Page 30 of Knight Moves

“Red? What are you doing out here?”

“I’m getting some fresh air before the next class. I…thought I would be alone. I didn’t know you were here.”

“Sure you’re not following me?”

I bristled. “I’m positive.”

“Lighten up, I was just joking. Come on. Walk with me.” He strode off, not even waiting to see if I’d agree. I hesitated but knew a part of succeeding at the trials would be knowing our peers and how to best compete against them. Maybe that had been the purpose of the personal questioning. The teachers were offering us a glimpse into each other’s strengths and weaknesses so we could exploit them. It suddenly made me feel sick. Maybe I wasn’t cut out to be an operative after all.

Jax stopped and turned around. “You coming?”

Part of me wanted to walk away, but I couldn’t afford to isolate myself from the other candidates. I had to jog slightly to catch up to him.

We walked for a while without saying anything. Suddenly he looked at me out of the corner of his eye and asked, “So, you’ve never been to a party? Really?”

I froze midstep, embarrassed. Jax, perhaps sensing my discomfort, touched my arm lightly, his fingers warm against my bare skin. When he pulled back from my arm, a pink rose appeared in his fingers. He presented it to me. “Don’t be mad. I’m intrigued by you, that’s all. You seem so…genuine. In a world of fakes, that’s refreshing. By the way, be careful of the rose—it has thorns.”

I looked down at the flower, then at him. “How did you do that?”

He snapped his fingers, and another rose appeared. He lifted an eyebrow and handed it over. “It’s magic.”

“You can do magic tricks?”

His smile melted into a frown. “A true magician doesn’t call them tricks. They’re illusions.”

I sniffed the rose, impressed. It was real. He was good at this sleight of hand. Really good.

“So, what did you think of that question-and-answer session back there?” he asked.

I held on to the roses as we resumed walking. “I don’t know. It was different.” Actually, it had been more than different. It’d been an emotional stripping down that I hadn’t expected and hoped I would never have to endure again. Unfortunately, I had a feeling I wouldn’t get my wish.

“They’re testing our mental response time and honesty.” He reached down and picked up an acorn, skipping it along the ground. “You noticed how carefully they tailored each question to our strengths and weaknesses. I didn’t know you were such a math and computer genius.”

“I’m not a genius. Well, at least I don’t feel like one. Math and computers just make sense to me. Probably in the same way a car engine and certain engineering concepts make sense to you.”

“Yeah, well, just when we were getting in the rhythm of the thing, they dropped the personal questions bomb. It wasn’t really fair play.”

“I agree. They’re probably judging our emotional flexibility,” I said.

“Perhaps. Whatever you want to call it, it sucked.”

“No argument from me there. What class do you have next?”

“Who knows? I’m supposed to report to the gym. What about you?”

I shrugged. “Psychological Testing, whatever that means.”

“More mind games.” He studied me for a moment. “You held you own back there, Red. Good for you.”

“Thanks, but my name’s Angel, and you did, too.”

His expression abruptly shuttered, as if he weren’t used to hearing compliments. “I’ve got to get back. See you around.”

He started to walk away when I called out to him. “Hey, Jax, I’m sorry about your mom.”

He froze, and I wondered if I’d offended him. After a moment, he glanced over his shoulder and shrugged. “Don’t be. She got the better end of the deal.”

Chapter Seventeen

---