Jewels and Feathers (Race Games 3)

CHAPTERSEVENTEEN

“Practice makes perfect,” Eirik murmured under his breath from the backseat for the hundredth time. He kept it up each time they tried and failed to complete even the simplest of tracks in the car. Because the track wasn’t equipped with mechanisms like the real Race Games, they’d had to make do.

“Watch the trap on the right!” Brin shouted, and Muni swerved around the silly square drawn on the concrete in chalk.

It had been the best they could do. The racetrack was filled with different colored squares. White squares were traps you could fall in. Yellow squares were barriers they had to go around. Green squares were other racers. They’d enlisted the help of some of the staff, a few of them standing near the green squares with harmless weapons they would fire at the car as they passed. Whether water balloon or NERF dart, a direct hit was a failure.

Not once had they been able to complete the course without accidently hitting one of the yellow or white squares or a dart stuck to their windshield. No matter how hard they tried, they weren’t working together as a team. Though Vidar had been less sour after their talk, he still wasn’t being helpful as weapons. Eirik had even rigged him up a panel that used just as silly elements as the traps did—there was even a button for silly string—but he regularly forgot the buttons or simply didn’t push them at all, complaining under his breath how silly it all was. Besides Vidar’s complaining, Brin was still getting used to the tablet map software.

“Vidar, you can use the button for darts. The panel is as close as what you’ll really have on the race day,” Eirik said, trying his best to keep his voice free of annoyance. Vidar never responded well to ire.

“This is foolish,” Vidar growled, as expected. “How does any of this help?”

“If we can’t complete this course designed to keep everyone safe, how are we to survive the real thing?” Eirik asked, ever the voice of reason.

Muni sat quietly in the driver seat, her fingers on the wheel as she drove slowly around a yellow square. While she was trying her best to bond with the three men, they hadn’t truly bonded with each other yet.

“Define survival,” Brin’s tablet spoke. “Okay. Here’s what I found on the internet.”

“No, tiny witch!” Brin snarled. “I didn’t ask you anything!”

“Survival is categorized as—”

“Bah!” Brin turned off the tablet with a huff and set it on the seat beside him gently. After having to replace a few of them when he hadn’t realized they were fragile machines, he was much better at taking care of them now. “The tiny witch is a nuisance.”

“Again, it’s not a witch,” Eirik sighed. “It’s just Google.”

“Google is a strange name for a witch, I’ll admit, but I don’t like her being in my magic picture. She can fuck right off.” Brin huffed and crossed his arms. “Fucking devil witch.”

“Define witch. Okay. Here’s what I found on the internet.”

“Odin!” Brin snarled and smacked the tablet. It stopped immediately and he grinned triumphantly until he saw the large crack bisecting the screen. The smile fell.

Muni watched all this from the rearview mirror, trying her best not to interfere in all the back and forth. They weren’t working as a team, and it showed as she drove straight through a white square without realizing it. Everyone had been too busy to tell her there was a trap. Sighing, Muni slowed the car to a stop and dropped her into neutral. Unbuckling her seatbelt harness, she stepped out of the car and called to their helpers, “we’re going to take a break for the day. Thank you everyone for your help”. They all smiled gently and set aside their tools before heading off to do their duties. Most of them would be off for the day and had offered their help. Since there was only four of them, they didn’t require much, and Muni had assured the Head of the House that they didn’t need constant pampering. They’d done a lovely job since then.

The three men in the car grew silent at Muni stepping from the car before they too followed, their eyes on her as she tilted her chin up toward the sun.

Muni wasn’t the best driver, she had to admit, but out of the four of them, only Eirik knew enough to drive the car. When Muni had asked if he’d rather drive, he’d been hesitant, but they’d tried it. In the end, they’d been equally matched and so Muni was to continue driving while Eirik worked with all the technology. He’d been okay with it, more comfortable with the schematics rather than being behind the wheel.

“We’re never going to win like this,” Brin commented, staring down at his broken tablet with a frown. “We can’t even work properly together.”

Muni met his eyes. “Good thing we’re not trying to win,” she corrected. “I only need to weasel out the secrets.”

There’d been something about the assassin, a smell that had been familiar, but Muni couldn’t place it. It was a smell from long ago, from her previous life memories, and no matter how hard she’d tried to remember, the memory wouldn’t come forward. Either it was such an insignificant detail that it hadn’t remained in her mind, or it had been purposely hidden, whether by herself or someone else.

The Opening Ceremony would be the best place to seek out the secrets she sought, but Muni couldn’t reveal her plans. If those behind the corruption realized what she searched for, they’d do everything they could to stop her. They likely would already try but desperate creatures were always more dangerous.

Connections. Muni needed connections for her plan to be successful. She already had plenty of favors she could call in, but she wasn’t sure if it was worth it to waste them on something she wasn’t attempting to win. However, what better cover than the supernatural world thinking she was out to win the Race Games entirely.

The McLaren sat behind her, sparkling in the slowly dying light, drawing her gaze. It really was a beautiful car, luxurious, fast, and strong enough to hopefully withstand whatever they encountered in the games.

“Do you think what we have is sufficient enough to survive?” Muni asked Eirik, searching out his gaze. Beautiful green eyes crashed into hers, a color so like the landscape of Norway, it was easy to see his heritage there despite having been born long after the time of the Viking.

Instead of Eirik answering, Brin spoke up after tossing his broken tablet into the car. He’d need another. Luckily, Muni had stocked up on them. “I watched some of the other races you showed me on the magic frame, and it looked brutal. I think we can do it, but we must be on the same page.” His eyes trailed over to Vidar where he stood frowning.

“I get it,” Vidar grumbled. “I’ll behave.”

Brin nodded. “Besides that, it’s really all we can do. The three of us, we don’t really have powers.”

“Sure you do,” Muni shrugged. “You’re able to share my powers while tied to me.”

Three sets of eyes blinked at her.

“I’m sorry. What?” Eirik asked, his brow wrinkling in confusion.

“It’s part of the spell, a way to help keep you alive until the spell is complete. My life force is shared with you, therefore, you should be able to tap into my powers. Granted, I don’t have as many as a goddess.” She looked over at Vidar pointedly. “But you should have noticed your hearing and eyesight is much better since you came back.”

“I just assumed I’d forgotten how much I could hear,” Brin muttered. His face brightened suddenly. “Can we fly?”

“That, I do not know,” Muni admitted. “I’m not sure if it lends you my wings.”

“And you didn’t think to tell us this before?” Vidar asked, studying her. There wasn’t exactly accusation in his voice, but she knew he really wanted there to be. Vidar was trying his best not to be an asshole.

Muni shrugged in answer. “It wasn’t important before now.”

“So then, we must test these powers.” Brin clapped his hands together excitedly. “I’m eager to see if it’s something we can utilize. Weapons must always be understood.”

“That sounds like an excellent task after some food and mead,” Muni murmured. “I’m famished.”