Page 5 of My Salvation

“Exactly,” Reston said.

Cas turned away from her spinning snack. “Why do you have to go to Cam’s to register?”

Reston exhaled. “We have to be verified before we’re allowed to register.”

“Verified?” she asked, suddenly not really wanting to know the answer.

“The Unit Commander has evidence that there is a rogue unit out there,” Reston explained.

She snort laughed, then looked from Luca to Reston, then finally to Ilian. “You’re serious? Unit warriors don’t turn!” she protested.

Luca pulled her into a tight hug, then kissed her forehead. “It’s very, very rare, but it supposedly happened.”

Cassie looked to Ilian. “How do you get verified?”

He lifted his sleeve and pointed to his unit tattoo. “A simple glance, that’s it, honey. Black, we’re fine. Red, we’re feral.”

“I could have been one of the ones taken,” she whispered, reaching for the edge of the box serving as a kitchen chair. It was like she was processing things in segments.

Luca sat her down, then got her pizza. “Eat something, honey.”

“Thank all the gods you weren’t,” Ilian said, shaking his head.

Reston sat across from her. “I think the fact that you were living above and beside Vanguard warriors and were a single person kept you safe. It wasn’t worth the risk to take only one person.”

“Yay, for the single life,” she joked weakly.

“Cas, did you have anything else you needed to pack?” Reston asked.

She shook her head. “Everything is in boxes, I pulled this outfit from my bedroom box this morning. I returned my furniture last week, they were rentals.”

“So was ours.” He nodded. “Good, we can leave as soon as Coop is done loading your stuff.”

“What about our leases?” she asked.

“Don’t worry about them. We paid for all three apartments for the next ten years. Vanguard can use them when they’re in town, and Ms.Johnson doesn’t have to worry about vetting new tenants.”

Cas giggled. “She said she likes renting to you strong military boys.”

Reston’s cheeks turned pink. “She’s a nice lady.”

Cas took another bite of pizza. She had never met a warrior that wasn’t a closet softie. Maybe that many muscles released a kindness hormone or something.

Before she knew it, she was in the backseat with Luca heading toward the Monroe Vanguard’s house. When they pulled in, she could only stare.

“Holy shit.”

“You can say that again,” Reston said, then laughed.

All around her, men in a variety of uniforms were milling around out front.

“What the hell, Reston?”

Reston parked then turned to face her. “Hun, when the Queen put out the edict for all fae to return, did you really think Vanguard squads around the world, deployed or on missions would let our fae brothers return alone?”

She looked out the window. “It’s like Christmas,” she whispered.

“Come on, hun, let’s head in to get verified,” Luca said, taking her hand.