Chapter 68 Blood On The Track
Maddie Pov
The relay race was in the afternoon. I stood at my starting position and tried to focus. Tried to ignore the crowd. Tried to ignore Jace somewhere in the stands watching me.
My leg of the relay was second. I would take the baton from the first runner and pass it to the third. Simple. Quick. Just run as fast as I could without being too fast. Without showing too much of what I really was.
"You can do this," Gory said in my head. "Just run clean. Don't think about anything else."
"Easy for you to say," I muttered. "You're not the one who has to perform with an ex boyfriend stalking you."
The first runners took off. I watched our Keane teammate sprint down the track toward me. She was fast. Smooth. She would hand off the baton in good position.
I got ready. I positioned myself perfectly. I started moving before she even reached me so the handoff would be seamless.
Her hand touched mine. The baton passed between us. I took off running with everything I had.
My legs pumped. My arms swung. I focused on the track ahead. On the third runner waiting for me. On getting there as fast as possible without crossing the line into supernatural speed.
I was halfway to the handoff zone when I heard footsteps behind me. Close. Too close. Another runner coming up fast.
Then I felt it. A hard impact against my ankle. Someone had clipped me. Someone had hit my leg on purpose.
I lost my balance. My legs tangled. I went down hard.
The asphalt tore into my skin. My knees hit first. Then my hands. Then my shoulder. I skidded across the track and finally stopped in a heap of pain and blood.
The crowd gasped. I heard it echo across the stadium. Thousands of people reacting to my fall.
I tried to push myself up but my hands were shaking. Blood was dripping from my knees. My palms were scraped raw. Everything hurt.
The Silverthorn runner who had clipped me jogged past without stopping. I caught a glimpse of his smirking face. He had done it on purpose. He had tripped me deliberately.
"Are you okay?" someone was yelling. "Can you get up?"
I managed to sit up. The track was spinning around me. My vision was blurry from pain. I looked down at my knees and saw blood streaming down my legs.
This was bad. This was really bad. Not just because I was hurt but because wolf healing would kick in soon. The cuts would close faster than they should. People would notice. People would see.
"Maddie," a familiar voice said. Elara appeared next to me. She dropped to her knees on the track. "Oh my god. What happened?"
"I fell," I managed to say. My voice came out weak. "Someone tripped me."
"Who?" Elara demanded. She looked around angrily. "Who did this?"
"The Silverthorn runner," I said. I pointed at the guy who was still jogging away. He didn't even look back. "He clipped my ankle."
"That wasn't an accident," Elara hissed. She glared at him with pure hatred. "That was deliberate. That was assault."
"I know," I said. "But I can't prove it."
Medical staff were running onto the track now. They had a stretcher. They thought I needed to be carried off. I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't let them examine me too closely.
"I can walk," I said quickly. I tried to stand up but my legs wobbled. "Just help me off the track."
"You need medical attention," one of the staff members said. "Those cuts look deep."
"I'm fine," I insisted. "Just some scrapes. Nothing serious."
Elara put her arm around me and helped me stand. I leaned on her heavily. Blood was still dripping down my legs but I forced myself to walk. Forced myself to move off the track under my own power.
The crowd was still murmuring. Still reacting. I could feel thousands of eyes on me. Watching. Judging. Wondering what happened.
I looked up at the stands and saw him. Calix. He was gripping the railing so hard I could see his knuckles were white even from this distance. His face was a mask of barely controlled rage.
He knew. Somehow he knew that wasn't an accident. That someone had hurt me on purpose.
Our eyes met across the distance. For a moment the bond flared hot between us. I felt his anger. His protective instinct. His desperate need to come down here and make sure I was okay.
But he didn't move. He just stood there gripping that railing. Fighting himself. Fighting the bond. Fighting everything he felt.
Then I saw someone else in the stands. Jace. He was standing a few rows behind Calix. He was smiling. That same mocking smile from yesterday.
He had done this. Maybe not directly but he had orchestrated it. He had told his teammate to trip me. To hurt me. To make me fall in front of everyone.
"Come on," Elara said. She was practically carrying me now. "Let's get you to the medical tent."
"No," I said firmly. "Take me back to my dorm. Please. I can clean up there."
"Maddie you need proper medical attention," Elara argued.
"Please," I begged. "I just want to go back to my room. I don't want to be here anymore."
I wouldn't let Jace see me broken. I wouldn't let him see how much this hurt. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
But inside I was screaming. Inside I was terrified. Because this was just the beginning. This was just day two. And if Jace was willing to hurt me this publicly this early then what would he do by the end of the week?
What would he do when the obstacle course happened? When I was even more vulnerable? When there were even more opportunities for accidents that weren't really accidents?