Page 75 of Hyperspeed
The last few laps passed without a hitch.
Kai stayed in front, and I took the chance to show off my chameleon paint. Sliding in close behind him, just within his wing mirrors, I flicked the switch on my wheel. The paint sprang to life, colours shifting and shimmering like a living aurora across the bodywork. I knew it was only a matter of seconds before—
“Where the fuck did you go?”
I shimmied in my seat, grinning wide as my tail wriggled with glee in my trouser leg.
The paint was one of the first things I added when Al showed me how to build a vehicle. It worked insanely well, no matter the track or the time of day. It had taken us a while to get the right ratio of ingredients, and it wasn’t quite as effective in the beginning . . .
But once we’d cracked the code, it was perfect, and it was a component I was most proud of.
I’d let Al use some for his vehicle too, since he’d helped me mix the paint until our hands were ready to fall off. Given the feature wasn’t unique to my vehicle, it amused me to know that Al hadn’t told Kai he could use it himself.
The Vorkan may have wanted us to race, but I had no doubt he wanted me to win.
“Catch me if you can, starboy,” I teased, using a boost from the fuel mix to speed past him.
He whipped his head from side to side, trying to spot me. But the paint was too good, and I was invisible.
“You little fucker,” he yelled, but there was no anger, only amusement.
“Two laps left, Kai. Better catch up!”
I pulled in front of him and pushed the button on my wheel, revealing myself in the lead. It was satisfying to surprise him, especially when he swerved with an, “Oh shit!”
No one gained on us until the last lap, and of course it had to be Quorik, a Hessirian with a year’s worth of notoriety.
He was infamous for pulling last-second, do-or-die manoeuvres just to edge ahead. In my last race before joining the ASL, he’d pushed his thruster too hard and almost sent me into the sewer wall on Zyphar.
I wasn’t sure how he’d closed the gap, and there was an unspoken rule that you didn’t ask the other drivers what went into their vehicles. Every component was a guarded secret, and like fuck I’d ever reveal my tricks, even if I never raced in the underground circuit again.
Only Al knew, and now Kai.
Quorik’s reptilian eyes were in view, glowing a bright yellow, even under his tinted visor. He edged closer to Kai’s vehicle, and my heart pumped faster.
“Watch out for him, Kai,” I warned, my eyes flicking between the road and the view of Kai in my mirrors. “You think I’m reckless, but he’s something else.”
“Confirmed,” he replied, like he was replying to an engineer on race day.
It told me he was focused—too focused to talk, because he’d seen how close Quorik was, and our instincts were screaming the same thing.
Danger.
We blasted into the tunnel. A spark from Quorik’s vehicle hit the wall, and the billboards blinked out. Darkness swallowed everything. Only Quorik’s yellow eyes cut through the black. My enhanced sight helped me see, but Kai? He was driving blind, so he couldn’t see Quorik preparing to ram him into the billboards on their left.
I triggered the chameleon paint since Hessarians could see in the dark better than Iskari, and vanished into the shadows. I dropped back, sliding right behind them. Quorik zeroed in on Kai, oblivious to the sudden gust of wind as I slipped past.
“Keep going, Kai.”
“Keep going?! I can’t fucking see.”
He was pissed. He’d already had a scare with the engine, and now he was about to be slammed into a wall by an oversized lizard.
“I know, but I can,” I reassured him. “Just keep going straight. I’ve got this.”
“What are you going to do?” He sounded wary, but also curious.
“Just focus on you, hotshot. I’ve got you.”
