Chasing Blue- The Final Saga (Book 4)

Chapter 22: Beating the Odds

A/N: The stakes are high in this chapter and it's not just Troy who is feeling the pressure to win. This chapter is broken into different POVs as the race is unfolding in an attempt to capture glimpses of what each character was thinking or doing at pivotal moments. I hope you enjoy.

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Twenty.

The count began when the cloth fell. The din of the crowd simmered to barely above a whisper when it flew the first time. I was locked inside my stall concealed from the gazes of the crowd and my opponents. I was alone, waiting for the gates to spring open.

Ten.

Gripping the reins, I squinted for the cloth. A flash of white slipped beneath my line of sight.

Five.

I felt around for the carved knife around my waist. It was in case I had to free myself in case of a collision. So far I never had to use it and I feared the day that I would...

Click. My heart stopped.

The gates sprung open. Go!

"Go Troy! Go Julian! Come on!" screeched Julius who jumped from his seat. He waved his arms to and fro. "Over here!" he shouted.

His sister Julia chuckled at the sight of her brother. "They cannot see you Julius," Julia reminded, shaking her loose locks that escaped the knot of hair tied and pinned at the crown of her head.

Julius frowned. "I have to get closer to the action so they can see me!" he exclaimed.

"Son," his father began, "you need to stay put. I do not want you to get hurt," he scolded, pointing to a group of rowdy young men standing and hooting on top of their seats a few rows below.

The mother rolled her eyes. "Julius darling. Troy and Julian are busy trying to win a race. It would be hard for them to see you anyways. Please sit down." Julius folded his arms against his chest before plopping down between his mother's sweeping stolla and Julia.

"Mother is right," Julia added, her tone lowering to an undertone, only to get lost in the loud chants that rang in the air.

The mother turned to the father's ear. "I told you this was a bad idea bringing children to the event. And now Julius will get this crazy idea as his brother that he wants to be a racer!" she scoffed.

"Julius will grow out of this childish folly. Julian will soon grow out of it too...one day," the father replied in muffled tones.

"But I cannot see. Those idiots are in the way!" Julius protested from his seat. He popped up from his seat to see above the row of heads blocking his view. His mother shot him a disapproving glare.

Julius shrugged. "But this is a sporting event, Mother. Everyone else is making noise." Julia fidgeted as she watched one of the young men from a few rows ahead stare back at the family. His amber eyes seemed to pierce through her soul.

In an undertone Julia uttered, "I think they heard you." The man turned around in his seat only to glare one last time at the young boy before turning around in his stone seat. There was something unsettling about this young man although Julia could not make out what. She tried to ignore the inquisitive young man who appeared so calm yet stern. He looked to be too quiet at an event like this. She brushed the thoughts aside and forced her gaze back on the track. Troy was in fifth place and was slowly being passed up by another racer. Come on Troy. You can do it she chanted as if he or anyone else could hear the thoughts screaming in her head.

"I know they will win. Trust me," Hyros assured, with a grin at the older fellow who was standing next to a noticeably younger woman.

The older man's face tightened into a scowl. "They better win. Because if the Blues do not win you owe me all the money I loaned you plus interest. Is that clear?" the man snarled. Beads of spit came spraying out his mouth in all directions.