Eleanor's POV
Two days. Two days of holding my breath, of living in a house of cards that could collapse at any second.
The first day, I forced myself to adapt to the enchanted vehicle. But I exchanged clipped words with Mira and Roxy. We didn't talk about anything else. A canyon had opened between us, filled with all the things we couldn't say.
The second day was worse. I watched from the sidelines of the Vexxon operations center as Keith, Kieran, and Kayden oversaw the screening. Their faces were set in grim, determined lines.
They had their people running every female racers through energy and biometric scans. I saw the data scroll across huge screens, watched them lean in to examine energy signatures, lineage markers, anything that could point to the Shadowmere vessel.
My heart hammered against my ribs the entire time. Every new face on the screen felt like a countdown. But the day ended with frustrated sighs and hardened jaws. No match. Nothing.
