Page 56 of Tailwind

‘It might be different now, I don’t know …’ He trailed off, clearly feeling the awkwardness building around the conversation.

‘What do you mean, took it out on everyone?’ Theo’s voice was ice-cold.

‘Uh, well, apparently he lashed out at the team, blamed the dragons, blamed the crew. I heard he got into a fight once too. If he hadn’t been best mates with the boss he would have been fired long before his break.’

Wishful thinking. He was the same now and he hadn’t been fired. Not even close.

‘No way!’ Colly seemed incapable of speaking without exclaiming. ‘Volitant wouldn’t let a rider like that fly in Chroma.’

His naivety really had no bounds.

‘It’s what I heard from my brother.’ From the gentle way Quinn spoke to Colly I gathered this wasn’t the first time he’d had to explain how Volitant really worked. ‘You’d be surprised what goes on in other teams.’

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I could feel Theo’s eyes boring into me.

‘Well.’ I shoved myself up from my rock. ‘As delightful as this topic is, I’m going to go. Enjoy the rest of your evening, boys.’ I put as much cheer into the goodbye as possible. Sitting on a cold damp rock was miserable enough without them pitying me.

‘Hey, no worries! Thanks for letting me join you. Maybe we can do it again? It’s nice having the crew back together.’ Colly beamed up at me.

I didn’t have the heart to remind him we’d never been a crew to begin with.

‘Yeah, see you around,’ Quinn followed up. Less enthusiastic, but from the smile that accompanied it I got the impression that it was genuine.

I walked off down the hill back towards the aviary. One last check on Gottyk and I could head to the dorms. Regardless of whether I got any sleep, at least I wouldn’t have to listen to people talk about Thorne.

‘Paldon.’

I didn’t slow down.

‘Paldon,’ Theo called again, closer this time.

‘What?’ I stopped and spun on the spot. I was looking forward to the peace and quiet I’d wanted all evening and Theo was getting in the way. Again.

He slowed to a stop next to me. His jaw was set and while his hands were tucked deep into his pockets, I could see the outlines of his knuckles against the fabric, clearly balled into fists.

‘I swear, Vaspre, if you’ve followed me just to gloat I will start another fight. I don’t need a weapon either. I’ll tear you apart with my bare hands.’

‘You can’t race if you’re in prison.’ He’d made a joke but there was no humour in his voice.

‘No, but it would mean you would finally leave me alone.’ I gave him a sadistic smile. ‘For good this time.’

He flinched. Good.

‘What Quinn said—’

‘No.’ I raised a finger up to his face. ‘No. I’m not talking about that with you.’

His brows knitted together. ‘So, there is something to talk about?’

The taut line inside that was holding me together snapped.

‘Wow, Vaspre, you really hadn’t picked up on that? Well you know what, it’s a bit late. Actually, it’s fifteen years too late. You’ve been flying next to me my entire career and you’re telling me you’ve not noticed it once?’ My voice was hoarse, all my self-preservation instincts kicking in to stay quiet, to not draw attention.

His eyes darted between mine. ‘But Thorne—’

‘It’s not just Thorne.’ My violent whispering was slowly gaining volume. ‘It’s never just one of them. It’s the dads at the Junior Drake track making jokes. It’s the breeders not wanting me racing their drakes, wyverns or dragons. It’s the surprised faces when I stood on the podium. It’s the way they started looking at me when I turned thirteen. It’s all the ways I’ve been made to feel different – like I’m not supposed to be here.’

Heat gathered behind my eyes as moisture welled up. I ground my teeth together, watching Theo’s face dance between whatever emotions he was going through. I didn’t care how he felt. Not about this.