Page 30 of Wrong Squad, Right Mess

“Do you think he’ll be there?” I asked.

“Judging from what he’s said about Yun, how he’s acted, I don’t think there’s any chance he won’t be. In fact, if we make it all the way there without incident, without seeing him, I suspect it’ll be a miracle.”

“He hasn’t made a move yet, even when we got her to the portal. He just watched.”

I nodded, hating the answer that brought forth. “He knew she couldn’t leave. He must have a better understanding of the dungeon than we do—it makes sense if he’s spent ten years in here. He must have known she wouldn’t escape, so he’s merely watching to see where she goes. He’ll know we’re headed his way. There won’t be any element of surprise.”

“That’s fine. I don’t need surprise. I just need to get him in front of me.”

Food was dropped in the center of the table, with Ingram and Yun taking seats beside Carter and me in the booth, and Kenyon pulling over a freestanding chair.

“Did you really wrap all the food?” Carter picked up one of the perfectly wrapped tacos.

“Hey, old habits die hard. Plus, tell me it doesn’t make it look tastier. Now, dig in.”

I grabbed one of them, unwrapping it before taking a bite. I wasn’t all that hungry, but I knew better than to refuse food in a dungeon. There was no real telling when we’d next get to eat. It was like sleep—take the chance when given. It would keep an esper going much longer.

Yun did the same, laughing after swallowing her first bite. “You really did work at a place like this, huh?”

“I told you. I helped out on our farm a lot, too, but at fifteen I wanted to earn some money on my own. I cooked, took orders, all of that. I actually liked it—even thought I might become a chef someday,” Kenyon said.

“What happened?” she asked.

Sadness leaked from Kenyon at the question, though his expression hardly shifted. “I became an esper. When that happened, I joined the Guild, and that was all that really mattered.”

Carter spoke up, his tone suggesting he didn’t notice the somber mood the conversation had taken, though I’d bet he did it on purpose. “Well, this explains a lot, you know? I’d wondered how you could make food that tasted so good but looked so horrible. You learned at fast food—it all makes sense now.”

“Say that the next time I cook dinner and you can eat crackers on the porch step, like my mom did to me if I ever complained about her cooking.”

“Yes, Mommy.” Carter flashed a bright smile, somehow completely changing the atmosphere. It was strange how he could do that.

I could sense what people thought, what they felt, and I could influence them with my powers, but I couldn’t predict much, couldn’t actually get them to change based on what I did or said otherwise.

I truly understood little of other people, and relationships had proven difficult due to it.

Yet sitting here, I didn’t feel on the outside. Even with my shortcomings, even with the things I did horribly, they never cast me out. They mocked me, but no more or less than I mocked them.

Even through it all, through the questions, through my failures, even knowing more about what Mr. Yorn had done to me, they didn’t create distance. They didn’t distrust me, didn’t shun me.

I’d never felt that before.

Yun leaned over, pressing her arm to mine, the action drawing my focus back to the table and the conversation. She cast me a sidelong glance, her eyebrow lifted in question.

Are you okay? I didn’t need my powers to tell that was the question.

I considered it, and for the first time, I nodded in truth. I was okay, because no matter what the dungeon wanted to throw at us, no matter the questions I didn’t yet have answers to, I wasn’t alone in it.

And that was a rather nice feeling…

Chapter Eighteen

Carter

I really fucking hated Jin. I didn’t deal with him much anymore, but that didn’t change that each time I saw him, each time I had to sit there with him, I really hated him all over again.

“You can’t be serious,” he said, folding his arms as we stood outside, near the portal. “You have orders.”

“Orders change.”