Blood Candy (25 page)

Candy went to the team at the sideline. White
Paul and Felicia came down to join them as well. Blake slumped into
a chair, his face terribly ashen and lifeless.

“Is he going to be okay?” Candy
asked.

Coop waved his hand. “He’s done. There’s no
way we can keep hold of the lead. Hayden gave up whatever romantic
notion kept him from loosing that ugly Russian fuck on Wendi. We
can’t keep the lead in a straight up game.”

Wendi crossed her arms over her chest and
gazed at Candy, her eyes narrowed. White Paul nudged up next to
her.

“I played a little ball back in junior high,”
he said. “I can take Blake’s place.”

“Who’s this idiot?” Wendi said, glaring at
White Paul with her scary, amber eyes. “You see the hits we’re
taking out there? You’d be dead after the first minute.”

“You underestimate me, sweetie. Put me in and
you won’t be disappointed.”

“First of all, we can’t substitute. Second,
you’re not a Mullin. Third, get away from me before I rip your
throat out.”

White Paul grinned. “Dirty talk, I like the
sound of that.”

Wendi ignored him. “Blake needs blood. That
would get him right back into the game and we’d have a fighting
chance.”

Candy didn’t like the way Wendi looked at
her.

“It’s the only way,” Wendi said. “We lose
otherwise.”

“Whoa, wait a minute,” Felicia said. “He can’t
drink her blood. What about all of that blood lust
shit?”

“Me and the boys will be there,” Wendi said.
“We’ll get Blake off before he takes too much. Before Candy . . .
you know. It’s a risk we have to take.”

“No,” Blake rasped. “It’s too risky. I don’t
want to hurt her.”

“He’s right. It’s too risky,” Felicia said.
“Take my blood instead.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Wendi snapped. “I smelled
your piss blood the second you came into the building. Lycan blood
won’t do anything for him other than turn him rabid.”

Felicia frowned. She, along with everyone
else, didn’t have an answer. Candy looked over her shoulder at
Jimmy, who was watching them with mixed interest and skepticism.
She turned back to Felicia and White Paul.

“Get Jimmy out of here for a few minutes,” she
said. “I don’t want him to see this. Don’t let him come back until
the start of the next half.”

They both nodded and went back to the other
Misfits. They talked for a minute, and then they all stood up and
went into the tunnel. Candy and the Mullins hurried down into the
locker room.

“This isn’t a good idea,” Blake said. “I could
hurt you . . . and your blood. . . .”

He let his words die off when he saw the
Magister leaning against a locker with his arms crossed, watching
them. Candy glanced at him as well. She tried to ignore
him.

“There’s no choice now,” she said. “It’s
either this or I leave with Rupert. Which do you want?”

Blake sighed, resignation in his gray eyes.
“Pull me off after a few seconds. You can’t let the bond happen. I
love her. I love her with all of my heart and I won’t be able to
stop myself.”

Candy barely had time to see Wendi’s eyes
rolling before Blake snatched her into his embrace. His tongue was
instantly in Candy’s mouth, his hands cradling her head, his
fingers running through her hair. Candy closed her eyes, felt his
breath on her neck. She took two handfuls of his hair and braced
herself.

Her eyes shot open and she gasped as pain
lanced down her neck, surging down through her body. The rest of
her body flared into hot passion, the two forces meeting at her
heart in a battle of pain and lust the likes of which she had only
felt one other time. She grinded her hips into Blake and held onto
his hair, forcing his face down into her neck while she did her
best to hold back the scream that built inside of her.

Hands were on her, trying to pry her grip from
Blake. Arms were around her torso, trying to pull her away. She
wanted to scream at them. She was ready to explode and she didn’t
want it to end. Her heart raced a thousand miles an hour, pumping
her life away into Blake’s mouth, connecting their hearts into one.
And then it ended.

Candy reached out for him, but Wendi had her
in a bear hug. Coop and Chester each had one of Blake’s arms while
Chip pushed against his chest. Blake looked absolutely crazed, his
eyes blood red.

