Fiendish Play (13 page)

“Excuse me,” Byron said, “did you just say
you
’d do it?”

I stood tall. “Yeah, are you deaf or something? I’ll do it. I’ll race for Seth.”

My comment only made Byron smile more grimly. “So...let me get this straight...you wanna take the place...” Byron turned back to Anais and Seth, “of this guy?”

I nodded, not repeating my answer again. But I think it was because I wasn’t sure the same answer would come out now that I was realizing what I had just agreed to.

“Now this...is...very interesting.” Byron studied me, trying to figure out why I was doing this. He was making some sort of mental assessment as he considered my offer to play substitute for Seth.

Another guy moved towards Bryon, speaking quietly into his ear. He wasn’t as tall as Byron or me, but he had a similar build and had blondish hair. I saw Byron nodding before he shook his head and dismissed him.

“Deacon does have a point...you’re not an ‘investment’...and only our newly appointed investments can participate in this race. It’s a showcase of our new potential. The ones we think are the best and most skilled...or in Seth’s case...how much we have faith in our legacies being initiated this year. You have to be one or the other to race for us. Those are the rules.”

Byron shrugged his shoulders at me and turned his attention back to Seth on the ground. “So make me a...what do you call them? An
investment
,” I quickly piped up. It was the obvious solution. Byron swung back around to face me.

The guy called Deacon moved towards Byron once more. The guy I assumed given his name, was until recently, Anais’
betrothed
.

“No fucking way Byron. No one here is going vouch for this guy. No one knows anything about him or what he can do. We can’t just accept him as a new investment because he has a hero complex and has a thing for the prick teaser over there on her knees.” His eyes glared at Anais, who refused to look up at him.

My urge to use my fists was crawling up on me very quickly. This Deacon guy was getting on my nerves and if he didn’t watch himself, I would use my ‘hero complex’ to take him down a peg or two. Hell — I wanted to knock him the fuck out!

“Oh that’s not true,” Byron started. “Didn’t he take down two of your guys a couple of weeks back? And I know firsthand how our president feels about him. So I think he would be very impressed if we had him recruited.”

This threw me. Byron did not only know about what was happening to Anais on that tree, but that I was the one who intervened. How long had he known? From the very start? And who was the president? Had I met him? I was starting to get the odd sense that I had been watched since the night I helped Anais. But the
why
was really weighing on my mind. I didn’t like the idea that there were people in the shadows taking notes of everything I was doing and saying. My parents’ warnings about ‘secret societies’ were now making a lot of sense.
Fuck
! — I could already hear my mother saying, “
I told you so
,” in my head. And I hated knowing they might be right.

“So I’m going to vouch for him,” Byron announced. “That is...of course...he really does want to try his hand to become one of us? Because to be honest, I’m dying to see what else he can do.”

There was no way I intended to complete any kind initiation and become one of these psychotic secret society freaks, but logic told me, that it was the only way I could protect Seth and Anais without anyone getting hurt tonight. I figured I could drop out of the initiation process tomorrow, when things had settled down. Just fail whatever crazy task they gave me...and move on. It seemed like the best and most logical plan I could come up with. I mean, they can’t force you to become one of them if you don’t do what you’re told...right? That can’t be how it works.

“Yeah, it’s totally what I want.” I took a confident breath as I tried to look and sound convincing. “Pretty please, sign me up.” I was hoping the sarcasm in my voice wasn’t obvious and that my weird accent covered it up. I could see Anais shaking, like she was about to burst into screaming and yelling, her shoulders moving back and forth, like she was rocking to keep herself together and calm. Seth was still spitting blood out of his mouth and onto the ground.

“Tremendous,” Byron cheered. “Let’s welcome our new investment shall we everyone — James Riley.” He stared out into the crowd, who looked nowhere nearly as pleased as Byron. There were a few claps that littered through the group, slow, staggered and unsure. This obviously wasn’t how recruitment was done, but Byron was some kind of leader, making his own rules. He had the power and was exercising what he was allowed to do. No one dared question his actions. That in itself told me he carried a lot of weight where this society and decisions were concerned.

