Page 60 of Soulless Saint

“You won’t be collecting anything, Vixen. I never lose. In fact…” he paused for dramatic effect, peeling his gaze from me to scan the crowd as he raised his hands high in the air and roared loudly for all to hear.

“Let’s have a round of fucking applause for tonight’s Race Queen.”

Oh no.

I tried to back away, vanish, disappear, go invisible in the crowd, but Toby and Kate cheered in my ears, their hands clapping on my back, stopping me from going anywhere. All around me whoops and cheers erupted. Drinks sloshed over the red brown dirt at our feet. The lights pulsed, strobing until every movement of Kaleb’s appeared stilted and broken as he fisted a hand in the jacket I wore, pulling my face close to his.

“Now you’ll have a front row seat when I win. Hold on to your tits, Vixen, it’s going to be a wild fucking ride.”

He released me and shouldered past, his spiced rum and cherry cigar scent filling my nose until I was dizzy with it.

“Oh my god!” Toby was saying while Kate jumped up and down, proclaiming me the luckiest bitch in the universe as he tugged at my arm. But my attention was being held hostage elsewhere. Hardin watched me darkly from where he stood, hulking next to Rook, his expression betraying nothing. He looked away first, breaking the spell, the line of his jaw and cheekbones even more pronounced in the strobing lights.

He stalked toward me, each step seeming to bring him two steps closer as the lights continued to strobe. I stood my ground, waiting for the inevitable fallout I’d earned for taunting a King, but he walked right past me, following Kaleb’s path away from the group. Away from me.

My brows knitted together, confused at the feelings of disappointment hollowing out my gut. I filled the empty void with another long swallow of whiskey, twisting the cap back on the flask to toss it to Rook, who caught it easily from the air with one hand, lifting it in a salute.

“Girl, you must have horseshoes up your ass or something,” Toby was saying. “Your first time at race night and you’re already chosen to ride shotty as tonight’s Queen! Ugh, so unfair.”

The gravity of it hit me like a wall of bricks, and I spread my arms out, looking for something to hold on to as I almost lost my footing. Grey steadied me, a look of concern drawing the brow over his left eye down. “Becca, you all right?”

I shook my head, coming back to myself all at once, my limbs heavy and heart pounding against my ribcage. “No one’s ever crashed, right?”

Was I really going to do this?

Did I want to get into a goddamned race car with Kaleb St. Vincent?

I could run. If I left now he wouldn’t be able to catch up to me.

Grey patted my back in a gesture that was meant to be comforting but only made me bristle even more.

“Don’t worry, Becks. Kale’s a good driver,” Rook hollered, still nursing my whiskey.

“He fucking should be,” Grey added with a wink, his hand slipping from my back. “Who do you think taught him everything he knows?”

I lifted my brows and Grey nodded, pointing both thumbs at himself. “That’s right. This guy. And your money’s safe. The student isn’t beating the master tonight.”

That brought a little smirk to my lips, but it wasn’t lost on me that neither of them had answered my question.

I bit my lower lip, still seriously considering making for the hills.

“Maybe don’t tell Aves,” I said with a wince. “She’d kill me if she knew I was going to do this.”

“Fuck that,” Rook barked. “She’d be right there in the backseat with you.”

I knew he was right. The image of her with that glint of insanity in her eyes, the same slant of light that often gleamed on Rook’s dark eyes, made me miss her even more.

Primal Ethos’ Lodi show couldn’t come fast enough. I needed to see my girl.

Somewhere in the distance, the throaty roar of an engine revving sent a wave of cheers through the crowd.

“Starting already?” Grey mused to himself, his low voice almost inaudible over the music, but somewhere, whoever was controlling the dials was already turning down. The crackle of a microphone scratched at my ears through the surround sound and I grimaced, squinting an eye as I took whatever dregs of whiskey remained in my flask back from Rook.

He made a point of pouting at me, but I was going to need the additional liquid courage if anyone actually expected me to get into what was basically a metal deathtrap with Kaleb.

I shook off my nerves as Grey jerked his head at Rook. “Show time,” he said before turning to me with the sort of warm smile only Grey could give. “See you at the finish line. Watch for my tail lights.”

“Good luck!” I called after him even though I knew he wouldn’t need it. “Actually, wait!”

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