Asta was stunned. ‘You do? Why?’
Tess threw herself back in her chair and cackled. Her mouth was open so wide that Asta got a full view of the arch of her teeth.
Tess wiped her eyes and sighed. ‘Fair point, girlie, fair point. Why, indeed? You do seem like a bit of a dummy. Street racing. . .’ She waved her hand like she was swatting a fly. ‘Silverscale wasn’t enough excitement for you?’
A startled laugh escaped Asta’s throat. ‘Nothing’s enough.’
Tess nodded, as if Asta had just spoken some great truth. ‘I’m dumb like that, too,’ she said, getting to her feet. ‘So: I like you,andI’m like you.’
Asta did not feel worthy of such words. ‘But, Ms. Curie, you’re amazing.’
‘Ah,’ Tess bleated, waving at the imaginary fly again, ‘I’moldis what I am. And that means I get to tell young people things. That’s the rule. And since you and your little smoochy girlfriend are obeying the rules now, you gotta listen.’
‘She’s not my girlfriend.’
‘I don’t give a dragon’s raunchy ass. Shut up and listen to me. You did what you needed to do to get yourself here. That meant hitching your wagon to the Bruces. Fine. Folks around here might judge you for that, but I don’t. The Bruces weren’t always so bad, you know. I mean, they were always bad, but they weren’t bad-bad. Tru and I go way back. She’s a dusty old bitch with half her screws loose, but she’s alright.’ Tess crossed her arms over her chest. ‘But you mind yourself around Hummer. After what I saw out there on the track yesterday, you’re not going to need him much longer to get where you’re going. You got eyes on you now, babycakes– the right people are noticing. You just gotta get through to the end without ticking off that old coot. You got it?’
‘I’m trying,’ Asta said. Torque had told her to give Hummer what he wanted, whatever it was. Now Tess Curie was telling her the same. Keep him happy. Then get away. That was the plan, from here on out.
‘Don’t try. Do it.’ Tess scratched at her chin thoughtfully. ‘And win. You hear me? That prize is yours for the taking. Go get it.’
Asta straightened her stance in defiance of her aching body. ‘I will.’ She fought back the urge to throw her arms around the old woman’s neck.
Tess leaned to the side and slapped one of her buttocks soundly a few times, as if trying to return circulation to it. ‘Too much sitting. I’m going to go take a nap on one of them fancy beds. You be good.’ She moaned as she pushed herself to her feet.
‘I will,’ Asta said again.
She followed Tess out of the room and found Gem waiting, as promised, in the hall.
‘What did she want?’ Gem asked when Tess had tottered out of earshot.
‘She wants me to win,’ Asta said. ‘And to be careful.’
‘That’s what I’ve been saying all along.’ Gem looked after Tess resentfully. ‘You going to listen to her?’
‘That’s Tess Curie,’ Asta said. ‘I’d jump over the moon if she told me to.’
They made their way back outside and into the drizzle of the gray afternoon. As soon as they stepped outside, the air exploded with cheering from the track. Above the roar of the crowd, the starting horn sounded, and the earth shook with the pounding footfalls of the drakes.
The Silverscale Grand Prix: Day Five
Standard Western Class Semifinals
19
Asta was on the floor between her bed and Gem’s, stretching, when the knock came on the door. The pain was better this morning, further away from her present awareness. Before her semifinal race this afternoon, she could visit the medical tents and get a liniment for her stiff muscles.
Gem was in the kitchenette peeling an orange for his breakfast, but he put it down to answer the door. Curious, Carmine worked his head through the hatch and watched Gem put his eye to the peephole.
‘It’s Hummer,’ Gem said in a low voice.
Asta got to her feet and winced. Maybe she wasn’t feeling as good as she thought she was. ‘Shit. Give me a second.’
Hummer knocked again.
‘Hang on!’ Asta called. ‘I’m coming.’ She threw her sweatshirt on over her T-shirt and shorts and put her feet, sockless, into her boots. ‘Be right back,’ she said to Gem, pushing by him to the door.
Gem clucked his tongue. ‘You’re going to freeze,’ his tone already in I-told-you-so territory. ‘It’s cold out there.’
