text: Cynthia screamed.
  
  "Oh, no!" Rochelle sobbed. "I messed up! I didn't peer into the future deep enough!"
  
  The Lemure on top of Cynthia lifted into the air then hurtled at the Nephilim. Juanita's eyes were fixed on her fallen wife. They had only met last night, but she loved the blonde as fiercely as she loved Bill and Rochelle and Hikaru.
  
  And she wasn't going to let her die!
  
  "Hold on, Cynthia!" she shouted and charged off the porch, heedless of the new wave of Lemures pouring out of the brush.
  
  "Shit!" Reggie, one of the three lacrosse players guarding Juanita and Rochelle, shouted. "Come on, Wendy!"
  
  Juanita ran as hard as she could. The entire front of Cynthia's shirt was red with her blood. Juanita wanted to be sick, but she couldn't waste time on that. Cynthia needed her. She barely noticed the horde of Lemures charging at them. Nothing else mattered to Juanita.
  
  She fell to her knees, grabbing Cynthia's hand. She felt weak pain from the woman. She was still alive. Juanita drank in her pain, using the empathy Bill had granted her to save Cynthia. Burning slashed burned Juanita's back, her flesh experiencing Cynthia's agony. The pain lessened inside Cynthia, pulled into Juanita's body. Other emotions stirred inside the blonde, rising from the surface of unconsciousness. The spread of red slowed, dwindled, stopped.
  
  Cynthia's blue eyes opened and caught hers. Love was transmitted in that gaze. Juanita squeezed her wife's hand. Cynthia squeezed back. The pain in Juanita's back faded away, replaced by exhaustion. Most of the love inside her was burned up, but it was worth it.
  
  "Shit!" Reggie yelled, and Juanita looked around, and fear swept across her. A tide of Lemures flowed around them, held at bay by Reggie and Wendy's swords.
  
  Light gathered, woven in to a rainbow, and Sophia-Illusion sprang to life, falling on the Lemures. Juanita huddled next to Cynthia, unable to help, as the illusion, Reggie, and Wendy kept the Lemures at bay.
  
  "Thank you," Cynthia whispered.
  
  "I may not have saved you for long," Juanita answered.
  
  "Just have faith."
  
  "Faith in Bill," Juanita nodded.