Page 134 of Tailwind

That thought had crossed my mind. It had also crossed the headlines of Volitant news outlets. Yet when I heard it from him, the person who had made me nearly lose myself, I didn’t care.

‘Wow,’ I replied, holding my ground. ‘You got replaced by a PR stunt for a month and no one even noticed.’

Gottyk was safe in his aviary, I didn’t have to hold back anymore. I only had myself to protect and I wasn’t afraid of him. So I leaned in and whispered, ‘Thorne, your fans cheered for me.’

The collar of my shirt tightened as Thorne grabbed it, yanking me off balance.

‘This is going to be your last race, you little bitch. A big sponsor won’t do you any good when I’m done.’

The door to the media room opened. Thorne reacted faster than I thought him capable of and dropped my shirt. The wrinkles made the white dragon wings look broken.

Ellas Ruan stepped out into the corridor, seeming to enjoy the fresh air as much as I had before he noticed us. His dark eyes flicked between us as we stood there, frozen. I’d never seen the Volitant Chroma Champion anything less than composed. Even his short black hair was consistently in place, making it hard to tell when any picture of him had been taken.

In that moment though I saw him twitch. Under the striking high cheekbones a tendon flexed in his jaw. ‘Is there a problem?’

He was looking at me. But from the way his eyes darted down to my creased shirt I doubted the cold anger in his voice was my fault.

‘Not anymore,’ I said, forcing nonchalance. ‘Thorne was just leaving.’

The older rider bristled. I could feel the hatred pouring off of him.

Ruan stood aside, clearing the doorway for Thorne. It was polite, showing deference to the one-time champion, but it also forced Thorne into leaving.

‘Thanks,’ I said after Thorne had stormed off, leaving me with a glare and unfinished threat.

Ellas Ruan considered me for a moment, so neutral it was unnerving.

‘I was teammates with him for two years.’ He was clear and calm, trained well by the classy Victrolia PR team. He didn’t need to lace his words with any tone. I understood. Two years together at Mirendi nearly ten years ago had been more than enough time with Thorne as a teammate.

I hoped I could make it through one day.

I arrived at the Kiestral team floor and found the briefing room early enough that Josie and Hector, Thorne’s strategist, were the only ones in there. Not having to do two jobs was helping me stay on time, as was no longer having to live on the edge of paranoia.

‘How did it go?’ Josie was tapping a pencil against the open pages of a new binder. I was proud of her for only bringing one to the meeting.

‘Better than before summer break,’ I replied, slipping on to the bench with her.

She’d chosen the front row, only a few feet away from where the casting augment was set up to project Moss’s plans on to the wall. The tables were heavy and just like the bench we were sitting on, attached to the floor. I shivered as the wind blew in through the open window. The Sky Pillar was majestic, ancient, and I felt like a part of history while I was there, but it was always so cold. It didn’t matter that it was summer, being at a higher altitude in a tower full of holes was enough to negate the warmth.

‘You do realize that tells me very little, right? The bar is on the floor for your public speaking.’ She squared the already neat corners of the papers. Even the breeze could ruffle her plans.

‘Ah yes, but now I have the freedom to be my charming self.’

The pencil tapping stopped. Josie was concerned.

‘Well, not completely,’ I assured her. Her fate was still tied to mine, I didn’t want her any more nervous than she already was.

The rest of the team filtered in. Eduard Moss arrived in the same crisp white shirt as always, the embroidered orange wings on the chest the inverse to my own. As the rest of the team sat down a gap of at least three feet appeared between us and the next staff members. It was like Josie and I had our own personal race barrier, invisible yet effective.

No one greeted us. Most didn’t even look at us. Those who did looked like they could smell their own farts.

‘Looks like my goodwill has run dry,’ Josie muttered, keeping her eyes down.

I’d never been popular among the team and my actions over the season had kept my expectations low for my return. Josie though had been associated with Bach. I’d seen the way the team had acted with her before. It didn’t matter that she’d known that the camaraderie was fake, this was still going to hurt.

Given that no one even knew her part in my plans, there was only one reason she was being ostracized – me. My knuckles whitened as I clenched my hands, pushing them down against the table while I decided what to do. Blowing up at them all now wasn’t a good idea, but it would feel so good.

‘It’s fine,’ she whispered, nudging me under the table.