Page 135 of The Last Syphon

Thaso inclined his head. “We’ve been at war with Billie’s family over there for as long as I can remember.”

“A family feud.” She breathed out in excitement, rubbing her hands together in anticipation. “Exciting.”

“We play every year.” Feario’s voice was deep and rough, like him. “This year, things got a little out of hand. They took out our top player, my wife, their mother. They claimed it was an accident, but I know they tripped her down those stairs. She broke her leg. Cheap shot if you ask me.”

Ky laughed, shaking his head. He looked similar to his father, sun-kissed skin, dark hair, and dark eyes, but his hair was much longer, sitting at his shoulders. “Are we forgetting the fact that you slipped Evern Root into their top player’s water pail, and that’s why they’re short a player too?”

Feario thumped the back of his son’s head. “Shush. There is no proof of that.”

“Wow, you guys take this really seriously.” She laughed, lifting one leg and stretching it back. “What’s the prize for winning?”

“Bragging rights, of course,” Pria answered.

“Being able to rub it in their faces all year long,” Ky added.

“And the satisfaction of having Billie admit defeat,” Thaso said, voice dripping with vengeance.

And Inara thought she was competitive.

She switched legs before moving to her arms, making sure to stretch every limb deeply and thoroughly. Her gaze fell on the youngest sibling. He’d yet to say a word. Just stood shyly behind his father. Inara didn’t want to judge, but she’d played a lot of games similar to this one and it could get rough. The fact that there was a long-standing feud between the families made it that much worse.

“He’s a little young to play, don’t you think?” she asked, hoping she wasn’t overstepping, but Feario simply smiled.

“He won’t be running the ball. He’s playing defence. His only job is to shoot anyone who gets past us.”

Curiosity sent her brow arching high. “What can you do?”

He didn’t answer with words, but actions, a beam of solid energy shooting out of his palm.

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Wow. An Energy Manipulator. Pretty nifty magic you got there.”

He blushed, his gaze shooting down to his feet.

She looked out to their opponents. They were huddled together, no doubt going over strategy for the game.

She clapped her hands together. “Okay, leave the prince to me. He’s my person. Who are you guys picking?”

Confused faces looked back at her.

“You guys assign a person to you to watch the whole game, right?” she asked, looking at them one by one.

Thaso shook his head. “We kinda just go after whoever has the ball.”

Ky and Pria nodded in agreement.

“Right. Well, how about we try something a little different this time?” She was determined to win, not only for them, but for herself. Inara wanted to kick Prince Walder’s ass.

At one side of the field, Inara waited behind the solid white line, staring across the wide-open space at Prince Walder 400 feet away. Thaso was beside her, his enraged glare locked on Billie. She was who he chose to partner with. Apparently, they had a lot of bad blood between the two of them. A lot of name-calling and cursing, and the idea of getting back at her was far too tantalising for him to pass up. Then it went Ky, who was paired to Avina, Pria, who was paired to Rosemary, Feario, who was paired to Cyrus, and finally, Eli. He wasn’t paired with anyone because he wasn’t permitted to leave the magical zone, so it meant the five of them would have to work to cover the last member of their team, Ward, together.

They had a plan. They had purpose. They were going to fucking win.

Or she would never hear the end of it from her Overlord. She was sure.

“Get ready. The game is about to start,” Thaso warned, and she locked down, focusing entirely on her opponent.

The crowd watching on had increased exponentially. Apparently, this was the event of the year for the lower cities. The game between the rivalling families was rumoured to be filled with tension, excitement and bloodshed.

Who wouldn’t want to watch that?