Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 109903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
The buzzer sounded to start the game and Neil raced up the court. He saw the Raven dealer serve but didn't look for the ball until he'd caught up with Johnson, his backliner mark. The dealer had served to the home court wall. Allison was the only one who stayed still long enough to watch it, and she snagged it on the rebound. She threw the ball to Andrew, who slammed it all the way up the court. Neil and Kevin pushed their way further up the court, racing the backliners to the ball.
Kevin was up against Jean. Jean was the Ravens' strongest backliner, but Neil was more worried about the psychological toll he might take on Kevin.
Jean was taller than Kevin, not by much but by just enough he caught the ball first. Kevin smacked his stick to fight him for possession. The sharp crack echoed off the walls as they struggled with each other. Foxes and Ravens yelled encouragement from around the court. Kevin switched tactics and slammed a shoulder into Jean hard enough to make him stumble. The ball finally popped free of Jean's racquet. Kevin didn't have time to aim with Jean in his face, but he threw the ball at goal anyway. It'd barely left his net before Jean checked him hard enough to knock him over.
The ball hit the wall and rebounded in Neil's direction. Neil dove past Johnson to catch it, and Johnson went straight for his racquet. He checked Neil's stick so hard it rattled Neil to his elbows and, in the same move, slammed into Neil to clear him away from the ball. Neil stumbled in a desperate search for balance. Johnson twisted his stick around Neil's in a lightning-quick move and gave a hard jerk. A bolt of hot pain ratcheted through Neil's right wrist. He let go of his racquet instinctively and Johnson ran off after the ball.
Neil gave his hand a fierce shake and chased after him. Johnson had a short lead, but Neil was faster. Johnson caught the ball and brought his racquet up for a throw, and Neil didn't try to slow down. He crashed into Johnson hard enough to take them both off their feet. Neil hit the ground and used his momentum to roll back to his feet. He ignored Johnson's snarled threat in favor of locating the ball. It'd fallen far short of its intended goal. Allison and her dealer were fighting each other for it. The Raven dealer won and heaved the ball down the court.
Neil almost lost track of it as it shot between the Raven strikers. It went to Riko, then the dealer, then the other striker, and back to Riko the exact second he out-stepped Nicky. Riko moved in a blur, and the goal lit up red. The buzzer sounded to signal the point and the crowd screamed.
The Ravens wheeled back to their starting points with triumphant whoops. The Foxes were slower to react, and Neil didn't budge until he saw Andrew move. Andrew was half-turned as he stared at the red wall behind him. They were only two minutes into the first half; it was the fastest anyone had ever scored against Andrew.
Andrew waited until the glow completely faded before facing forward again. Neil hoped the loss would galvanize him. Andrew was still riding the coattails of his drugs and wouldn't start fading for another fifteen minutes or so. He probably thought it funny to be scored on so quickly, but there was the slim chance he would perk up and now see the Ravens as an interesting challenge.
"Let's go," the dealer yelled, and Neil obediently went to the half-court line.
The buzzer got them moving again, and the teams slammed into each other once more. The Foxes were a little shaken by getting scored on so quickly. They fought harder, but it wasn't enough. Five minutes later Riko scored again.
"This is humiliating," the other Raven striker said as he headed past Neil for half-court. "I can't believe we're wasting our time here."
Neil contemplated throwing his racquet at the man's head, but he couldn't take his eyes off Riko. Riko wasn't going back to his starting spot but was headed for Andrew. Andrew moved to meet him and they faced each other with just the goal line between them. Andrew waved off whatever Riko said to him with a careless waggle of his hand, but Riko didn't leave. The referees gave them a couple seconds to speak, then thumped on the court door in warning. Riko finally turned away and got in place for the next play.
The Foxes pushed up as fast and far as they could, but the Ravens shoved them back. Neil could only watch as the ball made it back to the Ravens' offense line. His stomach shredded to bits as he watched the strikers pass to one another. Riko snagged it and fired at the goal. Neil's shoulders went tense in preparation for another lost point, but Andrew slammed the ball away from his goal as hard as he could. Neil used his intense rush of relief as extra fuel to chase after the ball.
The Ravens didn't score again for another fifteen minutes, but it wasn't for lack of trying. They were so much better than the Foxes were that Neil couldn't help but feel humiliated. This was worse than Breckenridge's brute force. The Ravens made the Foxes look like clumsy children. Riko was simply too fast for Nicky to compete with. He could catch and pass in one easy flick, and his aim was scarily accurate no matter how quickly he moved. The only reason the Foxes weren't getting completely slaughtered was because Andrew had their goal, but he'd start going through withdrawal soon.
After the third goal, the Ravens sent on two substitutions: a striker to replace Riko's partner and a new dealer. Wymack took advantage of the break to send Matt and Aaron on for Nicky and Renee. Despite the score, Matt was grinning as he stopped on the first-fourth line. He was set to mark Riko and looked eager for a fight. Neil was frustrated by how the game was going but Matt's obvious excitement was almost enough to make him smile.