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As the other guys and I took over bandaging up Dámaso and Ursula as well as we could, Rafael took out his phone. “I think one of the contacts I’ve made here can get us medical care without drawing any attention. And hopefully a vehicle too—fast.”
Dámaso forced his voice through clenched teeth. “I can keep walking—put more distance between us and the cops.”
Ursula hissed a breath through her teeth. “Mireya’s going to know we had something to do with getting you out. We should probably switch to a new building just in case she’s already been tracking us down.”
Looking at the two of them bleeding on my behalf, a lump rose in my throat. Rafael had said I’d know when I could trust the turncoats because they’d do something to prove themselves. If this wasn’t that moment, then what else could they possibly do?
The words tumbled out before I could second-guess them. “You should come back to our building. We’ll make sure you’re all patched up and okay, and then we’ll figure out a safe place for you to stay nearby. From here on, I think we should all stick closer together.”
TWELVE
Luciana
Ten more practices,and we still didn’t have the new transition down.
I spiraled and straightened up, collided with Jasper’s arms and let him launch me into the air, but I could feel before I was even halfway up that both our positions were off. In our haste, he hadn’t gotten totally centered behind me; I hadn’t tilted my body at quite the right angle to achieve the height of the lift.
I swayed and Jasper’s elbow wobbled, and he jerked me back down toward the ice before it turned into a total collapse.
“Shit,” I spat out, swiping my damp bangs from my forehead. I’d stripped my long-sleeved thermal off an hour ago, but even my cotton band tee was clinging to my sweaty skin. The tremor that ran through my legs as I fought to steady my breath told me I wasn’t up to a whole lot more practicing today.
Niko skated over, not a hint of disappointment in his sunny smile. “That was so close! Every time we come here, you get better.”
Jasper sighed, rubbing his arms, which had to be at least as sore as, well, pretty much every muscle in my body at this point. “Close isn’t going to get us any golds—or even bronze. At this rate, even if we do master it, we’ll barely have any time to get comfortable with the full routine before we have to compete with it.”
Even though similar depressing thoughts had been passing through my head, my stomach listed uneasily. “What are you saying?”
My partner grimaced but didn’t hesitate. “I wanted this to work, but it’s fuckinghard, and you’re already under so much stress. Do you really want to keep at this? The old routine got us this far. We could trust that it’s solid enough as it is.”
I swallowed thickly. “But we know it won’t give us enough points to beat at least one pair if they don’t screw up. For all we know, there are other teams with higher difficulty levels too.”
“It’s unlikely that many do,” Niko put in. “Your current routine is already close to the maximum anyone would be capable of. And the more difficult moves anyone else is attempting, the higher the chances that theywillscrew up.”
Jasper sighed. “Just like we’re making it more likely that we will too.”
He was right. I knew that. But a pang of resistance shot through my gut even considering giving up.
“If we go back to the regular routine, then we’re already good with the whole thing,” I said. “We don’t need a ton of time to work on it. So let’s keep trying the death spiral to lift transition for a few more practices and then make a final decision.”
Jasper offered me a tight smile, sympathy shining in his gray-green eyes. “That sounds like a reasonable compromise. You never like to back down from a challenge, do you, Punk?”
There was nothing but affection in his words—and in his embrace when he tugged me to his broad chest. Niko eased closer to brush a kiss to the top of my head, and just for a moment, their love washed away all the frustration I was feeling.
“If anyone can do it, it’s the two of you,” Niko said with total confidence.
Jasper nodded and lowered his head to plant a kiss of his own on my lips. As he drew back, his smile softened. “I know that’s true. No one should get between Lou and her dream.”
I exhaled in a rush and flexed my arms in front of me. “I thinkI’mgetting between myself and my dream today. I’m not sure I can skate another inch.”
Niko clapped his hands. “Come do some stretches to make sure those muscles stay limber.”
I glanced over to where Quentin was just coming out of a jump at the other end of the rink and then let my gaze slide across the stands of the private arena where we’d been spending most of our practices thanks to Emi’s connections. A little more of the tension in my chest unraveled when I took in the empty benches. “I’ve got to say, it is nice to have the sessions here without reporters watching our every move.”
As soon as they’d gotten wind about my new sessions at the bigger arena, news crews had started hanging around in the parking lot hoping to get a quote, occasionally even barging right into the rink area.
“I’ll second that sentiment,” Quentin called out as he glided past. “No news is good news.”
In more ways than one. Obviously reports on the shootout at the mall had been splashed across every news source, but so far no one had connected what Niko said the Japanese media was calling “an organized crime incident” to me. No one had even known I’d been in the building… other than my mom, who obviously wasn’t giving interviews.
