"You… What did you do to me?" Lauren demanded.

She struggled frantically but found her entire body locked in place, and she couldn't move a muscle. For someone who was halfway to becoming a grandmaster, this kind of helplessness was foreign to her. It felt like being pinned beneath something enormous and unmovable.

"Relax. I'm not going to kill you," Dustin said with a faint smile.

He moved closer until he stood directly in front of her. "I'm going to ask you two questions. Answer honestly, a