I yanked on the steering controls and leaned back and left, trying to lay the bike over sideways so it wouldn’t roll. I had the strength to do it, and I might’ve been successful if the front landing pad hadn’t caught on a protruding root.
The front dug in and the back bucked up.
Everything seemed to slow down. If I couldn’t get clear, the bike would land on top of me and crush me beyond what any medbay in existence could fix. I reacted on instinct, throwing myself to the right, into the middle of the track. If I survived the next five seconds, then I would have to worry about getting hit by the bikes behind me, but that was a very big if.
I threw my left arm out in order to twist around and land on my back, where the armor in my coat was the strongest, but an iron grip clamped around my left wrist. My legs hit the ground and I jerked as the additional drag felt like it was going to dislocate my arm. I might have screamed, I don’t know, but time snapped back to normal.
Alex had caught me with his left hand. I had a second to glance up at his helmeted form before we plunged into darkness, barely clearing the tunnel opening. My eyes adjusted, and I could see the wall whipping past, centimeters off my right side. Looking backward, I watched my bike tumble end over end before slamming into the rock wall in a fiery explosion.
I was not dead.
The realization broke me from my shock. I had to get off the ground. Alex was lifting me as high as he could, but he wouldn’t be able to hold me for long. My boots were getting shredded, and in another few seconds, it would be my flesh that would be tearing away. The bike was slowing, but it wouldn’t be soon enough.
I swung my right arm up and caught his wrist. “Lift me up behind you on three,” I shouted, not sure if my com still worked. “One, two, three!” I kicked off with my feet. He swung me up and around. I let go of his wrist to grab his right shoulder and clung to him as I tried to get my legs to work well enough to straddle the bike.
Once I was seated, I wrapped my right arm around his waist and held on for dear life. He let go of me and I awkwardly wrapped my other arm around him, too. Everything hurt. My left arm and shoulder throbbed enough that it was probably dislocated. My legs stung and ached. My heart raced.
But I was alive. Somehow, miraculously, I was alive.
With nothing left to fight, the full impact of the last minute hit me, and I trembled from head to toe. If I hadn’t jumped or if I had jumped the other way, I would be dead. If Alex hadn’t caught me, I would be dead. If my additional weight had pulled us off course by even ten centimeters, I would be dead. I squeezed my eyes shut and focused on breathing.
It took me several long minutes to realize that we had stopped. We were off the course, in a little clearing surrounded by trees. Alex was trying to gently remove my arms from where they were welded to his waist. I let go with a hissed curse. Moving my left arm caused blinding bolts of pain up and down the limb.
Alex swung his right leg over the front of the bike, then he stood and turned to me. “Where are you hurt?” he demanded, his voice muffled by our helmets. My com must’ve been out, which made sense because it was tied to my bike. I felt trapped by the clear plastic face shield. I wanted the helmet off. I used my right hand to unhook the chin strap, but I lacked the leverage to pull it off one-handed.
“Let me help,” Alex said. When I nodded, he carefully removed my helmet, then removed his own. His expression was completely flat. “Where are you hurt?”
“My left shoulder is dislocated.”
“I can pop it back in for you, or you can wait for a doctor.”
“Do it.”
He skillfully manipulated the joint back into place. He was as gentle as he could be, but it still hurt like a son of a bitch. Tears leaked past my tightly closed eyelids.
“Try moving your arm.”
I swallowed my sarcastic reply and lifted my arm a few centimeters. The pain was tolerable. I met his gaze. “Thank you.”
“Are you hurt anywhere else?”
“Nothing major. My feet and legs are a bit torn up, but my boots mostly protected me. It looks like you won our bet, although I guess we’re both going to be marked DNF—did not finish. Joseph is going to be so sad we lost.” I was rambling. I clamped my mouth shut.
“What happened?” Alex asked.
“Bike died in midair. I tried to ride it down, and when that didn’t work, I bailed. You saved my life.”
Something stark and dangerous flashed across his face before he smoothed his expression. “Someone tried to kill you.”
“Looks like it, yes.”
Now he frowned. “You’re in shock.”
“Yep. I can’t stop shaking.”
“Would a hug help?”
