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Donovan was already sliding one arm under Abraxos's shoulders, favoring his own ribs with a wince he didn't bother hiding. "I've got him. Sarah, keep pressure on that side. If he keeps bleeding out like this, he’ll be in trouble. Izzy, take a picture so Jace can see exactly how much he's lost."

"Flying's out." Izzy was already scanning the alley mouth. "He can’t lift off with that wing hanging like that. We have a car two streets over. Dad parked it there for emergencies."

"I've never been so grateful your father thinks of everything," Sarah muttered, tamping down the fear threatening to drown her whole as she moved in tandem with Donovan. She matched his pace stride for stride while Abraxos's weight sagged heavier between them with every step.

Izzy raced ahead when they hit the corner. She pulled a set of keys free, gestured to the right, and hit the fob before Sarah's brain caught up to what was happening. "The car's this way," the princess called back over her shoulder. A block ahead of them, a black SUV's lights flashed once in answer. Izzy had the back door open before Sarah managed a single blink. She moved with the vampire speed that never stopped being unsettling, no matter how many times Sarah witnessed it.

Sarah's heart damn near stopped the second she had to let go of Abraxos's wound. Gold slicked across her palm as Donovan hauled him the last few feet toward the open door. She scrambled into the vehicle and threw herself across to the other side. Without bothering to buckle, she reached back through the gap to catch Abraxos as Donovan levered him onto the seat. The young warrior maneuvered her mate as if he weighed nothing at all, despite the fact that he had to be over two hundred pounds of solid muscle and bone.

"Careful with his head," Sarah warned, sliding her free hand above his skull the instant it cleared the doorframe, blocking it from cracking against the ceiling.

"Sorry, angel," Donovan grunted the apology without slowing down. After stuffing Abraxos in the back with her, Donovan raced to the front passenger seat while Izzy dropped behind the wheel like she'd been born there.

Abraxos didn't respond to any of it. It was as if he didn’t hear the warning or the apology. He didn't even react to the sound of his name when it fell out of Sarah's mouth a second later. The silence made a vice tighten around her chest. He had to live.

She wasn't built to survive the alternative. Not after everything they had been through. She pulled him as close against her side as the cramped space would allow. Her palm pressed flat over the wound, and she bore down with everything she had left in her.

"Drive like the devil's actually on the bumper," Donovan ordered the vampire princess as he reached for his phone with blood-slicked fingers.

"He might be." Izzy didn't wait for anyone to argue the point. She stomped the gas and peeled out hard enough to throw Sarah back against the seat. Tires screamed their protest against the asphalt.

The ride back took eleven minutes. Sarah spent every single one of them wedged into the back seat with Abraxos's head cradled in her lap. She watched blood seep between her fingers, no matter how hard she pressed down. Izzy took corners so tightly that the tires shrieked each time. A couple of times, one side of the vehicle lifted off the road. Sarah barely noticed any of it.

Donovan barked directions into his phone at whoever had picked up on the other end. "Tell Jace Abraxos has a two-foot gash along his side and a broken wing. He’s had significant loss of blood and grace. Tell him to be ready before we hit the driveway."

"Tell him I need to know if an angel can run out of grace the way it runs out of blood," Sarah added.

“He’s going to be okay,” Izzy replied instead of Donovan saying anything to whoever he was talking to.

Abraxos's hand found hers at that moment, making her heart leap in her chest. His grip was weak but insistent. He held on as if letting go might be the thing that finished him.

Jace was already on the porch steps with two warriors and a stretcher of folded canvas by the time Izzy tore down the driveway. Izzy blew straight past the end of the pavement and skidded onto the lawn. Grass and dirt sprayed up from beneath the tires. Sarah had her door open before the car had fully stopped rolling.

"Come on," she shouted at Jace and the warriors with him, already fighting Abraxos's dead weight toward the opening while keeping her hand clamped over the wound. Letting up even an inch might be the thing that finally killed him.

Jace and the warriors closed the distance at a dead sprint. The stretcher snapped open between them with the kind of practiced speed that came from doing this exact thing more times than anyone should have to. Jace took one look at the blood soaking clean through Sarah's sleeves and jolted straight into motion, barking orders.

The warriors had Abraxos onto the canvas and off the seat in seconds. They lifted him between them while Jace fell into step alongside. The healer placed one hand flat over the wound, nudging Sarah's fingers out of the way.

"I've got your mate," Jace promised. His palm pressed down with a pressure that felt different from hers. It was practiced and more certain, which made sense because healing power lived right there under his skin, waiting to be called on. "Move, Sarah. Now."

Donovan took part of the front end of the stretcher, and the three carried Abraxos up into the house. They moved through the hall at a near run. Jace was shouting something at the warriors flanking him that Sarah didn't have the bandwidth to process. She stayed glued to Abraxos's side the entire way, refusing to let go of his hand. His fingers were still loosely wrapped around hers, even with his eyes closed and his face gone the color of old ash.

"Put him on the table." Jace had shed every trace of the calm he usually wore.

The warriors had Abraxos in position before he finished speaking. Warmth was pouring from Jace into her angel. It was chased by a power unique to the healer. Sarah held her breath, praying Abraxos recovered fully from this.

"Talk to me, Abraxos. Where does it hurt the worst?" Jace prodded firmly.

"Everywhere. Its toxins spread fast." Abraxos rasped the word out. His throat worked while his eyes fought to stay open. They found hers in the chaos of the med bay. "Feels like getting bit by a demon and struck by lightning at the same damn time, but I’ll be fine."

"That’s helpful." Jace dragged a cloth soaked in something that smelled of crushed sage and ozone across the wound at his side. "You’re in bad shape, my friend."

"He’s barely holding on," Sarah shared what she was getting through their partial bond. "Trying to be strong for me."

"Somebody hold him down while I find out how bad it actually is," Jace barked, causing two of the warriors in the room to hurry over and plant their hands on Abraxos's shoulders. Sarah gritted her teeth and did the same to his good arm.

Jace worked in silence for a long moment. His powers poured out of him, where his hands pressed against torn flesh. Sarah counted every one of Abraxos's ragged breaths like they were the only currency left in the world worth tracking.