Ami brushed off the blood that had splattered onto her dress.

The creature hunt had just ended. It had only been fifteen minutes since she got the call that creatures were swarming toward her foster father Choi Jesuk’s residence. She had been sitting at his bedside reading when Ska’s message came through, and she had dashed out of the main house immediately.

There had been many of them, but the battle was short.

Ricardo and Ska were already there.

“Sorry to drag you out on your day off.”

Ska, perfectly dressed as always, gave Ami a broad grin when he saw her.

“The dress suits you.”

“Thanks. And it’s fine. I should be the one thanking you for helping deal with creatures charging the main house.”

“Looks like the high and mighty are throwing another party, huh~?”

Ricardo jeered as he watched expensive sedans speed past the carcasses of the creatures.

Darkness had fallen. The streetlights lit the road, a cool night breeze stirring their hair. Aitek’s security guards were directing the departing cars from the estate.

The day was winding down. The social gathering was over, and the creatures were slain.

Watching the glowing batons of the guards, Ami answered:

“Yeah. Special A-class guests.”

“Would’ve been a sight if the creatures had been allowed to storm the mansion instead....”

“Don’t get bent out of shape, Rick. And we did miss a few. Looks like they were butchered inside.”

Ska’s gaze slid toward a small annex in the corner of his vision.

His smartwatch displayed a message that all the creatures headed that way had been dealt with. He didn’t bother raising his wrist to check. He already knew who was stationed in that annex — henchmen of an Elder. Of the very top Elder.

The hunt there wouldn’t /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ have lasted even five minutes.

What could they have been discussing with those dangerous men?

As Ska stood brooding, staring toward the annex, Ricardo spoke.

“That Hildebert kid~....”

Both Ami and Ska turned their heads.

“He’s in there right now, isn’t he?”

Their reactions diverged. Ami’s already-round eyes grew even wider. Ska closed his eyes and exhaled a small sigh.

Ami spoke first.

“Rick, you really like Hilde, don’t you!”

Ricardo furrowed his brow and raised his eyebrows. Ska burst into hearty laughter at his comrade’s reaction.

The sharp, metallic scent of the slain creatures’ blood drifted past on the breeze, brushing against their clothes. None of the cars leaving the mansion rolled down their windows.

“This is the first time I’ve seen you care so much about a rookie.”

“Is he just a rookie~? He’s some unknown guy who fell out of a Portal.... And if he got invited in there, it means one way or another, he’s not just anybody~.”

“You even said you wanted to team up with him next mission, and now you’re being prickly.”

Ska teased, still smiling.

Ricardo’s twisted grin didn’t erase the furrow in his brow. Then he sighed in admission.

“It’s just... watching him throw himself into suicide runs, it reminds me of someone~....”

Ska and Ami both knew very well who that “someone” meant.

A Badger who had even gone on missions with Hilde, yet could barely recall his name. Jonathan Kudo was a headache for both Ska and Ricardo — that was no secret among the Badgers.

Ska laughed again, though his smile thinned.

“And you’re any different?”

Ricardo brushed off the barbed words with practiced ease.

The green-eyed man slipped a snake-shaped weapon onto his fingers and changed the subject.

“I wasn’t the only one who suggested it.... Walker and Richard both requested missions with Hilde too~.”

“For real?!”

“Well, yeah.”

Ska readily confirmed.

“Of course, it depends on Yun’s approval. Rick, the only reason you got paired with Hilde this time is because your senior still holds authority over rookie assignments.”

“So Richard and Walker’s requests were approved? Ugh, my brother is way too tight-lipped. I had no idea.”

“Still pending, but he didn’t seem interested. Said he doesn’t like sharing his stuff.”

Ricardo let out a wry laugh. Ami giggled, saying it was just like her brother.

The wind picked up, muffling their voices. The stream of cars leaving through the main gate had nearly stopped.

Ska, watching their reactions with a faint smile, spoke.

“I was surprised Walker even requested it. Has he ever asked to work with anyone before? Ami, you were on that mission too, right? Did something happen between Walker and Hilde?”

“Mm... no....”

Ami tilted her head, thinking hard.

“Nothing special between Walker and Hilde, I think....”

“Richard offered to teach him to shoot....”

“Oh, right. On that mission, Richard gave Hilde a quick shooting lesson.”

“Said it looked like he’d never fired a gun before?”

“Yeah. Poor Hilde.”

Ami pitied the rookie.

“Richard’s way too harsh, unlike Walker.”

The air turned cold. Ska shrugged off his jacket and dropped it over Ami’s shoulders. She smiled gratefully as Ricardo pulled out a cigarette.

The green-eyed man lit up with practiced ease.

“So, Ami, you got kicked out by Yehyeon~?”

The blunt question came with a plume of white smoke.

Ami nodded without the slightest trace of being wounded.

“Yeah.”

“If even you got kicked out, that means people who make life miserable just by knowing them were in there.... So why would they bring Hilde?”

“Don’t dig, Rick.”

Ska’s warning was firm though delivered in an easy tone.

