Race the Sands - Sarah Beth Durst Page 0,17

a deep breath and stepped even closer, raising up her hand palm out. Slowly, with every bit of her body screaming at her to flee—and a number of spectators yelling the same thing—she reached in between the bars and laid her hand on the kehok’s cheek. It felt as smooth and cool as beaten metal.

Maybe this would work!

The kehok held still.

For about a second and a half.

Then he lunged forward with a horrific roar, and she felt a strong arm around her waist hauling her back, so fast that she fell to the ground, flat on her back, as the kehok raged against the bars.

“Idiot,” Trainer Verlas snarled at her. “You could have lost your arm. Or your life. What were you thinking? Are you that eager to start your next life?”

On her back, looking up at the furious trainer framed by the blazing noon sun, Raia felt her heart beating faster than a hummingbird’s wings. She felt like screaming, crying, and laughing all at the same time, as four words chased around and around in her head: I could have died!

“But I didn’t.”

“What?”

Meeting Trainer Verlas’s eyes, Raia said with as much fake confidence as she could muster, “I was thinking you’re going to train me. And I’m going to race the sands.”

Chapter 5

Best part about traveling with a deadly monster, Tamra thought, is you don’t have to chat with idiots. She paid the dockworkers who maneuvered the kehok cage onto the ferry, then plopped herself down next to her prize and propped her feet up. With a sigh of contentment, she tilted her head back so she felt the warmth of the midday sun caress her face.

Across the ferry, the other twenty or so passengers, mostly north-bank laborers but a few river merchants as well, squeezed together as tightly as they could, leaving a wide patch of empty deck between them and the kehok.

She ignored them.

She also ignored the kehok bashing against the cage bars.

“What should I do?” a nervous voice asked.

Tamra squinted at her. Oh, right. My new student. “What did you say your name was?”

“Raia.” She was eyeing the kehok as if she expected it to lunge through the bars and swipe at her jugular, which, Tamra thought, was at least a sign that the girl had some common sense, as the lion would absolutely do that given half a chance. He screamed at them.

“You should ride the ferry, Raia. Like the rest of us.” Did she expect to start training instantly? It wasn’t a terrible idea. But Tamra’s leg was throbbing, her old injury acting up the way it did sometimes, and she still wasn’t sure what to make of her new ward.

She watched as Raia’s eyes flicked back to the monster, then to the other passengers, then to the receding market, as if she couldn’t decide which was more terrifying. The girl adjusted her hood so it shadowed more of her face. She’s hiding from someone, Tamra thought. Runaway?

Probably.

That could be a problem. Especially if whomever she was running from was dangerous. “Why don’t you have a seat, make yourself comfortable, and tell me why you’re on the run?”

Raia answered promptly, “I didn’t run from anywhere. I just don’t have a home anymore. I’ve been orphaned, and my parents didn’t set aside enough money for me. The creditors took our home, and I’ve been looking for a way to support myself.”

Poor thing. She must have been practicing that speech for days. She seemed so nervous that Tamra said encouragingly, “You’re a good liar. That was plausible.”

“I’m not lying!” Raia’s voice squeaked, making Tamra even more confident that yes, she was absolutely lying. On the plus side, she hadn’t bolted yet.

Granted, it’s difficult to bolt when you’re in the middle of a river.

The river licked at the sides of the boat. A nice breeze carried the scent of lilies that clustered on the banks. When the breeze faltered, the sails flapped, and the ferryman shoved a pole into the water to push them along. Except for the kehok’s horrifically bone-chilling screams, it was peaceful.

“Is he in pain?” Raia asked, unsubtly changing the subject.

“Don’t feel sorry for him,” Tamra said. “Given half a chance, he’ll gore you.”

“I can feel sorry for him and fear him at the same time.” Raia was gazing into the cage. She’d drifted a few inches closer. “I wonder what terrible thing he did to be reborn like this.”

“Calculate the distance from his shoulder to his paw, then double it,” Tamra advised.

Raia looked