Chapter Thirty
There were three teams behind them still in the race. The goblins were causing their favorite kinds of chaos by going the wrong direction though they could decide to change direction at any moment. The demons and dragons were still behind them either held up or fighting with each other. In front of them, there were still three other teams, the crows, the vamps, and the wolves.
They were still in the Mount Chaos section, more miles to go before they slipped into the third section.
“The Mariana Trench is coming up in five miles,” Radley said, tapping at the screen.
Mazu nodded from her place in the backseat. “It’s the deep ocean level. I’d just gotten to it before I turned around to help you. You’ll have to be careful there. Some of the most dangerous creatures live in the deep.”
Cricket glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “You’ve been racing the Games for a long time and still survive.”
“And?” Mazu shrugged. “Maybe I like racing.”
“That’s clear. I just wonder why you continue racing in a corrupt system meant to kill its competitors.” Cricket was fishing. She knew it. Mazu knew it. But now that Cricket knew the kelpie was clearly friends with Danica, she was even more curious about the kelpie.
Mazu’s eyes met hers in the mirror. “My reasons are my own, Lady Snapdragon.”
Cricket considered asking again, or asking a different question, but in the middle of a dangerous race with still three teams to pass probably wasn’t the time for that. So, she clamped her lips shut and focused on the road ahead of her, making sure the tires kept their grip on the road as they swerved around the corners.
In the passenger seat, Radley was mostly silent, his eyes on the road, his fingers resting beside the weapons panel. He was tense, his head tilted to the side as if he were listening outside. For a moment, no one said anything at all, riding in the roaring car silently. The heater managed to keep the car mostly warm so at least they weren’t freezing but it was so frigid outside, the cold still crept in. Cricket preferred the tropics rather than the cold, but Radley seemed to be totally fine with it. Of course, he was a wolf. He probably enjoyed the snow.
Out of nowhere, headlights shone through the back window and lit the inside of their car up. Before Cricket could even counteract to it, the goblin car went screaming by. They were going so fast, Cricket didn’t know how they were still on the road.
“They probably have spikes on their tires,” Radley commented, his eyes watching as the car disappeared around a bend.
“They were hanging out the window,” Cricket said, her face twisted. “Do they not feel the cold?”
Mazu shrugged. “Most goblins have such thick skin, they likely don’t even feel it. Regardless, you’re now back in fifth place.”
They rounded the curve and Cricket’s eyes widened. There wasn’t just one car now. There were two.
“Vamps and goblins,” Radley answered the unspoken question, his eyes flicking down to the tablet where all the stats were kept. “Goblins probably stopped to give them hell.”
The vampire’s car was in bad shape, the sides all crumbled as if they’d tangled with the yetis and not come out so great on the other side. The car was smoking and moving far slower than it should have been, which was probably why the goblins had decided to focus on them. The goblins loved messing with teams already in trouble. It was part of their personality.
Pushing the Ferrari just a little bit faster to pass them, Cricket figured they could simply go around the two slow moving cars as they fought between them. It wasn’t until she was right beside them that she saw the vampire stand up out of the sunroof with a gun far too big for his shoulders.
“We’re too close,” Radley growled. “Get us away from them.”
The Ferrari slid as Cricket stepped on the gas. Her attempt at easing into it while still moving fast caused the tail of the car to swerve but she’d spent enough time behind the wheel to turn into the slide and right the car quickly. They pulled away from the two cars by a few yards before she heard the rocket launcher go off. The inside of the car lit up even as the force of the explosion rocked the car and pushed them forward. Being cushioned inside the car helped their ears but Cricket still flinched regardless. The explosion settled and the horn went off, echoing above them.
“Goblins,” Radley murmured.
Cricket nodded. “Good. Better the goblins than the vampires.” She didn’t want to see the sadness it would cause for Danica to realize any friends might have died.
Mazu slapped the seat, her head tilted to the side. “Do you hear that?”
Both Cricket and Radley paused and listened. It was Radley who heard the rumbling first, his eyes blowing wide.
“What is that?” he growled.
Cricket turned to look out the passenger side window and her chest froze. A large cloud of snow danced up the mountain, and at first, she couldn’t understand what she was seeing, not until the larger chunks became apparent.
“Avalanche,” she whispered, her eyes wide.
Without waiting for anyone else to say anything, Cricket dropped the car into gear. They’d have to risk losing traction over being buried. There was no better option now.
“Watch the curve!” Radley growled, holding on for dear life.
Cricket realized none of them were wearing their seatbelts anymore. There hadn’t been time to buckle them again after the yetis. It would make any wreck they had more difficult to survive, but they could hardly focus on that as they swerved around another bend, the first small chunks of the avalanche bounding off the roof of the Ferrari. They were small pebbles at that point, but they would get larger the closer the avalanche came.
“Go!” Mazu shouted, her eyes focused out the back window. “It’s getting closer.”
“One mile until the Mariana Trench,” Radley grunted, his eyes on the side mirror, watching the avalanche gaining speed.
Cricket gripped the wheel so tightly, her fingers were white with stress. She forced herself to breathe in and out slowly, to stay calm despite her instinct to do anything but. This was something she couldn’t mess up. One wrong move, one twitch of her hand, and they’d go careening from the road. One second too slow and the snow would bury them deep and there’d be no chance to win.
Gritting her teeth, Cricket pushed the car as fast as she could around the last mile of Mount Chaos, her chest rattling with her breathing. Larger chunks began to hit the car as the tidal wave of snow danced at their heels, travelling along the road rather than travelling down. Of course they’d enchant any avalanche to follow the racers. Somewhere behind them, the vampires were likely buried. Cricket hoped they could get out, but they couldn’t afford to stop and help them. Not now. They were in third place, only the wolves and crows in front of them. There were still three more sections to cross.
“Here it comes,” Radley growled, his hands bracing himself in his seat, veins popping from his flesh. Tension filled the car between the three of them, but Mazu stayed silent, her eyes on the ice chasing them. “Quarter mile until Mariana tTench.”
Ahead of them, Cricket could make out the beginnings of something dark. The white of the snow suddenly ended there. The road straightened out and Cricket opened up the engine of the Ferrari, going as fast as possible as ice clanged against the rear window and the roof, likely leaving small dents behind. She focused on the road before her rather than the avalanche closing in. It was the only thing keeping her from panicking.
“Cricket. . .” Radley rasped.
“I’ve got it,” she grunted, pushing the Ferrari hard. Faster, faster, faster.
The speedometer needle rose passed one hundred and sixty. At this speed, one small flick of her wrist and they’d be dead. The tires would have no grip at all on the ice and snow. But the avalanche was closing in. If she slowed, they’d lose.
The darkness of the next section drew close, close, closer, and then they were slamming from the snowy mountains into the darkness of the deep ocean, only lit up by small floating lights in the air. Cricket’s eyes glanced in the mirror once to see the ice building up against an invisible barrier behind them, stopping before the Mariana Trench section. At least they wouldn’t have to worry about the teams behind them catching up. That way was effectively cut off.
“This is my stop,” Mazu commented. “Don’t stop. I’ll jump out across the wolf.”