I started to make my way over to Anais and Seth and check in on how they were both doing when Byron’s deep voice stopped me once more. “Oh and Riley...” he said with a hint of mischief on his tongue, like he was excited to deliver this next tidbit of information. “I should let you know that the end result is still the same for Seth here. I mean, you’re driving for him so if you win, you win for Seth.”

“And if I lose?” I asked, already sensing the answer in my head, but I needed to hear it all the same. It was the extra motivation I wanted.

“Then it’s Seth who receives the loser’s punishment.” He looked at Seth who was still coughing and spluttering. “That clear?”

Anais eyes were on me now, conflicted and scared. I wasn’t sure if it was for me, or Seth or both of us. The sick bastard actually looked like he enjoyed the torture, eyeing Seth again like he wanted to finish what he started.

“Crystal,” I said back, and walked over to Anais and helped her up. At the same time she managed to get Seth to his feet too. The right side of his face was already bruising up and he was holding his stomach where Byron had punched him earlier. His glasses were sitting crookedly on his face so I moved them so they sat correctly on the bridge of his nose. He didn’t flinch at my touch. He looked grateful. Seth even tried to get his lips to form a smile, but failed to get his mouth to follow.

“Thanks man,” he said, in between gasping for air and wiping snot from his nose. “Anais said you were a good guy...but you shouldn’t have...I mean I could have...I would have...” Anais rested her hand on his shoulder in a sweet concerned way. “I’m sorry Anais.” His voice was breaking. I could tell he wanted to cry but was doing his darndest to make sure it didn’t happen, especially in front of Byron and his crew. That would only make him look weaker.

I put my hand on his free shoulder. “It’s fine. Really. I’ll make sure this victory is yours. Don’t worry about it.”

But they both look equally concerned. And why wouldn’t they? They didn’t know what I could do. I wanted to tell them that they had nothing to be worried about. That my step-dad was a superb driver, that he had trained and educated me in engines, torque, speed and a car’s agility. I wanted to tell them how I had mastered, with ease, roads that twisted and rounded at speeds of more than 200kms per hour all over the world in countless luxury cars. I wanted to tell them, that this was going to be like a Sunday drive in the country. But I decided that a surprise would be much better. Perhaps lift their spirits. So I played clueless for a while. I had to admit, I wanted to see the looks on their faces when I crossed the finish line, leaving the others behind trailing in my dust. Was I being a little too cocky? — Perhaps, but it was only because that’s how sure I was of what I could do.

“So what car will I be using to race with?” I said looking all around at all the luxury cars surrounding us.

“Its...it’s...the Bugatti Veyron. Over there near the Porsche. It’s the super-sports model.” Seth lifted his finger towards the parked cars.

I knew exactly which car they were talking about but looked side to side trying to see what car they were talking about. “Bug-who?” I said, sounding like I was confused.

Anais and Seth both looked at one another, seeming even more freaked out than before.

“Look...I’m sure I’ll figure it out...” I said this time revealing a sly smile. Anais’ eyebrows lifted as she watched me. I think she knew I was hiding something from the both of them.

When I was seated in the car and the other racers from the other secret societies had arrived, I found Anais leaning against my window, looking like she was trying to find something inspirational or supportive to say, but couldn’t come up with anything.

“You know...a good luck kiss would really help me through this,” I said smirking at her. I knew I didn’t need any luck. I just wanted a hopeful taste from her beautiful lips. A welcome distraction to what I had verbally agreed to with Byron. I hadn’t given much thought to the repercussions of not following through. There was a nagging voice in the back of my head that kept telling me what a mistake I was making, so I did my best to ignore it. And Anais had the ability to blitz any doubt that was quickly crawling into my conscious.

