7 Deadly Instincts (The Sinfire Chronicles Book 1)

Pinch had blood on her face—but that wasn’t surprising because she was out hunting fae like they were wrath rats in Old Town. She fought with a brutal intensity and that wasn’t all, she’d told Gray and his squad all about the weaknesses of her old teammates. Duskdrop had been terrified of Ames, and her ability to inflict pain. He also preferred the right side of the field over the left.

It was little things like that which enabled Squad 23 to hold their own against the fae.

When Pinch was near the ball, she flung non-lethal shuriken into the faces of her opnoents, blnding them, before kicking their feet out from under them. She shattered one of her former teammates legs with a kick before scooping up the ball, pitching it to Rynn, and then blocking for her.

For the most part, Midj played in the kill strip, but Pinch didn’t mind dropping back as a defender.

But what she really liked was running the ball into enemy territory, where she had an uncanny ability to duck tacklers—it was as if she could see them coming. Then she would either increase her speed or dodge out of the way before they could get to her. When they hurled shuriken, she ducked out of the way, or took the brunt of the attack, so Gray could run the ball into the end zone.

At one point, as they were running back to their base field, she turned to him. “Am I playing hard enough for you and your little friends, Grayson Fade?” She growled out the question, glaring at him, but he didn’t take it personally. It was the heat of the moment.

He laughed at her. “It’s like you want to win.”

“We’ll win, which means we will have won the Testing, but that won’t be good enough. I need for us to win the Reckoning. I need all of you at your best. For us to win all three events will ensure we’ll be rich. I like money, Gray. I fucking love it.”

“This does not surprise me, Miss Pinch. Not even a little.”

“Maybe at some fucking point you can call me by my first name,” she spat.

“Maybe. But not today.”

Then they were facing the incoming runners with Blythe at the lead. Her ability to go from human to dragon at the most strategic times was maddening.

Her favorite move was to toss the ball to Duskdrop before exploding into a huge mass of scales, teeth, wings, and claws, which was nearly impossible to get past.

They started sending Rynn against her because venting her core generally flung Blythe back into her human form. Then, as long as Gray gave her mana, Rynn was able to then tackle the ball carrier, which would force the ball loose.

Pinch, who was the fastest player they had by far, would scoop up the ball, dodge tacklers, and start her run with Gray trailing her. Most of the time she would outpace him but if she got into trouble, she would pitch him the ball, and he would take over, finding a way into the end zone.

One time, he charged his stick and dropped smacked the ground, which blew a hole in the turf and took out the defender which allowed him to score.

Their strategies were working well until the demons flooded the field—both wrath cats and envy dogs with their green tentacles trailing from their bodies. It was a crowded field of death and since Gray had the biggest core, they came for him.

Pinch didn’t seem to think it was that big of deal. “More blockers. You carry the ball. Your sweet little girlfriend can block for you. Go! Now!”

“I’m not sweet or little!” Rynn protested. “And we’re bonded for all eternity, you bitch. I’m far more important to him than—”

Gray had to grab the elf girl away from a wrath cat before it could impale her on its scorpion tale.

The fae were fighting for their lives on their side of the field, and so it was easy to get down to the kill strip before Duskdrop and Blythe realized what they were doing.

Back on his base field, Tomi and Pinch were slicing up demons left and right.

Tomi’s roars could be heard across the field as she used both her sword and her claw to turn the demonic dogs and cats into piles of steaming meat.

Rynn vented her core to blast away demons and fae players while Gray wiped out the last defender with a swing of his stick that the fae blocked with his bloodless blade. However, the explosion of mana was too much for him, and Gray made it into the end zone.

He dropped the ball and he ran Rynn jogged along the far side lines, hurrying back to their base field to help their friends fight the demons there.

They were by the sidelines, and all the recruits were there from all the squads.

“Fucking win,” Doralimb called out to them. “Do it for my brothers. Those fucking fae. That fucking Blythe.”

Gray caught the grieving sister’s eye. She was serious.

Beside her, holding her hand, was the tall scarred man as well as Flaraminda.

They’d been abandoned—Blythe had betrayed them like she’d betrayed Squad 23.

