Rex repeated the words lightly, then let out a cold chuckle. "I don’t care for that term."

He casually tossed the rook piece he’d been holding onto the chessboard, knocking over several other pieces in the process.

"Perhaps victory isn’t about the pieces themselves, but about who’s controlling them. Harris, what would the pieces think of the player?"

Sunlight had crept through a crack in the window, spilling into the room in scattered rays. The soft glow touched ...