Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 163209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 816(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 816(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
Jean cut himself off a heartbeat too late. Jeremy was slow to realize his misstep, but then Pat demanded, “The what?” in a tone that promised a reckoning. Jeremy flicked a quick look from him to Jean, who was now standing ramrod straight as he stared at the TV. His lips were bloodless where he was shoving them hard into his teeth.
If it was just Pat around, Jeremy could probably convince him to back down, but by now at least half of the team had gathered to watch the game. The locker room was a sea of bewildered and baffled faces.
“I misheard you,” Xavier said, looking from Jean to Jeremy. The lack of surprise on Jeremy’s face did nothing to improve his mood, and Xavier swung a dark gaze back to Jean. For a few moments the only sound in the locker room was the noise of the game now underway on the screen, and then Xavier asked, “You want to explain that to us?”
The look on Jean’s face said he very much did not, but Jean didn’t have it in him to refuse a vice-captain’s direct questions. Cat took one look at him and swooped in with the best and worst distraction she could think of: “You think that’s creepy, wait until you hear Kevin say it.”
“Catalina.” That horrified protest was from Jean.
“Nah,” Derek started, but the rest was forgotten when the announcers started yelling.
Jeremy glanced back at the TV and saw Neil half-crumpled on the court floor. Lane swung at him with her racquet, and Neil managed to kick her leg out from under her just in time. She fell on him as she went down, jamming her racquet sideways across his throat with every intention of breaking his neck. Neil scrabbled at it with his gloved hands, but he couldn’t seem to get an edge on her. Whatever blow first knocked him down had taken most of the fight out of him.
Referees pulled the doors open, but the Foxes were faster and closer—and so were the Ravens. Kevin was only two steps toward Neil when Dawson threw his racquet aside and jumped him. Kevin wasn’t expecting the sudden weight and was dragged to his knees. He got some breathing room with a fierce elbow to Dawson’s helmet, and somehow he managed to wriggle around so he was facing the Raven backliner.
It was a vicious fight, but Kevin had more at stake: his injury was healed, but the lingering fear of damaging his hand again was evident in how often he tilted his left side away from Dawson. Dawson had no such restrictions and was keen to press the advantage. He managed to slam the back of Kevin’s head down against the court floor, and then Wilds barreled out of nowhere to throw him off to one side. Kevin didn’t stick around to help her but scrambled to his feet and ran for Neil.
The referees reached Neil first, and it took two of them to haul Lane off him. Neil didn’t try to get up but rolled weakly onto his side and tucked into an agonized ball. Jean put both hands flat to the TV screen, muttering in jagged French. Cat dragged him back some so she could see what was going on past him, but Jean didn’t seem to notice.
The camera swung briefly to the Home court, where the Ravens’ coaches were trying their level best to pry their angry strikers off of Boyd and Aaron Minyard. Andrew took longer to spot until Jeremy realized he was with Wymack. Jeremy didn’t see his racquet anywhere; maybe it’d gotten lost in whatever scuffle left him so visibly unsteady on his feet. Wymack had a hand on his jersey, either to slow him down or hold him up, and Andrew was practically dragging him across the court toward Kevin and Neil. He held one arm tight to his side as he moved, and the limp way his hand dangled by his hip chilled Jeremy’s blood.
The crowd and announcers had sunk to horrified silence as the line brawl escalated. Jeremy heard Lane’s strident voice echoing off the walls but couldn’t make out anything she said. Andrew caught up with her right as she broke free of the referees, and he didn’t even hesitate. She was halfway to Neil when Andrew got her in a one-armed chokehold and dragged her to the ground.
Both players were immediately buried beneath Wymack and the referees. Jeremy jerked his numb stare back to Kevin, who was on his knees at Neil’s side. The Foxes’ team nurse was hunched over Neil as she checked on him, and the tension in her expression was not at all reassuring.
An unfamiliar man dressed head-to-toe in black crossed the court to crouch at Kevin’s side, and Jean’s reaction was immediate and visceral. He launched at the TV again, slamming both hands against it to throw it into the wall behind it. This time Jeremy caught hold of him to yank him back, and the white fury on Jean’s face set his heart tripping.