Page 23 of Wrong Squad, Right Mess

I’d have been happier to just fuck off from this place, to head back with her, to make damn sure she was safe no matter what.

However, since that just wasn’t possible, I had to do what was needed.

“We’re going after Corsa, right?” Shear asked in my head.

“Obviously. Yun doesn’t need to know, though. She’ll just worry.”

Shear cast me a look that said he agreed but didn’t like it.

Sure, the Guild might want to kill us, and we needed to track down and deal with a corrupted mentalist, and the dungeon itself might just take us out, but…

The list had gone on so long I failed to recall where I’d been going with the entire line of thought.

The point was that while I would have preferred to stay with Yun, to avoid all this mess, that just wasn’t possible. Corsa had tormented Yun, and in doing so had forfeited any right he had to living.

Plus, he’d proven he wasn’t done with her yet. If we didn’t solve the issue, there was a damn good chance that he’d try again.

Yun would never feel safe so long as the asshole still breathed, and I intended to ensure she felt plenty safe. We had no choice but to take her home, then venture back in here.

By the time we got her clear, we’d have at least another five hours or so before the dungeon started to close again. Was that enough time?

I didn’t know, but it had to be. Besides, I had a feeling that Corsa would find us. The fact he hadn’t made a move yet surprised me. The monsters that followed us, the ones that watched from the distance…I could smell the stink of corruption on them. It meant he knew where we were, but he hadn’t tried to attack us, hadn’t tried to take her back yet.

I couldn’t work out the reasoning behind it, and that bothered me more than anything else. If I didn’t understand why he did something, how could I possibly counter his moves? How could I stay one step ahead if I didn’t know what his plan was?

It bothered me, but I knew when in doubt, when a lack of information made it impossible to predict, the best option was to move forward, to gather more knowledge. Eventually he would show himself, and when he did, we’d know how to deal with him.

At least, I had to hope for that much.

We crossed a narrow street. The asphalt cracked beneath my feet, weeds sprouting out between them. Something quiet about this place kept me on edge, as though I waited, though for what I didn’t know.

Or so I thought, until I felt a tingling in the back of my neck, a soft, early warning signal telling me of trouble. I expected monsters, to find something large and snarling and very much not human to leap from a building at us.

Instead, when I twisted to the side, narrowly avoiding a figure, I cursed.

The body caught themselves, their feet sliding against the asphalt until they crouched down, ten feet from us.

The uniform, the quick movement, the lack of purple eyes.

Fuck. That was an esper, a member of the Guild, and a glance around said they weren’t alone.

It seemed the Guild hadn’t forgotten about us, hadn’t seen fit to leave us be. Instead, they wanted us dead.

Get used to disappointment.

Chapter Fourteen

Ingram

I didn’t usually have to go up against other espers—at least not those who weren’t corrupted. Monsters? Sure, I dealt with those. Occasionally there had been times I’d had to deal with an esper who was rogue, one who hadn’t joined the Guild and was doing whatever they fuck they wanted—usually something bad—and they weren’t keen to stop just by me asking nicely.

Still, I hadn’t ever had to face off against another squad like this.

And if it were any other time, I might have even enjoyed it. I was a man who didn’t mind putting my skills to the test, showing what I could do, proving to everyone that I was just as dangerous as I knew I was. I’d grown past needing to show off, for the most part, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t enjoy it, given the chance.

However, much like this whole damned dungeon, having Yun here changed things.

If they were willing to attack us like this, then they weren’t planning on Yun going about her merry little life afterward. She’d have seen what they did, and she wouldn’t stay quiet about it.