‘Hi, Nat,’ Asta said, her chest tight.
Nat let her go with a poke at her ribs that made Asta grunt with pain. ‘I wasn’t talking to you. Looking fine, Torque.’
Torque shook his head and tromped off in the direction of the track.
Nat slipped into Torque’s place, facing Asta. ‘I was just coming for Vulture, then I was going to find you. Thought we’d do a few rounds out back.’ She jerked a thumb at the exercise grounds behind the housing unit.
Nat had on what she usually wore for training– black leggings and a tight pullover. The only makeup she was wearing was what was left over from yesterday, smudged around her eyes as if she had not even washed her face this morning. Her expression was open, unruffled. She had dropped the role of iconoclastic Bruce princess for the moment.
It would be so easy to believe that, underneath it all, the real Nat was just this mess of a woman– flighty, free-spirited, reckless, but nothing more sinister than that.
But Asta couldn’t stop thinking about the card in her pocket.
Nat had to know her uncle was strong-arming people on her behalf, right? Torque understood immediately what the note meant– or what it implied, anyway. Could Nat just close her eyes to it? But Asta had. She really had thought she was there as Nat’s training partner, nothing more. She thought the loan to get to Silverscale was a kindness. It’s possible Nat had turned a blind eye– that, or, she was in on it.
The thought sent a chill through Asta. Maybe Nat’s job all along was to make Asta comfortable, pretend to be her friend, keep her complacent. Was that what yesterday had been about? Had she been tasked with keeping Asta busy in bed while one of her cousins sneaked in with the flowers and her instructions? But instructions for what, Asta still didn’t know. Asta felt like she was going to puke.
‘No,’ Asta said. Her throat felt dry, and she tried to clear it. ‘No, sorry. I’m going to go watch the drake races.’
‘Come on.’ Nat’s tone was wheedling. ‘I’m more fun than a bunch of stupid drakes.’
The sound of the horn drifted over to them, as the first semifinal race began. The crowd’s cheering buzzed through the whole Horizons complex, and the dragons in the stables stirred and snorted. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, Nat.’
Nat made a face. ‘Tomorrow? I was hoping we’d hang out tonight.’ She looked Asta up and down shamelessly. ‘We could invite Golden Boy. If you’re going to race each other tomorrow, you’ll need something to break the tension, right?’
At the mention of Felix, Asta’s pulse quickened. It took her another second to realize what Nat had just said. ‘They posted the rosters?’
‘Yup,’ Nat said. ‘I got the first semi. You got the second.’
‘And I’m racing Felix?’
‘Sohot.’
The thought of it turned Asta’s brain to putty. Asta found it ironic that the papers had been full of handwringing over whether she might distract Felix during the tournament, as if he wasn’t doing the same to her.
At least she wasn’t in Nat’s heat. Whatever it was the Bruces were asking of her, she couldn’t do it if they weren’t in the same race. If she was lucky, Nat wouldn’t make it out of the semifinals. Not so lucky for Nat. Whatever the punishment for losing in the semis, Asta had to assume it would be worse than baptism in the river.
‘I gotta go,’ Asta said, and headed down the walkway to the main avenue.
‘Think about it!’ Nat called after her. ‘You, me, and Golden Boy!’
Asta walked in a daze. The clouds had begun releasing little spits of rain, and she pulled the hood of her sweatshirt up to shield herself from the cold drizzle.
Felix was waiting for Asta at the door of her suite. He was pressed against the wall, making use of the overhang above to block the rain, which was really picking up now. His cream-white denim jacket, its collar turned against the damp, and slim-cut jeans were so close to the color of the stucco wall as to make him appear almost ghostly. He straightened when he saw Asta.
Whatever he had prepared for his opening line dropped away as she got closer. ‘Dude. You look pretty rough.’
‘Screw you,’ she snapped, too stressed and anxious to soften her tone. ‘I almost died yesterday.’
He winced. ‘I saw that. Are you okay?’
‘I’m alive. What do you want?’
His eyes searched her face. ‘Are you sure you’re okay?’
Asta eyed him warily. ‘Never been better. It’s a beautiful day.’
Felix looked dubiously at the sky.
