It was hard to focus on him. I was glad he was helping and I dreaded that he was here. He was one step removed from her, and my head wasn’t in a rational place.

Books. My bookshelf had been my refuge, and this place had some of its own.

Most of the books had been damaged or abused by the transition from Bet to Gimel to N, presumably. They showed age in the same way a heavy smoker might be forty but look sixty.

There were empty shelves on the far left bookshelf, but no dust on the shelf. I checked, and I found something similar to what I’d seen by the desk at the back. Dust, garbage… and papers. I seized papers.

Some financial things. Some medical.

And one that the woman probably would have wanted to bring with her. I read the banner at the top of the paper. I was discreet in folding it and pocketing it without Marquis noticing, before continuing my search.

“We’re here with the truck!” a man shouted from outside.

I offered my one-handed assistance in helping Marquis, Spruce, Cryptid and Capricorn get the man outside without jostling him too much. We got him into the back of the truck, and Marquis’ people piled in.

The chaos of the moment meant chaos in the moments that followed. Lord of Loss was sterner than he had been, ordering his own people inside. It was blood shed on his territory, and the man that had been captured, controlled as a Kingdom Come proxy and left to die had apparently been a citizen.

For our efforts to save him, we got a thank you and an implied suggestion that we make our way back to the station.

Sveta was using a small brush to get blood out of the joints of her costume. Lookout was with Capricorn and Cryptid.

She hadn’t been inside the cabin, but she must have been at an angle to see what was going on. A lot of blood and a lot of open wounds and ugliness. Even with the Fallen camp, we’d kept her clear of a lot of it.

I put my hand on her shoulder. She looked up at me, solemn.

“You good?”

She smiled and nodded.

“Found this,” I said. I showed her the paper I’d saved.

She processed it, then realized its meaning. I saw her eyes widen.

I handed it to the others in turn.

It was my only prize, really. The other things had been receipts, that I’d left for the others to find.

The name on the banner along the top of the page was the same name as the remote prison for capes that they’d sent Ashley and Rain to. On the sheet itself, it had been patient numbers, a few months out of date. Some had been highlighted.