CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR #3
Darcy's sports bra bared her toned midriff, earning appreciative whistles from half the bleachers.
But it was her eyes that stopped the breath in my throat—violet and unyielding, glowing with a faint, ethereal light even from across the pitch. She turned her head, caught sight of our group, and winked.
It wasn't for the squad. It was specifically for Jules.
Every one of us turned to Jules in unison, identical grins spreading across our faces.
Jules flushed a deep, violent crimson, fumbling with her glasses as if they could somehow shield her from our scrutiny—or the heat of Darcy's violet gaze.
"You girls are absolutely terrible," she hissed, her voice sounding strangled.
I opened my mouth to deliver a devastating tease, but the referee lifted the whistle to his lips before I could get a word out.
The sharp, piercing blast split the air, and the crowd erupted into a deafening roar.
The match had begun.
The ball didn't just drop—it ignited. A roaring sphere of fire burst into the center of the pitch, the heat blasting across the grass with enough force to make the front row recoil.
"Gods, it's fire to start!" Ember hollered beside me, her pom-poms shaking with a frantic energy as if she were trying to summon the flames herself.
Jules’s eyes went wide behind her glasses, the orange glow reflecting in her lenses. "Wait—what are the actual rules of this thing?" she shouted over the deafening roar of the stadium.
Rhea leaned in, her dark braid swishing and a sharp grin cutting across her face.
The ball changes element whenever it feels like it.
Fire burns, ice slips, stone breaks toes, and shadow…
good luck even finding it. You can't use your hands. You catch and guide it with magic. The nets are warded, so you have to switch the element at the last second to bypass the shields and score.”
Jules blinked, stunned. "That's—insane."
"Exactly." Rhea smirked, shaking her pom-poms with lazy grace. "That's why we watch."
The second-year strikers tried to trap the fireball, but the heat singed their boots, sparks hissing up their shins.
One player yelped, hopping in a frantic circle while the crowd erupted in mocking laughter.
Then, Darcy streaked across the field. She was all lethal muscle and violet-eyed focus.
Darcy threw out a hand, shadows surging across the pitch and swallowing the flames for a heartbeat.
The crowd gasped as she flicked the the darkened orb forward with the tip of her boot, fire reforming around it mid-flight.
"Darcy!" Jules screamed, hands cupped to her mouth. Her voice cracked on the name, and Ember, Maddy, and I all exchanged wicked, knowing grins.
Mid-flight, the fire sputtered out, stone replacing it with a heavy, bone-jarring thud. Jeremy was there in an instant.
He slammed his boot down, earth magic rippling beneath him as he grounded the stone ball.
His muscles strained against the weight, his jaw clenched like a blade. My chest went tight as his eyes snapped across the field, finding Asher.
Asher stood waiting, a wicked grin already spreading across his face, shadows curling off his shoulders like black smoke.
Ezra, Ryven, and Mavrik spread out beside him, their eyes locked on Jeremy's allies. Jeremy barked an order to his team, his gaze pinning mine for a fleeting, suffocating second. My stomach twisted into a knot.
"Oh, this is about to be a bloodbath," Maddy muttered, flipping her ponytail with practiced flair.
Rhea's serpent eyes glittered. "Year against year. First blood wins the crowd."
The match blurred into a chaotic symphony of fire, stone, and shadow.
Ezra was a blur, darting left, feinting right, then sending the elemental ball through the second-years’ wards with a crack of shadow that made the nets rattle.
He turned straight toward the stands, flashing a blinding, cocky grin directly at our line.
I only smirked, refusing to give him the satisfaction.
Then Ryven caught the next ball—a sleek, ice-formed orb—on the tip of his boot.
With a violent twist of air, he sent it spinning into the goal like a shard of ice. Instead of a standard celebration, he jogged straight toward us.
He stuck his tongue out at Maddy, the cocky bastard, and as he ran past, he caught her face in his hands and kissed her deeply. Right there. In front of the entire screaming stadium.
We all screeched. Even Ember dropped her pom-poms in shock. Maddy came up for air looking dazed and thoroughly flushed, while Ryven jogged back to the pitch with a grin like sin.
And then—Mavrik. Of course.
The brute crashed through two second-years like they were made of paper, seized control of the ball as it flared back to fire and powered it across the pitch like a comet.
It slammed into the net so hard the wards hissed and cracked. He turned, a wild grin splitting his face, and winked right at Rhea.
Every single one of us on the cheer line gasped. Rhea's green eyes went wide, then narrowed.
She rolled her eyes, feigning indifference, but the deep blush creeping up her neck betrayed her.
"Ohhh," Ember sing-songed, bumping Rhea's shoulder.
The score was tied. One minute left.
The entire stadium held its breath.
Jeremy had the ball, earth magic swirling beneath his feet as he tore down the pitch, heading for our net like an unstoppable force.
The crowd surged to their feet. My chest seized.
And then—Asher moved.
He cut across the field like a shadow-drenched blade, colliding with Jeremy in a violent tangle of limbs and grit. They tumbled, dirt and magic flying, the ball slipping free. In the same breath, Asher twisted, shadows snapping out to seize the loose ball before he drove it straight into the net.
The whistle blew. Game over.
The stadium exploded into a deafening wall of sound as the first-years claimed the field.
Asher stood in the center of the chaos, chest heaving, his eyes searching the stands until they found mine.
Darcy, Ezra, Ryven, and Mavrik slammed into him all at once, a chaotic pile of triumphant laughter and sweaty limbs.
The rest of the first-years surged in behind them, roaring in victory.
The stands thundered, the vibration rattling my teeth as glitter rained down over the pitch like falling sparks.
Jeremy pushed himself up slowly, seething. Fury was etched into every line of his jaw as he watched the celebration—but I didn't care. I didn't even look at him.
Because I was already running.
He sensed me before I even reached the edge of the scrum. Asher spun, grinning like a devil, and caught me mid-air as I leapt into his arms.
He lifted me clear off the grass, spinning me once before crashing his mouth against mine.
It was a deep, reckless kiss, the kind that didn't care about the thousands of eyes watching us. The kind that felt like a match to a fuse right in front of Jeremy.
The stadium shrieked. My heart hammered so violently it drowned out the noise of the crowd.
"Bold move," Aether muttered dryly through the four-way link, though I could feel his feline satisfaction.
"I show what's mine," Asher shot back, the thought dripping with smug, territorial heat.
I pulled back just enough to catch my breath, smiling against his lips.
"Well done, Dark One," I whispered.
He squeezed my ass in answer, smirking against my mouth, before his gaze drifted over my shoulder toward the rest of the group.
“You have to look, don't you?” I groaned, knowing his territorial streak was always active.
"Oh, fuck, I definitely do."
And then Maddy's high-pitched screech sliced through the air. Both our heads whipped toward the sideline.
My jaw hit the floor.
Darcy had Jules by the waist.
She was kissing her like she meant to swallow her whole, a full-on, devastating display right in front of half the Academy.
Jules was flushed a brilliant crimson, her hands clutching Darcy's shoulders like she was the only thing keeping her grounded.
Asher let out a low, appreciative whistle, his shadows curling around us in a smug wave. "That's my girl," he said, sounding as proud as if he'd coached the move himself.
"Let's get fucked!" Ember hollered, sliding up beside Asher and bumping her hip into his as if they were old drinking buddies.
Asher arched a dark brow at her, amusement spreading across his face.
I couldn't help the laugh that burst out of me.
My pulse was still racing, gold glitter sticking to my sweaty cheeks, and the weight of the journal felt light-years away.
"Let's celebrate," I said, matching his wicked grin with one of my own.