Page 49 of Twisted Bonds
Checkmate.
Her expression hardens with a flash, but then she laughs lightly as if the game was nothing more than a casual distraction. “Rematch?”
A strange sensation sweeps over me. The feeling that I’ve just won something beyond the chessboard. “Only if you’re prepared to lose again,” I say, the corners of my mouth curving into a warning grin. Her eyes capture mine, and for a fleeting moment, they seem to hold something more.
“I’ll take my chances,” she counters confidently. Her fingers brush against mine as she resets the pieces on the board, and the touch sends an unexpected jolt through me. Not the Chroma from before. Something more electric.
I withdraw my hand hastily, making a show of resetting the board. Not wanting to give her the satisfaction of seeing my surprise.
As we settle into another match, my mind is more at ease. “Tell me of life with the humans, Vessel.”
Her face twists as she moves a pawn. “For someone who hates being called Second, you sure call me Vessel a lot. A bit hypocritical, no?”
“Very, but that’s the benefit of being in power.” I suppress a tired sigh at my bravado. If she only knew how little power I truly possess.
Her eyes narrow, but the corner of her mouth quirks up in a smirk. “So, in your case, ‘power’ is code for ‘arrogant jerk’?”
I chuckle, feeling some tension slipping away like sand through my fingers. “You wound me, Mira”, I reply, enjoying the spark of surprise that flashes across her face. My cheeky smile widens as I reach out to make my move on the board.
Two moves later, she finally says, “I miss the comforts of home more than anything. If you’re hungry, there’s twenty places nearby to go grab whatever you’re craving. The mattresses here feel like their made of feathers, but at home we have memory foam. It’s a lot of small comforts I didn’t realize I was so attached to.”
Her eyes gaze off into the distance as she speaks, her fingers unconsciously tracing the edge of a pawn. I watch in silence, letting her talk. It’s moments like this, when her guard is slightly lowered, that I find my own walls crumbling just a tad.
“And what of the people?” I ask, my curiosity piqued.
“I didn’t have many people back home, to be honest. My family is either dead or estranged. My husband had an affair. I only have one friend-”
“You’re married?” I can’t hide my shock or the growing tension knotting inside me. The sadness in her voice, the defeat.
Shaking her head, she simply says, “Divorced.” There is an edge to her voice, a bitter aftertaste that wasn’t there before. I feel an unexpected pang of…relief? “Why does that matter?”
“It doesn’t.” I shrug, my fingers tapping on the edge of the chessboard, but inside I feel a sense of relief. Her gaze lingers on me for a moment longer before she returns to the game, her fingers sliding the queen across the board with a triumphant grin that tells me I’m in trouble.
“Checkmate.”
twenty-three
Bobble
With each passing day, I can see the muscles in Sunder’s shoulders riding higher and higher. The tension in his muscles, strung like a bow. I’ve tried picking fights, wrestling, letting him work out some aggression. But that’s not working well anymore. He needs something else. Something softer.
Of course, he won’t admit that, though. I’ll have to coax it out of him.
We stop for the day, not daring to start a fire in the open plain we now find ourselves in. The horizon stretches forever. A small outcropping of boulders makes a good wind stop and provides some cover should anyone else wander by.
Sunder had some luck last night feeling his feelings, but we’ve been heading west ever since our Dreamshare with Mira. The landscape around us changed almost overnight, from thick forests to open plains. A blue mountain range hangs in the distance.
That’s where we’re heading. That’s where we’ll find her.
We’re getting closer, and Sunder needs a clear head for the next part. He can’t waltz in there coiled like a spring. It makes him too impulsive, too brazen. Too dangerous.
The wind picks up, and I make a decision. It’s time to be brave.
I scoot a little closer to him, rubbing my hands over my shoulders to warm myself. “Cold today.”
He doesn’t speak, instead grunting an agreement.
“Ready to practice feeling our feelings?” I ask. Even though we feel confident about her location, we agreed to keep searching for more of his emotions. Sunder says seeing in the Second’s mind would be very valuable when it comes time to confront him. Exploit his weaknesses. Know if they move locations. That kind of thing.