Page 77 of Tailwind

Bach waited until Moss was out of earshot and then motioned to the medic to leave. There was a distinct awkwardness in the air, but I wasn’t sure if that was just me. Bach looked like he wasn’t quite capable of feeling much at all.

‘Thank you.’ I whispered it, unable to raise my voice beyond that. It didn’t cover the gratitude I had. The respect. It was all I had though.

‘They won’t want to keep you,’ he said, swaying on the spot. ‘Moss’s pride is wounded and unless there’s an explicit reason against it, they’ll put Thorne back next chance they get.’

It hurt to hear. I knew he was right, but it still hurt.

‘I’m so sorry for what happened. Is Rosinder okay? If there—’

He lifted a hand, silencing me.

‘She’ll be okay. It wasn’t your fault. If anything, it’s Mirendi’s for letting those idiots fly.’ He wiped a hand down his stubbled face. ‘Racing against their dad was bad enough. Now there’re two of them … I can’t take much more of this shit.’ He gazed at the wall as he spoke. It felt rude to be listening to the conversation he was having with himself.

He sighed and started to limp back towards the aviary. I waited a few moments before following. Bach wasn’t the only one I owed an apology to.

CHAPTER TWENTY

My return to the aviary was plagued by pain. My face was trying to peel itself off, my body was starting to feel the burn of the race and my mind was mired with what ifs.

All of it made worse when I heard the echo of a laugh from around the next corner.

It was familiar, but not as familiar as the murmur of voice that accompanied it. Bach had said Thorne was skulking around. A warning I appreciated, but didn’t stop my skin from crawling as Huwin Thorne appeared, grunting a goodbye over his shoulder. My eyes snapped to the floor, returning to old instincts. But there was nowhere to go. No avoiding him.

So I faced him instead. The only defiance I could manage. He stalked towards me, eyes shadowed by his brow under the lights. He looked far more solid now. The pale imitation of his glory days had been fleshed out by his time in the clinic. Forced or not, he looked healthier.

He didn’t stop, or even slow down, as he got close. My heart pounded as hard and fast as during the race.

‘Take it all in.’ Thorne was calm as he spoke. It unnerved me more than the times he’d exploded. ‘Your time is up.’

There was a snap to his last word, in time with his shoulder barging into my own. There wasn’t much force behind it, but it still took effort to steady myself. I wasn’t going to fall in front of him. Not again.

I resisted biting back. The temptation was tempered by something far more important to me. Thorne already knew he’d won – he was back in and was making sure I was on my way out.

Standing strong was within my capabilities, but moving wasn’t. It wasn’t the aftermath of the fight that stopped me. It was the echoes of his footsteps that pinned me in place until they had completely dispersed from the tunnel.

I had to prioritize my time and there was only one place I wanted to spend it. I shouldered the aviary door, unwilling and perhaps unable to use my hands. I could feel my knuckles seizing up under my gloves.

Thorne’s gloves. None of this was mine anymore.

‘Lena!’ Josie rushed over to meet me from Gottyk’s stall.

It was some bizarre reflection of my first race, Josie finding me in a mess of my own making. Except this time there were no plans to be made.

I braced myself for her debriefing.

Her body thudded into mine, her arms wrapped as far around my wide armoured shoulders as possible, pulling me into a hug.

I’d braced myself for the wrong kind of impact. All the emotion that had been boiling inside me since the red light surged up, making me shudder.

Josie pulled away, but kept her hands on my shoulders, holding me at arm’s length as she looked at me.

‘Did you at least get some good hits in?’

The cut on my cheekbone reopened as I smiled. ‘You know it.’

‘Good,’ she said. I could feel her grip tighten through the armour augments. ‘I know this sucks, Lena, but believe me when I say all of this was the right thing to do. It may have been messy, it might be in pieces right now, but what we did together … it means something.’

I nodded, choking on the words that might have been an eloquent reply.