Jordy elbows me in the ribs, a grin on his face as he sucks on apalerindas—a tamarind-flavored sucker. Personally, I can’t stand the things, but Jordy’s an addict and always has a few in his bag.
I bounce my leg, waiting for Rourke to hurry up so we can get out on the field. Since Isa was attacked my wolf has been on a rampage, and tonight is the perfect outlet for all my pent-up aggression. I’m going to put team vamp through hell and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.
The stadium lights illuminate the field and hundreds of people in the bleachers as I jog beside my team. I scan the crowd, not seeing Isa yet, but I know she’ll be here. Seats are packed, everyone on the home side decked out in red and black with devil horns on their heads. The away team side is filled with more people, all of them dressed in white and blue, some sporting halos or fake feathered wings.
Team captains chose our mascots for tonight. Des fittingly chose to name our team the Devils. Team vamp—led by Malachi Stone— decided to call his team the Saints. Funny, I know.
I make sure Isa’s bracelet is tucked beneath my glove before following the other guys to the center of the field. With Des acting as captain and quarterback, all eyes are on him as we huddle up and run through the details of our first play.
I’m hyped as fuck and bouncing on the balls of my feet, ready to leave the Saint’s defense in a cloud of dust. One last scan of the bleachers shows that Isa still isn’t here, but I shake off the irritation as soon as I spot my pops in the stands. I puff out my chest and when Des calls the play and snaps back, because I’m off. I sprint wide to the left, before spinning to catch the ball I know is aimed right for me. My hands connect with the laces and I clutch the damn thing like my life depends on it before taking off straight for the goal posts.
I’m tackled twenty yards from the end zone by a speedy little fucker—a vampire I vaguely recall named Emerson— but I’m still grinning because we picked up way more ground on the first play than we should have. Looks like the vamps aren’t all that great at American football after all. I know most of them are old-ass grandpas who probably never played a day in their humans lives while the rest of us, at the very least, played a little backyard football growing up. We definitely have the advantage.
It’s the end of the second quarter and we’re ahead by seven. The stadium is packed, making it harder to find my girl, but as I take my seat on the bench, Desmond points out Liu’s little sister. “Baby Liu’s here. That means Isa is, too.”
I nod, scanning the surrounding crowd for her dark brown hair. The spot beside Meiying is vacant. Maybe Isa went to the restroom? The idea alone is enough to have me clenching my hands into tight fists. “Yeah, but do you see her?”
He looks and shakes his head. “No.”
“Me, either. Which means she’s off somewhere at this packed fucking game alone right now.” Fuck. What is she thinking? Does she have any idea how dangerous it is for her right now? How many supernaturals would jump at the opportunity to take down an unaffiliated wolf?
“Maybe she just went to grab a soda?”
“I don’t care if she needed to take a shit. She knows the deal. She’s not supposed to go anywhere alone.”
He nods, a scowl on his face letting me know he doesn’t like this any more than I do, but there isn’t anything either of us can do about it from the field. Rourke calls us back to the locker room for our half-time pep talk and I have no choice but to follow the rest of my team.
Spirits are high when we return for the beginning of the third. We’re in the lead and even the vamps on our team are getting a kick out of showing up some of their own.
The seat beside Meiying is still fucking empty. Worry worms through me, followed quickly by anger when I catch my pops getting up from the stands, his phone to his ear, because of course he can’t stick around long enough to actually finish the game.
I’m tracking his movements as he leaves through the gated entrance and I miss Des’s words as he calls out the play before the snap.Fuck. I take off, hoping I’m heading in the right direction. When Des throws, I realize I’m way the fuck off and have to kick it into gear to reach his intended mark. With wolf speed, I veer towards the ball. My fingers graze across the pigskin but I fumble the catch. Thankfully, one of my fae teammates is close by to recover it. I kick at the field, unearthing a chunk of grass as I curse and head back to the start-up line.
The rest of the game goes similarly, but I’m not the only one affected now. It’s like everything went to shit the second half. Des throws an interception and we miss two field goals that we should have had in the bag. Jordy lets two running backs slip past him, allowing the Saints to score. We’re still in the lead but we’re down to the wire and if we don’t score, there’s a good chance the Saints will on their next play, and we’ll lose. There isn’t enough time on the clock for the ball to come back to us again. I have to score now.
I know the play. We went over this maneuver a million times during practice. It’s our hail Mary. The play we reserve for when we’re down to the wire, knowing it will only work once.
I focus on my breathing, drawing on my wolf’s sight as I narrow my field of vision and zero in on where I need to be and how to get there as quickly as possible. There are two vampires and a fae on the Saint’s team that I know are watching me, trying to determine if Des will throw to me or one of our other receivers.
We set up the play in a spread formation, giving us five receivers on the field in the hopes of dividing the Saints’ attention. When Des takes the snap, he’ll feign throwing it to Sebban and I’ll run hard left to steal the pass. It’s not foolproof but it’s what we’ve got.
My pops never returns after stepping out and I still haven’t caught sight of my girl. Focusing all of my anger and frustration into our last play I sprint up the field, adrenaline rushing through my veins. My hands find the ball and then I’m racing along the boundary line.
Two players are hot on my heels and I have no one from my own team anywhere close to help. One of the assholes—a fae with long blond hair—is gaining on me, but with the ball tucked under my right arm I shove out with my left, shoving him away with shapeshifter strength and then TOUCHDOWN!
My team rushes me. Helmets knock into mine and fists knock me in the shoulder. There’s less than a minute on the clock and the other team has no time-outs left. I cheer with my team. We won. We’ll run out the clock, but my job here is done.
I’m riding high and smiling like an idiot until I look back up at the stands.
Meiying’s nowhere to be found now, and neither is Isa.
My smile tightens, my wolf growling in frustration. I turn back to the guys, accepting their good-natured high-fives and shouts of congratulations, all the while thinking in my head,where the fuck is she?
25
Isa
I’m running late getting to the game. Meiying was going to meet me at my place and we’d drive over together but something came up, so she sent a text letting me know she’d have to meet me at the school.
