Page 116 of Forgotten Sacrifice

We move to the claw machine, but I come up empty.

“Dammit, I’m not leaving here until I get a stuffed animal.” I’m down to my last four quarters. I hold them updramatically before feeding the claw machine.

“You’ve got this.” Vince claps.

Leaning over, I move the handle dead center of my target. I smack the button, and the claw descends, grabbing a wolf stuffed animal. “Yes!” I jump up and down as the claw deposits the wolf into the chute. “Look at this luck!” I grab my wolf, holding it up triumphantly.

“No such thing,” Vince barks.

I shirk back, clutching the stuffed animal. “What?”

Vince’s eye blinks rapidly, like he’s waking up from a bad dream. “It’s time to head back to the hotel.”

“Yeah, okay,” I say, not understanding his reaction and bizarre mood swing.

Back at the hotel, I sneak to the bathroom with my phone. Reading the message from my mom, I type my response and hit send before I can second guess myself.

Vince

Luna’s been on fire this entire tournament, having made it to the last round with none other than Brit Boy.

I position myself in the spectator area so I can see Brit Boy’s face, as well as Aspen’s, who’s also in the crowd. She didn’t make the cut for the tournament, so I have to wonder why she’s here. Perhaps she thinks she’s in a relationship with Brit Boy, and not asituationship.

She sticks her hand in her pocket, leaving it there. Brit Boy glances her way before turning his attention to the board.

Huh. Or it could be something else. Like hand signal cheating.

Luna and Brit Boy have been locked in battle for hours, but I still don’t know enough about chess to determine who has the advantage. The odds I can calculate, but I have no clue what those moves look like played out.

At this point, the same pieces are being shuffled around the board, and Brit Boy extends his hand, and Luna accepts the draw. That means Armageddon tiebreaker. The rules I’m unclear on, but I can’t ask Coach beside me, as talking isn’t allowed in the spectator section.

There’s a coin flip, and five minutes is put on Luna’s clock, with four minutes given to Brit Boy.

The game begins with Luna moving her white piece lightning-fast and hitting the clock, and no sooner has she done so than Brit Boy makes his move and taps the clock. It’s insanely fast, and I’m having a hard time keeping up.

Luna’s winning smiles, though, tells me all I need to know.

Luna

After the trophy presentation and paperwork and press circuit, I get a moment to catch my breath with my coach and Vince.

“Lui stava barando,” Coach declares.He was cheating.“Not in rapid; that moved too fast, but in your draw game.”

“Non mi interessa. Ho vinto.”I don’t care. I won.I kick Vince under the table.

“Let Luna enjoy her victory,” Vince tells my coach. “We can talk strategy when we get back to Jersey.”

“But—”

“I’m her manager, and that’s the final word,” Vince tells my coach in an icy tone.

“Ah!” Coach waves his hand in annoyance, but backs down.

Vince escorts me out of the lobby and onto the Vegas Strip.

“What are we doing? I need to go back to the room and pack.”

"When were you going to sneak away to see your mom?” Vince asks.