Anais’ eyes squinted at me, and a cute smile formed. “Well, I want to help you to win any way I can.” She looked behind her where she saw Deacon and Byron watching us, and then she leaned forward and kissed me, sucking on my bottom lip, running her tongue along like she wanted to lick my whole body. Everything inside me went into overdrive. This wasn’t a kiss, it was an erotic invitation. The way this girl went from innocent angel to seductress was making me crazy. It played with my mind about her true personality. Which girl was she exactly? Because on the outside she was sweet and proper, but then I would get glimpses of a girl who screamed naughty, not nice. Something wild and free that wanted to break out. I almost lost all focus on the race as she continued to suck hard on my lip. That was until I heard Seth moaning behind us, which got Anais to retreat from her tongue tease. I knew Anais was probably trying hard to be sexy and to give me some ‘extra’ incentive to help get my head into the race, but the way she teased my mouth had my body spiraling. I shook my shoulders, making sure I had my focus back to where I needed it to be. The purr of all the engines around me was like a switch to my brain. This was my time to shine.

So let me tell you how the race went down. Exactly. How. I. Planned. When you drive there is a lot you need to consider. Specifically the road, your car, the other drivers and their cars. You need to judge the right times to turn, accelerate, as well anticipate what the other drivers might do given the type of car they’re driving. And it was like I could read each and every mind on that long road that night. No move wasn’t anticipated. None offered any challenge to what I had been taught and what I could do. I had calculated my position and speed down to the last second, and when I crossed that finish line coming out of the woods on that long stretch of road, miles ahead of the rest, I had barely broke a sweat. That’s how easy it was for me. That’s how good my skills were and how fast my mind could mentally prepare and assess my opponents and their abilities. It was almost like a video game in my head and I was the only driver. I knew I could have been much more boastful. Hell, I could have yelled, “YEAH BITCH!” Jesse Pinkman style from
Breaking Bad
into Byron’s face, and fist pumped the sky like Marcus had shown me, but I didn’t. I could have really owned the win. But instead when I climbed out of the Bugatti and stood before the cheering crowd who were all chanting “Lappell, Lappell, Lappell”, I walked right past Byron and his crew who were waiting for me to stand next to them, and instead I walked over to where Seth was leaning on Anais. I grabbed his hand and held it in the air. My victory was for Seth and Seth alone. I began yelling, “Seth!” changing everyone’s cheers so they were chanting “Seth” instead, purposely making it known to Byron and his merry men that I wouldn’t be doing anything their stupid secret society wanted.
Yep, yep, James Riley was in’da house!
Sorry, but I’m still a peacock who likes to show off his feathers once in a while. It’s important to revel in moments of glory being that it’s part of our nature after all.

People were abuzz. No, more than abuzz. They were gossiping like schoolgirls as we slowly disbanded and made our way back to our own cars. It was hard not to hear their conversations as we left the grounds, especially when they were openly talking about me in earshot and making comparisons to some other well known drivers in the Lappell.

A few guys stopped in front of me, Anais and Seth as we tried to leave. I had one of my arms around Seth, helping him walk, when they blocked us from moving any further. One of the preppy-looking guys was quick to approach me.

“Man, can I shake your hand?” he asked, holding out his hand. I stared at his outstretched arm for only a moment before I shook it.

“I can’t wait to tell my Dad what I just saw. Your driving was better than that ‘Weston’ guy he talks about from back in his day.”

“No way, he’s better than Weston. That guy from McLaren’s a legend,” another guy piped up walking behind him.

“Are you blind, idiot? This guy was far superior...”

“You are kidding yourself. Weston was the man...”

I had no idea who they were talking about, but I just wanted to get out of the secret society spotlight. “Yeah...thanks,” I mumbled, pushing past them as they continued their ‘who was the better driver’ debate.

The ride home was as expected. Quiet. Seth was lying in the back seat of Anais’ car, occasionally moaning and grunting in pain. The noise was actually a welcome break from the tense silence I could feel from Anais as she drove. She didn’t look sad or angry, just pensive. Like she was deep in thought. The whole night was a lot to take in.

Seth grunted from the back seat. “Hey...you’re not really going to join are you? You weren’t being serious, right? Cause you don’t want this life...believe me...”

I looked at Anais now to gauge her reaction. “No, I have no intention of joining. It just seemed like the best solution at the time. It just made sense. Sometimes when you’re stuck, you just have to act fast and think later. So don’t worry, the little investment play was just an act on my behalf to get me to drive for you.”