“But he didn’t touch me…except for my hair.” She tried desperately to put together anything else that might be of importance. “Masenak and he have some kind of deal about Chaos, and I think Reardon is in control. Or at least heading that way. Masenak’s given him permission to take Chaos and me home with him on the day after the race. But I believe Masenak would fight him if he tried to snatch Chaos away.” Yet she remembered how Reardon had almost ignored Masenak this evening, attempting to control the conversation and intimidate her. “I could see how much Reardon likes control. One of the reasons he might have wanted me to be afraid is that I can handle Chaos. He might think that to control me will be to control Chaos.”

“Don’t count on it. Korgan thinks that Reardon is a son of a bitch on every level, and no one knows him better.”

“He might be right.” She shivered. “It’s just easier for me not to think of myself as another Jeanne Palsan. But I should let Alisa know that there might be a way to drive a wedge between Masenak and Reardon. I’ll call her soon.” She moistened her lips. “But I don’t want to have her asking me questions right now.”

“Because you don’t know if you can fend them off at the moment.” He shrugged. “I’ll do it, if you’ll fetch the phone from Chaos’s stall. I’d offer to do it myself after I proved myself so splendidly the other night, but he’s been very restless while I was waiting for you. I don’t want to damage my new image by having him pound me into the dirt. Maybe having to share his stable with Nightshade is causing him to be a little on edge?”

She shook her head. “No. He has no trouble at all with Nightshade. He’s been practically ignoring her all the time she’s been here. Even when I had them both on the track together for a while this morning, he was being his usual kingly self and showing off how much better he was than her. More likely it’s Reardon and Masenak who are making him edgy. He didn’t like what was happening on the track today.” Her lips tightened. “Neither did I.”

“And neither do I. So get me the phone so I can express my outrage to Alisa and Korgan and save you from doing it.”

She wasn’t going to argue with him, she thought wearily. She wasn’t able to be calm yet about what had happened tonight, and she didn’t want it to upset Alisa when there was nothing to be done about it. Better to let Gilroy handle it. “No outrage. Just give them the facts.” She turned and headed toward Chaos’s stall. “I’ll be right back.”