Her words were a dull blade, sawing slow across my heart. My breath caught. The color drained from my face. I was about to speak, to push back, when a deafening crash tore through the air.
Then screams erupted from every direction.
"Caelan!!!"
I jerked my head up and realized something had gone wrong on the track.
Sylvia Nightfang's race vehicle had lost control entering the first curve, slamming straight into the barrier wall. The impact threw the entire raceway into chaos. Pack healers rushed forward. It took a long time before they lifted his blood-soaked body onto a stretcher and carried him toward the Pack Infirmary.
The race was halted. Spectators rose from their seats in a wave of panic. Everyone wore grim expressions as they hurried toward the infirmary. Hazel Ashford didn't bother saying anything more to me. She was crying so hard her whole face was streaked with tears, and she followed the emergency transport out of the grounds.
Only I remained, from start to finish, calm to the point of numbness.
The conversation I had overheard still echoed inside my skull. I knew perfectly well that this crash was no accident. He had arranged this ending for himself, with his own hands.