And my purpose?
Yun, standing there, fucking gobsmacked as though she’d just seen a ghost. An esper had his hand around her arm—a fucking insult, that was—and I wanted to remove it.
Not his hand from her, but his whole damn hand fromhimas well. I wanted to make it clear in every way possible that if anyone touched her, they’d lose whatever they’d touched her with.
“Carter,” she whispered, eyes red, then tried to come forward.
The esper yanked her backward, his gaze hard. Rank S, clearly, but not anyone I’d noticed. I couldn’t even tell the type he was, not that I much cared.
The answer wouldn’t change that I’d end him for what he’d done already.
“I am rather ashamed to say I never consideredyouall were behind this,” Mr. Yorn said, far too calm for the situation. “When I received word an hour ago that I was to leave Ms. Moore behind, I had assumed it was her doing, perhaps that of the guide she is close with. I never would have thought it would be you all.” He smiled, the expression full of cunning. I recognized it because it mirrored my own. “I had thought you all far too stupid to do something like this. Most espers are brutes, animals more than people, and rarely manage to think through anything well enough to consider a less direct path to their goals.”
“Let’s skip the good girl stickers and just hand her over.” I held myself back from moving any closer. Something about the way he spoke made me guess he had more tricks up his sleeve.
If it were just us, I wouldn’t give a damn. I enjoyed when my opponents caught me off guard, when they gave me a true fight. With Yun in the center, however, I couldn’t risk that. She was fragile, and I refused to risk her safety all for my own fun.
“That I can’t do. She unlocks too many secrets, too many possibilities for us. To let her go now would be a harm upon all espers.” He paused, as though considering. “However, I can offer you another guide.”
“If you mean Marleena, we’ve already turned her down more than a few times. Not interested.”
“She’s not the only one we have. Just consider it—a willing guide who will give into your every desire. Who will never talk back, who will guide you as you want, warm your bed in whatever way you want. A living, breathing battery for you to use as you please.” He offered as though he were handing me some grand gift.
My stomach rolled at the idea, however.
I’d never considered myself a good man, but it seemed I drew the line at human trafficking and slavery. It was nice to know Ihada line, at least.
It wasn’t just the horror at that, but the idea of having anyone except Yun. She’d crawled into a spot inside each of us so deep I doubted anything could truly remove her.
Not that I wanted to try, of course. Consider me a willing sacrifice to her.
“No sale,” I said with a flippant shrug. “She’s ours and there isn’t a damn thing you can offer that will let you walk out of here with her.”
“You think?” Mr. Yorn moved his gaze from me to behind me, and I knewexactlywho he sought.
Maybe it had been foolish to bring Shear, but in our rush back, no one had considered not bringing him. He couldn’t harm Mr. Yorn, but this was an emergency.
“Shear,” Mr. Yorn said, the familiarity of the name almost sickening. It made me wonder just what this asshole had done to Shear.
Shear stepped forward, steps almost robotic. I let him pass me, mostly because I wasn’t ready to hurt him.
Didn’t know if I could…
Maybe I could just knock him out if needed.
“You obviously have realized you can’t harm me, right?”
Shear nodded, and it was strange the way he almost seemed to revert to a child as he stood there, like a kid being scolded by their overbearing father. “Yes, I know.”
“So why play any part in this foolishness? You wanted to go out into the world, and I allowed it, but it seems you have forgotten your true place.” He crooked his finger, and Shear walked further until he stood just before Mr. Yorn, not looking over at Yun at all. Mr. Yorn placed a finger beneath his chin to tip his face up, to stare into his eyes.
It was something that even I avoided, knowing that the close eye contact would strengthen the mental bond whether either ofus wanted it to or not. The fact this fucker did it said he held no fear of the mentalist.
“You know how this will end already. I nearly culled you when they brought you in to me. A child as smart as you already? A mentalist of your skill and power? I knew I should have removed you from the program from day one, but I couldn’t. You weretoosmart to let that go to waste. So think about it now, Shear. Is this guide really worth all this? When you know I’ll win anyway? When you know that I’ll walk out of here with her? The only question you have to consider is whether you want your precious squad alive when that happens. You can keep going with this nonsense, and I’ll take her anyway and force you to tear apart the minds of your squad. You’ll be entirely alone, then. Or you get them to stand down, feed them whatever story you want, and everything goes back to how it was.”
A chill rushed through me. The words said that this fucking asshole knewexactlywhere to press if he wanted to get something from Shear. No matter how emotionless Shear seemed, I knew damn well he valued the few connections he had. Between whatever Mr. Yorn did to Shear’s brain and that threat—
If Shear wanted, he could do what he’d been ordered to do. He could easily rewrite anything in our memories, make us believe any story he wanted. In fact, I wouldn’t put it past him to make us believe we had never met Yun in the first place, that nothing of the past months had happened, or rather that she hadn’t been a part of it.
