Page 45 of This Dark Descent
“Ari? Ari?” Reid’s voice pulled her back to herself. “What the hells are you doing?”
“What?” She started, realizing she was standing in the middle of the foyer. When had she gotten up from the armchair? She turned about, taking in the bookcases she didn’t remember approaching.
Ignore him, hissed the voice that was not hers, and she steeled herself against it.
“Ari?” Reid asked again.
“Nothing,” she replied tersely. This feeling—she’d had it before after working magic, but she’d put it off as the drain of energy on her body. This loss of time was new, as was the weight in the back of her mind. “I—I was just thinking.”
He brushed past her toward the chaise, Widget balanced on his shoulder. “Pretend I never asked. Not like I care, anyway.”
She rubbed her temples. The persistent headache she’d had all day hadonly worsened, and her temper was short, but Reid had only been making sure she was okay, which was a step above questioning her intentions with his best friend. Ever since Loic’s attack, he’d been far warmer toward her. Ifwarmwas even a word that could describe Reid.
“I’m sorry.” She followed him back to the sitting area. “I’m not myself.”
“Does your head still hurt?”
She nodded, and he poured a cup of tea from the enchanted kettle keeping it warm.
“Thank you.” She settled back into her armchair with it and breathed in the relaxing scents of vanilla and chamomile. Little helped once her headaches took root, but she’d grown used to the pain, the way it’d sweep an afternoon’s plans out from beneath her and leave her head tender for days.
The suite door flew open.
Ari reflexively reached for a butter knife on the end table before Mikira entered with all the grace of a derailed train. Her eyes were red from spent tears. Mud caked her boots, and dried blood coated her left arm.
“Clean! Floors!” Reid exclaimed a second before he took in the whole picture.
“What happened?” Ari asked, half-afraid to raise the question.
Mikira stopped like she’d struck a wall. Then Damien swept inside, his orderly appearance in blunt contrast to Mikira’s dishevelment. His sharp eyes took in Mikira’s deerlike immobility and Ari’s rising panic, and he said calmly, “We are not out of the race.”
“What?” Ari placed a hand against her pounding heart.
“Mikira lost, but Rezek offered me a deal. If I added House Adair’s verillion fields to our bargain, he’d allow her back in.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Reid said with a frown. “Why?”
Damien strode to the drink cart. “Because he thinks she has no chance of winning. This race only confirmed it.”
Ari looked to Mikira, but the girl was staring at the floor, her armswrapped around her stomach. Standing in the midst of the pristine foyer, plastered in blood and dirt, she looked lost.
“The verillion isn’t yours to give, Damien,” Reid said quietly.
“I’m aware.” Damien poured a glass of whiskey, took a long draw, and then refilled it. “I’ll talk to Shira tonight.”
“What of Atara?” Ari asked.
“She’s fine,” Damien replied. “Mikira said she was great until another racer attacked her, and Atara became aggressive. She couldn’t pull the horse out of the fight, and it led to them getting caught in an enchantment.”
Reid scowled at Mikira. “You let them distract you, didn’t you?”
Mikira snapped back to herself. “Yes, I get it! It’s all my fault. I don’t need you to tell me that!” She stalked from the room.
Reid rose to go after her, but Ari was already moving. After all, this was her fault, not Mikira’s. The girl didn’t know the truth about Atara. If she had, she might have been prepared for the golem’s defensive reaction. Instead, it’d nearly cost them everything.
Mikira was gone from the corridor, but Ari had a feeling where she’d be. Sure enough, she found her sitting on the stable floor with her back against Iri’s stall, the horse lipping gently at her hair.
Ari hesitated. She had no idea how to do this. The closest thing she’d had to friendship in her life had been with Rivkah, and so much of that had been looking after her sister, keeping her safe. Perhaps this wasn’t much different. Mikira was trying to balance the weight of her family on her shoulders; perhaps she simply needed someone to look out for her for a change.
