Chapter Twenty-Two
Later that afternoon, Danica sat in the driver’s seat of the Porsche at the starting line of the practice track. Arden sat in the passenger seat, the weapons wheel tucked away until the second quarter of the track. The practice track was smaller than the track they’d be racing on in only two more days, but it was perfect for what they needed to do. Practice wouldn’t make perfect in this race, not when they didn’t know what the course would look like for the Games, but it would at least give them a starting point.
It was the final day of practice before they’d have to leave and step in front of cameras and smile as if they weren’t walking to their possible death. Danica couldn’t help but feel like she was walking into some twisted young adult dystopian book the more she thought about it. However, there were far bigger things on the line than just her own life. Danica wasn’t sure how she felt about the race being televised, but she reminded herself she’d been televised before for her own races. Just never her death. Though her father—
Her hands tightened on the steering wheel. Dressed up her full gear, Danica felt more like herself than she ever had before. The jumpsuit she wore was temporary Arden claimed but it felt more like home than the outfit she’d be expected to wear the next day. Though she liked to dress up sometimes, something about being forced to dress up for false pomp and circumstance didn’t sit right with her.
“The Race Games will start like any other race,” Phi said softly from the backseat. “Someone will wave a green flag and we’ll start. We’ll be toward the end of the lineup—”
“Who decided that?” Danica asked, meeting his eyes in the mirror.
“Supposedly, it’s a random draw.”
“Random, my ass,” Arden growled while he checked his harness again. “It was as purposeful as putting a goblin team at the front.”
Danica ran her foot along the clutch. With the car in neutral and the e-brake on, there wasn’t a threat of movement but when it was time to go, she’d release the brake and drop the car into first gear, her boot pressing the clutch down. Even though this was a practice run, the final one before the big race, it felt bigger than that.
Five years ago, Danica had stopped racing. Call it fear, or grief, but something had prevented her from getting behind the wheel of a car and feeling the need to go fast. She hadn’t sought out the adrenaline rush she’d used to. It hadn’t felt the same without her biggest fan beside her, encouraging her. Most understood for the first year. After that, no one did, except maybe Leo. He’d been there with her as she’d raced onto the track to try and pull her father out, despite the danger of the other cars. He’d been there as she’d raced toward the flames that no one could have survived.
And now, here she was, behind the wheel of the fastest car she’d ever driven, sitting with two vampires who didn’t even act like vampires. They weren’t threatening her. They weren’t biting her. Hell, she hadn’t even seen them drink blood in front of her. It was as if they were too proper for all that, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. Something deep inside her wanted to see them wild and losing control.
The temptation to ask one or both of them to bite her was strong, but blood loss was a shit thing to initiate before such a big race. She wasn’t even sure what the effects of it would be. What if they took too much? What if it affected her for the race in two days?
Phi shifted in the back seat. Though the car had been modified to fit the seat, it was still a tight fit for the tall vampire. His legs were folded up in a way that didn’t seem comfortable, but he never complained.
“Ready?” he asked, lifting his tablet. His harness was tightened down around his chest. Though the vampires were both more difficult to harm, they still wore the restraints. It was just safer. No need to use precious energy healing major injuries when they could save that for the race.
Danica nodded and released the e-brake. She pressed down the clutch and the brake before dropping it into first gear, her eyes on the Christmas tree they were using in place of the flags. She’d stared at the lights for most of her life, watched the lights drop from red to yellow to yellow to green since she was a little girl, but something about this one felt heavier.
The light flashed red.
“Here we go,” Arden grunted. He would only be a ride-along until the second quarter of the track, since the weapons wouldn’t be engaged until then. They’d be able to drive over traps and such before then if they were turned on, but Danica didn’t want to rely on such things. The moment she relied on a mechanism to do her work completely was the moment she lost.
The red changed to the first yellow light, and Danica released the brake, her foot barely on the gas pedal now.
Yellow again.
The rumble of the car filled her ears. Adrenaline filled her veins.
Green.
Danica released the clutch the same time as she stomped on the gas, the transition so smooth, the car didn’t jerk. The Porsche shot forward, pushing them all back in the seats as she switched gears and pushed herself hard.
With all the time they’d practiced together, the practice track had become easy. Phi had tried to change up the course as best as he could each time but there were still only so many things they could practice in the limited space. The goal was simply to practice trusting her instincts, which she gladly did, but by the time they rolled over the finish line without a single scratch on the Porsche, Danica was grinning from ear to ear.
“It felt good, didn’t it?” Arden asked, watching the way she tugged off her helmet and set it to the side. “I don’t understand how you ever stopped,” he admitted, staring at her.
Danica’s smile immediately dropped, and Phi scowled in the back seat at his friend. But she wasn’t angry at Arden’s comment. She didn’t even blame him. It was a high to drive a car so fast and survive, like you’re cheating death. Danica understood that. But sometimes, Death cheated back.
“It’s okay,” she murmured, engaging the e-brake again and letting the car idle in neutral. For a moment, there was a profoundness between them all, hovering in the air around them. It was heavy, full of tension, and Danica didn’t know what had her talking when she began. Perhaps, it was because she’d grown to care about the two vampires over the course of a week. Perhaps, it was the way they looked at her in return.
Maybe it was because the knowledge that they could all die in two days’ time had her wanting them to understand her just a little more.
“The day that my dad died, it felt like any other race day,” Danica began, not daring to look at Arden or Phi in the eyes. Instead, she looked out the windshield at the sand coating everything. The compound was situated in the deserts of Utah, but it didn’t feel like it was. Everything about the compound was still just as opulent to her as the moment she came through the gates.
“We woke up before the sunrise in the hotel room. I was racing that day at the quarter mile qualifiers, on my way into the NASCAR circuit. I already had a line of sponsors begging to work with me, so it was just a matter of choosing. If I won the trophy at the qualifiers, there would be more knocking at my door. My dad was so proud, and when I brought in the trophy before his race, running in wearing my own jumpsuit, he’d congratulated me, and we celebrated for the few minutes before his own race. They were putting the finishing touches on his Indy car, double checking everything was ready for the race, when we snapped the picture.”
We’ll take another picture once I have my own trophy to show off.
Danica remembered those words, had been excited for it. Both Dyers bringing home the gold that day had been the plan. Instead, her entire world had shifted.
“Technically, I shouldn’t have been in the pit,” she continued. Arden and Phi didn’t interrupt her, somehow knowing not to. She wasn’t sure if she could continue if she paused. “But the rules were always a little bent for me. Besides, I was already wearing the gear. I stood out of the way and cheered on my dad. I hyped him up at every pit stop. That was my job and the final time he came in, I’d been screaming in excitement. We’d clasped hands and I’d told him to go win that gold. I remember the look in his eyes, the glaze of excitement. He was in the lead.”
Phi’s breath drew Danica’s eyes and when he looked into hers, his gaze was soft. She had no doubt Phi had seen the footage of the race. After all, it was all televised just as the Race Games would be. It wasn’t hard to find the montages of NASCAR wrecks on the internet.
“He was on lap sixty-three,” Danica whispered. “Jeff Kline cut him off, a common tactic in the race. The two were friends, so there were never any hard feelings. But Jeff accidently touched his rear to dad’s front fender. Normally, that wouldn’t be such a big deal. . .”