Page 62 of Tailwind

‘Well,’ he said, backing off towards the door, ‘this time anyway. Don’t think I’ll extend the same courtesy when we race.’

‘Oh, believe me, I know better than that,’ I scoffed. ‘I don’t need your courtesy. We were only two tenths of a second apart over the line, Vaspre. If I’d taken that last corner a fraction tighter I’d have beaten you.’

He smiled, pulling open the door. ‘So you have been running through the race in your head. I knew you hadn’t changed.’

Heat escaped and was replaced by chill air.

‘I’ve changed plenty actually. It’s easier to grow without you around to drag me down.’

‘All right.’ He looked me up and down, lingering at the hem of my towel. ‘I look forward to finding out.’

A shiver ran down my spine, but not from the cool air. My inner thighs tensed, not feeling cold in the slightest. In all of my attempts to move on, I’d forgotten to aim for indifference and somehow ended up with a twisted sense of desire.

Shit.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Despite the Prevere headquarters and circuit being so high up in the Kuramine mountains there was still an entire town to host the travelling circus of Volitant Chroma. Unlike Victrolia, which nestled into the trees and had found some land nearby to build their headquarters on, Prevere and the town that hosted it had latched on to the land, literally.

The mountains were sheer, yet buildings of wood, metal and arcanite clung to the rock walls. The railway ended abruptly at a station far below and the carriages had been moved on to a vertical lift system, using the same kind of lift augments as the Mirendi Tower to haul us up to the small town and subsequent aviaries.

Gottyk had been tucked away inside the mountain itself, warm and sheltered from the elements. As tempting as it had been to join him and stay inside the luxurious interiors of the peaks, I was restless.

That’s why I’d persuaded Josie to join me in braving the thin air and biting wind to go out and eat.

Her hands were stuffed deep into the pockets of her green fleece jacket and the collar was pulled up around her neck. I had avoided commenting on the thick furry hat she also wore. I was no expert on fashion, but it was definitely function over form.

In the twenty minutes we’d been outside it had become clear that Josie didn’t do well in the cold. Her usual cool calm had ironically melted away into an anger that sparked at the slightest provocation. It was nice to find another thing in common.

‘If I don’t get something hot in the next thirty minutes I’m going to shove you off this walkway,’ she muttered.

‘Food, drink or person?’ I asked as I led her towards a bright cluster of buildings.

The wooden floor creaked alarmingly underneath us. It was a glorified rope bridge hanging from the side of the rock face. I knew it had a variety of metals running through the rope balustrades, I knew the planks were reinforced into position with augments, but none of that changed the fact that I could see hundreds of feet down through the gaps beneath me. Or I could have if it hadn’t been dark already – another downside of being so far south; the sun barely showed up at all during the day and then left early evening.

‘I don’t care, Lena. Just get us out of the cold.’

I nodded and admired the cloud that formed each time I breathed out, feeling jealous of Gottyk and his fire. We hurried along the walkway, clinging to the side as locals passed in the opposite direction. They wore far fewer layers than we did and didn’t seem to be bothered by the way the walkway bounced when more than three people shared it. They were easy to spot from that alone, but the exclusively Prevere blue outfits were a more obvious giveaway.

Not wanting to lose whatever goodwill I’d earned with Josie I chose the nearest restaurant to stop in. It was on the edge of the mass of buildings that spanned the gap between the two mountaintops. While walkways were hanging from the rock, the buildings practically floated in midair. A grand bridge of arcanite-reinforced metal propped them up, but even that felt like too little to hold up half a town.

All the more reason to get indoors and forget where we were.

The pinewood building was round, with no corners in sight. The blonde wood sealed in the heat, so we were welcomed by a wall of warmth when we entered. Josie let out an audible sigh of relief.

‘I’m not built for this place. I can’t wait to get to the Crescent,’ she said as she removed her hat, then started on her coat.

‘A warm welcome, travellers.’ The host of the restaurant approached us. They had a serious expression which was vastly at odds with their rosy cheeks and blue paper dragon hat that wobbled on their head.

It took a moment for me to translate their words, but I’d picked up a few basics of the language. Mostly from the five years Bach had flown for Prevere so I could understand the interviews.

‘Thank you. May we, uh …’ My listening was far better than my speaking. I tried to dredge up how to ask for a table, but Bach hadn’t ever said that when talking about racing.

‘Forgive my friend, she is all brawn and no brains.’ Josie took over. ‘We would love to spend the evening here at your restaurant. Do you have space for two?’

Her mind worked at a higher level than mine, there was no denying it. I’d caught enough to get the gist of what she’d said and I had a feeling the grammar was spot on too.

The host’s eyes crinkled, showing deep laugh lines that the novelty hat had signposted should be there. ‘Of course, please follow me.’