Page 56 of Ruthless Chaos
I shake my head even though she can’t see me. “No, but my first time being flown by someone so young,” I quip.
In hindsight, maybe that wasn’t the nicest thing to say.
She doesn’t seem offended though. In fact, she laughs.
“I get that all the time,” she says. “The first time I flew my father he brought a parachute with him, ‘just in case.’ It was hilarious.”
I chuckle. Tara glances back at me, smiling.
“I brought Allie with me to cheer her up,” she tells Nya.
I start mouthing for her to stop talking about this. Of course, Tara doesn’t listen to me.
Nya clicks her tongue.
“What’s wrong, beautiful?” Her voice is tinged with concern.
We’re above the treetops now and rising quickly. My stomach flips—takeoffs have always been the hardest part of flying for me.
“She’s being hounded by a Kingmaker,” Tara quips.
I’m horrified. I cover my face with my hands.
“Hm, Kingmakers,” she says, scoffing. “Absolute assholes, the bunch of them.” She pauses, adjusting some of the controls. “They’re so fucking hard to deal with, too.”
Tara raises an eyebrow. “Sounds like you’ve got experience.”
Nya shrugs. “You could call it that. My older brother’s best friend is one of them.”
“Who is it?” I ask, stirring the pot.
I’m happy the focus is off me. Tara nods, her eyes widening.
Nya is forthcoming. “Vance.”
His name doesn’t ring a bell to me, but Tara’s mouth goes wide.
“Vance, as in, VanceDu Pont? The Devil’s star striker?”
Nya doesn’t seem nearly as impressed as Tara. She simply nods.
Though I can’t see her entire face, she works her jaw anxiously.
There’s a story there, I bet.
But I don’t pry any further, as I’m starting to realize how complicated these kinds of things can be. I give her the courtesy I wish Tara would extend to me.
Tara starts to press Nya for details.
We’re so high now the throng of students streaming to the buses look like ants.
The campus is so much bigger than I thought. Even from this high, I can’t see the boundary walls. Hemlock House looks like a dollhouse, and the intimidating pathways look like little threads connecting miniature buildings.
Kingmaker House still stands out, though.
When I zone back in, Tara’s asking Nya to explain justhowclose she and Vance are.
I cut into their conversation. “It’s peaceful up here.”