I held out trembling arms. He stepped closer and tenderly wrapped me in a comforting embrace. I laid my head on his shoulder and my breath hitched. He rubbed a soothing circle on my back.
Someone had tried to kill me and nearly succeeded. Tears pressed against my eyes. I bit my lip to prevent them from falling. “Thank you,” I whispered. “If you hadn’t been there . . .”
“You scared the shit out of me,” he admitted quietly.
My laugh had a watery edge. “Yeah, I scared the shit out of me, too. And of course it had to be when I was actually having fun for once. What are the odds that I can persuade you not to tell Bianca about this?”
“Nil,” he said. “Your sister deserves to know that someone is actively threatening you.”
He was right, of course, but that didn’t mean I had to like it. The overhead whine of a hover bike engine brought my head up. Aoife descended into the clearing. She wasn’t wearing a helmet, so it was easy for her to yell at us. “You took your com off!”
“My bike blew up,” I muttered. “Cut me some slack.”
She heard me and rolled her eyes. “Not you.”
“This was more important,” Alex said. He pulled away and I had the irrational urge to drag him back, like a human safety blanket. “Did you find anything in the garage?”
“No, it was empty by the time I got there. No one unexpected on the course, either.”
“One of the other riders could’ve had an override,” I said. “Whoever it was had to have had deep access, though, because none of the bike’s fail-safes were triggered. It just died in the air between one second and the next.”
“There’s no chance it was a random failure?” Aoife asked.
“No.”
She nodded. That was the answer she’d expected, but she was covering all of the bases. “Did you pick that bike or was it given to you?”
I thought back. Joseph had led our group to the bikes. Had he nudged me to a certain bike? I didn’t think so. If he had, then it was the subtlest direction I’d ever seen.
“I’m fairly sure I picked my own bike, but if they already had the override code ready, it would take only a few minutes to modify it for a specific bike.”
“Is there any way to track what happened?” Alex asked.
“Maybe, if the diagnostic box from the bike is recovered. The others must know something happened because they were behind me. How did they react? Do they know I survived?”
“They do not know. Alex got you off the course before the others arrived. I’m listening in on the main com channel. Ying is currently demanding an immediate investigation by the RCDF, into both the crash and Alex, since he’s missing, too. Chloe and Stephanie are trying to talk her down in an attempt to salvage the party. Joseph sounds legitimately distraught. The other guests are in shock. They’re all heading back to the garage.”
“Let’s see what they do when I rise from the dead.”
“Cat—” Alex started.
“No. I’m here for a reason. That remains true. And they just tipped their hand—House James wants me dead.”
“Or someone is framing them,” Aoife said.
“Or someone with deep access to their proprietary racing bike system is framing them,” I allowed. “Let’s go before Ying gets the RCDF involved.”
AOIFE, ALEX, AND I RETURNED TO THE GARAGE. YING was facing the door and shouting at Stephanie and Chloe, so she was the first to notice that I’d returned. Her eyes widened and she looked so relieved that I felt bad I’d let her believe I was dead even for a few minutes. She rushed toward me. “Cat!”
Stephanie and Chloe spun around, identical dismayed expressions on their faces. Chloe rallied fastest, painting on a relieved smile. “Catarina, I’m so glad you’re okay. You had us all worried! What happened? I was so far behind you that I only saw the aftermath of the explosion.”
The rest of the group drifted over, curious about the crash and how I’d survived. I caught a few disappointed looks, but I also found some genuine relief among the faces in the crowd. A few people were happy I wasn’t dead. Or maybe they were just happy Ying wasn’t going to get the RCDF involved.
I’d thought about how I was going to play this on the way over. Accusations would let House James know that I had reason to suspect they wanted me dead, so playing dumb—as usual—might get me more answers. I gingerly slid off the hover bike. My legs looked worse than they were, thanks to the mangled boots, but they were still tender.
Ying cast a suspicious glance at Alex, then stepped close and pulled me into a hug. “Are you okay?” she demanded quietly.
“Yes. I’ll explain later,” I breathed.
She nodded and let me go. I turned back to Stephanie and Chloe. “I lost control of my bike on the curve before the tunnel. If Alex hadn’t grabbed me, I would’ve died.” I barely had to fake the tremble in my voice.
