Power Play - Brittney Mulliner Page 0,11

being exchanged. This fueled most of us—taunts just made me want to shut them up, and the best way to do that was to score.

“Watch fifty-two.” Grant nodded toward the far corner. One of their guys cornered Nikolai, blocking him from passing the puck to Noah.

Nikolai seemed to have had enough of it and swung around, nailing the other guy in the gut before shoving him to the ice and hitting the puck along the board to Hartman who was waiting on the other side.

It took a few seconds for the other guy to get up, and when he did, I saw the rage on his face. “He’s pissed.”

Hartman crossed in front of us on his way to their goal, Nikolai already making up for the delay and in position. Noah got the puck and passed it to Vaughn. He was looking for Hartman, but our captain sprinted to the corner where Nikolai lay, unmoving on his stomach.

A whistle blew. We all jumped up and leaned over the board to see what had happened. Noah joined the huddle and knelt next to Nikolai. Hartman turned and waved at our bench.

Coach Romney and Rust threw the door back and ran onto the ice, followed by Amelia. I forgot she was on duty tonight. She shouldn’t have to see her soon-to-be brother-in-law like this. Those two were close, bickering like siblings but always hugging it out, something Nikolai didn’t seem to enjoy.

“Oh no,” Erik said down the line. He was looking at the tunnel where two men were wheeling out a stretcher.

He knew better than most what that meant. He’d been taken off the ice last season in a similar manner.

“He’s not moving,” Reese announced.

“They’re probably telling him not to,” Derek said.

The arena went quiet as we watched Nikolai being flipped and lifted onto the stretcher. This was the worst feeling in the world. Not knowing what happened, how bad the injury was, how much pain he was in. The EMTs passed us, and we clapped. Amelia jogged along at Nikolai’s side, holding his hand.

Nikolai’s signature scowl was in place, and he was muttering in Russian. Exactly like he did the majority of the time. We had no way of knowing if he was annoyed, mildly inconvenienced, or near death.

“What did he say?” Lance asked, as if any of us knew Russian.

“Probably nothing we can repeat with the cameras on us,” Erik replied with a twisted smile.

Reese shook his head and laughed.

“Did anyone see what happened?” I asked.

“The player that had been blocking him in the corner came at him when Nikolai was facing away. He put his skate between Nik’s, so when he fell his knee twisted the wrong way,” Derrek relayed. He’d been closest to the action. “I could hear a crack from here. It’s not good.”

We went silent as Hartman and the coaches came back. Hartman looked sick. Romney stood behind us and kept his expression neutral. “It’s a break. His tibia.” He swallowed. “We could see it through his pads.”

I cringed. It had to be bad then.

“He’s done for the series.” Rust confirmed my suspicion.

A few of the guys dropped to the bench, but we couldn’t afford to show our weakness. Nikolai was a key player, but we could come back from this. We’d readjust the lines and move forward like we always did.

“We’re going to finish this game and win for him. Show them what happens when they mess with us. We’ll make sure they pay.” Hartman growled.

The mood on the bench shifted at his words. He was right. We’d win for Nikolai. The pace of the game picked up as we went into war mode. They made this personal, and none of us let that go.

We lived up to our team name. Each of us was filled with a fury that didn’t die out. The rest of the game was packed with penalties and fights, but we won. That was all that mattered. As we walked back to the locker room, we were silent.

Rust stepped into the center of the room. “The hospital confirmed a break. He’ll be out for a while.” He sighed. “We pulled it off tonight, but don’t expect them to cower or give in. They’re going to come at us in game two twice as hard.”

Romney nodded. “They’ve never been a clean team, and they proved that tonight. I don’t want any more injuries, so don’t let your guard down.”

With that, they left us to shower and change back into our suits.