by Tracy Wolff
Once the teams are introduced—I decide I’m rooting for team two, because it’s got Luca and Byron on it—Cyrus opens up the case that’s been lying at the center of the field since I got here this morning.
He announces into the microphone that Nuri—Flint’s mom—is going to be in charge of this tip-off, and we all have to wait while she walks out from the sidelines. I grin as I realize she’s dressed much more casually than Cyrus in a pair of jeans and a black turtleneck, and it only makes him look like more of a tool. Not that he needs much help in that department.
Cyrus motions to the box with a flourish but makes no move to pick up the comet.
Nuri leans over and picks up the black and purple object—and can I just say it’s a lot more interesting-looking than I anticipated, a shiny black ball inside a purple metal netting—and holds it up in front of her. The entire stadium screams and cheers until the whole place feels like it’s shaking with excitement.
The playing field is completely empty of markings except for a small box directly in the center of the grass and two purple lines—one on either side of the box—about ten feet away from it, which run the vertical length of the field.
The longer she holds the comet, the louder everyone cheers. This goes on for at least two minutes, and then she walks to the box at the center and steps on the raised platform, the comet still in her hand. I genuinely don’t think the crowd can get any louder.
But when she holds out the ball—that has now turned a bright red—to the spectators as if offering it, her gaze going back and forth from one side of the arena to the other, challenging each and every person, the screaming becomes positively deafening. Students are stomping now in addition to yelling, and I’m certain the entire arena is going to collapse around us. It’s thrilling and awe-inspiring and my face aches with the giant smile plastered on it.
It doesn’t take long before I’m screaming and stomping right along with everyone else, but I have to admit, I have no idea why we’re all so excited. Maybe this is tradition?
Hudson chuckles in my head, where I can hear him over the crowd. “Did you forget the comet gets hotter and vibrates at excruciating speeds the longer you hold it?”
My eyes go wide. Ohhhhh. She’s been holding it for at least five minutes now. Jaxon had told me the longest he’d ever held it was two minutes before the pain became so unbearable, he couldn’t survive it. Five minutes…?
“Flint’s mom is scary as fuck.” The awe in Hudson’s voice matches my own.
A quick glance at Flint shows him beaming with pride.
Finally, Nuri seems satisfied she’s made her point and raises the comet above her head. And everything instantly goes dead silent.
The teams are lined up along both lines, and I notice that Rafael is directly in the center of his line, along with a short Black girl named Kali, whom I’ve never met but am pretty sure is a witch. On the other side are two warlocks: Cam—Macy’s ex, and James, his friend with the creepy wandering eyes—another reason I’m not rooting for team one.
“The two in the center for each team are the ones who go for the ball,” Hudson tells me quietly. Now that his father is done talking, he’s leaning forward, elbows braced on his knees, so he can talk to me.
“Do they run for it?” I ask, because this isn’t something we practiced—or even discussed, I realize now.
“Not exactly,” Hudson answers, and he nods toward the field. “Watch and see.”
And so I do, eyes wide as a whistle blows and Nuri throws the ball up as high as her dragon strength will let her. It soars straight up, up, up, almost to the top of the dome, and no one goes for it. No one tries to touch it at all. But the second it begins to fall, it. Is. On.
Rafael uses every ounce of vampire strength he has to jump straight at the ball, while Kali shoots flames out of her fingertips straight at where she assumes James and Cam will be. But they have tricks up their sleeves, too, and they’re already under her blast radius. In the meantime, James sends a powerful cyclone of water straight toward Kali and Rafael, while Cam uses a wind spell to knock the ball several feet back from where it should be falling.
It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen, the byproduct of power flying this way and that as the four players battle for control of the ball. It’s about a million times more exciting than the tip-off at the beginning of a basketball game, and I can’t even begin to imagine what an NBA stadium would look like if this kind of action went on.
Probably a lot like this one, actually, with its crowds of students yelling and stomping in excitement.
Rafael overshoots because of Cam’s wind spell and misses the ball, which falls straight toward James. He jumps, prepared to catch it, but Kali swoops in with an air spell of her own and yanks it away at the last second. She fires it straight at one of the other girls on her team, who catches it.
And the game is on.
The girl runs for about ten seconds, and then she just disappears.
“Where’d she go?” I demand, leaning forward and searching the field—like every other person in the entire arena.
“Watch and see,” Hudson repeats, which is absolutely no help at all. I turn to Jaxon, but he’s shouting encouragement to his friends.
Seconds later, the girl pops back up—all the way at the opposite end of the field from where she needs to be to win.
“Portals are a real bitch,” Xavier says with a shake of his head. “Especially since her team isn’t anywhere near her—”
He breaks off as Luca fades across the field to her in less than the blink of an eye. She tosses him the comet, and he fades right back to the other end of the field.
Except one of the dragons from Cam’s team is there waiting, and as soon as he gets close, she sends a stream of fire at him that has him jerking to the right to avoid her…and falling straight into another portal.
