Page 46 of Of Daggers and Deceit

I turned away from them and moved downstairs, eager to get this session over with. Bodhi stood where I’d left him, just outside the front door, stretching his long legs on the pathway. He glanced over at me, a challenge waiting in his eyes.

“Race you there?”

I smirked and energy flooded my body. I loved the competition, and I especially loved beating Bodhi.

The smug asshole honestly thought he was better than me. Granted, he had won this kind of challenge every time thus far, but I was never one to back down.

I lit up beneath his gaze, walking with a confident swagger towards our usual starting mark.

He laughed, though I could see that eager glint in his eye when I prepared myself beside him. We bonded well over our love of competing, and the laughter between us was endless when we did.

“Are you ready to lose?” he taunted, hopping from foot to foot, loosening up and readying himself to go.

I scoffed my reply. “Never.” I hated losing.

I shifted into a runner’s stance, and he mimicked the movement beside me. Winning was serious business.

I surveyed the streets around me. It was dusty today, the wind picking up the sand from the desert and dragging it across our community. Squinting might work against its onslaught, I supposed. My clothes, however, stood no chance. Neither did my lungs.

“2, 1, GO”. I tuned in on the back end of the countdown as Bo took off at a sprint far ahead of me. Damn, his legs were long.

Kicking into gear, I pumped my arms and began the dash through the city to beat him to the compound. Bohdi was fast, really fast, but I’d recently been experimenting with a shortcut.

I watched him take the usual path straight through the main roads, veering off to the left up ahead and cutting out of view. Pushing my legs further, I cut a sooner left and headed straight towards the tube, not bothering to follow him to the underpass on the other side. I pushed forward, spluttering on the sand carried in the air.

My lungs burned, but that sweet, sweet win would be worth it.

The tube rushed closer, my pace unrelenting as Alphas dodged me. I didn’t care, not with victory within my sight. I kicked off the ground and portaled to land on the roof of the tube in a crouch, bracing my hands on it as it sped towards its next stop.

With the wind whipping my ponytail around, I took in the outskirts of the city as the tube completed its circuit. The smell of spices hung heavy in the air, a signature of our hard-working community. One mega billboard was visible even from the desert of Zander and Riley modelling for a new clothing designer. It was the most outrageous display of wealth and an unnecessary slap to the face of those who couldn’t afford it.

There were so many things about this city that made me a bitter woman. The mines ran near the cliff dropping to the ocean, which marked our back, but the majority of the environment that surrounded the Haven was desert, barely sustaining the life that it grew. Yet, the Inner Ring was rich and green, as if Zander was siphoning the life force of the land and hoarding it where he chose.

Even though I’d seen another, more genuine side of him at the dinner I’d attended at his home, there was still so much I resented. Nothing I did was for him.

I stuck my palm out and held my middle finger up behind it, just in case anyone was watching. I felt triumphant in my weak action of defiance against the Haven’s order. I suppose the best part about Zander was his overconfident arrogance. He didn’t believe in monitoring society heavily with technology. It wasn’t something he needed to do anyway, not with how well he had trained the community to worry about others betraying you first. He had always gained information freely and easily.

The tube began to slow as it neared its next stop, and I readied myself to launch. I jumped off the roof with a thud, my feet sore from the impact. From here on out, I couldn’t use my power. If Bohdi saw me using it, he would label me a cheat, and I desperately needed to win, even if it was just once.

Though visibility was poorer today, I still managed to spot the location of the compound in the distance, a corner of its roof visible against the blue of the sky. I pulled my shirt up to cover my mouth in an effort to protect my lungs from the particles hanging in the air before taking off at a sprint towards the finish line.

Harsh, arid terrain spanned out in front of me as my legs kicked up more sand. The sun scorched down onto the landscape, my skin glistening with sweat beneath its heat.

My lungs screamed for relief, my shirt an ineffective filter to the air I inhaled. I pumped harder, forcing my legs to kick up a gear. I’d likely be dead by the time I got to this place, completely unable to run drills.

Finally, the building was entirely visible, my body surging with energy knowing that the end was finally near. In the corner of my eye, coming from the opposite direction, a black blur moved behind a swirling haze of sand.

Seriously? That bastard was too fast for his own good.

I pumped my arms and legs manically, propelling myself forward, giving everything I had left in the tank to beat him. My breathing picked up speed, desperately trying to flood my system with the oxygen it demanded from my exertion.

I was so close.

I dived to touch the steps marking the finish line at the exact same time that Bohdi powered on past and up the few steps to the entrance.

I spluttered out the sand that had entered my mouth and swiped at my eyes to clear them. Bodhi threw his head back and roared with laughter for the second time in half an hour.

“That was an entertaining and dramatic ending, Ray.” The bastard was mocking me, but I didn’t care, just so long as the win was mine.

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