Breaking Sky(14)

“It’s not just Sylph,” Chase admitted, with what felt like gravity swelling all around her. “Kale told Crackers that I imagined sighting a Streaker. Crackers hinted that I’m cracking up.”

“Christ on a bike, Chase.” He swore. A heavy, four-letter, rhymes with duck kind of swear. “I thought Kale was smarter than that.”

“Smarter than what?”

He ignored her. “I told you to let it go. Now it’s probably already on your record. They could give Dragon to one of the runner-up pilots for the trials.”

Was that true? Did Chase already ruin her chances to keep her spot with Dragon? If Sylph knew, the whole Star knew—maybe it was too late. Her face burned as her thoughts zoomed to the red helmet. Phoenix was the answer. She had to find a way to fly with him again. Tail him back to his base. Unmask him.

Prove he was real. That she belonged at the Star. She did…didn’t she?

She hadn’t realized she’d stopped Dragon. Ground crew looked up from where they held the huge hangar doors open, no doubt wondering what had made her stall out in the middle of the entryway.

“Nyx.” Pippin strapped his mask on. His voice came loud and clear through her helmet. “Push past it for now. We have to fly. You all in?” He said it like he was worried that she was cracking up too.

“I’m going after Phoenix.”

Pippin’s voice was urgent. Desperate. “No, Chase. Revealing the third Streaker to the Star will open up intel about it to the world. Kale doesn’t want that. They’re not ready. We’ll know more after the trials.”

“Wait.” A red-hot spark lit in her chest. “You know about this, don’t you? You knew about the third Streaker even before we saw him. Didn’t you?”

“I put some pieces together. Parts logs always showed three sets. It seemed off, so I asked Kale about it last year.”

“Last year? And you never said anything?”

“He ordered me not to say anything. Besides, he didn’t give me any real answers.” Pippin’s tone hung with panic. He knew Chase too well not to know that this wasn’t going well. He knew her too well to say what he said next. “Let it go. This is much bigger than the Nyx Show.”

She punched the throttle as they rolled onto the runway. Dragon sped around Pegasus, cutting off Sylph. This was Chase’s life. Her wings. Wasn’t that what Kale was always telling her? Fly from the gut. Use your fear. Trust your instincts. Well, all three of those things were telling her to risk it all. Prove herself.

Dragon blasted down the runway only to spin out and turn back around. She directed them at Pegasus. She tasted the same kind of blind resolve that had sent her into the landmine obstacle course when she was twelve, trying to prove to her father she was as tough as his recruits. She’d failed that time, emerging muddied, heartbroken, and slick with her own blood. But she wouldn’t fail today.

“Are we playing chicken with Sylph? Because that’s not really a contest.” Pippin was trying to joke. To reach her.

No joy.

Sylph was already trying to get out of the way, but Chase turned toward her and kicked up the speed.

“You should have told me, Pippin,” she said through her teeth. “I thought we trusted each other.”

“Chase…”

“And Kale should know that if he’s going to make me look crazy, I’m going to act crazy.” Chase accelerated so fast that Sylph had to turn awkwardly to avoid collision. Pegasus slid out on the ice and rammed a ground crew supply shack.

Chase shot Dragon into the air.

“You took out Sylph!” Pippin yelled.

“Oops,” she said flatly. Chase headed past Canada, toward America, her plan in action and her thoughts blind to everything else. Kale tried to reach her on the emergency feed, and Pippin pleaded, but she ignored all of it and flew—nothing but the ever-blue air and the promise of seeing Phoenix lighting up her veins.

? ? ?

“I’m sorry,” Pippin said for maybe the fiftieth time. “Whatever you’re about to do to get back at me, I’m sorry!”

Chase ignored him. Her whole body was concentrating on flying. They were approaching the Grand Canyon at Mach 2, and the area was appropriately deserted for what she wanted to do. “Get ready to call Mayday, Pip.”

“What?!”

“We’re going to crash. Or look like we’re crashing. Then they’ll send help, just like last time, and because Sylph is grounded…”

“They’ll send Phoenix,” Pippin finished for her. “God almighty, Nyx.”

“Exactly.”

Pippin started to swear as Dragon dropped into the earth’s great rift. The rust and toast-colored striations zipped past like the jet was entering warp speed.

“Let’s make it look good, shall we?” Chase spun Dragon toward the sun before flipping them to face the ground. A strange thrill overtook the fall, and it matched the buzzing out-of-control spin of her mind.

Pippin hit the emergency radio with very real fear. “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday!”

A few hundred feet before they crashed, Chase pulled on the stick. She dragged in the speed, dropping the landing gear at the last second. They came to a smashing stop, the struts bouncing off the hard-sand bottom. Dragon’s tires let out with a pop and a scream.