Page 5 of Hyperspeed
I gave myself a shake.
Why was I waxing lyrical about a set ofeyes? Even if I’d never seen a pair like his before . . .
Jax cleared his throat again, and I realised I’d been gawking, saying nothing while the Iskari glared back at me. Trying to save face, I stuck out my hand for them to shake. It was so aggressive, I almost jabbed him in the stomach.
“I’m Kai.” There, that was polite. Seems my mum raised a boy with manners after all. “Kai Mercer.”
His eyes dropped from my face to my hand, but he didn’t take it, and the longer I waited, holding out my hand like an idiot, the more unsettled I felt.
Did the Iskari not shake hands? Was the gesture offensive, and I had no idea?
Shit. See, this is what happens when an endangered race takes part in an institution for the first time. Nobody has a fucking clue what to do.
When he still didn’t take it, I dropped my hand and shifted on my feet.
Jax raised his own hand for a shake—which I thought was risky given the Iskari’s reaction to mine. “I’m Jaxir, but everyone calls me Jax.”
Surprising both of us, the Iskari took Jax’s hand into his own and gave it a firm shake.
What the—
“I’m Revvak, but only my grandma calls me that. Call me Rev.”
“You’re Zenith’s rookie.”
The words slipped out,and Revvak—Rev—stared up at me with narrowed eyes. He was a few inches shorter than my six-foot frame. But the way he looked at me? I felt a fraction of that size.
“And?” He folded his arms, his words clipped.
“O-Oh. I was just, uh . . .”
He tucked a loose strand of hair behind a long pointed ear. It revealed a network of fine, raised silvery lines. Branching out like forks of lightning, they traced elegantly along his jaw before disappearing beneath the collar of his suit.
When he caught me staring again, the markings flared a vivid red. They flickered once before fading back to their previous muted hue, and my mouth hung open.
“Do you have a problem?”
“No, n-no problem.” Why was my voice sosqueaky?
“Kai’s just a nosy fucker.” Jax chuckled, slapping my back. He was trying his best to ease the obvious tension between us.
Rev took a step back.
“It was nice to meet you,” Rev said, directing his statement at Jax. But before he walked away, he gave me a fleeting once-over, and those delicate lines glowed red once more. “See you on the track.”
As I watched Rev walk away, some of the tension eased from my shoulders. His slender frame, clad in a dark racing suit, faded into the chaos of the paddock.
“What just happened?”
Jax snickered. “I dunno, man. But I quite like seeing your feathers ruffled.”
“Fuck off,” I breathed, giving him a light shove.
But that was the thing. Iwasfeeling ruffled.
When people looked at me, it was with admiration, lust, or at the very least, envy.
Rev . . . he may as well have looked through me. To him, I seemed to be an inconvenience. An annoyance. He’d sized me up and decided I wasn’t a threat. I was nothing.
