She immediately set about climbing the remaining catwalks to get to the pulleys holding Liza up. It was a minor miracle that any remained after the hurricane had ripped through the warehouse, even if it had been under Sophie’s control.
Mick moved over beneath Liza’s feet.
“You just hold on a bit longer, honey,” he called. “We’ll have you down in a jiffy.”
She nodded weakly. Her pale face was stretched tight with pain. Those dislocated shoulders had to be pure agony. Mick’s mind was already turning over the options for how best to get her treated. There would be too many questions to answer at a human hospital. No, Jeannette would be better. They’d take Liza back to his place and have his second in command come look her over. She had a healer’s touch that would be faster than any mainstream medicine.
“Almost there,” called Sophie.
Mick tracked her movements, not liking that she was so far above them. If she fell— His hands clenched, his muscles tensing. No, best not to think of such things. She wouldn’t fall. She was being careful. Still . . .
Behind the gag, Liza screamed, her eyes going wide.
“I know it hurts, sugar. We’re workin’ as fast as we can,” said Mick.
A whistling hum caught his attention as Sophie screamed, “Mick, behind you!”
Mick whirled and in a fleeting instant saw Cassius less than ten feet away, bloody but upright, fangs bared. He had only a moment to dive to the floor before the saw blade sailed through the air and tore the vampire in half. It hit the far wall of the warehouse with a thunk that left it lodged halfway in a beam.
“What the fuck?” shouted Mick. He scrambled to his feet, looking first at Cassius, then up at Sophie and Liza, then back to Cassius. Or rather, the other half of him,
which had flown somewhat further with the momentum from the saw.
The vampire had evidently pulled himself off the joist and crossed the room for another attack. And Liza had seen him coming. Holy shit. If he hadn’t turned around . . . Gods.
“Are you all right?” Sophie called, panic threading her tones.
“I’m fine,” shouted Mick, still looking around.
Where the hell had that saw blade come from?
“Don’t worry wolf, that was a freebie.” The demon materialized among the debris, looking satisfied at the carnage.
“But . . . why?” asked Mick.
“Because the vampire was about to kill you, and I have a feeling that life with you is going to be a great deal more interesting than down in the pit.”
Mick eyed the demon. What exactly had he gotten himself into?
“Well don’t just stand there like a dolt. Let’s get the girl down.”
~*~
Mick was pulling bacon out of a cast iron skillet when Sophie wandered into the kitchen. She was fresh from a long, hot shower where she’d scrubbed and scrubbed to remove every last trace of mud and blood and death. It was going to be a while before she felt truly clean again. She stood in the doorway, admiring his efficiency as he cracked eggs into the bacon grease with one hand and moved over to slide some sourdough toast into the oven.
“How’s Liza?” he asked.
She smiled a little. Of course he’d known she was there.
“Sleeping. But with Jeannette’s ministrations, the pain’s already starting to fade. That’ll make it easier on her. If we’d had to rely on human medicine, she’d be aching for weeks.”
“She’s a tough one,” Mick observed. “Takes after her sister.”
Sophie huffed out a breath and wandered over to examine the pot of red begonias on his window sill, absently rolling the sleeves of the borrowed shirt up above her wrists. As it was Mick’s shirt, it took a while. “Her sister doesn’t feel so tough. I keep playing the whole thing over in my mind, wondering how I could have stopped this. If I’d done this instead of that. Kept my secret from Liza. Or kept her in my hip pocket so I could keep an eye on her. I don’t know. I—”
“That’ll drive you crazy, petite. What’s done is done. Coffee?”
She nodded, and he turned away to pour some into a pair of thick crockery mugs. “I know it is, I just— Even though she’ll heal from this physically, she’s going to have nightmares for a long, long time.”