Page 111 of Liminal

“I’ve not known him long,” Jasper mutters. “But I’m fairly certain there’s very little that can do that.”

Dakari scoffs his agreement, and I discreetly pick up the jacket again and work on forcing my arms back into the holes. Eddy is quizzing Leo about how it’s not against the rules for teams to have unequal numbers of scorers, but I have to tune the discussion out to focus.

It’s a waste of power, given the immense amount of manipulation magic to pull it off.

“That’s an interesting necklace,”Pierce remarks.

North, who had finally started reliably watching the game, turns to face the man who’s currently looking down his nose at the pendant with eyes narrowed with judgement.

“Are you deaf or just so up your own ass you can’t tell when you’re unwanted?”

Pierce blinks at him like he’s never been spoken to thus in his life. It even works for a few minutes, allowing us to watch Lambert make a half-hearted attempt to score, which misses.

“Get your head in the game, Lambert,” Leo mutters under his breath, belying the rapt focus with which he’s once again pretending to read his book. “You need to win this one.”

The same can’t be said for Jasper. His head has fallen back, lips parted on soft, deep sleeping breaths.

The poor man is perpetually exhausted while his magical well is still healing, and I summon a fleece blanket to cover him. Only, the Arcanaeum sends a little extra magic into the spell, and it turns out patterned with tiny hearts and rainbows. Dakari notices, shooting me a silent questioning look, but I keep my eyes furiously focused on the screen.

Eddy chews her lip as she considers something. A second later she asks, “If the balls are named in Greek, does that mean?—”

Leo silences her with a hand. “No. Arcanists aren’t Greek. The balls used to be called dull, liminal, and arcanist, but the terms were derogatory because they inferred that only adepts were arcanists and that inepts were slow and worthless. Eventually they were renamed, though it took longer than it should—Oh,comeon, Lambert!”

He thrusts both hands into his hair as the Winthrop heir misses what should’ve been an easy shot, sending the gamma straight into the hands of one of the opposing team’s reapers.

Leo’s right. What’swrongwith him today?

Galileo’s exasperation bleeds from every pore, and he snaps his book closed, casting a sharp look at me. Somehow, I’ve ended up on the edge of my seat with my hands poking through Lambert’s sleeves in strange places as I cover my mouth with my hands.

Shoot. I’m more invested than I thought.

“I’ll be back,” he mutters, heading for the nearest door, a plain brown one with a rusty handle—and knocking on it harshly. “UAA Arena.”

I’m so invested that I barely even notice his absence.

“You’d think a newcomer would be more interested in making friends.”Pierce crosses one ankle over the other as he stretches out.

North grunts.“I’m not interested in making friends with posh wankers like you.”

“I’m offering you an alliance, you half-dull idiot.”

“And I’m telling you to—What the fuck?”

North’s tone changes from hostile to incredulous, and I quickly realise why as he focuses on the scoreboard. The numbers, which were neck and neck, have been replaced by an illusion ofme, cuddled in Lambert’s jumper, hands over my face.

It's an exact snapshot of me as I was when Leo left, but it’s gone as quickly as it appeared.

“What is hedoing?” My tone is tight with mortification as the jacket drops from my form to the seat.

Eddy chuckles, and I momentarily debate banishing her. “Giving Lambert some inspiration.”

North must realise the same thing, because he switches focus to the pitch where Lambert’s eyes have been caught by the momentary illusion. His grin dials up three notches even as his skin morphs into granite to protect him from the lightning currently shooting from the gamma ball.

What happens next is pure dumb luck. I refuse to believe there’s any other explanation.

The gamma is teleporting all over the place. Any minute now, it’ll explode and send shrapnel across the court. Lambert dodges a strike, then leaps into the air in a flip that somehow lands with his heel colliding with the bronze orb.

“Show off,” Dakari grumbles, as the ball soars down over the net, exploding just as all six players on the opposing team dive for it.