Page 7 of My Salvation
“Of course, why?”
Cam exhaled. “Cas, all the fae have returned home. Space is at a premium.” He went to the front, then made two fae hoist him up.
“All right, listen up, men. Lady Vi’Illiya has graciously offered up space at the Illiya estate.”
Cas felt her heart stutter. “Cam! I haven’t had a chance to fix the place up yet. I doubt there’s any food either.”
One of the men turned to her with a confused expression. “Why would you worry about that? We’ll take care of everything. You’re doing enough just giving us a place to stay.”
“Well said, Gael!” Cam responded. “Cas, honey, let the guys take of things.”
Reston stepped forward. “Run everything by my squad. We’ll relay things to Cas. We don’t want to overwhelm her.”
Coop and Link edged closer, practically burying her between them.
Gael laughed, and Cam stared at them flatly. “Let the girl breathe,” he ordered.
Coop and Link stepped back an inch.
Cam palmed his face, then brought the bullhorn back up. “Remember, men, these folks have suffered a great deal. Get situated as quickly and quietly as you can, then send a representative to the palace to get orders from our Unit Commander. He has been blowing up my phone, demanding to know what’s going on. The only thing I could tell him was that the Vanguard came home. Reston, you’re in charge of our special crates. My squad will be shipping your other things through as soon as possible, so you’ll live out of your diddy bags for a bit. For anyone who has been or is from Éire Danu, just brace yourselves. It won’t be the city you remember.”
With that, the fae lowered him then turned to ignite the portal. Five across and twenty squads deep, the men began marching through.
“Cas, you walk ahead of us in the middle,” Reston ordered.
“Sir, yes, sir!”
Link snorted. “Smart ass.”
Luca shook his head, smiling at her.
It took longer than she would have thought. When they brought up the rear and walked through the portal, she instantly knew why. It was cold. Horribly cold.
“Cas, here,” Coop said, pulling his hoodie over his head and handing it to her. On either side of the now dark portal, the men looked around in shock. The city was dark and cold.
She began to shake.
“It’s okay, honey, here, arms up,” Luca ordered, taking Coop’s hoodie and pulling it over her head.
“It’s not just that,” she said, when her head popped out. “It’s…” she looked around. This was not the glimmering, golden city of her childhood. “Gods, Luca, is this Éire Danu? Are we sure?”
“Holy shit! I told you my app wasn’t broken! Brrrr, it’s cold,” a female voice exclaimed.
Cassie turned to see a small group of people standing off to one side.
“Baby, you could have waited at the palace,” the large warrior at her side fretted.
“Yeah, fuck that. I wanted to see them arrive.”
Reston stepped forward. “Commander McKenzie, it’s an honor to finally meet you in person. I’m Reston O’Brien.”
The extremely tall and built man turned to them. “It’s a relief to see so many verified Vanguard. We feared we lost you all when months passed without people getting registered.”
Reston looked around. The other men seemed content with letting him speak since he stepped up first. “Nearly all of us were deployed, sir, or working private contracts. When the Queen ordered her children home, we knew we were needed here.”
“How long did it take to verify you all?” the commander asked.
Reston shot her a rueful glance. “It went quicker when a certain someone suggested the men take off their shirts and KOS anyone with a red tattoo.”