"Fuck! Someone help me get Mary!" Ava grunted again as she felt a flare from her dying halo pulse from her back. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, don't fail me now. Come on." The burst of light grew stronger as Ava managed to hoist the woman off the ground. A groan sounded from the beaten warrior, but otherwise she remained reaction-less, something that deeply troubled the Halo-bearer. "Come on Mary. You got this. Stay awake."

"Ava! Behind you!"

Ava turned to see a lumbering beast of a man behind her, his eyes gone black at the presence of the wraith within him. "FUCK!" she screamed in annoyance. She had no choice but to drop Mary before the thing could get her. A cross bolt whizzed by her face barely missing her before plummeting into the man's arm. He roared in pain.

Ava turned the other way, luckily not having to drop Mary to do so. "Huh. Thanks Camila," she remarked.

"No problem," the short woman replied. "Get Mary to the parking lot. Quickly. The Swiss Guard will be here any minute now."

Ava paused looking around at the melee around them. She couldn't leave yet. Not while everyone else was still here.

"Ava! Go!" Camila shouted again.

Ava brought out her dagger, slicing into the wraiths that only she could see.

She felt a harsh push on her shoulder. "Go," Lilith commanded. "You have the Halo. Get it out of here. You still have the OCS provided pager, correct?"

"But the demons," Ava began.

"I said go!" Lilith pushed her again, this time much harder. Ava winced. "We almost have it under control. When you find somewhere to go," the screech of a disgruntled wraith cut her off, "bloody obnoxious things."

"Wait, you can see them too? I thought only I could."

Lilith sighed. "Go. Quick. Get Mary and the Halo to safety. Text us when you find somewhere and we'll meet up."

"Okay," Ava whispered, terrified of what might happen next. She was leaving her first shot of a family behind to possibly die. But she had to listen to Lilith and Camila. 'Trust your team.'

Lilith slapped her shoulder. Ava winced at the impact. It seemed Lilith still didn't know how strong her new powers made her—or she simply didn't care if she was being too rough. "In this life or the next."

"In this life or the next."

Lilith turned her back, sprinting off to aid Beatrice who had lost her stars and daggers earlier that night and hadn't been able to find them in the chaos of bodies, blood, and sweat. The demoness was still worried about sending Ava out alone with Mary. Adriel and Vincent had fled the scene after calling down the swarm of wraith demons and hadn't been seen since. The group could only hope that Adriel wouldn't find Ava before they were reunited.

Lilith scoffed at the idea of the fate of their world lying in the hands of Ava fucking Silva.