“You’re going to have to come with us.”

  The man who said it was dressed like a butler, which somehow made it worse. Crisp posture. Hands folded. Like this was a scheduled appointment instead of an abduction in the middle of the woods.

  My mouth moved before my brain signed off on the decision.

  “Who… who are you people?”

  My throat felt tight. Dry. I didn’t like that they weren’t rushing me. Rushed people made mistakes. Calm people planned funerals.

  The two figures behind him glanced sideways, subtle, synchronized, toward their leader.

  He exhaled once, slow, then stepped forward. “We are Genesis. Squad Four.” His gaze didn’t leave mine. “I am this unit’s captain. Calder.”

  He dipped his head in a shallow bow. A polite gesture sure, but it felt... Final. Like he was telling me refusal isn’t part of the equation.

  The girl to his right stepped up next, one hand pressed to her chest like this was a classroom introduction.

  “Masayori. Nice to meet you.”

  Her voice cut through the clearing, sharp, bright, and unapologetically loud. No nerves visible through body language.

  I winced.

  Please don’t be another Button.

  The last one moved without a sound. No hurry, or tension in his steps. Hands loose at his sides, like he already knew how this ended.

  “Shen Wei,” he said. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

  That one bothered me the most.

  I focused, narrowing my vision until the world tunneled.

  Discerning Eye.

  Information pushed back.

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  Three readings surfaced cleanly. Human, stable, but disciplined. Trained.

  And Calder’s—

  Nothing.

  Static. Like staring into fog and knowing something was staring back.

  Pressure flared behind my eyes. I blinked hard, breaking the focus before it burned deeper.

  Humans. All of them.

  Except Calder.

  Whatever he was, he wasn’t letting me see it, and that bothered me more than claws or fangs ever would.

  Calder extended his hand.

  I hesitated just long enough for him to notice.

  Then I took it.

  His grip was firm, controlled. He pulled me to my feet like this was already decided.

  “So,” I said, brushing dirt from my palms, “where exactly are we going?”

  “Our headquarters,” Calder replied. “I would prefer not to remain here long enough to see whether reinforcements arrive.”

  That was not comforting.

  “Do not worry,” Shen Wei said from my side. “You will be safe under our protection.”

  I nodded, because that’s what people do when they don’t believe something but don’t see a better option.

  We moved through the forest with Squad Four forming a loose perimeter. Masayori and Shen Wei flanking me, Calder behind.

  I couldn’t decide whether that formation was meant to protect me…

  …or contain me.

  Branches snagged at my clothes as we walked. The forest felt thicker now, darker. Like it knew I was leaving it.

  The silence pressed in. Heavy. Intentional.

  I needed answers before my imagination filled the gaps with worse ones.

  “So,” I said, forcing my voice steady, “what exactly does Genesis do?”

  Masayori didn’t hesitate.

  “We fight evil beings that want to destroy the world.”

  Button drifted into view near my shoulder, wings buzzing.

  “Destroy the world?” she asked, blinking. “That seems… excessive.”

  “In broader terms,” Shen Wei said calmly, “those who wish to harm innocent people.”

  “We train people from all walks of life,” Calder added, “to defend the world and its inhabitants.”

  That didn’t make me feel better.

  It made things bigger.

  We walked the rest of the way in silence. The kind where thoughts pile up faster than footsteps. By the time the trees began to thin, my head was loud enough to drown out the forest.

  “Whoa!”

  Button shot ahead, stopping short where the trees ended.

  The forest fell away into open plains stretching farther than I could track. Creatures moved through the grass, some familiar, some very much not. Mountains loomed in the distance like broken teeth.

  And beyond them—

  “Is that a castle?” I asked.

  Shen Wei followed my gaze. “You have good eyesight.”

  The structure rose from the land like a challenge. Too deliberate. Too intact.

  “That castle,” Calder said, “belongs to one of the Seven Deadly Sins. The Sin of Pride—”

  “That bastard Lucifer,” Masayori cut in, her voice sharp with something personal. “Even among the other sins and malicious entities, he’s one of Genesis’s greatest enemies.”

  I stared at the castle.

  Suddenly, coming with them felt a lot less optional.