I’ve been playing defense since I got the ball at the very first second of the game, trying to figure out how to stay away from all the people I’m playing against instead of trying to figure out how to beat them.
But that stops right now.
Because there is no way in hell I’m putting myself in another position like the one I was just in. No way Cole is ever going to get his supernaturally strong werewolf fingers around any part of my anatomy ever again.
It’s time to even the playing field, and I’m just the gargoyle to do it.
My throat is still killing me, though, which makes it a lot harder to breathe than it should. Especially with a giant blue dragon on my ass, as Delphina was quick to recover from my snatch-and-grab and is already in the air, hot on my tail.
Delphina is faster than I am, and now she’s shooting solid chunks of ice my way—and while I may be immune to magic, I am not immune to a ten-pound block of ice slamming into my legs at incredible speeds. Gargoyles still shatter, after all.
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