The Blood Racer (The Blood Racer Trilogy Book 1) (26 page)

              Beatrice continued to stare at me awkwardly for a moment, and then let out a sigh. She took another step toward me, and I could see the blatant sneer on her face. She was done acting now.
              “You are in over your head, girl,” she said darkly. “You’re brash, and you gallivant, because you have no respect for this race, or what it represents.”
              “Oh, yeah?” I said, trying hard not to take a step backward from her. “And what exactly is that?”
              She scoffed, still glaring daggers at me. “The fact that you even have to ask that question is evidence enough that you do not belong here. You should have stayed in your shack on that disgusting mountain of yours…back with the other filth.”
              I felt my fists clench at my sides. I had almost punched her right in the face just then. An Archon! Even in my heightened state of anger, though, I knew she was just trying to bait me. If I attacked her, she could dispose of me easily. I was not about to give her that satisfaction.
              “I have just as much right to be here as anyone,” I told her firmly. “In fact, I’ve done better than most, even the ones from New Eden. Maybe
that’s
why you’re so mad.”
              Beatrice smirked at me. “Blind, untested arrogance. I would expect nothing less from a child. You need to learn your place.”
              “You mean first place?” I shot back. “Because that’s where I’m gonna be.”
              She gave a small chuckle. “We shall see, won’t we?”
              She made to step around me, but I didn’t move an inch. “Did you come here to sabotage my ship?” I asked, staring down at the bag that she had been rifling through. In that moment, I noticed that something was missing.
              “I don’t need to sabotage you,” Beatrice said, skirting around my left side. “There are plenty of other…dangers…in the race that would do it for me.”
              She reached my hatch and was about to step out when I spun to face her once more. “Beatrice,” I said politely. “I’d like my brooch back, please.”
              Looking back to me, a nauseatingly sweet smile slowly spread across her plump lips. Without a word, she reached into the top of her dress, retrieving the Helios brooch that Alice had given me, and tossed it at me. I caught it without a problem, but when I looked back to my hatch door, she had gone.
              All I could do was stand there, staring at my door, which was still slightly ajar. It was so silent now. Did that really happen? Had I really just had a standoff with an Archon inside my own ship? I nervously gazed around at the interior of the cabin. I felt insecure, for some reason, like I wasn’t safe here. That was something I had never,
ever
felt before. Suddenly in a state of panic, I tucked the brooch in my pocket and began scrambling around my ship, searching for anything else she may have touched. The place was always dirty, covered in dust and spots of axel grease, but only now did it feel really unclean. She was in here, touching my things, rifling through my bag, like she was searching for something. What was she looking for? She said she was looking for a gun, but I didn’t believe that for a moment.
              “Oh, no,” I muttered. With my heart racing, I clamored up the steps and into the cockpit, prying open the hidden compartment under my console. I let out a huge sigh of relief as I spotted the pistol and ammunition that was still inside. The compartment had done its job. She hadn’t found it. Hurriedly, I went to gather my gas mask and bag and crammed them into the small cubby hole, too. I then sat in my chair and looked back at my empty cargo hold, still feeling slightly vulnerable. I wanted to run back to the warehouse where it was safe, but I still had to do what I came for. I needed to check the roof to see if Audra’s gunshot had caused any real damage.
              I climbed up the ladder in the hold and opened the roof hatch, taking only a moment to climb out and walk toward the cockpit. The bullet mark was easy to find. It left a definite divot where it struck the hull, and a large chunk of paint was missing, but the shot hadn’t pierced the metal. I was satisfied, but still angry. As I climbed back inside the
Kicker
, however, I couldn’t help but smile. As tough as Audra liked to talk, she was so desperate to beat me, she had to resort to shooting at me. Even with it, I
still
would have beat her! If it hadn’t been for Rigel, of course. With my confidence returning, I grabbed Nichols’ book and exited the ship, making sure to seal the door tightly behind me. I didn’t have a lock, but if I cranked it tightly enough, it would feel locked. Satisfied, I tucked the book under my arm and turned to leave.
              Without warning, my vision went white, and the blow to my face sent me reeling backward.
              I cried out in shock and pain, and felt a hand around my throat, shoving me until my back slammed into something hard and cold. After a moment, I realized it was my ship. Who had hit me? My first thought was Beatrice. She had been outside waiting for me with some hired goons. How was I going to get out of this? As my vision began to clear, I blinked rapidly, letting the figure in front of me come into view.
              “I’m
threatened
by you!?” a voice asked furiously.
              “Audra?” I choked out. I was surprised, but more angered than anything. “Are you out of your mind? What’s wrong with you!?”
              I clawed at her hand around my neck, trying to pry myself free. Before I could, though, she threw her knee hard into my gut, causing me to double over as I felt the air rush out of me. In an instant, Audra had flipped me forward over her hip and slammed me onto the docks. I couldn’t even groan in pain. I was still trying to suck wind. With me offering no resistance, she positioned herself on top of me, pinning my arms above my head.
              “You point a gun at me,” she growled, her teeth just millimeters from my face. “You cost me the competition, and you have the nerve to insult me on the radio?”
              “I didn’t insult you!” I managed to croak out. It was a lie, of course. But at the moment, I was willing to try anything to keep her from caving my head in. Rather than respond, she reared her hand back and slapped me hard across the face, drawing a shriek of pain from my lips. Still fuming, she grabbed my jaw in a powerful grip and looked directly into my eyes.
              “You stupid little twit,” she said. “Do you know how many lives I’ve taken? If you knew the things I had to do to win the last race…” she turned my head so that she could speak directly into my ear. “…it would make your skin crawl.” As she whispered the line, I felt her tongue gliding up the flesh of my neck.
