Page 4 of My Salvation

“Good. I knew you were still here but didn’t tell Ilian or Reston. They’d probably have gone AWOL early to get home.”

She tilted her head, giving him a questioning look.

He snorted. “You really didn’t think we cared about that dinky little succulent, did you?”

She continued to stare.

He sighed. “We set up a camera in the kitchen. As long as you were coming once a week, we could keep an eye on you.”

“Whaaa!” she protested.

Luca laughed. “I was the one checking the camera for the past two weeks, so I knew you stayed behind.” He gave her a severe look. “You had to have known something was happening, Cas. Why didn’t you move in with Cam and the Monroe squad?”

She spit into the sink. “Because they’re slobs.”

“And?”

“I can’t live like that, Luca.”

“Did Ilian and Reston get you caught up?”

She nodded solemnly. “How is this happening?”

Luca wrapped an arm around her shoulder and opened the bathroom door. Ilian and Reston were waiting for her in the hallway. “Because evil exists, baby girl, plain and simple.”

“Cas, are you okay?” Ilian asked.

She walked over to him and gave him a hug. “Sorry to scare you.”

Ilian exhaled. “I’m just glad Coop and Link weren’t here.”

Cas couldn’t help but laugh. Ilian, Reston, and Luca shared the apartment next to her. Lincoln and Cooper had the apartment below hers on the second floor.

Ilian Ri’Elwin was a fellow fae, and Reston O’Brien was the wolf-shifting squad leader. Luca Brambles was their witch, while Cooper Braxton and Lincoln Allard were the squad's heavy hitters. Coop was one of the largest men she had ever seen, which made sense as his animal was a polar bear, and Link was pure muscle. What he lacked in bulk, he made up with compact sinew. Coop said punching him was like punching a steel plate.

“Why is she still here?” a deep voice asked.

“There goes that echo again,” Cas observed sourly.

Coop stomped over to her and held out his hand. “Key.”

Sighing, she dropped her apartment key in his hand.

“Come on, Link, we have to carry Cassie’s stuff to the van,” Coop said, walking back out of the apartment.

“Why is she still here?” a male voice asked before the door shut.

“Ugggh!” she yelled, throwing her hands in the air.

“Ilian, she should eat something before we head to Cam’s,” Luca recommended.

Ilian steered her back toward the kitchen. “Why are we going to Cam’s?” she asked, plopping a slice of pizza from the open box onto a paper plate before heading over to the microwave.

Ilian pulled his phone back out and set it in front of her. “The Unit Commander’s mate created a Vanguard app for us to register. She posted updates as to what’s been going on in our world,” Ilian’s face darkened. “It’s more than we’re getting from the council.”

Reston clapped a hand on Ilian’s shoulder. “You know why things have been kept quiet.”

“Because people would freak out,” Cas said, watching her slice of pizza spin in the microwave.

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