Page 54 of Casting Butterflies

Shit. Wrong word. “Listen, while I appreciate the military coming to our rescue, I just want to go home. If you could put me in touch with the Canadian embassy⁠—”

“No.”

“But—”

“There will be no arguing about this. You are going to be taken to a facility for debriefing.”

That sounded ominous. “You can’t do that.” Could he? I was in Russia, where the laws, especially for foreigners, didn’t give me the same rights as home.

“You will be leaving within the hour.”

With that, the solider whipped around and marched off, the only person not in a hazmat suit, indicating we’d not caught anything, a relief, but only a minor one.

I was so fucked. In the custody of the Russian military? I’d never escape. Especially if Misha had been captured alongside me.

The hazmat suiters exited the tent en masse, leaving me and the other patients alone. I debated making a run for it and seeing how far I got.

“Don’t bother trying to escape. Not yet.” Cedric appeared from under the bed and leaped to the mattress, sitting between my feet.

“Cedric, thank goodness. What’s going on? Where’s Misha?”

“I regret to inform you the elf is gone.”

“What do you mean gone? He abandoned me?”

“Not exactly. While you were busy sealing the rift, the mechanism linking the railcars chose to disengage. I didn’t see it happen but, given his disappearance, can only assume Misha lost his balance and fell into the pit.”

“No.” I shook my head. “You’re mistaken.”

“I checked the area after you felled the monster. I found no sign of him. Sorry, Florence. Misha is gone.”

I gaped at him before whispering, “Maybe he survived the fall?”

“Even if he did, the fact he fell into a goblin nest…” Cedric shook his head.

“Misha’s wily. If anyone could survive, it’s him. How far are we from the spot?”

“Half mile. The military set up a camp and have been monitoring everyone for signs of contagion. But don’t you dare think of going after him.” Cedric read my mind.

“What if Misha’s alive and needs my help?”

“He’s not and reopening that conduit will unleash those bloodthirsty menaces. Or are you suddenly okay with sacrificing people for a hopeless cause?”

I would be if I thought it might save Misha. Cold? Callous? Yup, but in my defense, the man I’d snuggled and kissed couldn’t be gone.

“How long has it been?” I asked.

“Almost four days. You expended quite a bit of magic.”

Four days and Misha hadn’t returned. Then again, guess it wouldn’t be easy, given he’d have to claw his way up through the ground like a zombie.

“The military dude says they’re taking me somewhere for questioning.”

“It’s what they’ve been doing with all the passengers. The uninjured were quarantined for two days before being bussed out of here. As others recover from their wounds, they’re also being relocated.”

“To where?”

“Somewhere not easily escaped, I would imagine.”