I didn’t get a chance to ask what the thank you was for—and it probably didn’t really matter—before she disappeared back into the RV, leaving me out front on my own.
Which had me leaning back, wondering just how I’d screwedthisup that badly.
And also had me thinking about how I could make it up to her…
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Yun
The marks on my neck ached, but not as badly as the span of color that rested on my back, across my shoulder blades.It went to show that no matter how much I wanted to think Kenyon was just a healer—and an idiot—he was more than strong enough to cause me problems.That fact always humbled me, the moment when I realized that even normal men could be such a danger to me.
After dealing with espers with superhuman strength and fantastical abilities, I hated the reminder that just regular male strength could so easily overpower me.
That wasn’t what really got to me, though.
Why hadn’t I reacted?
That question plagued me, keeping me up even after I’d returned to my own bed.I’d put espers on their asses for far less, yet I hadn’t done that to him.Why not?What made him different?
DidI trust him?
That didn’t seem likely.I refused to even entertain that, because of any option, any possibility, that one seemed the most dangerous.Me being so frightened as to not fight back, me being afraid of getting kicked out of another squad, those I could handle.The idea that Itrustedthese men, however?
That would lead to a lot more pain than I could handle, which meant I outright rejected the entire theory.
However, even without an answer, I couldn’t avoid the situation, a point made clear as I walked with Ingram to one side, Shear to the other, Carter in front of us.Kenyon trailed behind, his expression sullen since he’d spotted me walking out of the RV about ten minutes previously.His gaze had landed on my throat, and he’d actually flinched, like a full-body rejection of the fact he’d done that.
“Where are we going?”I asked again, though didn’t expect much more of an answer.Carter had that expression he wore when he was up to no good, and I had a feeling me asking too much would only please him, as though it all fall into the game he played.
Sure enough, Carter turned and glanced over his shoulder, a suspicious hop in his step.“We’re going on an outing.”
“An outing?I thought we had to stay here for training.”Just the thought of another meeting with medical, another time where they asked me—again—how I’d guided as quickly as I had made me shudder.
“Do you reallywantto spend the day here?”he asked.
“Well, no, not especially.”
“Then stop complaining,” Ingram chimed in from beside me.“If you don’t want to be here anyway, why would you bitch about leaving?”
“I don’t want to get in trouble.”
“We’re always in trouble,” Ingram pointed out.“If they’re mad anyway, why the fuck does it matter?I mean, what are they going to do?Yell at us?”He snickered at the idea, as though he found it hilarious.
I didn’t find getting yelled at nearly as fun as he did, clearly, but he had a point.
And to be honest, I really didn’t want to be here.Going somewhere—anywhere—sounded amazing, so I stopped fighting it and followed them the rest of the short walk toward the outer edge of the compound.
It was huge, spread out over the vast desert, but lacked fences.No one in their right mind would dare attack a compound full of espers, after all, so security just wasn’t an issue.It meant there was no large fence, no guards, nothing of the sort.When we reached the parking lot, I frowned.
We’d been driven here from the airport in a transport van with other espers.We didn’t have a car.
I almost asked what we were going to do when Carter paused beside an SUV.After a quick glance around, he struck the window with his palm, the glass shattering as though he’d hit it with a battering ram rather than his hand.He reached in, unlocked the door, opened it, and brushed glass from the seat like it was nothing.
Ingram moved from my side and leaned into the car, crouching down beside it to look under the steering wheel.
“Wait, we can’t steal this,” I argued.
“Oh, sure we can,” Carter said.“Ingram’s done this lots of times.”He leaned against the side of the car, his arms crossed, a crooked smile like some sort of delinquent trying to impress a girl.
