“So how do you win?” I snark. “Whoever’s not dead or a turtle by the end?”
“We’re not quite that sadistic,” Eden says with a laugh, “but I like your style.”
Xavier picks up where Macy and Eden left off, his green eyes dancing with excitement. “Whoever gets the ball over the other team’s goal line first wins. No excuses. No second chances.”
“That’s it? You just run the hot ball down the field and cross a goal line with it?” I ask.
“Don’t forget the ‘try not to die’ portion of that equation,” Jaxon tells me.
“Yeah,” Eden agrees. “And believe me, that’s easier said than done at least half the time. Especially since this is the big magic show of the year—everyone is using their powers at the most spectacular level trying to shock and awe the other team.”
“And everyone else in the arena,” Xavier adds.
“True dat,” Flint agrees with the biggest grin I’ve ever seen from him, and that’s saying something.
“So, just to be clear, there’re a bunch of portals you can wander into all over the stadium.”
“Yeah.” Flint grins. “I mean, not now. They set them up the day of the event, but yeah. It’s super fun.”
I nod. “And even if you’re almost at the goal line, if you fall through a surprise portal the last couple of seconds, then you could be totally screwed.” I shake my head. “That’s diabolical.”
“It is, absolutely,” Jaxon agrees.
“It’s also the most fun you can have with a hot ball ever,” Xavier says.
“I don’t even want to know what that means,” I tease.
Xavier just winks at me in response, which makes me laugh and roll my eyes at the same time. The wink doesn’t affect me at all—I’ve got Jaxon—but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t notice how attractive the look is on him. No wonder Macy keeps glancing his way. It’s ridiculous how even the goofy boys at this school have game.
“Are there any other rules I should know about?” I ask, just as Mekhi walks up to join us. He grins at me, and I wave back, excited to see him. Things have been so busy since I got back that we haven’t had much of a chance to talk.
“The ball has to keep moving the entire time. If you have the ball and pause for longer than five seconds—even if you’ve just come out of a portal and have no idea where you are—then it’s an automatic turnover,” Xavier tells me.
“And every player has to have the ball at least once,” Eden adds. “If not—”
“The other team wins. Apparently, if you breathe the wrong way, the other team wins,” I say, totally disgusted.
“Yeah, but look at it this way,” Mekhi tells me as he starts to stretch. “The other team’s playing by the exact same rules.”
I nod. “Fair enough.”
“All right, enough talking!” Flint claps his hands to get everyone’s attention. “We’re dividing into teams, so for now, it’ll be Jaxon, Grace, and me against the rest of you. When Gwen shows up, she can join our team.”
He turns and wiggles his brows at me. “Ready to fly, Grace?”
“Not even a little bit.” Still, I reach for that platinum thread, and seconds later I’m a gargoyle again, complete with kick-ass wings.
Which they all spend the next five minutes gawking over. As they should. They’re totally awesome. Xavier asked how concrete wings fly and Flint smacked him. “Obviously magic.”
My grin widens. I’ve got magical wings.
“We call the ball first,” Eden says.
“Why should you get the ball first?” Flint asks indignantly. “There are only three of us!”
“Yeah, and one of you is Jaxon Vega while the other is a gargoyle made out of stone—which, you know, is impervious to heat. Pretty sure you’ve got a couple of big advantages over there already.”
“But you said it vibrates,” I tell them. “I’m not immune to that.”
Everyone cracks up, even Jaxon. It takes me a second to realize what they’re laughing at, and then I blush nonstop.
“So what am I, chopped liver?” Flint jumps in to save me, making a show of going from indignant to really indignant in the space of three seconds flat.
Eden looks him over with a huge smirk on her face. “You said it, not me.”
“Oh, that’s it. Fine, take the ball.” He grabs it from Macy and fires it. “I’m going to be feeding it to you in five minutes flat.”
“Oh yeah? Try it.” She opens her mouth and shoots a giant stream of lightning straight at him. It doesn’t hit him, but it does burn off the bottom half of his workout shirt.
Flint yelps and jumps, while the rest of us burst out laughing. Though the female contingent of the group also totally checks out Flint’s very nice abs—Eden very much included.
Or maybe not just the female contingent of the group, I realize when I glance over at Jaxon, who is paying pretty close attention as his ex-best friend strips what remains of his shirt off and drops it on the ground, and everyone scatters to take up positions on the field.
“It’s a good look for him,” I tease.
“What?” Jaxon asks, seeming a little confused.
“I saw you checking him out.” I nod toward Flint. “No worries, though. Believe me, I get it.”
“I didn’t—I wasn’t—”
I just laugh and take a note from Flint’s playbook and waggle my brows at him.
But when things finally quiet down again and we start to take sides, I lean in to Flint and ask, “Shouldn’t I at least practice flying before we start actually playing the game?”
62
Gravity Bites
“Don’t worry about it, Grace,” Flint says with a grin. “You’ve got this.”
“I most definitely don’t have this!” I yelp. “I’ve never even tried to fly before!”
“Yeah, but you saw me fly. It’s easy.” He’s taking such long strides that it’s hard for me to keep up, but if he’s going to throw all these ridiculous pronouncements out, he’s at least going to look me in the eye when he does it.
I run to catch up, something that isn’t easy to do as a gargoyle, apparently, and finally manage to get in front of him while Jaxon—and Hudson—look on in amusement. The jerks.