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You’re okay, Zachary. You’re fine.
“I’m not, Dad.” I dug my fingers into the handles, almost tearing them off with my nails. “We’re dropping too fast.”
The rake.
The blood.
The knife.
I didn’t want to remember any of this.
Dad’s lips moving.
His single tear.
His last words.
We slammed into the runway with a hugethunk. My hand flew off the rest, smacking into the window.
Rain shot from the sky like bullets. The plane slowed to a crawl, but I lowered my head to my knees, brows crushed together.
His last words, his last words, his last words.
“What are you saying,dammit?”
The flight attendant unbuckled, sprinting to me. She rested a hand on my back. “Are you okay, Mr. Sun?”
“No.”
I finally remembered Dad’s last words.
D-DAY.
Nature: 3.
Zach Sun: 0.
It took five hours to reach the sporting arena. Five hours in a shitty rental car held together by Gorilla Glue and prayers.
I hadn’t showered or changed in three days, forgetting my luggage in Chiang Mai. It seemed particularly cruel that, for someone who forbade staff from wearing scented products, I had to suffer through five fucking hours of my own stench.
In the last thirty-minute stretch, the heater died a cruel death. The temperature plummeted to forty degrees within minutes. I still hadn’t found a damn coat.
I slugged through rain, knuckles the color of milk, hoping to hell I’d make it before the competition ended.
The arena sign glistened in the downpour like a beacon. Thousands of cars filled the lot from end to end.
With no chance at finding a spot, I parked in a tow zone right out front, slamming the door behind me.
“She better be here.”
It would be just my luck to be misdirected by a horrible game of telephone. I’d gotten Fae’s location from Romeo, who had gotten her location from Dallas, who had gotten her location from Hettie, who had gotten her location from Frankie, whom I considered as reliable as the pull-out method.
I shoved my entire wallet into the ticket booth and stormed past the barrier without waiting. The contents of my inner suit pocket smacked my chest with each step.
My right loafer fell off as I tore through the halls like a bull. I didn’t have time to pick it up.
A child darted out of my path. He dropped his cotton candy, crying at the sight of me.
