An elf enters a street-race tournament to escape a corrupt city trapped in endless night.
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|| Voltyss is one of the last-standing cities caught in the Evernight, an endless night that spread across the land when the moon and stars fell from the...
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I wake to a knock at the door. I was drifting through a sea of stars, lost in dreams of memories—narrow escapes and fiery pain, ebony horns and lightning eyes, a girl with a wolf and a promise I made to myself in the darkest moments. And what lingers the most, above all, are the amethyst lights of a district that was never a home but is now out of reach.
The comfort of a bed rests beneath me, the scent of cinnamon filling each breath I take. Something furry brushes against my bare arm, followed by a wet nose nudging my hand, making it nearly impossible to keep my eyes closed. Footsteps cross the room and a door creaks open, letting in another pair.
"What are you doing here?" a light voice asks, her lyrical tone reminding me of the girl in the alley. She quiets. "You've got some nerve showing up here right now. Half the city has it out for you."
"Don't be so dramatic, Gidget," another voice answers, the sly familiarity of it sky-rocketing my pulse. Macon. He's the one who knocked. "Is she still in one piece?"
"How did you know I brought her here?"
"I know someone, who knows a Dusker, who knows an orc who helped you bring her back to your place."
"Zero, remind me to let you kill Tiny the next time we see him," Gidget says. A low growl rumbles next to me. I can't help but sneak a quick peak at the white wolf that leaves my side and moves toward the girl. I recognize the girl's light brown, freckled face as the one from the alley and for a brief second rage flares within me at the image of her drugging me, but then I remember her whispered promise of help.
Macon shifts and I snap my eyes closed, my heartbeat thrumming in my ears as his footsteps echo across the room toward me. The heat of him engulfs me when he stops at my side. He smells of embers and smoked wood and all kinds of trouble, and even though I hate him entirely, there is something comforting about the warmth he radiates. I'm not sure if it's from his natural or supernatural electricity.
"When will she wake up?" he asks.
"Let me check my doctor's notes." Gidget pauses for a moment. "Oh. Wait, I forgot. I'm not a doctor, you ass. Why do you even care? Based on the cam feeds I watched, she doesn't seem to like you very much. But damn, she can drive. I bet she could give Clarx Bolton a run for his shinies."
"Yeah..." he trails off. I feel him shift next to me. "I'm sure she hates me."
"Everyone hates you. What's new?"
"Can you just—" Macon sighs in frustration. "Can you shoot me a message when she wakes up?"
"Maybe," Gidget answers. "If I'm feeling generous. I might be feeling even more generous if you can swipe me some of those spicy pixstix the Ivory District keeps to themselves. They're fucking delicious." Zero whines from somewhere in the room and Gidget speaks again. "And snag Zero something raw and meaty, but not from that butcher in the Cobalt District. Zero said it tasted funky."
