I'd barely settled into my seat when the roar started. Drivers entered the track one by one, and the crowd surged louder with each name. When Julian appeared, the noise crested, wave after wave of it crashing through the stands.
Adrian Winslow sat down beside me. Her eyes tracked the cars on the circuit, but her mouth was aimed at me.
"Sister, you really shouldn't keep moping over what happened to Julian. You need to get out more." Her tone was light, airy, as if the words cost her nothing. "Some things are just fate. Think about it. Your husband and my husband were on the same boat that night, and yet yours is the one who died. Mine survived."
She paused. A thread of satisfaction ran just beneath her voice. "I know this has been hard on you. But that's fate. Your luck has never been as good as mine, so you should learn to let go. Look forward."
Her words were a dull blade, sawing slow across my heart. My breath caught. The color drained from my face. I opened my mouth to answer her.
Then a deafening crash tore through the air.
Screams erupted from every direction.
"Julian!!!"
I snapped my head up and realized something had gone wrong on the track.