Page 275 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

“Damn it,” I curse under my breath. “And I can’t hurt humans.”

“You can’t. But I can.”

Mine’s words hang heavy in the air. It takes me a few moments to shake away the sleepiness and understand what he wants to do.

“What?” I jump to my feet. “Are you insane?” I demand, panic rising in my chest.

But then, a loud boom shakes the ice structure, startling me even further.

“They have guns. And bombs,” Mine’s voice remains calm but urgent.

“You have nothing!”

“So get me something,” he counters matter-of-factly.

My lashes flutter in surprise. In fact, not only is he too calm about this entire situation, but it’s almost as if he’s…excited about it.

“Teleport some weapons from the base and I’ll use those.”

“But—”

“Trust me, Minnie. I can take care of them.”

More shots echo outside, accompanied by loud explosions. The hostilities are getting worse by the second.

Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes and mentally go back to the base, looking around for any weapons. Inside out little shed, I find a couple of pistols and a larger weapon. I teleport all of them back to us.

“This is perfect,” Mine says with a nod as he inspects the guns. “Can you tell me how many people are outside?”

I press my lips together. How much can I help him before I am considered directly responsible for what befalls those humans?

Alas, before I can contemplate the intricacies of Aperite laws, I flash myself outside. As I wander around, invisible to all but those with a strong spiritual energy, I take note of the surrounding situation.

Ten soldiers stand next to the towering ice structure, their weapons at the ready. In the distance, a tank and five more soldiers can be seen, while three tanks and five cars line the main road.

Returning to the ice room where Mine awaits, I relay what I observed. He nods solemnly, his expression grim.

“They’re most likely here as part of the evacuation,” he explains.

My brow furrows in confusion.

“Shouldn’t they move on then?” I inquire.

“Not if they suspect this may be of interest to their leader,” Mine replies darkly. “Hitler is known to have a fascination with the occult.”

“Occult?”

“Things outside of the realm of possibility. And what would be more impossible than a house of ice that is impenetrable?”

“That makes sense. So you don’t think they will leave us alone.”

“No. They will not.”

I let out a heavy sigh. “It’s a lot of people. And they have tanks.”

He shrugs. “I can handle them.”

“You’re one person.”

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