“Jesus,” Wendi said, as if she had never seen
anything like that before.

The Mullin brothers marched Blake out of the
locker room. Candy watched, along with the Magister. When they were
gone, Wendi turned Candy around to face her.

“Are you all right?”

Candy nodded dumbly. Her neck spiked with pain
and her legs wobbled. She had been so close; so close to the
rapture; so close to the climax; so close to Blake’s heart and
everything she ever wanted. Wendi leaned in close, brushed the
yellow hair away from Candy’s neck.

“Let me lick it,” she said. “It will close the
wound faster.”

Wendi’s tongue lapped the fresh puncture
marks, sending fire through Candy once again. Candy grabbed onto
her hips with both hands and tried to pull her in, tried to find
her mouth with her own. Wendi held her away.

“Slow down. It’s over now.”

Candy let go of her. Magister Fedora’s
tantalizing Hispanic voice startled her, “The girl must be outside
during the game. It resumes in one minute.”

Wendi nodded. She smoothed out Candy’s hair,
trying to make sure it covered the two fading punctures, and then
she led her out for the second half.

Chapter Nineteen

The second half didn’t go anywhere near as
planned.

Candy cringed each time Meatrack smashed a
face. Every time he knocked a Mullin to the floor, a little more of
her hope slipped away. Blake had to get back into the game. She ran
her fingers along the wound on her neck—he had better make good use
of the blood.

Wendi tried to return the favor, but the Brits
were on to her. Gavin and Rupert double teamed her in the third
quarter and she never had the chance to break free. Blake was
supposed to be their ace in the hole but he spent most of his time
watching Candy rather than playing the game. By the end of the
third quarter, Blood Court had a five point lead. Hope was quickly
slipping away.

“You pussies!” Wendi screamed at the sideline
before the last quarter. Coop was mopping blood off his face while
Chester readjusted his jaw. Blake ignored everything and everyone
other than Candy. He put his arm around her shoulder and buried his
face in her hair.

“God you smell so good,” he said next to her
ear. “I want to take you right here.”

Candy tried to push him away. His eyes were
still red, though the whites were somewhat visible now. “Blake,”
she said. “You have to concentrate. If you lose this game I’m
screwed!”

Blake shook his head and rubbed his temples.
“God, I can’t think of anything other than you. Wow, you look so
good.”

Wendi forced him out of the seat and Felicia
moved over to take it. Blake gazed over his shoulder at Candy while
his sister went over a last ditch plan. When Nigel signaled the
start of the fourth quarter, the Mullins reluctantly trotted out
onto the court.

Felicia took Candy’s hand and said, “They’ll
win. I hope.”

Meatrack went on a rampage, not bothering to
play the game of basketball the way it was meant to be played.
Instead, he chased whichever Mullin was closest. They did what they
could to avoid him, but that meant they had a hard time trying to
concentrate on scoring points.

Blood Court was up by eight with less than
three minutes remaining. Balls Deep took their last time out and
huddled over on the sideline. Blake’s eyes lingered once again on
Candy while Wendi tried to rally her brothers.

“Listen up,” she said. “There’s no more time
for bullshit. We’re going to have to hit threes and completely stop
them from scoring. Any ideas?”

Rupert taunted near mid court. “Be seeing you
soon,” he said with a wink. “Me and my brothers have big plans for
you after the game.”

Candy squeezed Felicia’s hand.

Anastasia stood up to speak to her progeny.
The Mullin children looked up to her with respect, and with fear.
That was more than odd given that Anastasia, still dressed in the
pink mesh shirt and short black skirt, looked like a hooker who had
stumbled into a techno-club where a gang of doped up metrosexuals
gave her a makeover. Her eyes passed over each Mullin before she
spoke.

“You know what happens if you lose tonight?
You’ll be the laughing stock of New England, losing an American
game to a bunch of Englishmen. Is that what you want? We may as
well pack up and leave everything to them.”

