If they got themselves offed, that wasn’t my problem.I didn’t plan to lose any sleep over an idiot putting themselves in danger.The problem was that when the news got wind of it—or, god forbid, a video—the Guild liked to point fingers and blame us, and Carter ended up angry over it all.
I didn’t need to have him bitching at us over anything else—it happened enough already.
I moved through the shadows, in the space between this world and the dungeons, not quite here but not elsewhere, either.It hid me from everything, turned me into a mirage, allowed me to move fast, unseen, until I arrived just behind the beast.
It was twisted, just as they all were, as though some strange intelligence that had seen animals and nightmares had mixed them until it spat this vile creature out.This thing ran on four legs, its chest wider than its hips, its feet tipped with claws, the face more like that of a horse with fangs.
I could still recall the first time I’d seen a beast like this, when I’d come face to face with one before I’d turned into an esper.Back then I’d been little, just a kid, all skinny and attitude in that gangly stage before I actually put on muscle.I hadn’t known back then that I’d be one of the few who would change, who’d turn into an esper.There weren’t any tests, nothing to figure it out, not until it happened sometime in the teenaged years.
The monster had charged out of the forest line back in Oregon, bigger than anything I’d seen before, roaring so loudly the ground shook beneath my feet.It had startled me so much that I hadn’t been able to even move, to jump out of the way.
And I’d done nothing.
I’d just stood there watching as that thing bounded right at me.
The moment it had towered over me, close enough that the rotten scent of its breath hit me, when I realized that I was looking straight at my death, something had gotten between us.
An esper.
My first time meeting one, in fact.It wasn’t like they usually hung out in poor-ass little towns, not unless they had good reason, and that reason was a portal that had opened a few miles away.
My mom had told me to stay inside, and I’d ignored her, like kids do, wanting to get a glimpse of the portal.
It wasn’t on TV, it was in my own fucking town, and I just knew the other kids would be talking about it come Monday.
It was funny to think thatIwas that esper asshole now.I’d thought he was some hero back then, amazed that he’d jumped between that beast and me.He was bigger than life, willing to face off against a monster like that.
And now I stalked something far more dangerous without breaking a sweat.
What I hadn’t known back then was that the esper had been a B-Rank, which was the reason he was out that far, mopping up strays who’d gotten past the line.
On the other hand, here I was with an A-Rank beast that would have wiped the floor with that esper asshole, assuming he was still alive.
It wasn’t like espers usually lived long or happy lives.
“Finish it.”Shear’s voice in my head grated on my nerves as it always did.I’d gotten used to it, as used to that bullshit as anyone could ever get, but that didn’t mean I liked it.
Still, telling him to knock it off didn’t matter.He never fucking listened, assuming he even understood anything.
At least Kenyon was an honest-to-fuck idiot.It was hard to blame him for much when he couldn’t help it.
Shear was smart—too smart.He just didn’t understand what being a human meant.Maybe that came from spending so much time looking into people’s brains.Anyone would go fucking insane from that.
Still, he wasn’t wrong.I slipped in close to the beast, watching as it shook its head back and forth in confusion.No doubt Shear had fucked their brains up so much they had no idea which way was forward.I had no idea what nightmares he’d planted there, how he’d warped the world around it.
I’d experienced it a time or two when my mental shield had failed, when I’d gotten caught up in a wide-cast illusion, and it wasn’t anything I wanted to feel again.
I slid out of that shadowy realm just beside the hulking monster and closed my hand around its throat.A quick jerk caused a sickening crack of bone, and the body fell into a useless, still heap in the dirt.
Shear came up beside me.“It’s farther away from the portal than they usually roam.”
I turned my gaze toward the portal that had opened but not remained open.“Sometimes they’re more stupid than usual.”
Shear pressed his lips together, those weird fucking eyes of his glowing even in the dark.“It’s different.The way they move, the way they travel.It’s with purpose.”
“You’re just being paranoid.What are you, six, believing in ghost stories?You need me to check for monsters under your bed, tonight?”I didn’t hide my mocking tone in the least.Let him hear it—he deserved it.
“No.I can check it myself.”He shook his head, as though he’d worked through options, then tossed them aside.“Something is different.Something is coming.”
