Page 3 of My Salvation

“Hey!”

“Cassie, you know the edict went out weeks ago. Why are you still here?” he demanded, his hands on his hips.

“I couldn’t just leave when I still had appointments. I managed to cancel most of them, but the ones coming up had people who really needed me.”

Ilian ran his hands over his face. “What do you know?”

“About what?” she asked, feeling slightly concerned.

Ilian looked up and down the hallway, then pulled her into his apartment.

“Cassie!”

“Oof! Dammit, Reston, put me down!” she yelled as Ilian’s squad leader squeezed the daylights out of her. “Why in the hell are you still here?” he demanded, setting her on her feet.

She rubbed her left ear. “It’s like there’s an echo or something.”

“She only knows that we’ve been called home. Civilians weren’t told anything,” Ilian explained.

Reston nodded. “Probably to keep panic to a minimum.”

Cas swallowed hard. “Why would there be a panic?”

Ilian held up his phone and pointed to a small ‘V’ app. “Sit down, Cas. I’ll try to explain as gently as I can.” Ilian led her to a cardboard box and had her sit.

Twenty minutes later, Cas ran for the bathroom and threw up her lunch.

“Oh hells Cas, I’m sorry!” Ilian said, dropping to his knees to hold back her hair.

“I don’t think there was a good way to explain things,” Reston said, holding a sleeve of crackers, looking worried.

“Why are you both in the bathroom?” a male voice asked.

“Cassie is sick,” Reston said, pointing with the crackers.

“Kill me now,” she moaned.

“What? Let me through!”

“Hey, Luca,” she greeted weakly.

Warm hands rubbed her back as the witch whispered his spell. Suddenly, her head felt a bit clearer. “Thanks, buddy.”

Luca helped her stand. “Let’s brush those teeth. You can use Ilian’s toothbrush,” he offered.

“Hey!” Ilian protested.

Luca gave him a flat look, then slammed the door in his face. Reaching under the cabinet, he pulled out an unused toothbrush and handed it to her.

“Couldn’t you just spell this away?”

“Of course, but you’ll feel more normal using a routine,” he explained.

She nodded, feeling silly. Of course, something like that would help her deal with shock. She added toothpaste to the brush and began brushing her teeth.

Luca took advantage of her inability to talk. “Please tell me you’re at least packed?”

She nodded.