And I like my legs exactly where they are…
Which means I have to do a whole lot of zigzagging and even more bobbing and weaving as I fly down the field. With this ridiculous ball vibrating more and more in my hands every second.
No freaking problem.
But there’s nothing like a near-death experience to keep a girl on her toes, so I just channel my inner snowboarder and try a whole lot of tricks I’ve never done before. Most of them turn out okay—I mean, it’s definitely function over form here, but the crowd doesn’t seem to mind, finally sounding like they’re on my side.
Especially when a giant piece of ice goes whizzing right by my head. Thank God. Death by ice cube is no heading for an obituary.
And not going to lie, Jaxon, Hudson, and Macy being here helps a lot. I didn’t know quite how alone I felt until I saw them standing there, trying to save me. Outraged on my behalf and cheering me on. Even if they couldn’t reach me, their wanting to made all the difference. It gave me the third wind I didn’t even know I was looking for.
I glance behind me as I race, race, race toward my goal. I know I’m not going to make it, though—it’s still too far away—which means I need another plan. I just wish I knew what it was.
My normal throwing the ball or dropping the ball isn’t going to work here, not with Delphina on my ass, just waiting so she can scoop it up and get back down the field with it. So instead of just letting it go, I grit my teeth and do a deep vertical dive down, down, down until I’m right next to Violet and Simone.
Then I drop the ball right into Violet’s hands.
She shrieks with surprise and takes off running, just like I anticipated. Simone, on the other hand, turns on me with an air spell, whipping the wind into a frenzy and sending it straight at me like a heat-seeking tornado that chases me right back down the field.
It’s moving fast—faster than I am, in fact—and it overtakes me a couple of times. Being caught in it feels like being stuck in a vortex, one that sucks away all the oxygen. And since I’ve already done the not-breathing thing tonight, I’m pretty much over it.
Still, I think I can use it if I play my cards right, so I don’t put too much effort into losing the tornado. Instead, I hold it close as I keep time with Violet, waiting for her to make the handoff to one of her teammates. It’s going to be Cam or Quinn—they’re the only ones really close to her—and I’d be lying if I said I was broken up at the idea of going head-to-head with either of those jerks.
As her time runs down, I slow just enough to lull her into a false sense of security, but to do that means letting Simone’s tornado catch up to me. So I do, taking a deep breath right before it overtakes me and holding it and holding it and holding it, even as the vortex spins around me.
Sure enough, Violet makes the handoff to Quinn, and I dive straight toward him. I’m going to get that ball back, and I’m going to shove this tornado down one of their throats while I’m at it.
Quinn is totally unprepared for the ambush—for me or for the tornado—and he bobbles the ball at the first gust of wind. And that’s when I snatch it away from him and fly right out of the wind and into the nearest portal—leaving the rest of them behind to deal with the tornado.
I take my first deep breath in what feels like hours but is probably only about fifteen seconds. And then swear under my breath when I realize I’ve wandered into the stretchy portal—the one from the very first game.
It’s a million times better than being stuck with pins over and over again, but holding on to the ball is a big challenge. So is landing on my feet when I finally get dumped back on the field.
Still, I don’t have time to waste—Cole will be out for blood now. So with him and Delphina on my ass, I’m really going to have to be on my game.
Unless I’m lucky, of course, and I finally picked a portal that empties me out near my own goal line. Then again, nothing about today has felt particularly lucky to me, so I’m not counting on it.
Besides, I totally wouldn’t put it past Cyrus to make sure that all the portals emptied as far from my goal line as they could get—for no other reason than to make this as difficult for me as possible.
The weird vacuum feeling finally hits me, and I brace myself for hitting the field. Which I do, shoulder-first.
It jolts me but doesn’t hurt—stone for the win—and I jump up as fast as I can.
But it’s still not fast enough, because Marc is only a couple of steps away in his werewolf form, and one look at his eyes tells me he’s here to avenge his alpha.