In his panic, he'd forgotten the venom and the paralysis. The abducted witches in the cargo van had looked like this, too. Tevan and Kai had simply bitten her to keep her pliant and unmoving. The venom would wear off and she'd be fine.

Thomas came up on his side and yelled, "Get her out of here."

He didn't have to say it twice.

Adam tightened his arms around Claire and held her close to his body as he ran through the falling debris dripping from the ceiling, loosened by demon magick and on fire from his rage. His boots pounded on the stairs to the first floor and he carried her through the central lobby and out the front doors.

He didn't stop until they were far into the woods, away from the structure. If he could, he would have run for miles—anything to get Claire away.

He collapsed into a grassy patch, held Claire to his chest, and, breathing heavily, lifted his head to the sky. The waning sunlight, the soft twilight breeze, and the birdsong coming from the treetops seemed so odd considering where they'd just been. Nothing beyond the walls of the hospital hinted at the hellish battle now being waged in its industrial bowels.

He lowered his head and kissed her temple. He smelled like soot, but he'd managed to keep her free of it. "They're never getting you back, Claire," he murmured. "I have you now and I'm never letting go."

After a moment she stirred a little, her arm twitching first and then a leg. Slowly, she regained her ability to move, though not well. That would take some time. "Adam," she whispered in a labored voice. "Houses, I'm… so happy to see you." She winced, as though pained greatly by the mere effort to form words.

"Don't try and talk, Claire." He rocked her back and forth. "Just rest, okay?"

Fingers gripped his sleeve. "They never got it." She smiled.

"I know." That was clear enough by how frustrated the demons had been.

"You arrived just in time, Adam," she rasped. "They were so angry. If you'd come any later…" She trailed off and swallowed hard.

Coldness seeped through his bones at her words, freezing him motionless for a moment. "Don't talk, Claire. Please. We're going to get you safe, to a hospital—"

"No! No more hospitals. I hate them." Her voice was as strident as she could manage. "Okay." She smiled and rested her head against his chest. "Now I'll stop talking."

Adam hap made a promise he wasn't sure he could keep.

He watched Claire limp across the room and hand Micah a piece of paper. She leaned over and talked to him softly, while Adam drummed his fingertips on a desktop, deep in thought.

Back at the hospital, he'd told her that he would never let demons take her again. Gods, what a stupid thing to say. At any time Tevan or Kai could just pop in and jump her like they did at the gas station.