Page 53 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

Bits of food and what I can only surmise must be stomach juice coat Lucy’s cleavage and the front of her dress.

Her mouth is half-open in shock.

“Apologies, miss,” the patient mumbles. But it’s a slurred mumble, and that can only mean one thing.

Don’t you worry, strange and ailing man. Minerva is here to save the day!

I move faster than I thought myself capable without my powers as I swipe the bucket from under the bed and throw myself over the bed, aligning it with his mouth just as he starts retching again.

He grasps the bucket with both hands, after which I slowly pull myself off the bed and dust my dress.

Lucy is still in shock, covered in gut contents as she is.

I push my chin up and wait for the applause. After all, that movement was rather impressive, was it not? My aim was faultless. It would have been worthy of a moving picture. Just think—thesupernurse. With me starring in the main role, of course.

I’m still silently gloating when the doctor rushes to the man’s side, pushing Lucy out of the way.

“You. Out,” he tells her in an authoritative tone.

She flutters her lashes in confusion.

“But… It’sherfault,” she says as she points at me.

“Me?” I gasp in shock. “But I was just helping him,” I add innocently. Turning to the doctor, I start reciting from the medical textbook about the symptoms I’d seen on the patient’s face and the fact that he was continuously swallowing as if he had an abundance of saliva in his mouth. I tell him how I took all that to mean he was about to be sick and I wanted to make sure the bucket was close when it happened.

“But he wouldn’t have been sick in the first place if she hadn’t pulled on the bed,” Lucy complains.

I shake my head at her. All right, she may bepartiallyright. But this is about survival. I will not go to bed hungry again. I mean, if I don’t get this job, I will not haveanybed to go to.

“Really, Lucy, if you spent as much time studying your book as you do accusing others of stealing it, perhaps you could have identified the signs, too.” I smile sweetly at her.

“Miss Anyan is right. This isnotthe type of behavior we welcome here. You are dismissed, Miss Rawlins.”

“But please?—”

“Please step outside.” The doctor’s tone leaves no room for argument, so Lucy tucks her metaphorical tail between her butt cheeks—or was it between her legs?—and finally leaves.

But as she opens the door to get out, two other airmen walk in.

I turn, my eyes widening when I spot Vitry.

His gaze quickly finds me and he winks.

He. Winks.

At me.

The gall on this male!

His nose bleeding has stopped, I see. Perhaps he needs a new one. I would gladly offer to help if there weren’t so many people around.

“Where do you need us, Doc?” Vitry asks.

The doctor turns to him. “What ails you?”

The male next to Vitry starts complaining about a stomachache, while Vitry rolls up his sleeve to show a wide gash that’s leaking blood. From the look of it, it can’t be very old. He certainly didn’t seem to have any wounds when I saw him moments ago—at least none that weren’t inflicted by me.

I narrow my eyes at him.

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