“It’s a chocolate.”He smiled like the dumbest six-year-old showing a horrible stick figure drawing to his mother.I’d met Kenyon’s mother—I knew damn well that she spoiled him, always had.
Even now, with him being a powerful esper who fought monsters for a living, his mother came over once a week to wash his socks.
It was her fault he was this stupid.
“Thank you,” Yun said, her tone implying she wasn’t sure what else to say, the inflection rising at the end as though it were a question.
Which was a pretty fair reaction to most of Kenyon’s antics.
“Go on,” I ordered with a finger toward the stairs.“Let her get settled in.We’re going to have lunch at noon, and we can get to know each other better then.”
Kenyon nodded, his jovial attitude undimmed by my direction.Ignorance really was bliss, which explained why his stupid ass was perpetually happy.
Once he left, Yun slid past me and into the room.I leaned my shoulder against the doorframe, giving her space.“This room is yours.None of us will enter it without your permission.If you need something, let me know and we’ll get it.”
She didn’t thank me, but I understood that.The fact was that we didn’t do this out of the goodness of our hearts.We weren’t offering her shelter and protection and whatever she needed because we were just that nice.She was paying for it with her body, by guiding us, and I had no doubts that anything we spent or gave was a paltry repayment in return.
“You’ve got a few hours, so get settled in.Noon.Lunch.”
She nodded but said nothing else, so I shut the door behind me and let her be.
She was a necessary evil, a part of life for espers whether we liked it or not.In the end, after our little talk, I’d come to one conclusion for sure.
We were using each other, and in my experience, that made for the most dangerous and often best partnerships of all.
Chapter Three
Yun
Putting my items away always felt wrong.It was like cutting a round pie into square pieces—it just made my bones itch.
Maybe it came from the fact that each time I did it—when I folded my socks and underwear, placing them in drawers, and hung my meager outfits—it was never long before I had to repack them.
Setting down roots had never worked for me, and each time I had to unpack, it reminded me of it.It hurt worse, having to repack it all, like tearing those roots from the soil.
Which meant that at the last two places I’d gone to, I’d failed to unpack at all.I’d seen no reason to.
Living out of a backpack was fine with me.I had a few outfits, my bag organized, clothing the type that didn’t wrinkle.It meant I didn’t need any time to get ‘settled in’ as Carter had put it.Instead, I’d used the time to explore the room.
It was nice.Not as nice as a few others I’d been in, of course.The output of a squad determined its financial compensation.Since this squad barely kept their registration active, it meant they didn’t make what the other, more famous ones did.
Of course, I didn’t mind that.I’d lived with little, needed even less, so this was more than adequate.A bed, a desk, a bathroom with a tub deep enough to have my knees and tits below the water at the same time.This was everything I needed and then some.
I checked the space for any signs of cameras, then added my one change that I always made—a new door handle with a lock only I had the key for.I’d learned this little trick after my second squad, who’d kept sneaking into my room after missions to steal my panties.
Sure, an esper could break the door down if they wanted, but this at least made me feel as though I had some control.
Carter might have told me it was my space, but I knew better than to believe any esper.
No one showed up as I made the change, the small screwdriver I kept in my bag making quick work of the job.Within two minutes, I had the old handle off and the new one on.A check that the key worked, and I shut the door again, satisfied with a job well done.
I found nothing questionable.The men were weird, sure, but they hadn’t struck me as dangerous.
Well, no more than any esper.
I went to the bedside table, my sleeping pills in hand.I didn’t appreciate questions, so I preferred to hide them.
When I pulled open the drawer, however, I slammed it shut immediately, as though that would stop my brain from processing what I saw.