Froggy screamed, “Yeah, Gray. Fucking destroy them.”

“You shouldn’t have stolen my trunks!” Rynn yelled at her.

“Sorry!” Froggy shouted back.

That didn’t make his elf girl feel any better. “If Pinch wants friendship, she’s going to have to be nicer. I thought she had changed.”

Gray laughed. “Most of the time, change, like beauty, is only skin deep. She’s playing to win. That’s all that matters.”

“Maybe not. I hate that she’s so jealous of us.”

“Is she?” Gray asked.

Rynn sighed. “You have a lot to learn about women, Grayson Fade.”

“Let’s survive this day. Then, you can teach me.”

“An anatomy lesson?” Rynn asked.

The lust mana was just fuel to the fire.

They made it back to their base field just in time to help the rest of Squad 23 clear some demons off the field before the fae came back to tie it up.

It was still tied at the start of the third quarter where once again the doors were unlocked but this time there were wrath ponies joining the other two kinds of demons.

Gray thought they could repeat how they’d scored before but there were so many of the demons, he didn’t want to abandon Rynn, Tomi, and Midj but they insisted that he and Pinch make another run, which they did. They scored a point, re-took the lead, but Duskdrop and Blythe tied it up and then pulled ahead when Blythe smacked Pinch with her tail, knocking the ball loose. Duskdrop scooped it up and then, with the dragon running along side him along with two other they fae they made it into the end zone.

Gray helped the fae girl up, a cut on her forehead covering her face with blood. She angrily wiped it out of her eyes. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she snapped. “What other choice do I have? Without a healer, we’re fucked.”

“So we have to be careful. It’s only a matter of time before the Winners try to break a bone. They know we don’t have a healer, right?”

She nodded over at Settie. “Your sponsor can heal, can’t she?”

“Yeah, but it would take some time to get over there. Which would leave us short-handed.”

“I have an idea then,” the fae girl said sarcastically. “Let’s not get hurt. What a wonderful idea.”

Her attitude made him laugh. “We already have a smart mouth on the team, but we can always use another one.”

“Good.” She frowned. “I try to be nice but—”

“We don’t need nice, Pinch. We need to win.”

Midj had collected the ball and she ran to the edge of the kill strip and handed it off to Rynn who shot over and handed it to Pinch and they both took off.

The minute they crossed the midfield line, one of the fae leapt at Pinch, trying to stop her foot, which would snap her ankle. She flung an elbow and broke his jaw and then kept running with Gray behind her.

She pitched him the ball and he caught, but a second later, he was facing a dragon. He tried to throw the ball back to Pinch but Duskdrop intercepted it and raced across the midfield line.

Blythe, still scaled, slammed her claw next to him, obviously going for his feet.

So it was starting.

He avoided the cheap shot, but it was close. It wouldn’t have killed it, but it might’ve crushed his foot, and if he couldn’t run, he couldn’t play…not until they managed to get his body over to the side.

Blythe shifted and sped past him, throwing a laugh over her shoulder. “If we get up by two points, you won’t be able to catch up. We win this, we win the Reckoning, and everyone will froget about Squad 23.”

Gray chased after her, fueling his muscles with mana. “Why aren’t you still calling my a murderer, Blythe? Surprised that Freek confessed?”

She neither turned nor said a word.

He found some satisfaction in that as he chased after her.

Duskdrop didn’t score and in the end, once again, Gray was racing back across the midfield line, only this time, he had Tomi with him.

They pinched the ball back and forth until the fae got to them. Then Tomi got in front, bashing bloodless blades out of her way with her own sword. One fae was fighting a wrath cat, which had been trying to leap up into the stadium until its attention had been brought back to the recruits. There were other demons meandering about or fighting each other until some movement drew their attention.

The fae charged his sword to kill the wrath cat, but took a swing at Tomi, who managed to block the red blade.

She then lowered her shoulder and ran over him just as the demonic cat leapt—at the fae, not at her. He screamed but another of his teammates charged over and drove her sword through the demon.

Tomi roared, “Fucker was trying to cut me. Me? Lucky I’m a nice kitty or I might have ripped his fucking throat open.”

“That’s my girl,” Gray breathed.

