Page 71 of Peacemaker

Seamus glanced at Angus, and I saw the exact second he understood the situation. He would go after Angus, because Angus was my weak spot.

He’d leaped out of the way of Leo’s terrifying power, but three other demons weren’t so quick. Leo’s power cracked the ground and streaked toward them, and when it reached them, it spiraled up their huge bodies, carving them into symmetrical slices, killing them before they’d even realized they were about to die.

The other demons roared, scattering when they saw what Leo could do, and then they regrouped and turned their collective concentration on the giant. He was the biggest threat to them at that moment, and he would be the first one they needed to kill.

Amias attacked the big demon, attacked him with fangs, claws, and speed unlike any I’d ever seen. Seamus yelled and twisted his body and flailed his arms and released wild, uncontrolled fire and power, trying to find the tormenting vampire who was too fast, very nearly, to be seen.

Silverlight sent Blacklight limping back to Seamus, and then she streaked through the air and into my hand. Rhys was there beside me, his stunned stare on Angus.

“He’s dead?” he yelled. “Is he dead?”

Angus lay unmoving, unable even to twitch. His moans may have stopped—I wouldn’t have heard them over the cacophony of the battle—and I screamed his name and dropped to my knees.

He wasn’t dead. I’d have felt that.

But he was close. So very close.

Rhys dropped down beside me as Leo, Shane, and Clayton kept the demons occupied. Amias handled Seamus, and Blacklight attempted to recover from Silverlight’s attack.

I needed to drag Angus from the graveyard. I needed to get him home and call in a supernat doctor. He had come back from bad shit before. He’d come back from this.

But there was no time.

Seamus stomped toward us, and I knew if he reached Angus, he would finish him off. Amias launched himself at Seamus’s back, but he seemed slower. He’d been injured.

The big demon held up his hand, filled it with fire, and prepared to throw it at me.

At Angus.

Rhys pointed at the still-as-death werebull. “Fix him. Fix him now. I’ll buy you a few minutes but you won’t get another chance.”

“I don’t know how!”

“He’s yours. Figure it the fuck out.”

And then he leaped into the air, changing from Rhys into a…a wall. A wall of ice. I felt the cold power from that shield—it slammed into me and I began to shake with cold, cold that made it hard for me to speak, let alone move.

But move I must.

Rhys would weaken fast. He might never regain his power.

He was sacrificing himself for Angus. For us all.

And I’d be damned if I let his sacrifice be in vain.

So while he blocked Angus and me from fire, from power, from wrath, I blanked my mind, led with my heart, and let my gut take over.

I would save Angus, or I would die there with him.

We all would.