Chapter <b>290 </b>


    Anya grunted and reached high. I didn’t stop as I passed by the pole, but judging from her gasp and the <b>crowd’s </b>cheers, she’d gotten it.


    “There’s another one!” Anya said a momentter, pointing up ahead. I looked up to see another pole off <b>to </b>the side, also bearing one of the other team’s gs.


    I pushed harder, my thighs screaming in protest. We were so close. Just a little further.


    And then Sophia stepped into my path.


    “Well, well.” She crossed her arms with a nasty smile on her face. “Look at the little Omega ying the heroine. How touching.”


    I tried to go around her, but she sidestepped to block me. “Get out of my way, Sophia,” I snarled.


    “Or what? You’ll run me over with your backpack?” Sheughed, ignoring the boos and shouts from the Omega crowd. “This is pathetic, even for you.”


    “The g, Ste,” Anya urged. “It’s right there.”


    I nodded, knowing we only had a couple of minutes left before the buzzer went off. “Last chance,” I said to Sophia. “Move.”


    “Make me.”


    I feinted left, then dodged right. For a moment, I thought I’d gotten past her. But Sophia was faster than I’d given her credit for. She grabbed a handful of loose dirt and flung it directly at my face.


    Sand and grit filled my eyes, burning and blinding all at once. I shrieked and stumbled back, my hands instinctively flying up to my face, and nearly dropped Anya in the process.


    “Ste!” Anya’s arms tightened around my neck. “Are you okay?”


    “I can’t see!” My eyes were watering furiously, tears streaming down my cheeks as my body tried to flush out the debris. Everything was a painful blur.


    “That’s cheating!” I heard someone shout from the sidelines. <fn28f8> Newest update provided by ?ovelFind</fn28f8>


    “Disqualify her!”


    But the officials weren’t stopping the game. Maybe they hadn’t seen what happened. Or maybe they just didn’t


    care.


    “Listen to me.” Anya’s mouth was right next to my ear now. “I’ll be your eyes. Turn forty–five degrees to your right. Now walk straight. That’s it. Keep going.”


    I followed her directions blindly, trusting herpletely. Each step felt uncertain, and I feared I might trip over something I couldn’t see, but Anya remained calm and clear.


    “Good. Now left. Perfect. The g is ten feet ahead. Nine. Eight.”


    Finally, I felt Anya reach out and grasp the g. “Got it!” she said, then patted my shoulder. “Now run back to our side! I’ll navigate!”


    Somehow, I found a reserve of energy I didn’t know I had. The crowd’s cheering grew louder as we approached our territory. I could just barely make out the colored boundary markers through my watering eyes.


    “Almost there! Five more feet! Three! Cross the line NOW!”


    I lunged forward just as the buzzer sounded.


    For a moment, there was silence. Then the Omegas in the crowd erupted into cheers so loud it drowned out everything else. I stood there gasping for breath, still clutching the g, with Anya cheering on my back.


    We’d won.


    Before I could process what had happened, hands grabbed me and tore Anya and me apart. I cried out, but when I managed to open my eyes and clear my vision, I found that Anya had been hoisted up onto the crowd’s shoulders. I went next, lifted easily by a group of grinning Omegas.


    “Omegas! Omegas! Omegas!” the crowd chanted. I met Anya’s eyes across the way, beaming and filled with tears of happiness as she waved not one, but two blue gs above her head.


    I blinked hard, and looked around. Our team had four gs; I only saw three of ours on the other team’s side.


    A grin split across my face.


    But then I saw Sophia’s hateful stare from across the field. Her eyes were full of hatred and malice before she turned and fled.