Finally, the bridge connects with a resonant thud, and in an instant, the healers rush forward, bags and a stretcher being thrown to the ground as they drop down beside Anders.
Around me, I hear the cacophony of outrage erupting from the other team while our spectators cheer, but I can’t seem to pull my eyes from the brothers on the field.
As Cole is carefully lifted to the bridge, his position is replaced with a woman. Next to the blood and chaos, she looks too fragile. I want to scream for the game to stop—to beg for the game to be called—but my concern won’t make a difference.
Ciara squeezes me, pulling my frozen body to my seat while she declares something about the player being thrown from the game as if that will help my frayed nerves.
“What the hell?” Tate growls, throwing his arm forward and gesturing toward the female player. “They’re putting Katerina out there?”
I quickly glance at him, noting the tightness in his jaw and the furyin his eyes. Aolyn remains quiet, wrapping her hands around her waist in worry, as Kamden shrugs, falling back into his seat with a nervous sigh.
With a point docked from Wildwood, we now lead 26–25. Anders raises his stick like he did at the start of the game, but this time, he bellows, “For Cole!” just before he dives back into the water. Kalli takes the lead, guiding Anders through the maze of obstacles. Meanwhile, Katerina and Orion are behind him.
Kalli swiftly scales a tree, disappearing among the thick branches. Anders follows her up, while Katerina and Orion push forward toward the ring of bladefish. My leg bounces nervously, my heart racing—for Cole, for Anders, for the entire team.
A few tense moments stretch out before I finally spot Anders perched on a branch above the fourth ring, his stick gripped tightly in one hand as he clings to the branch overhead with the other. From my vantage point, only a few home-team sections have a clear view of him. My stomach tightens at the thought of him falling. I try to remind myself it’s only water, but still…
Below, on the fifth ring near the goals, Orion and Katerina fight to inch the groundball closer to the goal, but their attempts seem more of a distraction than anything. Katerina dances on her feet, dodging the massive defenders and running them in circles.
“Is that allowed?” Kamden asks Aolyn, his eyes wide, as Anders leans further out from his perch. Anders angles his stick, preparing to throw, but the distance across the water seems impossible, not even taking into account that he’s balancing thirty feet above the surface.
“Not sure,” Aolyn replies, her voice a low whisper as she waits.
Anders hesitates, and the whole section seems to hold its breath as he swings the stick, roaring as he releases. The AerBall springs free from the net, launching into the air and silencing the arena as it soars over the water.
sixteen
. . .
I holdmy breath with the rest of the crowd as Anders releases the AerBall. It sails over the ring of water below, over the groundball goal, and lands in the net. It’s an unbelievable, should-be-impossible move. The Drithm crowd goes wild, all of us jumping to our feet and screaming.
The Wildwood players look around, bewildered. Our two other attackers are still running in circles and dashing away from Wildwood’s defense. Their goalie looks around and then up to the scoreboard, where Drithm’s score shifts to thirty-one. We are now six points ahead with six minutes left on the clock.
Their coach is on the other side of the arena, arguing with the refs, but with the coach’s sound barriers in place, the teams have no idea what just happened. Something similar to pride fills my body as I watch Anders drop back to the ground with Kalli, both of them high-fiving each other.
Trysten is on the other side of the arena, still fighting off the opposing attacker. The attacker throws the ball, but it misses the net by mere inches just before he’s thrown to the ground by Trysten. Their groundball is stolen by our other defender, and both balls are placed in the chute, where they appear back on the island with our guardian.
Our AerBall is there too, and the guy guarding the bunker, whose name I think is Mason, only attempts to guard the Wildwood AerBall.
Anders and Kalli make it back to the island using the skywalk just before our other attackers join them. They all take a moment to celebrate as the clock runs down to one minute. Anders scoops up our AerBall and turns to face me, pointing the stick in my direction, before his team surrounds him as the final buzzer sounds off.
“Oh my gods,” Ciara cackles from beside me. “Did he just dedicate his win to you?” She keels over, laughing as if it’s the most amusing thing ever.
“No,” I argue. “He was pointing it at his little fan club.”
The group of girls is all swooning over him and going on and on about how hot he is. I want to shove a honey roll in all their mouths and shut them up.
“He definitely d—” Kamden chimes in before Aolyn slaps him playfully on the chest. “Ouch,” he mutters.
“I’m sure he was just pointing to the crowd in general,” Aolyn supplies.
“Yeah, right,” Tate mutters, dodging my glare. I gather my things and start to follow the crowd down the steps of the arena finding myself biting my lip, lost in thought about Cole. I can’t get the picture of him bleeding and unconscious out of my head. Today’s game was a whirlwind of emotions, and I felt like I was holding my breath for what seemed like an eternity, only to burst into cheers alongside the crowd during the most nail-biting moments.
Each time Anders and Trysten took a hit or executed a tackle, I winced, my stomach churning. I silently offered prayers on their behalf, though I’m not sure Astor and Calia would care to listen.
As we navigate the mass of spectators leaving the arena, I tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear. I shift my cloak from one arm to the other and link my free arm with Ciara’s, laying my head on her shoulder as we continue toward the gates.
“Raea,” Trysten calls out, his voice laced with urgency and desperation as he weaves through a crowd all singing his praises. He’s still caked with mud and splattered in blood. I pause and wait for him toreach me. The crowd continues to chant his name, offering praise as he rushes by, but he seems completely oblivious.
