Page 31 of Forgotten Sacrifice

I sit in the chair opposite his arrogant ass. “No better way to learn than to play. You game?” I extend my hand.

“That’s cute,” he says, ignoring me as he places the knights on their squares. Glancing back up, he notices I’m still here with my hand extended. “Oh, you’re serious. Don’t you know who I am?” he asks incredulously.

“No, but if you work here, I’ll take a bottle of sparkling water. Thanks.”

Wesley chuckles. “If you’re not worried about breaking a nail, sure, let’s play.”

“My manicure’s secure.”Can’t say the same for his fragile masculinity.

“Excellent.” He extends his hand, and we shake on it. “I’ll even give you the white advantage,” he tells me with a wink, setting the clock.

“Excellent,” I parrot back, considering my openings while I mentally go through the games Wesley lost and which openings his opponent used. Time’s ticking, and I have to make my move. An idea pops into my head; it’s either genius or insane.

Looking unsure on purpose, I move my pawn to e4.

He considers, moving his pawn to e5.

Offering up my first sacrifice, I move another of my pawns to d4.

He chuckles, capturing my d4 pawn. “Let me guess: you’re ranked in the five hundreds.”

I move another of my pawns, ignoring the insult.

He captures it and says, “I take that back; the four hundreds.”

Ignoring him, I sacrifice another pawn, moving it to c3.

“Three hundreds?” He captures my pawn.

Moving my bishop to c4, I internally laugh my ass off because the Grandmaster hasn’t caught on to my strategy.

He captures another of my pawns, and announces, “Look, this really isn’t fair. If you’d like to bow out now, no shame.”

I move my bishop to b2, sitting pretty with a pawn in center control, and my two bishops ready to attack. Sure I’ve lost two points in material, but I’ve more than made up for it in development.

He moves his bishop to b4. “Check,” he says in an exasperated tone.

I block with my knight, as understanding flashes over his obnoxious face.

Instead of capturing my knight, he moves a pawn to d6, finally opening things up for his other bishop.

I move my queen to challenge Wesley’s bishop and double up on my long diagonal attack on his king. “If you’d like to bow out now, no shame,” I parrot.

Chapter

Fourteen

Vince

I didn’t hear the exchange, but Brit Boy must have pissed Luna off. She has a hell of a poker face, mixed gaming metaphors aside, but I spot that tiny ember of fire in her eyes. She’s out for blood, and I’m happy it isn’t mine.

There’s a crowd of spectators gathered around the table, with more leaning over the upstairs railing as play continues. From the whispers, I’ve gathered Luna is up against the top-ranked Grandmaster in the world—whose face is almost as punchable as Frenchie’s.

I glance at my watch; they’ve been locked in a battle now for over an hour. Luna’s captured more of Brit Boy’s pieces than he has of hers, but I don’t know if that means she’s winning or not.

Brit Boy glances at the clock on the wall. “Sadly, I have a flight I need to catch,” he announces for all to hear. “We’ll consider this a draw.”

“If you leave the playing venue with no intent to return,it’s not a draw, but a win for me.” Luna’s confident voice cuts through the room.