Page 88 of Tailwind

‘I’m going to be sick.’ The filter between my brain and mouth had been permanently misplaced.

Bach only scoffed. ‘Josie warned me you would be dramatic.’

That shook the nausea away. ‘Josie spoke to you?’

Through all the mess of being found out and admitting to my not-quite-crimes I had kept Josie’s name out of it all. If she had talked to Bach about this, she would have been completely sure that he would be on our side. Not that I’d have assumed he’d support Thorne and his campaign to discredit me with Cooke, but riders had a tendency to be toxically neutral when it came to opinions regarding anything other than dragons.

It also meant Josie thought this was a good idea.

‘Yes, she told me her side of recent events.’ A new expression crept over his face, one I hadn’t seen before in years of watching him. He was baffled. ‘I don’t know how I could have spotted all this when she didn’t falter in her keeper work one bit. She really ran strategy for you? And fitted your comms?’

Pride filled me. ‘Yes. And made a voice-changer for me to sound like Thorne. And translated all the strategy numbers into facts I could remember—’ I stopped myself before admitting I could only remember instructions if they came in the context of his career.

‘Good. She’ll be joining us too.’

I blinked away my surprise. This wasn’t just an idea, it was a plan. The last trickle of doubt was disappearing.

‘You’re going to have to be a lot more specific about these plans of yours, Lotiere,’ said Cam. ‘I’m going to need names, addresses and a whole lot more information than that before I let you take my little sister anywhere.’

It was always ‘my little sister’ when she was angry. Never ‘my mature and talented sister capable of making her own decisions’.

‘I have a ranch,’ he said, folding his arms. ‘It’s in the north of the Crescent. It’s my private home away from all that.’ He waved a hand at the cast behind him.

I lingered on the times and names listed on the side of the projection. Quinn had taken first place.

‘I intend on taking Lena there to train her in the finer points of racing. Josie, her friend and, apparently, strategist, will be there to train too. They’ve already proven they work well as a team, so all I have to do is take off the rough edges.’

‘Sounds just lovely.’ Cam’s sarcasm wasn’t subtle. ‘And what use is that if she’s been kicked out of Volitant?’

For the first time Bach seemed hesitant. ‘I haven’t worked that part out yet.’

‘Cam.’ I clasped my hands together and hung my head. ‘Please don’t get in the way of this. Please.’

I wasn’t sure if my pleading had even worked when she said, ‘Sure, in theory. Lena hasn’t just been kicked out of Kiestral though – she’s banned. Getting her back to riding Gottyk seems like too big of a challenge even for you.’

It was a good point. Cam knew too well how hard it was to acquire dragons and their eggs – she’d tried.

‘There are others she can fly. My retired racing dragons. They’re at my ranch, being taken care of by a small trusted team.’

‘She’ll go!’ Lynk butted into the conversation, coming over to grab my shoulders and shake them. ‘Lena, go pack your bags!’

Trea began hopping from foot to foot in the corner. ‘For real? The old Victrolia greens from the Wingtip Era?’

‘Forge dragons too? Not just Chroma?’ Lynk’s grip was tightening. ‘The championship Adviant whiptail from sixty-five?’

They were saying exactly what I was thinking. Bach’s career was flashing before my eyes – the classic dragons from the racing eras before my time would be there. The first dragons to test out the theories around aerodynamic upflow. A living legacy of history.

‘Most of them have succumbed to the Pull,’ Bach replied sombrely. ‘But, yes. Some of them are still around.’

Of course, the oldest of them would have flown north, past the continents entirely, and into the Winds to finally rest. It was always sad when a dragon felt the Pull to leave, but some of them were still around, living with Bach. And I had a chance to see them.

I bored a hole into the side of Cam’s head, willing her to look at me. Desperate for her to understand what this opportunity meant. I understood her hesitance. If our positions had been reversed I’d want to keep her away from Volitant too, to remove the chance of any more hurt.

But what was the point of avoiding the pain if the only other option was living a life where I’d feel nothing at all?

‘Fine,’ she said, finally meeting my gaze. ‘Lena, if you want this, you should do it. Find a way to get back into Volitant and tear that piece of shit a new one.’

A wicked grin spread across my face. ‘I will.’