Page 38 of Hyperspeed
The air horn bellowed, and Lyla started moving. She was doing well, following Jeremy’s example. Even when she dropped the egg, she stayed calm and placed it back on her spoon.
With the kids distracted by the race, Kai turned to me. “Or we could keep it between ourselves.”
I frowned, keeping my eyes on the race. “Huh?”
He leaned in to whisper in my ear. “We could engage in another friendly competition . . . just the two of us.”
“I know your ego’s massive, but I didn’t realise you’d dumped all your common sense to make some room.” Now it was Kai’s turn to frown, so I clarified. “We’re on the same team, you idiot.”
“So?” He shrugged. “We can still play a little game. See who comes out on top.”
He purred the last word, making goosebumps burst across my skin. The lines on my body pulsed a dusky shade of pink before I could stop it. Kai might not know what it meant, but his wolflike grin said he had an idea.
Prick.
“No,” I hissed, pointing to where Korvi and I remained connected. Thankfully, the child in question was ignoring the adults, focusing on Lyla finishing second. “We’re here for the kids, Kai.”
He held up his hands in surrender. “Fine, fine.”
Knowing Kai, though, he wouldn’t let it drop. He was the type of person who always wanted things his way. But that wasn’t happening today.
I returned my attention to the competition. Vaeri followed in Lyla’s footsteps, finishing the race in second.
And then it was Korvi’s turn.
Convincing him to release my hand so he could compete took some gentle persistence. He eventually relented, approaching the starting line like a prisoner would the gallows—extremely slowly. I walked by his side and crouched beside him when we made it.
As he placed the egg on top of his spoon, it shook in his trembling grip. Korvi looked at me with big black eyes that matched my own, tail flicking back and forth.
His skin flared emerald, a sign of nerves in Iskari. “What if I fall?”
My heart ached for him, because it was obvious he wasn’t afraid of losing; he was terrified of embarrassing himself.
When you were already so different, the last thing you wanted was to draw more attention, and the prime way to do that was by fucking up in front of a crowd.
Other kids would fall and get right back up, laughing at their stumble. But for Korvi, I imagined falling over would feel equivalent to an award-winning actor forgetting their lines on stage. Or a seasoned professional racer making a rookie-level mistake.
“You might fall.” I gripped his bony elbow, stopping his hand from shaking. “But what if you win?”
“I won’t win,” he replied vehemently.
“How do you know? You could be the best egg-and-spoon racer in the galaxy.” Korvi giggled, which loosened the tension in both our shoulders. “But you have to try so you know what you’re capable of.”
“What if they laugh at me?”
“If they do, get up and smilesobigthat you show off your fangs,” I said, stretching my mouth wide, my own fangs glinting in the sun. “Laugh along with them, because if they’re laughing with you, they’re not laughing at you.”
Elyn asked if the competitors were ready, and I looked at Korvi, who bobbed his head. He still looked nervous, but at least he’d stopped shaking. The specks in his eyes swirled with what I thought was determination.
“You’ve got this,” I whispered, and jutted my chin towards the finish line. “I’ll wait at the end, so if you get nervous, just look for me. Okay?”
“Okay.”
I patted him on the shoulder. Before Elyn could blow the air horn, I jogged along the track, stopping at the end of Korvi’s lane. I sent him an encouraging smile, which he returned with a weary one of his own.
Kai watched me from among the sea of children, brows drawn. I guessed he wondered what I was up to, but my focus was elsewhere—on the child about to race.
“You’ve got this,” I mouthed, giving him a double thumbs up.
