Page 20 of Fallen Crown

“Not exactly,” I say, and a familiar flare of annoyance ignites. Would it kill her to let her guard down an inch? “I got a flat tire.”

Paxton, Wren, and Riker crest the hill and head into the shelter of the rest area after throwing us a few raised eyebrow glances. No one in their right mind would choose to be out in this weather, but Tucker hasn’t made any move to go inside.

“You should have waited,” she says. “Someone would have doubled back for you. We don’t leave teammates behind.”

“But I had a vehicle, and it’s fucking pouring. You expected me to hang tight and wait for someone?”

“Where’s your spare tube for your tire?” She holds out one hand while her other brushes water off her face.

“I don’t have one,” I admit.

“You need to be better prepared. There won’t be an SUV to take you up a hill on the course.”

“Not like you’ve helped with preparedness. It’s like a fucking game to you, to see if you can catch me out.”

“Hasn’t been hard to highlight your inexperience,” she says as she storms toward the rest area.

“You always make the right choice? Never made any mistakes?” My tone is deliberately antagonizing as I follow her. “We both know the truth.”

She whirls on me with tense shoulders and a raised finger, but instead of saying anything, she just stares at me.

I run my hands across my face to clear my vision. Almost looked like there were tears in her eyes. Normally, my digs elicit anger. Tears of rage? When I examine her again, any hint of sadness is gone.

“I don’t know why you wanted to be on this team,” she says, “but it’s not too late to back out.”

Wren, Paxton, and Riker come out of the rest station and head to their bikes, ignoring me and Tucker.

“We can find someone else. If you can’t stick with the team during training and you can’t rely on your teammates for help, you might as well just go home.”

“It’ll be too dark if we don’t leave soon!” Wren shouts from the parked bikes. The three of them are already back on, ready to ride.

I go to the back of the SUV, and I unhook my bike. Jag is out of the vehicle at my side.

“Your Highness, does Ms. Tucker have a way to fix your bike?” he asks.

I ignore him while I grab my helmet out of the back, buckling it up and pushing my bike toward the group.

“That’s not safe,” Tucker calls to me when she catches sight of me. The other three have already started back down the mountain. She gets off her bike, letting it fall to the ground to stand in front of me. “You’ll wreck your bike or hurt yourself.”

“You wanted to see commitment—here’s commitment.” I let my bike fall to the ground beside hers. “I can’t win with you.”

“Going down the mountain in these conditions on a broken bike doesn’t make you a hero; it makes you a fool.”

“I suppose you’d be more than capable of recognizing one of those.” The words are out before I’ve even thought about what I’m saying. It’s a comment meant to wound, but I’m not even sure who I’m referring to—her or her husband. Whatever happened at the last adventure race, Wren didn’t make it sound as though Tucker had been a fool.

She glares at me, but there’s a tinge of something in her expression that looks a lot like hurt, and all the anger drains out of me. My attitude, at least tonight, has very little to do with her, but she’s bearing the brunt of it. An apology is on the tip of my tongue when Riker, Paxton, and Wren crest the top of the hill again behind us.

“Prince Brice,” Wren calls. “Tomorrow is another day. Mare—we have to get down before it gets too dark. We’re not leaving you behind. It’s too dangerous.”

“Go home,” she says to me before she picks up her bike and slides onto the seat. She bikes over to the rest of the group and makes a circling motion with her hand, leading the way.

I shake my head and pick up my bike out of the mud. It’s filthy, and the torrential rain has brought a chill to my bones without the exercise and adrenaline to combat it.

After I’ve secured the bike onto the back of the SUV, I climb into the rear and sit there for a moment, letting the heat Jag is blasting thaw the ice in my veins.

“Trail them down the mountain with your hazards on. She might not want me to be part of the team, but we’ve already determined she can’t stop me.”

“As you wish, Your Highness,” Jag says. “We’ll watch a YouTube video tomorrow and figure out how to change that tire.”