Chapter 2

2.

For a long moment the pain never came.

The man didn't leave either.

Carefully, I lifted my head, straight into his eyes. First surprise crossed them, then something like anger.

"You came in here to play without any protective gear on?"

"Do you have a death wish? This is paintball, sure, but enough rounds to the body and someone gets hurt."

"What is this club even doing?"

Before I could react, he pulled me up and planted me firmly behind him.

"Stay with me. When the match is over, I'll get the club to answer for this."

His strong hand had yanked me up by the arm, and yet it hadn't hurt at all.

His words sounded fierce, but there wasn't a trace of ill will in them toward me. It was the most instinctive kind of concern.

My nose prickled. I nodded and followed behind him, head low.

When he fired, I ducked behind cover.

When he ran, I ran too.

Trying my best not to slow him down.

He kept me safe the whole way. Not one more round hit me, and we walked out of the match as the winners.

I trailed behind him in small steps. On the other side, Job Roman, Sebastian Matthews, and the rest came out too, their match lost.

Their faces were sour.

The moment Sophie Matthews saw me, she cried out.

"Sis, why are you with another team? Don't tell me you were the one who leaked our position."

Sebastian and Job went dark in an instant and rounded on me.

"Marjorie Matthews, this is a competition. Do you have any idea how long we spent getting ready for it?"

"And now you've ruined the whole thing."

But I barely even understood the rules. How could I have leaked anyone's position?

"It wasn't me."

Job seemed to have already made up his mind. He stepped up, grabbed my sleeve, and started dragging me back.

The pull threw me off balance, and my leg was swollen and throbbing. I dropped straight to my knees on the ground.

The man behind me had seen enough. He reached out and knocked Job's hand away.

"The match is monitored in real time. How exactly would she cheat?"

"If you think it's unfair, go check the footage. I've got business with the organizers anyway."

The staff had felt the mood turning from across the room and hurried over to smooth things down.

The moment they heard cheating, and faulty equipment on top of it, on a match that came with a prize, they froze.

If there was any foul play behind it, would they ever be able to run this competition again?

"We'll check. We'll check right now."

"And Mr. Henson, what's the problem with our equipment?"

Harry Henson helped me up and pointed at how empty I was, no gear at all. "Didn't you say the equipment was standardized? If it's standardized, why is there a full set missing?"

"Four of them ran off fully kitted out and left her standing there, someone whose hits can't even be logged. Were you trying to use her as a live target?"

The staffer looked more lost than ever. "But our equipment is all standard issue. We have each competing team send one player to collect it in advance."

"And after they collect it, we check it for any problems. Everything's signed for."

Sophie's eyes flickered. She limped up in front of me to apologize.

"I'm so sorry, Sis. I was the one who picked up the equipment. Maybe I lost a set by accident."

"Boo-hoo, Sis, please don't blame me, okay? I didn't mean to."

"If I'd known, I never would've worn that set. I'd have given it to you."

She cried until she could barely catch her breath, when she was the one who'd done wrong.

Somehow she made it look like I was the one wronging her.

My brother and Job started glaring at me again.

I looked away.

"Didn't you say you were going to check the footage? Then go ahead and check it."