“Martyr Emmanuel Sanchez. Miss Sasha. May the blessings of the Lord be with you.”

“And also with you,” Sasha replied by rote. Emmanuel chimed in a second or two later. He sounded a bit awkward, like he wasn’t exactly sure what words to use.

Alexander pulled up a chair and set it against the right side of the table. He sat down, placing himself between them. He rested one arm on the table, but his left arm hung down directly over his sidearm. He looked at Emmanuel, smiled, and then looked at Sasha. She felt a wave of nausea grab her by the guts and tug. His lips curled up, revealing his straight white teeth.

“Excuse me,” Manny said, “but who are you?”

Alexander looked back to Manny, his expression unchanged.

“Martyr Alexander Dubois. I’m a friend of Sasha’s,” he glanced back at her with a wink that curdled her stomach, “…and I’m also in charge of recruitment for the Storming Battalion.”

“Never heard of it,” Emmanuel said in a gruff, clipped tone. Sasha realized she was shaking a little. Alexander’s lips curled up into an even more ghoulish variant of his already unsettling smile.

“There’s a reason for that, Martyr Sanchez. The Storming Battalion plays a key role in our success on the battlefield. They’ve been central in every one of our victories. We don’t publicize their work, for various reasons. But I assure you it’s a distinct honor to be recruited by me. That’s actually why I’m here, Emmanuel. We’ve chosen you.”

By now it felt like the pit of Sasha’s stomach was boiling. Something terrible was clearly happening. Even Emmanuel seemed to realize that. His face had gone pale. His pupils were the size of dinner plates.

“I, uh, thank you for the honor. But I’m happy with my unit. I, ah, feel that’s where the Lord needs me. My friend Aaron–”

Alexander put a hand up, flat palm facing Emmanuel.

“Your comrade will be taken care of. And we’ll be the judges of where the Lord needs you. Trust me, we’ve got a lot more experience interpreting His will than you do. There’s a reason the Cross flies over this entire city.”

Emmanuel half stood in his chair. It was a sudden gesture, and a faintly aggressive one. Sasha noticed his hands were balled up into fists. His eyes darted left and right. He seemed to be looking over the heads of Alexander and his men. Alexander tensed. Both the men put hands over their sidearms. But Emmanuel didn’t take any further action. After a few turns of his head he stopped looking, relaxed his hands, and sat back down.

“OK,” he said, “I get the feeling you want me to go with you now?”

Alexander smiled. It was a vicious, oily thing and it confirmed in Sasha’s heart that he had something terrible planned.