Page 22 of Dragon Slayer

Mia grinned, gave him a quick pat on the neck, and set up another.

Tried to, at least. Her vision blurred between one blink and the next, and she felt her balance tipping. Shit, she was dizzy.

She shook her head – which didn’t help – half-halted and tried again.

This one was shakier; it took Brando two strides to make the change, lagging, like he was waiting for her.

“Hmm. Not so clean. Let’s try…”

Mia didn’t hear what Donna said next because a buzzing like cicadas filled her head. She tipped to the side, the arena seeming to tilt around her, and Brando broke into a sloppy trot, and then walk, startled by her loss of balance.

Her stomach rolled, and sweat prickled across her skin beneath her tight, white show clothes. Thank God she wasn’t in her black coat yet; she would have swooned.

“Mia,”Donna said through the walkie.

Her gorge was rising. She tugged Brando to a graceless halt and leaned forward, mouth open and panting. Waiting for the vomit that didn’t seem to want to come. The ground blurred and spun beneath her, and she closed her eyes.

No, no, no, no, noshe chanted inwardly. Because now she knew it wasn’t the PowerBar, or nerves, or the heat of the morning. No, this was something she’d been dreading for weeks, ever since Val first showed up.

Speaking of…

“Mia!” she heard him shout, and wondered if anyone else could hear him now.

Then Donna’s voice: “Mia! Mia, oh, shit!”

Other voices around her: the others riders asking if she was okay.

“There’s an ambulance over by the show ring!” someone shouted.

Mia closed her eyes; the world spun; her stomach cramped. The cicada buzz became a wailing siren.

“Mia,” Val again, up close, pleading. “What’s wrong, darling?”

Donna: “Who the fuck are you?”

Falling off was going to hurt, Mia thought. And then she was tipping, and then falling, and she blacked out before she hit the ground.

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