of her dress, retrieving the Helios brooch that Alice had given me, and tossed it at me. I caught it without a problem, but when I looked back to my hatch door, she had gone.
All I could do was stand there, staring at my door, which was still slightly ajar. It was so silent now. Did that really happen? Had I really just had a standoff with an Archon inside my own ship? I nervously gazed around at the interior of the cabin. I felt insecure, for some reason, like I wasn’t safe here. That was something I had never, ever felt before. Suddenly in a state of panic, I tucked the brooch in my pocket and began scrambling around my ship, searching for anything else she may have touched. The place was always dirty, covered in dust and spots of axel grease, but only now did it feel really unclean. She was in here, touching my things, rifling through my bag, like she was searching for something. What was she looking for? She said she was looking for a gun, but I didn’t believe that for a moment.
“Oh, no,” I muttered. With my heart racing, I clamored up the steps and into the cockpit, prying open the hidden compartment under my console. I let out a huge sigh of relief as I spotted the pistol and ammunition that was still inside. The compartment had done its job. She hadn’t found it. Hurriedly, I went to gather my gas mask and bag and crammed them into the small cubby hole, too. I then sat in my chair and looked back at my empty cargo hold, still feeling slightly vulnerable. I wanted to run back to the warehouse where it was safe, but I still had to do what I came for. I needed to check the roof to see if Audra’s gunshot had caused any real damage.
I climbed up the ladder in the hold and opened the roof hatch, taking only a moment to climb out and walk toward the cockpit. The bullet mark was easy to find. It left a definite divot where it struck the hull, and a large chunk of paint was missing, but the shot hadn’t pierced the metal. I was satisfied, but still angry. As I climbed back inside the Kicker, however, I couldn’t help but smile. As tough as Audra liked to talk, she was so desperate to beat me, she had to resort to shooting at me. Even with it, I still would have beat her! If it hadn’t been for Rigel, of course. With my confidence returning, I grabbed Nichols’ book and exited the ship, making sure to seal the door tightly behind me. I didn’t have a lock, but if I cranked it tightly enough, it would feel locked. Satisfied, I tucked the book under my arm and turned to leave.
Without warning, my vision went white, and the blow to my face sent me reeling backward.
I cried out in shock and pain, and felt a hand around my throat, shoving me until my back slammed into something hard and cold. After a moment, I realized it was my ship. Who had hit me? My first thought was Beatrice. She had been outside waiting for me with some hired goons. How was I going to get out of this? As my vision began to clear, I blinked rapidly, letting the figure in front of me come into view.
“I’m threatened by you!?” a voice asked furiously.
“Audra?” I choked out. I was surprised, but more angered than anything. “Are you out of your mind? What’s wrong with you!?”
I clawed at her hand around my neck, trying to pry myself free. Before I could, though, she threw her knee hard into my gut, causing me to double over as I felt the air rush out of me. In an instant, Audra had flipped me forward over her hip and slammed me onto the docks. I couldn’t even groan in pain. I was still trying to suck wind. With me offering no resistance, she positioned herself on top of me, pinning my arms above my head.
“You point a gun at me,” she growled, her teeth just millimeters from my face. “You cost me the competition, and you have the nerve to insult me on the radio?”
“I didn’t insult you!” I managed to croak out. It was a lie, of course. But at the moment, I was willing to try anything to keep her from caving my head in. Rather than respond, she reared her hand back and slapped me hard across the face, drawing a shriek of pain from my lips. Still fuming, she grabbed my jaw in a powerful grip and looked directly into my eyes.
“You stupid little twit,” she said. “Do you know how many lives I’ve taken? If you knew the things I had to do to win the last race…” she turned my head so that she could speak directly into my ear. “…it would make your skin crawl.” As she whispered the line, I felt her tongue gliding up the flesh of my neck.
I let out a guttural cry of panic and started squirming for all I was worth. Effortlessly, she clasped both of my wrists together across my chest and unsheathed a long, slender knife from her knee-high boot.
“Your novelty has played out,” she said coldly. “I am done being upstaged by an infant from a dump city like Adams.”