              I let out a guttural cry of panic and started squirming for all I was worth. Effortlessly, she clasped both of my wrists together across my chest and unsheathed a long, slender knife from her knee-high boot.
              “Your novelty has played out,” she said coldly. “I am done being upstaged by an infant from a dump city like Adams.”
              “No!” I cried. It was no use, though. She wasn’t listening to reason. She wanted me dead, and she was about to finish the job herself. I kicked my legs, but she wasn’t budging. There was nothing I could do. She was so much stronger…
              “Hey! What’s going on over there?” the voice sounded like it came from far away, but was close enough for both of us to hear it. Audra whipped her head around to look for the man who had shouted, and then immediately sprang off of me, dashing away into the shadows in just a matter of seconds.
              All I could do was draw deep breaths and wince against the aches all over my body. As I slowly rolled onto my side, jogging footsteps closed in on me, and I flinched away, briefly thinking I was going to be attacked again.
              “It’s all right, miss,” said the male voice. Looking up, I saw it belonged to tall, broad-shouldered dock security guard. I was unbelievably glad to see him. He had undoubtedly saved my life. If he had been a few seconds later, I would have been bleeding out right now.
              Reaching down, he scooped me effortlessly off of the docks and stood me up, shining a lantern in my face as he looked me over. “Are you all right, miss?” he asked. “Do you know who attacked you?”
              For reasons I’m still not sure of, I shook my head.
              “Do you need medical attention?” he asked, leaning down to look my swollen jaw.
              “No,” I said, focusing on his thick eyebrows so my vision could stop swimming. “No, I’m fine.”
              He looked suspicious, but didn’t press me about it. Instead, he bent down and retrieved the book I had been carrying. “Is this yours?”
              I nodded and took it, feeling my head pounding violently. “Yes, thank you. Listen…do you know who I am?”
              The guard, who I now noticed was probably only in his mid-twenties, shook his head. “No, ma’am. I don’t.”
              “My name is Elana Silver,” I told him. “The -”
              “Blood Racer!” he finished for me. The concern on his face morphed into excitement instantly. “My word…Albert’s never going to believe me.”
              I nodded, holding up my hand. “I need to ask you a favor.”
              “Anything!” he said enthusiastically.
              “I need you to watch my ship,” I said, gesturing behind me. “Someone was trying to break in, and I need to make sure no one else does. Can you do that?”
              He squared his shoulders and gave me a solid nod of the head. “Absolutely, Miss Silver. No one will come near this ship. You have my word.”
              I patted him gently on the shoulder. “Thank you…um…”
              “Donovan,” he said, shaking my hand violently. He seemed to have already forgotten that I’d just been attacked.
              “Thank you, Donovan,” I said. “I’m…in your debt.”
              He smiled and stepped around me to stand with his back to the
Cloud Kicker
. “Have a good night, Miss Silver.”
              I gave him a parting nod and began staggering my way back to the warehouse. My head was still aching, but by the time I arrived, my balance was basically normal, and the only sign that I’d been in a scuffle was the small lump on the left side of my jawbone. I walked into the room and stopped for a moment, taking stock of those around me. I was much more wary than usual, like I was going to get attacked again at any moment.
              I briefly scanned the room for Audra. Darby and Killian had gone to rest for a bit, and Rigel was still entertaining the bright-eyed Celina Villefort, who was clearly enamored, but I didn’t see Audra anywhere. It took me a moment, but I eventually remembered that she actually lived here in Shiloh. She had probably gone home for the night. It would be crazy for her to come back here after just having tried to murder me, and all. I was relieved at this thought. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about her tonight.
              Keeping my head low, I scurried through the room and to the far wall bunk, where I slipped back into the comfortable sheets and pulled the blanket up over me. Everyone in the room seemed to be having a decent time, but I was still rattled, and I needed something to take my mind off of it. I had brought Nichols’ book to look over, to possibly pick up a fact or two about the Dominion, something that might help me in solving the clues that we were given. That would do nicely. Rolling onto my side, I cracked the book and flipped to the chapter on Shiloh. It was as good a place to start as any.
              I don’t know how long I lay there reading silently to myself and trying to ignore the aches in my face and head, but it definitely helped to clear my mind of the attack earlier. As it turned out, there were plenty of things about Shiloh that I didn’t know. It made me wonder just how much I didn’t know about the Dominion itself. What about Adams? I wondered if there was any secret that place still held from me, some small bit of information long forgotten by everyone. As I turned the final page in the Shiloh chapter, the next one caught my eye.
              “Helios,” I whispered, reading the chapter heading.
              Before I could even read a single word, however, I became aware of a person standing next to my bunk. Reflexively, I flinched and gasped loudly, my adrenaline suddenly spiking.
              Darby stood before me, looking just as shocked and frightened as I was. “I’m sorry!” she said quickly. “Just me. I…just wanted to come see how you were.”
              I sighed and took a deep breath, feeling my body relax. “It’s okay. You just…surprised me, is all.”
              She smiled nervously and sat down on the edge of my bed. “Sorry about that. I just went to put Georgie back in the
Foxfire
, and thought I’d come say hi before I went to sleep.”
              I nodded. “Oh, thanks. Yeah, I’ll probably be going to bed soon. Just wanted to do a little reading.”
              Immediately, Darby’s eyes lit up. “Ooh, like a book? What book is it?” She apparently had a fondness for reading.
              I held up Nichols’ book. “Just one I got from my boss. I was just reading about fancy-pants Shiloh.”
              Darby eyed the worn, faded cover. “I’ve never heard of that book. It looks very old.”
              “I’m pretty sure it is,” I agreed. “My boss like old things. If it’s grubby and beat up, he’s all over it.”
              “Grubby and beat up?” Killian said, strolling over from behind Darby. “I hope you’re not talking about me.”