She grabbed Blake by the neck of his jersey
and pulled him close to her face. “If you lose this game, you lose
the girl. If you lose, don’t return to my house. Do you understand?
Some star you are. I’m disgusted. I won’t have a failure like you
carrying around my family name.”

Anastasia returned to her seat. Everyone
turned to Blake, who looked miserable. Candy would have felt worse
for him if she wasn’t preoccupied with the fate awaiting her in
three minutes. Blake gazed at her for a moment with his serious
face on, nodded solemnly, and then turned to his brothers and
sister.

“Okay, Mullins. This is our time. This is our
chance to stick it to these British assholes. I for one am tired of
being the butt of their jokes. I’m tired of having to look over my
shoulder when I go to the city. It’s time to show them we don’t
want them around, that we won’t tolerate their shit anymore. It
starts right here, right now.”

Blake put his hand into the middle of the
circle they had formed. The other Mullins pilled their hands on top
of his. “This isn’t only for Candy,” he said. “This is for our
pride. This is for all the years we’ve had to deal with these
douche bags in our country.”

They threw their hands up and yelled,
“Mullins!” Candy’s heart skipped; maybe they could do it. Maybe
they could save her.

“Get a turnover at any cost,” Blake said.
“Then get the ball to Chester.”

They all nodded. It was a simple plan, but it
was all they had. Nigel blew his whistle and the game resumed.
Blake took the ball at half court for the throw in. Meatrack
trudged over to guard him with a nasty grimace on his ugly
face.

“Your bones will be powder in my hands,” he
said, scowling like a bulldog.

Blake faked a pass to his right. The Russian
bit, and then Blake threw the ball to Chester over the giant’s
shoulder. The clock began to run again—2:47. Chester immediately
put the ball up from near half-court. Red and blue jerseys jockeyed
for position. The Mullins did everything they could to keep the
Brits from jumping up as the ball arced down to the basket.
Chester’s shot hit home. They were down five points.

The next forty seconds were a near blur of
movement. The ball shot back and forth between the crimson jerseys
of the Blood Court players while blue jerseys tried to steal or
block any shot that went up. Candy sat on the edge of her seat
chewing her fingernails. She let out a little shriek when Meatrack
elbowed Coop to the ground. Hayden tried to get the ball to the
Russian. Blake came out of nowhere for the steal. He threw a strike
to Chester as he ran down the sideline. Chester snagged the ball
and from half-court put it into the basket for another three
points.

Candy jumped up and cheered. She heard the
Misfits doing the same. Even Jimmy was on his feet, looking nervous
if anything. They were down by two points with thirty seconds
remaining. Candy remembered enough about the rules to know the
Brits would have twenty-four seconds on the shot clock. If the
Mullins could hold them off and get the ball back, Chester could
hit another three to win the game.

Candy could barely watch when the clock
started again. Crimson and blue moved around Balls Deep’s half of
the court, the basketball flying back and forth as precious time
ticked away. Candy and Felicia squeezed each other’s hands, the
tension hanging thick in the air. Chip said something nasty to
Meatrack and the hulking giant chased the terrified Mullin around
the other side of the court. Less than fifteen seconds
remained.

Hayden tried to pass the ball to Vivian. Blake
reversed his motion and ran between them, blocking the pass. The
ball bounced along the court near the sideline. Blake rushed
towards it, sprinting faster than humanly possible to get the ball
before it went out of bounds.

Candy and the Misfits jumped out of their
seats, screaming and cheering; less than ten seconds and the
Mullins had the ball! Chester managed to get open for a moment, but
Hayden sprinted to his side, blocking any chance for a pass his
way. Chester couldn’t shake him. Blake dribbled past half court.
Candy held her breath. Wendi ran in front of Blake, blocking Rupert
who had been dashing towards him. Blake took a bounding step up to
the three-point line—he was all alone. Three seconds on the clock.
He lined up a shot as quickly as he could.