This time, he pops up several seconds later at center field with the ball glowing bright red. He sends it soaring up and over to Rafael, who jumps to get it—but misses when one of the wolves intercepts it and takes off right back down the field.
“This is unbelievable!” I shout to be heard above the crowd, and everyone on my team grins at me.
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Hudson says. “This is just the beginning.”
“What does that even mean?” I ask, right before Rafael and a vampire from the other team fade straight at each other.
They collide with a huge thump that can be heard around the stadium, then go down in a tangle of limbs and fangs. Rafael pops up seconds later with the ball and disappears into another portal.
The game goes on like this for the next twenty minutes, until Kali finally crosses the finish line, the ball burning bright red in her hand.
The crowd goes wild, and I slump back in my seat, already worn out just from the adrenaline pumping through me.
“That was the most intense thing I’ve ever seen,” I tell Jaxon, who grins at me.
“Just wait,” he says as he leans forward to drop a kiss on my lips that makes me really, really uncomfortable, considering everyone who is watching.
“For what?” I ask. “I thought the match was over.”
“For our turn,” Eden answers for him. “If you think watching is intense, just wait until you’re on the field.”
I know she’s right, and I can’t help wondering what it’s going to feel like, though I don’t want to ask.
Hudson answers anyway. “Like you’re caught in the middle of a tornado. Everything goes really slow and also superfast at the same time. And you’re just along for the ride, waiting to see what part of the storm is going to kick the shit out of you.”
A whole new flush of adrenaline surges through me. “Which part usually does the kicking?”
“In my experience?” he asks, brows raised.
“Yeah. I mean
, who do I need to watch out for?”
“The dragons,” he answers with a disgusted shake of his head. “It’s always the bloody dragons who have the most tricks up their sleeves.”
75
Now You See Me,
Now You Don’t
By the time our turn comes an hour later, I’m about to jump out of my skin.
“Break a wing,” Hudson tells me as we head down to the waiting area while the refs and teachers reset the field, realigning the portals to come out different places than they did in the previous games, so that no one who’s been trying to keep track has any extra advantage.
“Excuse me?” I answer, super offended. “Why would you wish that on me right before I go out to play the most important game of my life? Especially when I need to fly?”
He laughs. “I meant it in the break-a-leg context,” he tells me with a shake of his head.
“Well, maybe be more specific next time,” I answer. “Because it sounded like you meant it in the break-a-hip context.”
“What are you, ninety?”
“What are you?” I snipe back. “Three hundred?”
“Age is just a number,” he answers with a sniff.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” I roll my eyes.
“Don’t be nervous,” Jaxon says, taking my hand and squeezing it so tightly that I’m not sure he hasn’t broken something.
“I don’t think I’m the only one who’s nervous here,” I tease.
“Just excited.” He grins. “I can’t believe I’m actually going to play Ludares. This is going to be so kick-ass.”
My chest squeezes as I remember the Jaxon everyone knew before I got to Katmere. So certain he couldn’t show an ounce of joy or weakness for fear a war among the species might break out. I’d forgotten this was the first time he’d allowed himself to compete.
“I know, right?” I start to say more, but Flint is in the middle of his team-captain-slash-cheerleader tour, where he gives every player a clap on the back and some encouraging words, and apparently it’s Jaxon’s and my turn.
“You’ve got this, okay?” he tells us. “Jaxon, don’t be afraid to shake this shit up, literally, and you—” He gives me a mock-serious look that has me struggling to keep a straight face. “You just get up in the air and fly your little heart out. You’re our secret weapon. Every other team only has two flyers, but we’ve got three—four if you count Jaxon.”
“Yes, by all means, count the blimp,” Hudson drawls.
Stop it, I hiss, but honestly, it takes every ounce of self-control I have not to laugh. Which only encourages Hudson more.
“Too bad there’s a roof on this place. If we were lucky, he could just float away.”
Stop, I say again as we start to walk out onto the field. I actually have to pay attention now.
“Okay, okay.” He stops at the sidelines and watches as we head, single file, onto the field. We’re almost to the purple line when he calls, “Hey, Grace?”
“Yeah?” I turn toward him instinctively.
He gives me a little chin nod. “Break a hip.”
I burst out laughing all over again, and as I do, my stomach unclenches and the last of my nerves dissolve.
This time it’s Aiden who marches onto the field with us and takes his place in the box. He’s a lot more serious than the other members of the Circle—though not quite as serious as Cyrus—so there are no encouraging smiles from the dragon and no wishing of luck.
He just stands there waiting as team four lines up across from us. Liam is in the direct center of the lineup, and so is a dragon I’ve never met before. Flint calls him Caden, and the two do a little friendly trash-talking, but it’s obviously all in good fun. That, combined with the fact that Rafael and Liam are on this team, convinces me that, while the competition might be fierce, it will probably also be fair.
One of the great things about my friends is they tend not to associate with assholes—which is a good quality to have in friends, if you ask me. Flint and Gwen line up in the center of our group with Jaxon next to Gwen and me next to Jaxon. Xavier is on my other side.
