Page 10 of Bratva's Vow
Before I could say anything back, Casey’s voice rang out over the intercom. “Team Orion to the red zone. Team Elara to the blue zone. You have sixty seconds to reach your base.”
Nik gave a mock salute and jogged off with Jess and Darius toward the red-glowing tunnel. Jess blew me a kiss over her shoulder. “Prepare to eat my cosmic dust!”
Sergei grunted. “She’s going to be insufferable if we lose.”
“She’s already insufferable.” I adjusted my rifle. “And that’s why we can’t lose. We need to blow them to bits.”
“Damn, Wren. Didn’t know you were so bloodthirsty,” Sergei said.
Maxim chuckled under his breath and nodded toward the opposite path. “Come on. Let’s win this thing.”
With that, we took off into the blue-lit tunnel, hearts pounding, laughter trailing behind us.
I’d never felt more alive.
The game was chaos.
Beautiful, blinding chaos.
The moment the countdown hit zero, lights exploded across the arena. Flashes of blue and red darted between obstacles, bursts of laser fire echoing through the foggy air. I followed Sergei and Maxim toward a stack of glowing barrels, ducking behind cover while my heart thudded wildly.
The first few minutes were absolute mayhem. Hilarious, ridiculous, joy-filled mayhem. Once, Jess sprinted past me, laughing like a maniac while Darius chased her with the laser rifle held like a sniper as if they weren’t on the same team.She ducked behind a pillar and popped out, screaming “PEW PEW!” while firing randomly.
Sergei, of course, was taking it too seriously, already barking commands like we were a real military unit. “Maxim, sweep the ridge! Wren, stop fiddling with your hair and tighten your grip on that gun. This isn’t a beauty contest!”
“Why can’t it be two things!” I yelled back, then deliberately shot him in the vest for being a buzzkill. It blinked red.
“Oh, you little?—”
“Haha! Lighten up, Sergei!” I sprinted off into the shadows, laughing.
At one point, Maxim and I cornered Darius near a glowing tunnel and instead of tagging him, Maxim pointed his gun and said, “Dance.”
“What?”
“Dance. Or I shoot.”
Darius groaned. “You people are unwell.”
“Darius,” Jess called from across the map, “just do the worm!”
And he did. The man dropped to the ground and awkwardly wormed his way down the ramp while Maxim and I howled with laughter. I might’ve accidentally tagged him while he was flopping, but I called it “mercy.”
“I did the worm for nothing,” Darius muttered as he rolled onto his back, vest blinking. “You two are evil.”
“All’s fair in love and war.” I beamed. “And this is a war I want to win.”
After that, Jess declared herself “Queen of the North Ramparts” and stood on a high platform spouting nonsense that she had the best aim and best ass in the game, daring anyone to try and dethrone her. Sergei, still taking it way too seriously, tried climbing the side to ambush her and got pelted from two directions.
Maxim was laughing, warm and unguarded, his eyes fixedon me in a way that made everything in my chest bloom. For a few precious moments, it was just us being goofy and loud and in love.
I scampered toward a ramp with Maxim close behind. We moved like a unit, slipping around corners and crouching behind thick crates painted in graffiti-style sigils.
Nik came out of nowhere, guns blazing. I shrieked and dropped into a roll that felt way more action movie than real life, firing back on instinct. His vest lit up with a bright flash of blue.
Direct hit.
“Oh hell yes!” I fist-pumped.
