Page 34 of The Wicked
“Let me take her place,” Devil said, seeing that the odds weren’t in her favor. “Same terms.”
“No.”
“It’s clearly a rip-off; she doesn’t know how to play the game—”
I shot him a glare. “Not another word from you. Stay out of this.”
“This is fucking—”
“It’s okay,” she cut in. “I can handle this.”
Upper shook his head slowly. “You’re losing, love. Embarrassingly.”
She looked back at the board as I arranged it. “We still have three winning rounds. There’s still hope. I love my kneecaps too much to risk them,” she said, her smile taunting.
I was irritated by the unseriousness in her voice. The control.
We started the next round. Her first move was a disappointment; I almost felt sorry for her.
She was the most terrible chess opponent I’d ever had. Her confidence should be giving her a good dose of embarrassment now. I wasn’t in her shoes, but I knew I would have called it quits at this point, with all the eyes watching us. But she kept going, and I kept clearing her pawns off the board. With my eyes closed, I could take a hundred to none wins from her.
I shook my head when she made a move that elicited groans from the people behind her.
As we made move after move, I knew there was no way she was winning this.
She was an insult to the game of—
“Checkmate.”
My thoughts seized, and I stopped short, allowing my mind to replay her move as my eyes studied the board.
When I caught my mistake, my jaw clenched.
Someone whistled.
“Where’s your mind?” she asked me, voice leveled.
When I raised my head, I caught her gaze, shimmering with a smugness that pulled out a glare from me.
Her smile widened.
I sat up. “Next round.”
I reset the board again, and we started.
Her demeanor changed completely, making my ability to read her next move nonexistent.
For a casual game, this round surpassed forty minutes, and thoughts were placed into moves.
The tension around us escalated by the long minutes. Move after move, my anger flared. I became utterly uneasy, and I loosened the tie around my neck.
“You are too open.”Her voice pierced through my concentration.
My gaze shifted across the board, and I thought hard beforemaking my next move. She couldn’t see her win. It was covered. Only a professional would spot it.
If she made the wrong move now, I would win the round with only two moves.
Her brows fell in a frown, taking the bait. She let a breath fall through, and then she made her move.
