The black wire tried to wrap itself around Waddell's wrist.
He let go before it finished the first turn. The loose end struck the laundry floor, dragged across two cracked tiles, and pulled toward the open intake vent.
"Nobody touches that line with skin, cloth, or magic."
The shelter workers nearest him backed away. One woman kept both hands on a cot carrying an old man and his oxygen bottle. The cot's left wheel had caught in a floor drain.
Waddell lifted the frame over the drain and pointed them toward the cafeteria.
"Take every occupied cot beyond the second fire door."
Caelin's aide followed with white tape and a marker. She wrote the patient's name, the worker's name, and the oxygen bottle number on separate strips before fixing them where people could read them.
Waddell waited until the cot cleared the first doorway, then dragged a laundry cart from the wall. Wet blankets filled the lower bin. He added two detergent drums and the steel cover from a dead washing machine.
