Page 201 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

I sneak a look at him as he buttons up his nightshirt. Freshly showered, his wet locks hung over his forehead and a few drops of moisture drip from his lashes and onto his cheeks.

I lick my lips instinctively.

“You promise me you won’t try anything while I’m away?” he asks again.

“Uhm, I told you I would.”

He tilts his head to the side and stares at me.

“Is that so…” he trails off.

“You should sleep. You need to be rested for tomorrow so you can kill as many of those horrible Nazis as possible,” I suddenly say, getting up from my bed and going to his side. I tuck him in and lay a kiss on his forehead. “And remember. You come back to me.”

“Yes, yes, Minnie.” He chuckles.

As I head to my own bed, I continue to steal glances at his form even as he goes to sleep. I’m worried about his missions. No matter how skilled he is, the danger is always there. For a moment, while we’d embarked on our adventure, I let myselfforget this aspect of his life—of our lives, since mine isn’t any less dangerous.

The next day, the anxiety doesn’t dwindle. If anything, as I wave him off on the runway, my heart aches in my chest when he becomes a smaller and smaller dot on the horizon.

He said he loves me.

“Don’t you dare leave me until I can tell you I love you, too,” I whisper to the wind.

Since my primary patient is gone, the other nurses ask me to help them with some chores around the base. I happily agree as it gives me more freedom of movement to observe how the greed demon has evolved in the time we’ve been away.

The first thing I notice when I head to the infirmary is that all the beds are full.

“There you are, Miss An’yan,” the doctor greets me when he sees me. “Thank you for joining us. We’re completely in over our heads. We have no more beds and the staff cannot cope with it anymore.” He takes a deep breath. “Any extra help is appreciated.”

“What happened? All these men have been injured in battle?”

He shakes his head bitterly. “If only. More than half the injuries have been sustained on the base.”

“What happened?” I ask as I follow him inside the full infirmary. All the other nurses are inside, rushing from one bed to another to take care of the patients.

“Beats me,” the doctor replies with a weary sigh. “It started shortly after Major Vitry went on his medical leave. Soldiers would fight over the smallest thing like food or drink. At first it wasn’t very alarming, but then they started targeting the women on the base.”

“What?”

He nods grimly. “Most of the soldiers currently in the infirmary got their injuries by fighting over the women andwho would claim them. It got so bad, the women barricaded themselves in the cantina and stayed there for days until the fighting died down.”

I glance at the injured soldiers and note most of them are sporting bruises on their faces from punches. The worst of the injuries are gunshot and stab wounds.

“By that point, most of the men had been too injured to fight over them. By God, I barely convinced them to treat them. They were terrified, and with good reason.”

“Any casualties?”

He grimaces and nods. “Five men. The higher-ups have been notified and we’re expecting an investigative crew to come here any moment.”

“And what’s going to happen to the men who survived?”

“They will be tried in the military tribunal. Those who survive, that is. We have nine who are in critical condition, and the smallest infection might kill them. It’s why I need all the help I can get.”

He looks gaunt and haggard, his eyes bloodshot and tired.

“Of course I’ll help,” I add. “May I also inquire about Holloway? He’s a good friend of Major Vitry and he’s been asking about him.”

He purses his lips.

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