Page 53 of Knight Moves

“The makings of a good operative. That’s endgame, right?”

I studied him, considering. His voice had lost its cockiness, and those amazing green eyes were looking at me in a way that seemed different from how he usually looked at me. Was he right? Itwashard to know exactly what they wanted or expected from us.

“Just keep being yourself, okay?” he murmured.

The intensity in his gaze made my breath catch. Slowly, he lowered his mouth to mine and stopped just short of my lips, as if waiting for me to do the rest. For a moment, I just froze. I’d never kissed anyone before. Then, throwing caution to the wind, I lifted my mouth and pressed my lips to his. He kissed me back, far more tenderly than I ever would have expected from him. Warmth, dizziness, and softness curled through me.

He finally broke the kiss and leaned back on the bench, blowing out a breath and pushing his fingers through his hair. He looked like he was already regretting the kiss. I flushed as he abruptly stood and took my hand. “Come on, they do a check around midnight.”

I didn’t know what to say or do so, still holding his hand, I followed him across the lawn. Jax didn’t head for the front door. Instead, he tugged me toward the side of the building.

“Where are you going?” I whispered.

He led me to a side window that had been propped open with a book. “Girls first,” he insisted.

He held his hands together and told me to put my foot in his hand. I did as he instructed, and he boosted me so I could grab the sill and pull myself up. I straddled the windowsill awkwardly before falling inside. Seconds later, he hopped in easily, like he’d done it a dozen times.

Maybe he had.

He shut the window behind him. “Let’s go.”

We sneaked down the hallway, stopping where the hallway split with the girls’ room down one hallway and the boys’ room down the other.

“Night.” His cool hand touched my cheek. “Happy birthday.” He gave me a heart-stopping grin before disappearing down the hallway.

He knew it was my birthday?

Before he turned around and saw me staring like an idiot, I quickly returned to my room, careful not to wake anyone when I came in. As I climbed up into my bed, I thought about Jax’s kiss. It had been…amazing. But what did it mean? He’d probably kissed dozens of girls like that.

Did it mean he liked me? Was trying to manipulate me? Confuse me? It was hard to say. I was at spy school, after all. Every action, every word, seemed to be part of a larger game.

But as I snuggled under the covers, I couldn’t erase the smile on my face.

Chapter Thirty

ANGEL SINCLAIR

Bright and early, we dressed in our white T-shirts and camouflage pants and headed for breakfast. We were all present and accounted for except for Jax, who arrived late, looking remarkably rested and in good spirits, despite his late-night adventure. He gave me a wink as he grabbed a bagel and coffee and sat at a table by himself. Frankie chatted happily with everyone, seemingly oblivious to the extreme nervousness of the rest of us. I envied her ability to be so relaxed about everything.

At exactly 7:40, we met in Room 101 for the briefing on our new trial. To our surprise, we hadn’t sat for more than a minute when Mr. Donovan instructed us to move upstairs to the gaming room for our briefing.

As we headed up the stairs, Wally grabbed my arm. “Finally,” he whispered. “Gaming! Something I’m going to be good at.”

“Don’t get cocky,” I said. “Wait until you see the challenge.”

“If it’s virtual, I don’tcarewhat the challenge is. I’m all over it.”

My spirits were also rising, despite my warning to Wally. Gaming was my domain—my strength. From what I’d seen of the others while gaming them or watching them game, this was going to be mine or Wally’s to lose. I’d had enough failing in the last trials, so there was nowayI was going down on this one.

We filed into the gaming room and sat. Mr. Donovan stood in front of us, arms clasped behind his back.

“Today’s trial is a role-playing game of management and strategy,” he said. “Your avatar will have characteristics like strength, intelligence, and charisma, as well as feelings of happiness, fear, and hunger. You can die if you don’t eat, get sick, or fall prey to crime or battle. When you die, all your points die with you. You’ll also have to maintain your reputation and confidence level by acting honorably, or not, depending on the situation. Those numbers are given to you based on your actions and interaction with your kingdom population.” He spread out a hand at the large screen behind us. “You’ll need to build and manage a kingdom, including overseeing activities like farming, construction, protection, economic management, and spiritual and entertainment resources.”

My spirits soared. So far, so good. I’d played dozens of games like this and had kicked butt in most of them. I glanced at Wally and saw the smile on his face as well.

Ours to lose.

“The strategy aspect of the game involves the ending,” Mr. Donovan continued. “The ending happens when your kingdom conquers your opponents. So, how do you get to the top? Strategy, teamwork, diplomacy, cunning, ruthlessness, money, and/or force are all on the table. Just remember that hits to your health, reputation, as well as discontent from the masses and the economic health of your kingdom, play an important role.” He fell silent for a moment, looking at each one of us. “Typically, role-playing games can take weeks, even years, to play out. Obviously, we will be acting on an accelerated timeline. You have eight hours to win the game. Lunch and snacks will be provided in the back of the room.”

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