Page 126 of Immortal Sun

I skip over one of hers and preen. “Done.”

Her laughter fills the cave as she jumps my checkers twice and collects them like a monster!

“Wait! Isn’t that illegal?”

“Nope.” Her face is pure gloating.

I hate losing. I never lose. What the hell?

She practically beams down at me. “Perfectly within the rules of checkers.”

“You’re lying!” I jump to my feet. “You’re cheating!”

“Am not!” She puts her hands on her hips. “Ask Dag!”

Daggon looks over us from the rock wall and holds up his hands. “I’m just the help.”

I glare at him.

He drops his hands and gives me his back again.

I adjust my robe and sit back on the bed. “Again.”

“You haven’t lost yet.”

Slowly, I lift my head and glare at her. “Yes, but by my calculations I can’t win.”

She shrugs a shoulder and smiles. “See? And aren’t you having fun? Maybe checkers can be your thing.”

I lean back and cross my arms. “Or maybe I make you think you’re drowning in a sea of checkers for beating me.”

She tosses a checker towards me. I duck. “That’s creepy, even for you.”

“I’m not creepy,” I say defensively. “Let’s play again.”

“Did you want me to hold back or?—”

“Finish that sentence and I’m telling the panther that you’re a steak. Trust me when I say she’s very aggressive with her food.”

She recoils and then crosses her arms. “Fine, you set up the board.”

I move all the checkers back to their spots and allow myself to go first.

My pride gets hurt again and again until finally I can’t take it anymore.

I’ve lost seven times.

I throw the board onto the ground and kick it for good measure. “It’s a stupid game.”

“It’sjusta game.” Cleo stands up. “Clearly, you’re not used to playing for fun.”

“Fun.” I laugh. If she only knew. “I don’t think I really know what that word is anymore.”

Cleo bends over and starts picking up the checkers. When she’s finished, she sets them on the bed, then approaches. She must have a death wish with the way my dark mood is affecting me.

If she gives me a pep talk, I just might kill her.

“What else do I need to know about Dag?” she asks. I hate the question immediately. I hate what we’re doing. I hate so much that it burns my throat and fills my blood with boiling rage. Why we ever decided to gift the children of Chaos a boon is beyond me. I understand it was so they could have something to look forward to. They never asked for this. But now? I hate it. I hate it like the fire of my millions of burning suns.

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