Page 55 of Centaur Bolt

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I had to pelt upstairs to change into dry clothes. Running while chafing sounded like a really bad idea.

We assembled for the run with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.

“You’re even quieter than normal,” Kiko noted as we lined up behind the other teams. “Did your Jump session go okay?”

“Yep,” I replied. “But it’s moving along too slow.”

Vali looked ahead to the students already heading off. “There is nothing slow about this place. And when you’re talking about transporting your entire self from one location to another, I would think slower is a good idea.”

Cass was supervising the sendoff today. It looked as though his slimmer mate was setting a blazing pace on the actual run. I waited until he counted down our start, and then answered as we burst forward.

“I want to help Marcus. He doesn’t have time for slow.”

The Hitzu twins had sprinted ahead of us, but Tareal glanced back when I spoke. Why did I always feel as though they were listening in to everything I said? I was becoming paranoid. But if they wanted to listen in, they didn’t have to use their ears.

“Are you going to try your dream theory, then?” Kiko asked.

“That’s risky,” Vali said.

“I want to practice first.” My lungs were already warning me that my conversation time was limited, but I wanted to bounce this idea around a bit. “See if I can use a photograph as a Jump reference. But first, I need a photo to use.”

“Some of the Dires here have phones from the human realm.” Kiko was already starting to huff.

“I have one,” I said. “But it’s dead, and my plug doesn’t work here.”

“Oh, there’s an adapter,” the Satyr stated. “Constance can get you one, but they’re hot commodities.” Two strides later, she added, “Scott has a phone. I can see if he’ll lend it to me.”

There was a note in her voice that had me shooting her an uncertain glance. “All I need is a photo of someplace around here that I can practice Jumping to. Just to see if it works.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Vali wasn’t even breathing hard. “What if you Jump to nowhere? What happens then?”

“I have no idea,” I admitted.

“Sounds risky,” the Dragona stated.

“I’ll talk to Scott,” Kiko said, her tone slightly dreamy. I didn’t think she’d heard the last couple of exchanges at all.

Holding a conversation became impossible. We focused on not being last crossing the finish line. Which we managed. Barely.

Vali collapsed on the grass in her usual seductive sprawl. The male Dires milling nearby watched both her and Kiko with hungry eyes.

Despite my efforts to look graceful while crumpled in a heap, they didn’t notice me at all. Which was just as well, as I was trying not to barf.

Kiko heaved herself up and staggered over to Scott, who saw her coming—well, he’d been staring at her pretty much the entire time. They exchanged a brief few words, and Kiko returned.

“He’ll bring me the phone at lunch,” she said. “It’s charged up.”

“Does he have any pics of places around here?” I asked.

“We’ll get some,” she replied.

I decided breathing was more important than reminding her of her conversation with Cara about not fraternizing with the locals. But the Watcher had also sent her on an info-gathering mission—which Kiko seemed to interpret a little differently from me. I closed my eyes and decided deliberate ignorance could be considered a survival strategy.

I focused on the important things. All I needed was a photo.

And then, I could see just how good a Jumper I really was.

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