The hospital was a mess.

  People were hurrying through the halls as maintenance and construction workers were busy tearing out walls. The last time I’d been in this building, Trent had been taking us to confront Farsch Alard. The former head of the Alard family had been upset with the Temple for endorsing the Publian Clinic, which had been how Archbishop Mavery had enticed Justia into agreeing to be my High Priestess. The position had been well outside of her level range, so it had been an offer with implications that neither of us had guessed.

  I glanced over at Justia as she took in the chaos. Only Gesai had been in these narrow halls more than she had and there was something about the look on her face that was satisfied in the chaos around us. Considering the lack of construction vehicles in the parking lot, I hadn’t expected the upheaval, but I was glad that she could take some comfort in the way things were being changed.

  Gesai, on the other hand, looked appalled. She stared at the destruction around her with horror in her green eyes.

  “Hey!” A brown Minotaur stomped over to us. “This isn’t a place for civilians! You need to go back to the front of the hospital before someone gets hurt!”

  “I’m…” Gesai swallowed as she spread out her arms to shield us as plaster dust sprayed into the hall as a hole opened in the wall behind the demihuman.

  “This is what I’m talking about!” The Minotaur roared as he turned around. “Hey! Aticus! Hold off on the demo for a beat!” He pointed down the hall to his left. “Go help Helman set up the cutting station while I get these civies out of the danger zone.” He turned back to us. “You want to tell me how you got in here?”

  Gesai fixed her gaze on the bullman. “I’m here to meet with my father.” She motioned at the elevator down the hall on the left.

  “Ma’am, I’m not sure how you got in here, but Yorn Alard had everyone clear out so we could redo the layout down here so it doesn’t look so much like a prison.” The burly Minotaur looked at the rest of us and must have decided that we weren’t significant because he turned his attention back to Gesai. “I’m going to need all of you to turn around and leave. I don’t have time to babysit voyeurs who want to see what’s changing and one of you is going to get crushed if you stay here.”

  “Yorn Alard is my father and he asked me to bring my students here this afternoon to meet him.” Gesai straightened up. I had no doubt that if it came down to a fight, she was going to win. Though, if they were knocking walls down like they were nothing, this construction crew was probably made up of Tier Fives. So while she’d be able to handle herself, things wouldn’t be as easy if she was also trying to shield us.

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  “Yeah, and my dad is Alos Damous.” The Minotaur name-dropped Warder’s assistant. Considering the Dispatchers were mainly comprised of Anubis, Alos was probably the best-known Minotaur in the whole Ward. “See? You can say whatever you want, but that doesn’t mean that it’s true.” He shooed us. “So run along before I have to call the Authority to pick you up.”

  “One second.” The silver woman typed something into her CB.

  “Ma’am, you’re really trying my patience.” The Minotaur grumbled as he took a step towards us. A thud from behind caused him to pause to see what had just fallen.

  “Nartas! She’s okay!” Yorn Alard stepped out of the door across from the elevator and walked towards us. His steps were weary, like he had been on his feet for most of the day. He was still wearing the suit that I’d seen him in the night before, which led me to believe he hadn’t had a chance to go home yet. His red hair was disheveled, like he’d just run around the building.

  I wonder if he jumped down the stairwell. I made a note to look through the window of the door once I got a chance.

  The Minotaur coughed into his hand. “Sir, I was just about to—”

  “That’s my daughter you’re talking to.” Yorn hit the button to call the elevator, then motioned for us to come to him. “I’ll take it from here.”

  “You’re the boss.” Nartas shrugged, then sauntered off down the hall where he’d sent the other Minotaur.

  “Sorry about that.” Yorn wrung his hands together, then ran them through his short, red hair. “I made a comment last night about how the building would look better if it was more open instead of long, dark hallways, and Harror brought them over with her early this morning.” He shook his head. “They’ve already redone most of the top floor.”

  Being able to store materials in our CBs meant that most construction jobs boiled down to cutting material to fit, then installing the trimmed material. Most sizing was done off-site, which meant that once the measuring was done, the small crews only had to go get material and then install it.

  Demolition was something else, but CBs could be used to store all of the debris if it was wrapped in a cloth or tarp. While hammers or heavy machinery were helpful, a Tier Four Minotaur could rip apart a Mundane house with their bare hands like it was made out of cardboard.

  I glanced through the window of the door across from the elevator before I got on behind Ether. Sure enough, there were stairs. I smirked as Yorn finished straightening his clothes as he got on the elevator with us. I needed to see if there was a spell he had used to fall that far or if he had just healed through it after he landed. Either way, I found myself very curious to try it one day.

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