Chapter 45

Running is the first thing that’s felt right since Cookie and Mom died. I close my eyes and breathe. Simple. In and out, in and out. My feet pound the hard-packed dirt and my lungs process air. Noah keeps pace, his heart hammering along far faster than mine, almost alarmingly fast, but he’s not puffing too badly.

“Have you ever won one of these?” I ask him.

He shakes his head. “Gotten close.”

“But close means you still lost, right?”

He shrugs. “Yeah.”

“Not today,” I say, urging him on.

“You want to win the whole thing?” Noah’s cheeks are red, and his lungs are heaving. I may be pressing too hard.

“I always want to win.”

“Always?” Noah asks. “At everything?”

“If you’re not a winner, you’re a loser.” It seems too obvious to me. You’d think a kid from a rich family would know this already.

Noah shakes his head. “There are more than just victims and Vikings in the world, Rebecca.”

I don’t argue, because what’s the point? But I push him a little harder, helping him be more than he aspires to be, and slowly, slowly, we inch ahead of the couple of kids in front of us. And then we keep on pushing. Noah’s practically purple when we cross the finish line. Which is when I notice that our entire group, other than Logan and Lisa who are still running, is whooping and yelling loudly.

Edam, however, doesn’t look very pleased.

“What’s the big deal?” I whisper under my breath.

“Holy crap,” Logan’s dad, whose name is Roy I think, mutters. “You two broke the high school record.”

He and Edam share strikingly similar expressions, their lips pursed, their eyes narrowed. Which must mean he knows who I am, and doesn’t like me flaunting it. Not that I meant to, or not exactly. But what if I needed a win today? It’s been a hard week. Why should he care?

Alora’s here, too. She’s cheering, but even she looks a little annoyed. When I reach her she shakes her head. “That wasn’t fair. Running that fast against these poor kids.”

“I know, I know,” I say. “I won’t do it again.”

“Whoops,” I whisper to Edam when he comes over to pretend to congratulate me.

“Apparently Noah’s freakishly fast,” he whispers back. “Maybe you shouldn’t have used him to pace. He’s got to have some evian blood in his line somewhere.”

“Alora said he doesn’t.” I frown. “His heart beat like a hummingbird’s wings, and his breathing was shallow and hitched. Also, apparently his dad owns half of China.”

Edam glances at me sharply.

“I know. It’s strange.” Somehow, China has evaded evian control for millennia. Its natural inhabitants holed up in there for so long, and communications and travel were so dicey, we didn’t even realize there was a significant civilization there until a few hundred years ago. Since then, the families have fought so fiercely over it, that no one has successfully held it for more than a few months. Operatives sent there keep disappearing. Or returning in body bags, which is possibly more impressive. Killing an evian operative is difficult.

“Strange or not,” Edam whispers, “he’s not full Chinese. Look at him. Maybe he had a great-great ancestor who was evian. He seems below average in looks and intelligence, so maybe his speed is some kind of genetic throwback.”

I roll my eyes. Below average in looks and intelligence? Oh, Edam. No one looks like he does, but Noah is definitely far, far above average in that department. He has unique, strong features, almost too strong for his face. He may still need to grow into his looks, but one day he’ll be show-stopping. Even now he looks pretty darn amazing.

“Nice run.” When I congratulate him, Noah smiles at me, and it’s refreshing when a little of his excitement spreads to me. It must be nice not to worry about excelling at something. Or maybe it’s the freedom of not having any secrets.

“Noah!” Logan calls out from across the yard. “Hey man, I just finished and I heard. Congrats!”

“Thanks, you too.”

“My dad will be happy with sixth place overall,” Logan says, “but I didn’t break any records.”

“I’ve never had a better motivator than Rebecca.” Noah gestures to me. “So, when are we going to celebrate? I was telling her how your dad always takes us out on his yacht.”

“Uh,” Logan says. “You didn’t hear?”

“Hear what?” Noah asks.

“Logan steered my yacht into the dock last weekend,” Roy says. “It’s being repaired.”

“The dock?” Noah asks, “Or the yacht?”

“Both,” Roy grumbles. “Which is why Logan should be grounded, or doing manual labor.”

“I did get straight As,” Logan says. “And I just ran my personal best time.”

“If you’re not grounding your son,” Noah says, “I’m willing to invite everyone to my place instead. I think today’s victory deserves to be celebrated.”

Edam shakes his head tightly. “No way,” he whispers.

“I need to call my sister to see whether it’s okay,” I tell Noah. I walk a few dozen steps away, Edam pretending to take a call himself. He’s ten feet away, but I can still hear every word.

I hold my phone to my ear. No reason for them to realize neither of us are actually on a call. “I could use a little fun in my life.” It surprises me, but I actually kind of want to go. “Besides. Noah’s a contact I should cultivate. Even Alora said so.”

“I don’t know,” Roy is saying behind me to Noah. “Logan hasn’t been exhibiting great judgment lately.”

“I’ll get some adults to come,” Noah says. “If that’ll make you feel better.”

“I’ll go, sir.” Edam taps on his phone and turns to face them again. “To chaperone.”

Roy raises his eyebrows. “Really? You’d stay all night?”

“Absolutely,” Edam says.

“Did you hear why your job was available?” I hiss softly.

Edam shakes his head.

“Coach Fimmel got involved with one of the students.”

I expect him to act suitably repentant, or tell Roy and Noah how respectable he is. I’m not expecting him to smile wickedly at me. “You don’t say.”

I’m glad I’m still facing away from the group, ostensibly on a phone call. No one sees my cheeks flush red. No one except Edam, that is.

I think about the wisdom of wasting more time on a party. I do need to find out whether I could fit in at typical human functions, and I’ve been dying to go to a high school party since the first time I watched a human television program. I also need to decide whether to abdicate, fight for myself, or choose Edam. If I wrap my brain around letting Edam kill my sister for me, the next question is whether I could stand being joined to him for a thousand years. Maybe a little flirting at a party is a good idea after all. I mean, in almost every human television show, the main character kisses someone, right?

And I’ve never kissed anyone.

I can’t wait to get back to the school so I can tell Lark where we’re going. This is going to be an interesting night.