Tomi was in a mood all right and she ran over the kill strip defender to let Gray score. Again, it was a tied up.

But then, the fourth quarter started.

This time, even more demons joined the fight—and this time, there were the envy steeds.

Gray had planned for this. “I’ll stay back from the envy steeds—you deal with them, and I’ll get your cores full.”

Tomi snorted. “Oh, I get it. The lazy man does nothing while the women do all the work. That hardly feels fair.”

“It’s the way of the world,” Pinch snapped. “Get used to it.”

Rynn threw him a glance. Was the fae girl kidding? Hard to tell…

Midj threw down mana hands, corralling the horses some, so they ran at Rynn, who exploded. The ice-covered envey steeds shattered, and with some lucky, a couple wrath ponies, tripped on their remains, breaking legs.

That allowed Pinch to dance among the giant horses, stabbing one and then the other.

Gray kept back, giving them mana, until he heard the recruits on the sidelines start screaming, “Gray! You have a runner! Look!”

He turned to eeDuskdrop, sprinting along on the far side by the recuirts, headed toward the end zone.

Gray gave a mass of mana to Rynn before turning and giving his muscles all the magic he could.

His magically strong legs sent him bolting toward Duskdrop but he was too late.

Duskdrop dropped the ball and smiled at him. “You should probably go help that traitorous bitch. You’re foolish to think she won’t betray you when a better deal comes along.”

“We’re always going to be the better deal.” Gray wasn’t sure he believed it, but he wasn’t going to show Duskdrop any weakness.

He dashed back, running in the kill strip, so that Midj could help Rynn and Pinch with the demons.

But they were too late—Rynn had run out of mana, thanks to the envy steeds, and she was reeling back, a huge ice horse lowering its head to spike her.

Pinch leapt out in front of it, taking an icicle in the chest.

Midj cut off the envy steed’s back leg. It turned, flinging Pinch off its spike.

She hit the ground, writhing in pain. Her blood painted the green grass red.

The fae from across the midfield line just laughed.

Gray ran to get the ball, scooping it up, hating the fucking game and all the bloodshed. If Pinch were dead, they might as well give up. It wouldn’t matter anyway.

But then he remembered how Rynn had made a run while Ames had been dying. It had been awful, but she’d won them the game.

Even now, she was smacking at the demons with her sword, and after seeing her explode with mana, they were scared of her. The dogs, cats, and horses all fled into the fae’s base field.

Duskdrop called out, “Ouch! That looked like that hurt. We only have five minutes left. You don’t need to make another run. We can call it here.”

Pinch staggered to her feet. “Never! Fuck you, Duskdrop! You forever!”

The fae smirked. “I’d rather bond with the dragon bitch. There won’t be a forever for you, Pamalee. We both know that.”

Midj dropped back and nodded at him. “I’ll take the kill strip. Take Rynn. Tie it up. We have time.”

Gray felt his heart grow cold.

Pinch was white as she scooped up her fallen sword. She was leaving bloody footprints from all the blood gushing out of her.

She frowned at him. “Don’t be fucking stupid. Take your elf bitch and win this.” She realized what she said and smiled. “Rynn is her name. Take Rynn and at least tie us up. I’m fine.”

She wasn’t fine. She was going to die. And she couldn’t leave their base field to get healing or she’d be kicked out of the game entirely.

Rynn nodded at him. The demons were causing havoc against the fae, and he noticed that Blythe hadn’t shifted—she had to be low on mana. All the fae looked tired.

That made Gray feel good…not just good, proud, and he got mana from it.

“Fucking go!” Pinch screeched at them.

Rynn nodded and as they ran, he gave her mana.

Gray stayed back, as two fae went for her, and she exploded with mana, knocking them aside. Gray was there to give her more.

She didn’t need it. She pitched him the ball and then took out the legs of the kill strip defender which allowed Gray to cross the line.

All tied up.

He and Rynn ran through the battlefield, not helping the fae at all, until they were back at their base field.

Tomi was holding up Pinch, who clearly couldn’t stand. She’d gone from white to gray.

It was too late to get her over to Settie and still try and make a run—not with how much time they had left.

Duskdrop and Blythe were racing toward them.

