Page 27 of Wrong Squad, Right Mess

“Not a chance,” I said, shaking my head.

“Yun—” Carter started.

“No. I’ve been at the mercy of someone before, and I won’t ever do it again. You can say all that shit about accepting things so you have a chance for later all you want, but that’s not real life. I endured for six months, and I will never do it again. I don’t give a damn if I die here, but don’t you dare give up.” I swallowed hard, then gave Carter a chilling look. “I told you before to stop hiding, right? Well, why don’t we both do that.”

He blinked slowly, staring back at me as though the words took a while to filter in. Once they did, he offered me a lopsided smirk, pulled up higher on one side. “You do realize that if we survive this, I’m going to punish you for not listening, right?”

“Well, that should give you a pretty good reason to survive it, huh?”

He nodded, then turned his gaze back on the others. Something shifted inside him, like it had earlier, like he removed all those chains he normally wore.

I took a step forward, away from them, toward my would-be captors. My legs trembled with each step, but still, I moved.

The woman smirked, as though thrilled that she’d won. “Good choice,” she said. “It’s better for everyone like this.”

My nerves were real, even if the entire thing was a ploy. It sold our story, so I didn’t hide my fear, my sickness, my unease. Behind them, Ingram had fallen fully, though he still breathed—gasping and shuddering as it was.

Just a little farther…

I played my part, leaning into the weak guide stereotype. I limped a bit, favoring the arm she’d touched, trying to ensure I looked like no threat. It would have them let their guards down, keep them relaxed.

When I stood just before the two—far closer to the woman—I paused, gaze down.

“Don’t be like that,” she said, voice sickly sweet. “You’re going to have a nice time with us, you’ll see.”

“Before they sent you here, did they tell you anything about me?” I asked.

“A little. Just enough to know that you’ve yet to find a squad who can handle you. They’re going to need to research you, but I’m planning to volunteer taking you on personally. Our squad can easily tame and train one little wild guide.”

I smiled even as I kept my face averted from her.

So she didn’t know, huh? They hadn’t bothered to warn her about me, about what I’d done to others, about what I could do? Normally being underestimated annoyed me, but right now?

It helped.

Fingers touched my chin, grasping tight, no doubt an attempt to remind me of my place. She lifted my face toward hers, her touch far stronger than I could even hope to resist.

That was the point, though. I could never outfight an esper, couldn’t stand against their speed or their strength, but that didn’t make me helpless.

She froze when she caught sight of my expression. I wondered if warning bells played against the insides of her skull, but even if they did, it was too late. She’d made the mistake, had touched me when she hadn’t had a damn reason to.

I didn’t hold back, letting my powers consume me. That overactive skill that I’d hated for so long, that I’d blamed for so many of the troubles in my life… I sent a private apology for all the things I’d said about it. The waves of power slid through me, sharp and painful and yet welcome and familiar. I didn’t try to hold it back for the first time, didn’t give a damn if I burned out every last neuron in her brain.

She’d threatened my men, had hurt them, had planned to kill them. She didn’t deserve a second chance, and I didn’t plan to give her one.

She screamed, but her fingers remained locked on my chin like the muscles had frozen in place, like she couldn’t let go at all. Still, I didn’t pull back. Instead, I shifted my gaze to the side, to see the other esper there, eyes wide, full of fear.

Not of the espers, not of Carter or Ingram or Shear, but of me.

Between one blink and the next, he was gone. I couldn’t twist, not with the woman’s fingers still gripping my chin, but a flash of silver that had come along with it gave me a pretty good idea of what had happened.

I focused everything on the woman, her eyes having turned red, blood vessels breaking in the white, one after the next. Even still, I didn’t stop, didn’t pull back. Her mouth remained open, but no sound escaped her.

Finally, she went lax. Not like passed out, but instead like every muscle fiber in her body had turned to gel, like nothing solid remained inside her. She fell into a heap at my feet, no longer the strong esper she’d been before.

She was nothing, now, turned to that by me.

I swallowed, not with of guilt, but at the lack of it.