“You okay?” Jaxon asks as Aiden gets a new comet out of the center box.
“As ready as I’m ever going to be,” I answer, suddenly uncomfortably aware of just how wet my palms are.
I surreptitiously rub them on my pants—hard to catch a ball with sweaty palms—and hope no one notices. But Xavier grins down at me and says, “Don’t worry, gargoyle. Jaxon and I’ve got your back.” He looks all proud wolf as he says it, head up, chest out, body loose and ready for the fight.
And though I know I should be grateful for the support, I can’t help firing back, “Don’t worry, wolf. I’ve got your back.” And then I smack him right in the center of his shoulder blades, just because I can.
He looks startled but not mad, and then he tosses back his head and lets out a loud, excited howl that gets the entire stadium on their feet. I don’t speak wolf, but I don’t have to, to know that howl was a challenge and a statement of intent at the same time.
Especially when one of the wolves across from us howls back—though his isn’t nearly as impressive as Xavier’s.
Aiden just shakes his head, but for the first time I see a gleam of excitement in his eyes. Right before he throws the comet straight up.
For a second, it feels like everything is frozen as we all tilt our heads back and watch the ball go up, up, up. It finally reaches its ultimate height and hangs there before it eventually starts to come down.
And that’s when it feels like the gates of hell open up around me. Flint shoots straight into the air, partially shifting as he goes so that he can use his wings to propel him upward. But the other dragon is doing the exact same thing, while Rafael jumps and grabs on to Flint, using his super-vampire strength to hold Flint back.
Flint roars in disapproval, shooting a stream of fire straight at the other dragon in an effort to slow him down even as he kicks Rafael in the face. Rafael’s strength is dampened ten seconds faster than Flint’s ability to fly, so Flint is eventually able to shake him off and use his powerful wings to propel him away from the other team before he’s grounded for thirty seconds.
“Oh my God,” I tell Jaxon and Xavier. “This is terrifying.”
“No, this is amazing!” Xavier answers as, in the middle of the melee, Gwen quietly casts a spell and nets the ball right out from in front of the other team’s dragon. Then she yanks it down and straight into her arms and starts to run for the nearest portal.
“Come on, Grace!” Jaxon shouts, and then we’re running right along with Gwen. I have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing as Gwen dives headfirst into a portal, but I’m beginning to figure out that’s part of the challenge, and the strategy, of the game.
Especially with the portals involved, no one knows exactly what’s going to happen next, and the players who are the best at thinking on their feet are the ones who have the best shot of getting something done.
With that thought in mind, I stop running so fast and instead concentrate on watching as much of the field as I can, waiting for Gwen to pop back out of the portal.
She finally does, about halfway down the field from where the rest of us have managed to run. The ball is starting to glow red-hot, though, and I know she’s going to need to get rid of it soon.
Eden figures it out, too, because she swoops down and grabs the ball in her talons. But her thirty seconds as a dragon are almost up, so she drops it to Flint, who rockets down the field with it.
But one of their witches casts a spell that binds his wings to his body, and he starts freefalling toward the earth. Macy counteracts the spell with a flick of her wand and some words I can’t hear. Then snatches the ball away from him and takes off toward the goal line.
Rafael fades straight for her and I hold my breath, because I kn
ow she doesn’t have a chance.
Jaxon must know, too, because he fades to her in what feels like the blink of an eye. She tosses him the ball, and then he takes off fading the short distance to the goal line. He’s so close, I think he’s going to make it. But then Rafael comes out of nowhere and slams into him so hard that they both go flying…and so does the ball, straight into the air.
Flint, Eden, and the two dragons on the other team go racing for the ball, but it looks like they’re on as big of a collision course as the vampires were. Which means I might have a chance to swoop in and steal it.
I shift into my gargoyle form before I even finish the thought and take off flying. On the sidelines, I can hear Hudson shouting for me, but I don’t have time to pay attention to that. Not when the four dragons are closing in on the ball like their lives depend on it. I only have thirty seconds of flight available, and I’m determined to reach the comet with a few seconds to spare.
Suddenly, Flint and Eden both disappear into two camouflaged midair tunnels—which leaves me the only one on the team with any chance of retrieving the ball. I lay on the speed, and since the other team’s dragons make the mistake of thinking the threat is gone now that Flint and Eden have disappeared, I swoop in from behind and underneath them and steal the ball right out from in front of their noses…and claws.
I get a swipe across my wing for my trouble, but there are perks that come with being made of stone. And while it sets me off-kilter, I manage to recover.
Part of me wants to make a run for the goal line, but I know that when it comes to speed, I’m no match for two dragons. So I swoop toward the ground and drop the ball into Xavier’s waiting hands.
He takes off with it, but it isn’t long before the vampires are on him, so he moves toward Jaxon, who has gotten back to his feet, and tosses the ball straight into his waiting hands.