Chapter 80. Partners In Spite
For a second, he wasn't in the warehouse anymore. He was back in that research camp at Matheran Ridge, the night the Teshani rebels hit them. In another timeline. The same choking darkness. The same ringing in his ears. The same disorientation as he tried to figure out which direction led to safety and which to more danger.
That night, he'd found his friend and fellow researcher Elisa facedown in the mud, her specimen case still clutched in her hands.
She was dead.
No... not again.
Anger surged through him—clean, clarifying anger that burned away the fog of memory. He weaved a quick spell in the air, the surrounding mana glowing blue.
"[Wind]!"
The spell burst outward from his fingertips. The smoke scattered instantly, pushed to the edges of the room. Debris flew with it—papers, wood splinters, dust—exposing the wreckage of the warehouse floor.
And there was Cass, sprawled on her side, half-buried under a fallen shelf.
"Cass!" He scrambled over broken boards and scattered tools. "Cass, answer me!"
She didn't move.
A thin trickle of blood ran from her hairline down the side of her face. Adom dropped to his knees beside her, gently pushing the shelf off her body and checking for obvious injuries. Nothing seemed broken, at least not visibly.
He pressed two fingers to her neck. The pulse was there—steady, strong.
She was alive.
He let out the breath he'd been holding.
A noise from outside snapped his head up. Voices, just outside the wall.
"—told you to check first!"
"How was I supposed to know there were people inside? It's a fucking warehouse under construction!"
"Oh shit, the smoke's clearing—"
Adom turned toward the broken window. A masked face peered in, eyes widening when they met his.
"Someone's alive in there!" the voice hissed. "We gotta go, now!"
The face disappeared, followed by the sound of running footsteps.
Adom didn't think. He didn't plan.
He summoned John. The golem materialized beside him immediately.
"Protect her," he ordered, pointing to Cass. "Full defense. Nobody touches her."
He didn't need to say it for John to do what he wanted. But it felt liberating to talk. He could express his rage better.
Adom was already running.