Neither Joseph nor Ying looked like they believed me, but Stephanie wore a sympathetic smile. “How awful!” she murmured. “And how lucky for you that Alex was there to save you.”
“Has a crew retrieved the diagnostic box?” Alex asked, his voice cool. “I want to know what happened.”
“From what I saw of the wreckage, it’s going to be a total loss. I doubt the safety crew will be able to retrieve anything,” Stephanie said.
How convenient. I decided to press a little. “Damien Quint told me those boxes are indestructible. Surely your safety crew will be able to salvage it.”
Her expression tightened with annoyance. “Perhaps I am wrong. I hope so. I am quite curious as to what caused such a catastrophic accident on one of our safest bikes.”
Oh, she was good. She had deftly shifted the blame for the accident on to me while sounding appropriately sympathetic.
Chloe threaded her arm through Stephanie’s. “Since the race had to be canceled early, the kitchen staff laid out snacks and punch in the gardens for us to enjoy before lunch. I think we all could use something to settle our nerves. If you’ll follow us.”
They trotted off and the group followed them. Ying and Joseph remained behind with me and Alex.
“What happened?” Joseph demanded. “And don’t try that same bullshit line with me. I watched you practice. You didn’t lose control.”
He was the enemy, but he seemed compellingly sincere. Perhaps shock would break his mask—if it was a mask at all. “My bike died. Lost all power while in the air. I had to bail and it was only luck that Alex caught me. I thought I was going to hit the ground at speed.”
Ying blanched, her eyes wide in horror. Joseph’s response was more nuanced. Shock, surprise, fury, and suspicion all chased one another across his face. “It was either a one-in-a-million fluke or someone tried to kill you,” he said at last.
Alex loomed closer, his voice soft and deadly. “Yes, on a bike you provided for her. Care to explain yourself?” Strip away the veneer of civility and Alex was huge and intimidating. He always held himself so still, so carefully, that it was easy to overlook just how many muscles hid under his clothes.
Joseph did not shrink away. He met Alex’s gaze without flinching, as serious as I’d ever seen him. “I’ve never seen a bike fail like that on its own. There are perhaps six people here who could override this bike’s safety features and disable it in midair. I am one of them, as I’m sure you’re aware, but it wasn’t me. I would not harm Lady Catarina.”
“Who else could’ve done it?” Alex demanded.
“Anyone in my family, given enough time. They have access but perhaps not the know-how. The head mechanic. Maybe the safety chief.”
“And can you figure out who did it?”
Joseph looked away for the first time. “You’re asking me to potentially betray the people closest to me.”
“Because those people tried to kill one of your guests. Wouldn’t you like to know who did it and why?” Alex asked. He was all hard edges and ruthless logic.
“I’ll see what I can find out,” Joseph agreed slowly.
“Thank you,” I said. “I’m going to go get changed.”
“I will go with you,” Ying said. “Joseph, you and Alexander can go start looking into the incident.”
Alex started to protest, but I shook my head. Ying and I needed to talk. She still had doubts about what had happened, and she was purposefully trying to separate us. She wouldn’t believe anything I said while he was there. “We’ll have our guards,” I told him. “Go with Joseph.”
He looked at Aoife over my shoulder, then inclined his head in agreement. “Let me know if you need anything.”
Ying let me set the pace. I was stiff and sore, but I’d been very, very lucky. I tried to ignore the fact that I had nearly died, but it lurked in the back of my mind.
Aoife scanned the room for bugs. The scan came back clean. Either House James had better technology than I’d given them credit for, or more likely, they assumed I would be dead.
Ying turned to Cira and Aoife. “Why don’t you two check out the balcony?” She cut off Aoife’s protest before it could start. “Leave the door open.”
After getting a nod from me, Aoife retreated outside with Cira.
“What is going on?” Ying asked.
Ying was my closest friend. She was also the daughter of a rival High House. That usually didn’t matter, but it might now. To give myself time to think, I sat and tried to pull my boots off. Considering they were shredded, it was far harder than it should’ve been.
“Can I trust you to keep anything I tell you to yourself, even if it might help House Yamado?” I finally asked her. It had been our unspoken agreement for years, but I needed the confirmation of her word.
