“It does to me.” What was he not telling her? Her brow furrowed.Drowning. I’m drowning.“I won’t be able to focus today if I’m worried about you.”
“I’m monitoring the security, everything. Making sure nothing like last time happens—or worse. Nightheart is nearby.”
“He is?”
“Yes.”
“Is there something wrong?”Is that why he feels so far away?
Deadly Dearestwas called.
He turned toward her. “Nothing is out of the ordinary. We only have to win.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, little spitfire.”
“Vee Miles and Cypher.”
Vee squeezed Cypher’s hand. “You got this.”
He chuckled softly. Some of the strain left his shoulders, but that strain transferred into her.
“We got this,” she amended.
“We do.”
They stepped onto the stadium grounds together as the crowd roared.
28
Cypher yanked off his visor.
Eighteen hours. It had gone on for eighteen fucking hours, much longer than he and Vee ever put in at one time. There’d been one mandatory break in the middle, but most of the players never left their rigs. Vee didn’t want to either—being so far behind in scoring—that he’d had to force water down her throat and demand she eat an extra booster energy bar.
He tore off his rig straps and stormed to Vee’s side right as she took her own visor off. Pulling her into his arms, the crowds grew wild again now that the game had come to an end. Cypher scanned the arena; there were fewer people here than when they’d first started.
Vee smiled up at him.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“Let’s get you some food.”
He took her hand and led her from the stadium. In the distance, he saw the sun rising in the sky.
Fuck.
Leading her back above to their private lounge, they found her parents asleep on the couches within. An attendant quietly came in, congratulated them, and placed down several plates of food.
“It won’t be long now until they announce the winners,” Vee said, sitting at a table overlooking the stadium. “We’ll have to go back down when they do.”
“Hmm.” He hadn’t known the game would go on for so long.
I’m due to leave Earth… Today.He hoped he’d be able to remain long enough for the announcement. It was ultimately up to Nightheart and the spaceport’s schedule for departure.
But that wasn’t solely what bothered him…