As the Commander’s first aide, the one who acted as deputy whenever Yehyeon was absent, Ska was practiced at speaking clearly and firmly. His flexible yet steady character had earned him the label from Erich — “a man boring even in temperament.”

“Digging only makes life miserable, just like you said.”

Ricardo answered only by exhaling smoke.

They stood watching Aitek’s guards finish their cleanup.

Ska broke the lingering silence.

“He’s a sharp rookie. I’d like to see him build a career safely and one day take over for us.”

“A successor in the leadership?” Ami raised her head to ask.

Ska nodded. His gaze was fixed on the annex.

“He might look green, but put him in a leader’s seat and he’ll do well. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a junior who fits the leadership so well. I’ve been quietly rooting for him, though I try not to show it, so he won’t feel pressured.”

“You hide it too well! I didn’t even realize you cared about Hilde until now.”

“Good. That kind of thing isn’t for showing.”

Ska’s well-shaped smile showed he was pleased.

“Not to him, not to the others....”

Screeeech!

The shriek of tires cut him off.

All three snapped their heads toward the sound.

A sports car had blasted out of the gates at reckless speed, slamming to a stop in front of them. The door burst open, and a familiar figure emerged.

Yun, coat flaring, swept the area with a deadly expression.

“Yehyeon and Hilde — are they out?”

His voice was grim.

The Badgers all shook their heads at once. Veterans of constant crises, their instincts sharpened.

Yun spat a curse, then fixed his eyes on Ska.

“That bastard’s doing.”

“Falcon was there.”

Ska instantly understood. His voice was taut with tension.

“He never pulled anything when Falcon was present.”

“Falcon’s gone now.”

Yun’s voice was thick with barely restrained fury.

“I’m going to find him. Call Samuel, get an ambulance.”

“I’ll call now.”

“Am I the only one not following what’s going on here...? Better save my questions for later....”

Ami, swallowing unease, pulled out her phone. Ricardo muttered darkly as he pressed 119. Yun spun back toward the car.

His coat disappeared in a blur. Ska called out, voice hard, before Yun could shut the driver’s door.

“The tracker.”

Yun didn’t answer. He snapped his fingers.

A small chip popped into the air, glinting under the streetlight. Crash! It hit the asphalt just as the door slammed shut.

Ska ground his teeth at the sight of the locator that had been embedded under Hilde’s skin.

The sports car roared off, drowning out the night with its engine. Tire marks scorched the pavement.

Ricardo stooped to pick up the tracker, while Ska cursed at the scrap of flesh clinging to it.

They didn’t hesitate.

The Badgers split in three directions and ran.

***

My head hurts. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Worse than before, when the memories had surged. Different, somehow.... My body’s heavy, my eyelids won’t open....

What is this? Did I black out from drinking?

But I don’t remember drinking....

I fought for a long time to pry my eyelids open. Tried to move my body, soggy and heavy as if stuffed with wet cotton.

Something’s wrong. My hands don’t feel free. And I’m not lying down. I’m sitting somewhere. Legs pressed together, arms forced back.

Like a bound hostage....

“Ah.”

My mind snapped awake.

Sensation flooded in.

I tried to ignore the splitting headache and squinted my eyes open. Vision cleared — but not fully.

Objects warped in front of me, stretching and shrinking. A knife lengthening, shrinking again....

A knife?

Clarity slammed back.

I inhaled sharply at the sight of a shining blade — and the person it was aimed at.

“Jaeyeon!”

The cry tore from my raw throat, cracked and broken.

The aftereffects of drugs, no doubt. Pounding head, vision twisted without end.

But I had no attention to spare for that.

“Stop it!”

“You’re awake?”

The man turned his head, then smiled sweetly at me.

His long eyes curved like a fox’s.

It was a horrifying sight. A handsome man kneeling on one knee, holding a sashimi knife, smiling prettily. And beneath him, a body lying unconscious.

The unconscious man was a wreck. His shirt was soaked in blood, white fabric gone. Huge nails pinned his wrists and ankles. His jacket lay shredded on the floor, his shoes gone. Blood-matted hair veiled his pale face.

No movement at all.

The brutal scene robbed me of words.

Even as Jaeyeon smiled, “I’ve been waiting so long,” I couldn’t react.

I knew from my recovered memories that Jaeyeon was dangerously violent. In the past, only Colton could control him. He hated everything — especially himself. His whims, his brilliance, his brutality were reined in only under Colton’s hand. Thanks to that leash, I had never seen Jaeyeon’s raw violence unleashed.

Colton always drew the line. Jaeyeon always walked it, barely.

At least, that was the Jaeyeon in my memory.

But now....

“Well, I feel a little better, thanks to this.”

“Yehyeon.”

My voice rasped as I called the other man.

“Yehyeon?”

Silver light flooded my vision.

Jaeyeon lifted the blade before my eyes, showing me not the edge but the flat, blocking Yehyeon from view. In the gleam, my golden eyes reflected back at me.

I raised my head slowly, meeting Jaeyeon’s gaze.

“You should focus on me.”

His long eyes curved again in a sly smile.

“We have a lot to settle, you and I.”