She settled on the chair across from me. “Will it hurt House Yamado if I don’t tell Father?”
“No, the threat is to me, not you—as you might have noticed.” My voice was dry, but I still felt shaky as I wrestled the first boot off.
“Then you can trust me to keep your secrets.”
I hobbled to my trunk and dug out the silencer. I clicked it on, then resettled in my chair. I wished I could trust her with my biggest secret, but that was too much to ask, even of my best friend. Instead, I entrusted her with something I’d only shared with a handful of people, most of them family.
“This does not leave the room,” I said. When Ying nodded, I continued, “We have reason to believe that House James was behind the attack on Ferdinand.”
Her eyes widened and she leaned in and hissed, “Then why are you here?”
I tugged off my other boot. My lower legs were scratched, but the red marks were already fading as my nanos worked. “We need proof.”
Understanding dawned and she sat back. “Did you volunteer or were you the most expendable?” she asked quietly.
I laughed. “I volunteered because I’m the most expendable. And because I was desperate to escape Lord Henderson.”
“You know if you say the word, he will no longer be a problem.” Ying might look delicate on the outside, but she had a core of icy, ruthless pragmatism. The few people she cared for were held protectively close and everyone else was considered a pawn. It had taken me years to figure out which I was.
She continued, “Speaking of problems, who is Alexander really?”
I searched her face. I’d been planning to lie to her, to spin a story of a secret affair, but the attack had shifted things. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to have another ally. “Bianca sent him and Aoife with me as protection.”
Something relaxed in her face. “Ah, that makes sense. I couldn’t figure out why you hadn’t told me about him.” The hurt was buried, but I’d known Ying for a long time.
“I’m sorry I lied to you. I met him a few days ago and promptly tried to leave him behind. Bianca, as usual, was ten steps ahead.”
“So he wasn’t responsible for the accident?”
I bit back the instinctive denial and really thought about it. Double-crosses were common enough that I should consider it. “No,” I said slowly, “I don’t think so. He could’ve easily let me hit the ground, but instead he made an impossible catch that put him at risk of losing control of his own bike. There are easier, safer ways to build trust.”
“Are you fucking him?”
“No.”
Ying didn’t pull her punch. “Do you want to be?”
“If it wouldn’t complicate everything, yes. As it stands, no.”
“At least you’re honest with yourself. So who do you think tried to kill you?”
“I don’t know. There are too many pieces in play. But I think Stephanie and Chloe both knew about it, even if they didn’t actually carry out the attack. So the question becomes whether Chloe is working alone or on behalf of House Patel.”
“To what end?”
House James had wanted Pierre, Hannah’s husband, to sign over mineral rights in Antlia once Ferdinand was dead and Hannah named heir. The Antlia sector was the only known place in the universe where alcubium had been found, and it was essential to House Rockhurst’s new, secret, faster FTL drives.
Whoever controlled the supply would control the ’verse. It was why we were currently at war with Rockhurst. That motive made sense: eliminate the heir, get priceless mineral rights with a contract binding enough that the Consortium would have to enforce it over House von Hasenberg’s protests.
We thought House James might be working with Rockhurst, but adding a second lower house changed the equation. One House plotting against us was a nuisance; two Houses started to look like a rebellion. And House Patel generally aligned with House Yamado, not Rockhurst. So what did they get for switching loyalties?
I blew out a frustrated breath. “I don’t know. I know what House James wanted, and it didn’t involve House Patel. It also didn’t involve killing me.”
Killing me made no sense, even if they knew I was here on false pretenses. My death would accomplish nothing except to anger Father, which should be the exact opposite of what they were trying to achieve.
Unless they could pin the blame on someone else. Someone like Lady Ying Yamado, daughter of the only High House currently staying out of the war.
The pieces snapped into place, showing one possible scenario. It was plausible enough that I had to warn her.
“If they had succeeded, the attackers might have tried to frame you, Ying. You need to be very careful because you might be their next target.”
“Why would they do that? What do they gain?”
“War.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “I will be careful.”
The situation had changed, and as much as I hated to admit it, Bianca had been right to insist on Alex and Aoife. I needed to find proof and get out. And take Ying with me. If I gave them a chance, House James would try again.
And, next time, I might not be so lucky.