When vengeance strikes in the form of a bullet out for the princess's blood, Princess Aleia VonAuclair must flee the heart of her country in order to protect the people she loves and take back the pieces of her soul she'd lost to the girl she once l...
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The night passed by in a blur of tires, ropes, and buckets of freezing ice water. Laughter and cheers swirled all around me as the team ended yet another game.
Most of the games were harmless enough, though, there were a few that made me question just how far the school's board of safety approval went or if they'd just turned a blind eye in the face of the cheerleader's dazzling smiles.
Like the mini race with cement bags strapped to the players' backs as they ran around poles and tires, and the blindfolded version of a human piñata. That one made me squint my eyes and cover my face as collective oofs and groans rang through the crowd.
Throughout the entire night, though, my eyes stayed trained on the ice below me. I was determined not to let the overwhelming number of people deter me from enjoying the rally.
It seemed to work well enough. Towards the end of the games, with my nearly empty cup of hot chocolate and my heart warm in the wake of all the gleeful laughter and excitement, I almost forgot about the flare guns Nate had warned me about. Key word: almost.
I nearly fell out of my seat when I spotted one of the cheerleaders bring out two flare guns to the center of the stadium and hand it to two hockey players.
"Alright, folks!" Amber started, drawing the attention back to her as she started to explain the game. "This will be the last game of the night and the only one where all of our players will be on the ice! Our Panthers will be divided into two teams and the first to score a goal gets to fire the flare gun, our official initiation of the season and a sign of our oncoming victory! Plus, the winners get a $30 gift card to our very own campus cafe!"
The world around me faded away, the commotion muffling down to a mere rumble in the back of my head. My heart slammed into my chest, drumming out an foreboding rhythm through my veins and fear, as cold and bitter as the night sky, clawed at my throat and settled a leaden weight in my gut.
The glint of metal taunted me from all the way across the ice, whispering to me with sharp teeth and a senile smile dripping with wicked intent.
The blood, and all the screams flashed through my mind, the pure panic and terror that had gripped me by the throat. I quickly got to my feet, but an arm shot out to my wrist to stop me.
"Hey, where are you going? This is the best part!" Cara said, looking up at me with a small grin, her cheeks flushed from the night.
I shook my head, my eyes wide and my lips shaking. "I just need to go to the bathroom."
A frown instantly replaced her grin, pulling the skin between her eyebrows taut. Her eyes rove over my face and I immediately knew I looked like a human version of a wild dog.
"Are you okay? You're looking a little...rattled."
"I'm fine. I just need to go."
Her eyes told me she didn't believe me, but her grip loosened off of my wrist and I immediately darted towards the stairs.
