Page 20 of Tailwind

I sat on the low wall that bordered Gottyk’s stall. My keeper jumpsuit was back on but it did little to remove the grime of an hour’s racing. I needed a shower and fresh set of clothes, but there wouldn’t have been much point given that I was stress-sweating all over again as I waited for my sister to remove Thorne.

Cam came through the doorway from the rider room. She’d somehow found a Volitant staff uniform – not too dissimilar from her usual look – with a black shirt, tough canvas trousers and thick boots. Except these were all branded with the red winged ‘V’. She’d acquired the outfit sometime between me finding her under the grandstands to ask for help and her showing up with Lynk and Trea.

She walked over, hands in her pockets and shoulders squared.

‘What did he do?’ A cap covered the mess of her short dark hair, but not the flat expression on her face. It might have intimidated some, but it didn’t work on me. I’d seen her cry the first time we’d seen a dragon in person. I was immune to her bravado.

I shrugged. ‘An explanation wasn’t part of the favour.’

She examined me. ‘Did he hurt you?’

If I answered that honestly, if I told Cam what had happened – what had been happening and building for over a year – there wouldn’t be anything left of him to recover. Maybe just some bad-smelling wyvern excrement in a week.

Yet I couldn’t lie to her, either.

‘Please, just get him out of here and to the … spa.’ My voice hitched.

I was saved from the death stare she was giving me as Trea and Lynk came in from the rider room also dressed as Volitant crew. Between them they carried a bag of dragon feed. It was lumpier than normal and had been resealed.

‘How you going, Lena?’ Lynk was far too cheerful for someone carrying an unconscious rider in a sack. That said, I’d never seen him in any other mood.

‘All good, thanks.’

‘Hey,’ called Trea, holding up the other end. ‘That was you flying in the race then, yeah?’

Cam turned and glared at them. ‘Did you forget to mind your business?’

The two of them simply laughed and went on their way, taking Thorne out of the aviary.

‘They’re family. They’ll keep it quiet.’

I nodded. I didn’t doubt it. They were more family to me than my own parents were.

‘Are you sure you’re okay keeping tabs on him? Moving him there is one thing, but I don’t know how long that place will keep him for. Apparently he’ll need to pass an arcanite-residue test to leave.’

Cam shook her head. ‘It’s fine. The crew will fight over taking shifts to keep watch. It’s an easy job. We can encourage the staff there to keep their mouths shut.’ She checked the door over her shoulder. ‘As for how long the residue will stay in his system, it’s hard to know. Depends on how long he’s been doing this for. So, you’ll keep racing while he’s gone?’

I nodded. ‘That’s the plan.’ What I didn’t say was that was my entire plan. I hadn’t thought further than this moment and each time I got close to trying my mind fuzzed over and my fingers felt numb again.

She finally cracked a smile. ‘Good.’

It wasn’t a surprise that Cam wanted me to keep racing. She’d been on the receiving end of my five-year bad mood.

She leaned to look past me into the stall. ‘But you owe me a favour.’

‘No joy rides on my dragon. Absolutely not happening.’ Disguising myself to fly Gottyk was hard enough; there was no way I’d be able to do it for Cam. I wasn’t convinced she’d ever come back.

Her smile split into a toothy grin. ‘I was thinking of an egg actually.’

I hopped off the wall and aimed a kick at her. ‘Time for you to go.’

Hands still stuffed in her pockets, she turned to leave.

She didn’t bother to check if the coast was clear, she got away with everything by having enough confidence to seem like she belonged. It was Cam’s world and we were just living in it. She placed a hand on the door to stop me from shutting it.

‘You need anything else, you send me a message, okay?’

I tried to shut the door. ‘Whatever.’