Page 3 of Death Drop

His smile turned crooked. “It’s nothing big. I’m counting on them giving me a little more family time. Tell Emi that there’s one more thing I need to talk to her about.”

TWO

Luciana

I hadno inkling what Niko might have been up to until Emi texted me the next morning to announce that she was picking up me and the guys—to bring us to our new rink.

“You’ll like this place,” she chirped as I got into the passenger seat of her compact Honda while Quentin and Jasper slid into the back. “They look after it really nice, and it’s got some of the best security you’ll find for an arena in Tokyo.”

I glanced over my shoulder toward Rafael, newly cast-free, who was insisting on tailing us in the rental SUV Niko had arranged for us when we first arrived in the country. “How secure is that?”

Emi laughed and eased the car into the flow of traffic outside our apartment building. “Let’s just say this is where a bunch of rich kids go to practice — and when I say rich, I’m talking about the kind of kids who think money will buy them a way into a fancy skating career. They’re wrong, of course, but their parents don’t want anything happening to them while they’re pretending to be professionals.”

“Rich, huh?” Jasper said doubtfully. “How much is the ice time going to set us back?”

“Nothing!” Emi shot him a grin in the rearview mirror. “I set things up through the owner’s niece, who’s a friend. I promised her uncle that if you two win a medal at the World Championships, he can tell everyone you practiced on his rink. It’ll be the first time anyone who trained there even made it to a big competition. Might be a chance for him to get taken more seriously.”

I guessed that was a reasonable trade-off. I didn’t love the idea of hanging out some place funded by the city’s elite, giving the trappings of quality even though apparently they weren’t turning out any top skaters. But if no one prominent had ever come out of there, then the place wouldn’t be on anyone’s radar when looking for Worlds-level competitors.

And rich-people-level security sounded good to me. I’d do just about anything to avoid a repeat of our last practice’s bloodshed.

As if he were thinking along similar lines, Quentin shook his head. “I can’t believe Okabe was worrying about finding you a new practice space before he’s even out of the hospital. That guy’s a maniac.”

“Only in the best way,” Emi said cheerfully. “He’s always been obsessed with skating. And now he has two other people to obsess over instead of just his own performance.”

Jasper let out a rough guffaw.

I peered through the windows at the shiny skyscrapers we were gradually leaving behind. If I’d learned anything in the short time I’d been living in Tokyo, it was that any time I thought I understood how huge the city was, it got even bigger. It didn’t have one downtown but something like a dozen of them.

Austin looked like some podunk town next to this metropolis.

Emi wove through the streets with total confidence, bringing us into a neighborhood of low-rise buildings in a hotchpotch of grays, beiges, and browns. She rounded the corner and drew into a small parking lot outside a silvery domed building. A red sign out front held thick Japanese characters next to smaller print in English that said SPORTS GARDEN.

Rafael parked next to us and got out, his dark eyes scanning the lot. I suspected the low but sturdy wall that surrounded the place garnered a little approval.

As we walked up to the front doors, Emi produced three key cards from her purse. “I got one for each of you skaters, and I have one for Niko too, after he’s on his feet again. No regular keys, so no one can make copies. And there’s always someone on watch at the security desk.”

She gave the stern-looking man behind the desk in the lobby a friendly wave. He dipped his head slightly to us, his gaze sliding right back toward the parking lot.

Well, that was definitely a step up from rinks so low-key there was rarely anyone watching the reception area at all.

Emi led us through a couple of sparkling clean hallways and pointed out the locker rooms. “It looks like you’re already in your practice clothing, though, so we can go right in to the rink. You’ve got the next three hours, but we can book longer sessions on the weekdays when most of the usual trainees are in school until the late afternoon.”

She pushed past another set of double doors, and a waft of chilly air swept over me. My nerves settled a little at the familiar calm of the vast, quiet room. My hand dropped to my equipment bag, the urge gripping me to pull on my skates and vanish completely into the escape skating could bring as quickly as possible.

Emi gave me a knowing look. “You can get started. I have to meet with my parents. If you need anything, give me a call.”

I nodded. “We’ll see you at the hospital in the afternoon, if our paths cross.”

She smiled back at me. “And not too long after that even if they don’t. Have fun!”

As she slipped out, my men and I tramped past the stands to the rink itself. Rafael hunkered down on a bench about halfway between the door and the ice, turning so he could keep an eye on both at once.

I dropped onto another bench and groped in my bag for my skates and my gloves. The sooner I was on the ice, the better.

I tied the final knot, shucked off the skate guards, and stepped onto the rink. The first glide forward sent a wave of peace rushing through me.

Moments later, Jasper joined me. We automatically fell into the paces of our typical warm-up routine, stretching and getting our heartrate going, sweeping back and forth across the ice.

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