Pinch shoved herself way from Tomi. “I’m fine. We have to win! We have to fucking win! What’s the matter with you? I’ve given up everything, everything for this! Don’t you see? There’s no going back. There’s no…”

She took two steps and collapsed.

Gray went over to her and held her.

It was too much like with Ames, when she had died in his arms. It was hard to think with the roar of the crowd in his ears and the memories of the Quelling girl.

Pinch gazed up at him. “Please. Just leave me. After all I’ve done to you, you can’t give up the game for me.” Every word was weaker than the last until she closed her eyes.

By that time, Tomi and Rynn stood over him.

Gray glanced up at his bonded. “How important is this, Mrs. Yes? Is it worth her life?”

Rynn smiled. “That fairy bitch? Well, she’s not very likeable, though she did save my life, so that’s something. I’m tired, Mr. No, so very tired. I want to have sex with you. I don’t want to play this fucking game anymore.”

Midj called to them. “Uh, you guys, we have that fae guy coming. And that unpleasant dragon person. I don’t mean to interrupt but…I’m a bit low on the old mana.”

Tomi saw what was happening. “Don’t worry about it Midj. Just let them pass. I think we’ve done enough soul shredding this week. Maybe we can shred some souls later this month.”

The entire stadium was muttering in disbelief. Some were booing.

Gray stood up with the very unconscious Pinch in his arms. “I’ll carry her over.”

Duskdrop and Blythe ran it into the end zone and dropped the ball. Midj went over and picked it up but she wasn’t hurrying any.

Gray carried Pinch over to the sidelines.

Settie stood there in her mask and hat. “What in the fuck are you doing?”

“I think you call it losing.” He laid Pinch on the ground. “If you could heal her, I’d appreciate it. Maybe we’d have time for another run, but to be honest, I’m not feeling it.”

Settie threw her mask down. “This is not helping anyone.”

Gray pointed. “It’s helping her. Let the Winners win. We still have the Reckoning.”

Settie sighed. “Grayson Fade, you will be the death of me.”

He laughed. “I doubt that. You faced down the Troublemaker. I’m just a Cradleport boy.”

“It was just a story I told you all.” Settie started into his eyes. “You can’t really believe I’m Little Dani Witherhand.”

He shrugged. “In the end, I don’t care all that much, but to be honest, I think that’s exactly who you are. And I think at some point, you’ll tell us all about the Fall of Alastria.”

The entire stadium was booing now, so very upset that Gray and Settie were taking their time.

The captain bent and touched the fae, healing her wounds

Gray bent as well. He could feel Settie’s heat and smell her while she worked. He touched Pinch’s face, wiping away some blood. The wound on her forehead was healing, but it didn’t feel good. Gray knew that from his own experience.

Pinch let out a shriek, grabbing his hand. “Where am I? What about the game? What are we going to do about the game?”

The crowd started to chant down the final thirty seconds.

Twenty seconds…

Ten…

Pinch got up to run.

Tomi and Rynn were at the midfield line, tossing it back and forth to each other, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, like they were back at the Chaotica field in Pit City warming up.

The fae girl again only made it about two steps…maybe three.

Settie grimaced. “Go attend to her. She’s not going to happy you know.”

“I know.”

He went to Pinch and knelt next to her.

She turned to her side. Now her face was a mixture of mud and blood. “You could’ve left my body on the field. You could’ve made another run.”

“Probably,” he said. “But we didn’t want to risk it. We didn’t want to risk you.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “But I haven’t been nice. You won’t be my friend if I’m not nice.”

Gray sat down next to her, right in the mud. The Soulshred Week was over, they’d lost, but it sure didn’t feel like it.

“You’ll figure out how to be nice to us, Pinch.”

She didn’t look away, even as the fae started to celebrate. The crowd had realized that booing wasn’t going to motivate them, so they started to scream and shout and celebrate right along with Squad 1, otherwise known was the Winners.

“I still don’t understand. You could’ve won the Testing today.”

“Aren’t you tired of playing Crewel’s games?” He asked.

She nodded.

“So let’s stop playing his game and start playing our own.”

That made her smile even as her tears cut a line down through the grime on her face.