Page 35 of Winterveil

“Except for Klaudia, I’d imagine.”

Carter’s expression soured. “If you keep going at this rate, you can still beat her record.”

Julian had always known boys like Carter. Exeter’s few and far-between scholarship students. Always with that hungry, sycophantic look. Never achieving the subtlety and nonchalance they admired in their wealthy classmates. But with the way Carter’s gaze kept flickering toward Klaudia, Julian suspected this was much more about his resentment toward her than any particular admiration for or loyalty to him.

“We’ll see,” Julian replied, and then he strode pointedly to the other side of the room. Klaudia was standing at the far wall by the window, holding her tablet but not looking at it. Her eyes, ever impassive, slid from Carter to Julian. Whatever she felt—if anything at all—was impossible to guess, but she had not missed their interaction.

Professor Narendra startled them all by clapping his hands.

“Welcome to your first simulation,” he said. “As is custom, you will be divided into factions, each guided by an upper-class student. Today you’re lucky to have two of our very finest to lead: Klaudia Shimonova and Carter Egan.”

There was some murmuring among his classmates, and swift, questioning glances between Klaudia and Carter.

“Since this is your first simulation,” Professor Narendra went on, “I’ll keep things simple—for now. Two factions. Klaudia and the red faction will portray the USSR. Carter and the blue faction will play as the United States.”

More whispering, louder this time, as Professor Narendra divided the class. Julian could not determine any clear hierarchy to his decisions; they appeared to be truly random. He had not even managed to decide which faction he preferred when Professor Narendra said, “Julian, join red.”

Julian’s heart thumped. He wasn’t sure exactly how this would affect his ranking: On Klaudia’s team he would be sure to win, but maybe it was more important for her to lose. Either way, he would find out soon enough. He crossed the room to where Klaudia stood, surrounded by the other students in his faction. One by one, she passed out their badges. When Julian took his, his fingers brushed against her palm and he felt Klaudia tense just slightly at his touch.

Klaudia placed the nodes on her temples and the simulation shuddered to life.

“The scenario will be an iteration of the current state of the world,” said Professor Narendra. “The US and the USSR locked in a near-century-long stalemate. Proxy conflicts sparking across the globe. More states developing nuclear capabilities. It is the goal of each faction to extend their sphere of influence as far as it can reach. At the end of the hour, the faction with the most territory under their direct control will be the winner.”

Simple enough.

With a few more taps on his tablet, Professor Narendra projected a timer above the simulation map. Then he stepped back, smiled, and said, “You may begin.”

Immediately, Carter beckoned his faction into a tight circle around him, and Klaudia did the same. Julian, being the closest, ended up nearly shoulder to shoulder with her, a mere inch of space between them.

To Julian’s surprise, she didn’t start by firing off orders. Instead she asked, “What’s the first thing you notice about the board state?”

The other students glanced uncertainly among themselves. When Klaudia remained silent, waiting expectantly, Julian realized that he had misjudged her. This was meant to be a learning experience for him and his fellow first years, and she was acting like a teacher, not a general. It was no ego trip for her. She had nothing to prove.

“We have an obvious advantage in Latin America,” Julian said. “The straightforward play is to bring the rest of the states under our sphere of influence. Moving into the Pacific is a riskier gambit, but the payoff would be greater. It depends on the kind of player our opponent is. Do they respect the long con, or can we bait them into a corner if we hang our queen?”

Julian had slipped unconsciously into chess parlance, but Klaudia didn’t seem perturbed. He would bet his Rolex that she was an exceptional chess player in her own right.

“Good,” she said, in a clipped tone that betrayed neither pleasure nor displeasure. “If we’re all in agreement, I’d suggest pushing on the Philippines.”

A chorus of nods. Klaudia tapped her temple.

The map shifted, reflecting the Soviet incursion. From across the room, Carter’s gaze leaped. He couldn’t be naive enough to fall into their trap immediately, but Julian took his eagerness as a good sign. If he had any weakness, it was his desperation to defeat Klaudia. He would press any advantage he was given.

And so he did, instantly deploying troops to Manila.

“What now?” Klaudia asked. “Do we respond with force of our own, or do we back down? Remember, the US still has the advantage in the region.”

“But it’s all about relative gains, isn’t it?” Julian’s answer came quickly this time. “Taking something away from your enemy is more valuable than gaining an absolute victory.”

An expression that was almost a smile crossed Klaudia’s face. “Yes,” she said. “A state has a greater incentive to respond to their own loss than to their opponent’s gain. So if we want to bait blue into a check . . .”

“Then we call their bluff,” Julian finished.

Klaudia’s eyes lifted to meet his. There was an intensity in them that he had never seen before—or maybe that she had never allowed him to see. This was her domain. The ice queen Klaudia Shimonova had fire in her after all.

But instead of feeling resentment, Julian felt an answering fire. A surging of adrenaline and . . . pleasure? He liked being on her side. A part of him even liked being her disciple. For a moment he forgot about his ranking completely. All he could focus on was the way her gray eyes glowed and the way her mouth—full, supple, carefully outlined in red—moved when she spoke. He became more focused on winning her praise than winning against her. A sense of satisfaction tightened in him at the idea that he might even coax a smile out of her.

“Maybe we could start with economic sanctions?” one of the other students suggested. His voice broke Julian from his trance, and he felt suddenly embarrassed by his own thoughts.