Page 8 of Wrong Squad, Right Mess

“No squad. I travel fastest on my own, so I’m sent to work out the edges of the dungeon. I just can’t seem to find them. It’s like this place is twisted in space, like it doesn’t have edges.”

Carter nodded. “I felt that too as we walked toward the portal—it hasn’t been in a straight line.” He gestured at her bag. “What do you have there?”

“Everything they gave us.”

“Good, hand it over.”

She took a step back. “Excuse me?”

Carter pointed toward Yun. “It wasn’t just us who ended up in here. Our guide got pulled in, too.”

The color leaked from the other esper’s face, as though she’d just noticed Yun and really didn’t care for it. “I can take her back—”

“Not a chance.” Carter cut her off before she could get the whole idea out. “I’m not handing my guide over to anyone. I’m just persnickety like that, I guess. However, you can make it back to the portal for more gear in a few minutes at your speed, and we got thrown in here without anything, so hand it on over.” The way Carter spoke made it clear it wasn’t a request and she had no choice but to obey.

“What’s your name?” Yun asked as she rose from where I’d tackled her.

The esper eyed her, the hesitancy in her look suggesting she knew at least something about all of us. If she knew of us, it wasn’t like it would be good stories. No one told good rumors about the famed Reject Squad, after all, and now our faulty guide. Finally, though, she answered. “Kris. S-Rank elemental.”

Yun smiled and offered a wave. “I’m Yun Moore. I’m really sorry about this, and I promise to make it up to you.”

“Not by guiding,” I chimed in quickly. “Don’t get your hopes up for that. Keep it in your pants.”

Yun rolled her eyes and spoke again as though I’d said nothing. “I know this isn’t ideal, but I really don’t have anything, and it’s still a long way back.”

Kris sighed but pulled the backpack off. She could have handed it to Carter, but she didn’t seem all that interested in getting close to any of us. Instead, she handed it directly to Yun. “There’s water, food, a basic tent, some medical supplies, and a bunch of location trackers.” She turned her gaze to Carter. “Even if your main goal is to get your guide out, make sure you mark any civilians you find.”

“Sure, sure.” Carter waved her off, his words less than reassuring.

She turned her gaze past us again, to where the beast still crouched, watching it all. Kris lifted her hand, sending a blast of wind so strong that I grabbed Yun out of instinct, like she might just get carried away with it. The monster rose in the air, then slammed against a tree so hard that it lost all sense of rigidity in its body. It now reminded me more of a bag full of jelly than anything that had once been alive. “You should kill those things, not let them sit around.”

“I was going to name it Fluffy,” Carter complained.

She shook her head as though she’d remembered that we were idiots. “I’ll head back to the portal to report in and gather more supplies. Good luck.” She didn’t wait for us to respond. A blast of wind nearly made me stumble, and when I blinked, she was gone.

“Hey, gear,” Yun said, holding up the bag.

Her enthusiasm was nice, but I had a feeling that might just be the start of our problems.

A command that had seemed to want us dead, monsters tracking our every move, and a corrupted just waiting for his chance.

But, fuck, maybe they had lube in the bag. I was a man who always looked for those silver linings.

Chapter Five

Yun

Not a single monster had attacked us.

It put me on edge because it reminded me far too much of the time after the portal had closed, when I’d been locked in. The monsters had calmed after that, becoming oddly docile.

They still had behaved like animals, so would attack if threatened or startled, but they hadn’t rampaged as they did when the portal had been open.

They weren’t so much docile now, not like they had been back then. Instead, it seemed as though they were watching us, keeping a distance, following.

Ingram and Carter would dispatch them as soon as they noticed, and the beasts still attacked the men if they were away from me, but it didn’t stop.

And the more it happened, the more unnerved I was. I could feel Corsa’s gaze on me through those monsters’ eyes. There was no other explanation for their actions.