Nyx didn't waste time and hurtled over the hay bales before Jeff even had a chance to announce the obvious results of the match. Shock sobered her, but her thoughts were still fuzzy at the edges.

Never before had she seen such a mess. Blood covered Angel's bare torso. She took a quick survey of his condition; his nose was smashed in and his ribs were broken. His fractured chest rose and fell in a jarring rhythm.

Panic choked her. Nyx swallowed the nausea rising within. Now was not the time. Not taking more than a second, she looked up, desperately scanning the crowd for her sister, but was unable to find her in the sea of cheering faces. No one was paying attention to them. Jeff raised Aluminum Carl's arm to announce victory.

"Hey!" Nyx screamed. "Hey! Jeff! I need your help. Can't you see -"

No one paid her any mind. She was unsure if they could even hear her. Nyx shot to her feet and rushed to the two men, shoving herself between the sweating mass that was Aluminum Carl and the smarmy little weasel Jeff.

Nyx shoved Jeff for good measure. The crowd fell into a hushed silence. Aluminum Carl stepped back, unsure what was going on or what to do about it.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" she cried.

"Do you want me to -" Carl asked Jeff.

Jeff held up a finger, a smirk on his narrow face.

"Try it fuck wad," Nyx snarled, turning to Carl.

"Damn lady, It was a fair fight -"

"Fuck off. I'll deal with you later." She turned to Jeff. "We have to help him. What the fuck is wrong with you two?" She glared out at the now silent crowd. "With all of you!" Nyx hurried to Angel and crouched by his side. "Will someone please help?" She tried to lift him, or drag him, or something, but he was heavier than he looked. Finally, his dead weight began to move when she pulled on his shoulders. Nyx looked up, confused, then saw Cassie had joined her. She lifted Angel's legs while Nyx supported his shoulders. Angel groaned, coughing up another spurt of blood.

At least the spectators stepped out of their way so they could leave unimpeded.

"Please tell me you brought Alistair's car," said Nyx. She struggled to keep steady while supporting his weight. It was all so surreal. Everything looked distant.

"I did." Cassie had gone completely pale, with wide doe-eyes. Panic crisped her irises. "Do you think he -"

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"I dunno," Nyx snapped, then was immediately sorry for her tone.

He has to be ok, there's no other option.

Once outside, they hurried to Alistair's car. People lingering around who had missed the fight gawked at them in a mixture of curiosity and concern.

Nyx opened the car door so they could slide Angel inside. She hurried in after him. In the cramped darkness of the backseat, he looked even worse than when she first saw him. Dried blood coated his face and chest. His breath rasped with every strained inhale. She cradled his head on her lap, carefully stroking his hair. Tears trailed over her warm cheeks. Blood stained her hands.

Once Cassie was in the driver's seat, she threw the car in reverse and peeled down the dirt road, out of the woods. Dirt kicked up behind the tires.

"Where do we go?" she asked. "Do we take him home? To Julian?"

"What's Julian going to do for him?" Nyx couldn't take her eyes off his face. "He'd find a way to berate Angel's corpse if he could."

"The clinic? They could do something? Right?" Desperation tightened her voice. "We don't have enough time to get Aiden to send us to the mainland." After a brief moment of silence, she asked, "Is he going to be ok? Jeff never should have let him fight Carl. That was ridiculous."

"They have no fucking sense," Nyx muttered. "Jeff is a greedy piece of shit and he doesn't care. Honestly though, I can blame Jeff all I want but Angel put himself in there. I don't know what goes through his head sometimes."

Every bump of the dirt road jostled the car and Angel groaned in pain. At least he was still alive, and for that she was grateful. Nyx intertwined her fingers with his, but his hand was limp. The road was so dark, she couldn't even see the trees. Their headlights lit a narrow strip of dirt road. Cassie drove far faster than she had any right to on these back roads.

As they were about to exit the forest and get on some pavement, Angel gasped. He coughed, blood pouring from his mouth. His chest stopped rising. Nyx leaned forward, listening closely for his breath. Every crunch of gravel or gust of wind against the vehicle deafened her.

"Fuck, he isn't breathing!" Nyx exclaimed. Her voice trembled like the words were spoken by someone else.

"What do we do?"

"Just keep driving."

Paying no mind to Angel's injuries, Nyx locked her arms and put her hands on his sternum. She pressed in with all her weight, pumping compressions. It had been years since she had taken the course in high school, but she figured something would be better than nothing.

"How long can you keep that up?" Cassie asked.

"I don't know." Nyx's arms were already heavy. Sweat coated her chest and back. "Please hurry Cass."

Each thrust was weaker than the last. She panted with the effort, refusing to give up. Her muscles burned.

Angel lurched, gasping.

A flare of blue light glowed in the center of his chest. Nyx yanked her hands up and away.

"What the fuck?"

Cassie jerked the steering wheel, pulling over to the shoulder of the road. The light grew and expanded throughout the rest of Angel's body, washing him in electric blue waves.

"What's going on?" Cassie exclaimed.

The blue fire reflected in her eyes.

"I dunno." Nyx's heart sat in her throat, throbbing. Her fingernails dug into the fabric of her jeans. Eternity passed across minutes within the light. It enveloped her vision and swallowed her up.

Here, there was only warmth and weightlessness.

A white light consumed the backseat of the car with Angelus glowing azure in the center like the heart of a flame.