Page 44 of Courting War
The champion wasted no time. He walked to his designated pile, heaved up a stone and barely broke a sweat, although his biceps twitched in the most tempting of ways. The chain grew taut as the champion reached the wall. He grunted and tried to pull it while still holding the boulder. It was a rather amusing sight.
“You’re being dead weight,” he said, looking over her shoulder, unable to correctly navigate where she stood with his blindfold on. “This isourchallenge.”
“It’s not my challenge.” She crossed her arms, defiantly.Theo didn’t like being told what to do. Not by her mother and not by this needlessly attractive young man. “I am not here to help you.”
“Clearly,” he growled and balanced the weight of the boulder on his side. “Why are you here if you’re going to be completely . . . unhelpful?”
He edited himself to say the nicer version and Theo smiled. She respected his restraint. It was a quality she almost completely lacked. She admired it so much she chose to share a version close to the truth with him. “I angered the wrong god.”
“So you’re being forced?”
“Yes.”
“Right.” He sighed, exasperated. Pausing for a long moment in thought, he placed the stone on the ground, before rolling the chain between his fingers, and following it back to reach her. When his hand reached hers, she shivered from the contact, despite expecting it. His hand glided up her arm and left gooseflesh in its wake.
She sucked in a breath.
“I understand that might want to make you rebel and refuse to engage,” he said, “but it’s not just your life on the line here, and I would really prefer making it out of these games alive.” He was both soft and stern. A mixture that sent warmth into her stomach. “Can you at the very least stop working against me?”
Theo’s brow furrowed. She didn’t want to give Nefeli what she wanted, but this champion wasn’t so bad. She swallowed and gave in, after all, she needed him to beat this challenge so she could find Destruction. She sighed. “I will stop actively working against you.”
“Thank you.”
Theo clutched his sculpted arm, so she could lead him back to the wall. The muscle jerked under her touch, and she gulped. It was unnatural to be this handsome. Truly. After all of this was over, she would find the god responsible for this and have a word with them.
The champion lifted his rock again and Theo was forced to climb up the wall a bit to help him land the stones. Luckily, Lovegave them a bit more leash. Instead of six feet, they got roughly ten. This still made the challenge irritating because the grid was roughly eighteen feet high.
The champion climbed the rungs of the grid, carrying a stone as big as a tire. Feeling his way, he placed his first one into the direct center.
A brilliant first move.
It gave the most advantages. A player needed to hold the center. If they could, they’d most likely win.
With a snap of Medusa’s fingers, she placed her first move on top of his. She had to be borrowing Andromache’s magic for this game because, normally, Medusa didn’t have god magic.
The boy heard where the rock landed but ran his hands over it to make sure before he picked up his second stone, climbed the grid, and placed it on top of Medusa’s. She responded by putting her subsequent move to the right of his original piece.
Back and forth, they took turns, and Theo remained silent, watching.
The boy—man, was a genius.
The mortal was creating a trap. Understanding the big picture, he thought five steps ahead, perfectly placing every stone.
This wasn’t an easy feat. He had to memorize the board in his head while physically exhausting himself. Theo hated to admit it, but she was impressed. She could’ve helped him. She could’ve been his eyes, calling out the positions, telling him where Medusa was placing her stones. She could’ve even played the game for him. Theo always won strategy games against Medusa, for she was War, Wit, and Strategy itself.
Theo could’ve helped the boy.
But she didn’t . . . for so many reasons. It didn’t matter, though, because he didn’t need her help.
Her champion was gifted in all the ways Theo adored. Strong, tall, handsome,skilled,and intelligent.
And that was a problem.
Abigproblem.
She couldn’t admire the mortal. It would ruin all her plans . . . and possibly more than just plans.
Creating the shape of a seven on the board with his pieces, the champion successfully set up the game so that he’d achieve victory in the next four moves.
