Chapter Thirty-Five
One moment, Danica was right side up, racing down the course. The next, her equilibrium changed. For a moment, she was back on a different racetrack, watching her dad’s Indy car flip end over end before exploding into flames. But there was no inferno this time. The helmet took most of Danica’s impact, and despite neither Arden nor Phi being strapped in, they managed to keep themselves somewhat still by sheer strength alone.
Grunting against the pull of the harness over her sternum, Danica held on as best as she could. She lacked the strength that Arden and Phi had, but she managed to brace herself as the car flipped once, twice, three times, before tumbling to a stop on its wheels again.
“Are you okay?” Phi grunted from the back, before leaning forward and checking her over.
Danica ran her hands over her shoulders and did a mental checklist of her body parts. The inside of the car hadn’t been impacts, though some of the components had come off by the force of gravity. At least a few gauges seemed confused on what was happening, but it looked mostly intact. The Porsche system was still on, despite the engine shutting down.
“I think I’m okay,” Danica wheezed out. The breath had been knocked out of her during the roll. “What hit us?”
“A small missile, I believe,” Arden groaned. There was a small cut on his head from where he must have hit the window, but it was rapidly healing. Without even a second glance, he swiped the small red smear from the window. “The Fae must have been closer than we realized.”
“They probably fell back while we were distracted with my father,” Phi grunted, searching the floor for his tablet. When he found it, he huffed. “The screen is cracked but it’s still working. How’s the car?”
Danica dropped the shifter into neutral and pressed the ignition button and the car rumbled to life. “She still runs.”
Arden nodded and glanced around. “I’m going to step out of the car for a moment to check the tires and everything. Watch my back.”
Phi nodded and leaned forward again, keeping his eyes on the road around them as Arden literally ran around the car faster than Danica could follow. He was back inside in less than fifteen seconds.
“Tires are intact. The engine is fine and so is the undercarriage. The body looks like it’s been through a blender but the armor and roll cage came in handy. I think she’s still fine to drive.”
Danica let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. “How could there not be more damage with a roll like that?”
Arden glanced at her and seemed to realize what she was asking. His fierce gaze softened. “Phi and I developed the armor with a few of our top scientists. At the time, it was just because we enjoyed it. We never knew it would be used by us in the Games.”
“How long has it been invented for?” Danica asked.
Phi touched her shoulder. “Two years.”
She nodded in understanding. It had been created after her father’s death. “Will you share it?” She turned in her seat. “With humans?” Phi nodded and she smiled. “Thank you.”
Turning back forward, Danica took a deep breath. No one had passed them yet. They were still in second place and the Fae were further ahead of them. They’d have to make up the lost time.
“Let’s go win us a race,” she breathed. Pressing in the clutch and dropping the Porsche into first gear, she eased out slowly just in case there was anything wrong. “Some of the instruments aren’t working anymore.”
“I’ve got you,” Phi replied, falling back into navigator mode. “The track will veer right in about a hundred yards, and then we will be in the depth of the Dark Forest. There are no traps marked here.”
“Because they aren’t any?” Danica asked, shifting to second.
“Because they don’t want you to know where they are.”
Shifting into third gear, Danica slowly gained speed, easing back in. The engine seemed to be working as it should. Whatever Arden and Phi had reinforced it with, it might as well have been magic. Following the path to the right, Danica listened to Phi’s instructions, listening just as much as she watched the road.
“We’re a mile behind the Fae team,” Phi murmured. “We have fourteen miles to catch up with them and pass them.”
Speeding up, Danica shifted to forth gear, then fifth, before following another curve. “Then let’s go catch them bastards and win us a race.”
Somewhere in the distance, another trumpet sounded.
“Wolves,” Phi replied, squinting at his cracked screen.
Danica focused on the course and not on the pain along her shoulders where the harness had cut into her while they rolled. She wouldn’t allow them to lose, not when there were such high stakes. It wasn’t only about the kids now.
It was also about the two vampires that she couldn’t help but care for.
They were all going to survive this, no matter what she had to sacrifice to do so.