He wasn’t in a position to ask unless he was willing to give up his own reasons for sticking around.
With a sigh, he stood, holding out a hand to Cyrus. “If you need anything…”
Cyrus shook his hand. “You, too. Whatever you’re doing, don’t get caught.”
“I’ll do my best.”
All Nicolas wanted wasto make his escape for the day, but James intercepted him before he made it out of the administrative building.
The man’s leathery face split into a mean grin as he called out Nicolas’s name and caught up to him in the hallway, clapping him on the shoulder.
“Garcia, something’s come up and I couldn’t think of anyone better for the job.”
“What’s up, Captain?” Nicolas asked, stomach swooping.
“You heard about the bodies that were just brought in, right?”
“Yes. I was actually with Commander Sloan when they arrived, and we walked down to the medical wing together.”
James nodded. “The remaining members of the squad let those men down last night. Sloan wants all five of them cleansed—today.”
No, no, no.“Oh.”
“He’s tasked us with rounding them up and taking them to the courtyard. They’re all still over by the medical wing. I want you to go get Aidan Porter.”
Aidan Porter used to be on Nathan Accardi’s squad. He was a perfectly nice guy, and Nicolas couldn’t think of anything in the world that he wanted to doless. But James’s beady gaze was sharp. This was a test—one Nicolas couldn’t afford to fail.
“I’d be happy to,” he replied. “The cleansing did wonders for me. I’m sure they’ll appreciate the chance to repent.”
James’s grin widened. “Good man. Get moving. The rest of our squad is already rounding up the others.”
Clammy sweat broke out on Nicolas’s skin as he turned on his heel, leaving his exit route behind to return to the medical wing. He walked quickly to hide the way his body quivered.
Some of the crowd had dispersed from the entrance to the medical wing, which was good. Nicolas spotted Aidan right away, standing with the remaining members of his squad. He also saw some of his own squad surrounding them—Patrick, Sam, and Ashton. They were pressing closer to the survivors, passive aggressively threatening. Aidan was scowling, body stiff.
“You’re coming with us,” Patrick was saying, “whether you want to or not. This is Commander Sloan’s will.”
“We didn’t do anything wrong,” Aidan said. “We tried to fight. The demon had some kind of power. It held us back!”
Nicolas didn’t want to waste time arguing. The quicker this was done, the sooner he could leave. If they didn’t force these five out to the courtyard, it would be their own hides on the line.
So he barreled right into the mix, forcefully grabbing Aidan by the arm and hauling him toward the exit at the other end of the hall. “Take it up with Sloan, then, Porter,” he said. Inside, his heart pounded. Aidan struggled in his hold, but Nicolas had taken him by surprise. His grip was too sure.
“Let go of me! Stop!”
Behind them, the others were forced after them.
“Stop fighting,” Nicolas said lowly. “You can’t get out of it.”
“Let go!” Aidan shouted, trying to shove him away.
Nicolas kicked the door open and shoved Aidan out ontothe sidewalk. “Don’t worry, you’ll thank me for this one day.”
He probably wouldn’t, but the others were too close to risk saying anything else.
“Screw you, Garcia! You can’t do this!”
“I’m just following orders, Porter.”
