Page 147 of Tailwind

The medic eased off said helmet. Josie took it.

‘I turned the comms back on and let it go live to the casting networks. I figured at least one of them would see it and send it out. Turns out all of them did. Both continents saw and heard everything.’ She placed a hand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze that my flight suit dutifully replicated underneath.

I gave her a lopsided grin. ‘You really are always right …’

Then I passed out.

‘Josie,’ I put up a finger on my left hand, then added one more for each name. ‘Mystery attacker, Theo, the Bolls … and Thorne.’

‘I think you’ve been hit in the head one too many times. Why have you put me on a list with them?’ Josie sat a few feet away from me by Gottyk’s head. Under it really – he’d laid his snout on her lap as he slept in the aviary.

I sat cross-legged on his back. Since being reunited he hadn’t let me breathe without him monitoring, so I’d decided sitting on him while he snoozed away his post-race fatigue was best. Napping wasn’t a bad idea. My own brief loss of consciousness hadn’t been restful at all. I’d walked up most of the steps to the aviary myself.

‘It’s all the people she’s fought after a race.’ Cam was lurking by the augment bench, arms folded across her chest and doing her best to not fuss as much as Gottyk had. She’d been there when I’d woken up. Walking up the stairs might have been a challenge, but convincing Cam not to throw me over her shoulder and carry me had been harder.

I nodded, weary down to my bones. ‘Weird that it keeps happening.’

Both of them scoffed. I’d preferred it when they’d had a weirdly intense standoff before the race. Them being on the same team was far worse. There was a lot of anger, frustration and grief in the air, but so far none of us had dared breach it.

‘You didn’t tell me you fought with Theo after the Victrolia race.’ Josie lifted a single eyebrow.

The steamy spa flashed in front of my eyes. I dipped my head into my hands, hoping she’d take pity on me given I was still suffering after-effects of the race, the fight and the soul-crushing loss of my career. Again.

‘She fights with Theo after every race.’ Cam saved me, though I doubted it was intentional. ‘I’m surprised he’s not here right now arguing over her getting into a fight with someone else.’

‘Good point,’ Josie tilted her head. ‘Where is lover boy?’

Cam and I had the same reaction, only in different directions. My head whipped to Josie, warped in shock. Across the room Cam sent me the exact same one.

‘She’s joking,’ I said, massaging away the neck pain it had caused. I hoped the fact that Cam didn’t know Josie well could cover the lie. ‘Anyway, he’s probably doing the post-race press for the winners. He doesn’t have time for losers like me.’

I tipped my head back, willing gravity to pull the moisture back into my eyes. It wasn’t true, Theo had plenty of time for a loser like me – being smug was his default setting. The fact that I was, once again, a loser … that was what gnawed at my heart.

‘Are you coming home then? I’ve offered it enough times that you kind of owe it to me now.’ Cam didn’t grovel, she made me feel obligated instead. This time though I knew it came from the overwhelming urge to protect me.

‘She’ll stay at the ranch,’ Josie answered for me. ‘Then she can keep flying.’

Josie didn’t mention that I would be keeping her company too.

‘She can fly the wyverns at home. What’s the point of all those dragons if they’re not racing?’ My sister was getting surly.

‘I’m sorry what? You have wyverns at home?’ Josie sat up straight, waking poor Gottyk up from his beauty sleep. Nearly.

Cam froze. I leaned my elbows on to my knees, hiding my smile behind my hands. Cam Paldon, leader of the very illegal and very secret street-racing crew – the crew she forbade me from telling anyone about – had just made a mistake.

At least she was suffering with me.

The aviary door creaked open. I’d started to realize that no one knocked, but too late to do anything about it.

Bach held it open, stepping aside for Miss Hough to come in. Seeing the two of them together was difficult for my scrambled mind to comprehend. I was happy to see Bach – our brief meeting after the race, but before my life was ruined, had been a bright moment. Miss Hough though was about to yank my heart out of my chest and file it with my broken contract, along with other failed projects.

She was far too clean to be in the aviary anyway. The white outfit had been swapped for a cream one, still as sleek and seamless. She wore straight wide trousers and a short cape, or perhaps a poncho, around her shoulders, which made her look more wyvern than human. It seemed like something Theo would approve of.

I slid off Gottyk’s back. It seemed like the respectful thing to do since she’d at least given me the chance to fly again. My dragon woke up and stood behind me, his hot breath going directly into my right ear as he hovered nearby.

‘Sorry I couldn’t do it, but I appreciate your help.’ I offered her a smile. It was pathetic really, just a limp attempt to be polite.

She looked me up and down.