The fyrhund came running back to my side, whimpering. I frowned, and broke into a jog, letting him lead me back there.

There was, of course, the Red Flowers offices. She’d run back to “mommy.”

Of course she had. Maybe I’d got through, maybe I hadn’t, but she was trusting her boss over me.

“Ah. I thought you might come.”

I smiled. “Let her go.”

“Oh, I think not. She’s too weak for this business, but I can’t let her repeat what you said, now can I.”

She was wearing black leather, head to toe, and had poor Sara by the back of her shirt in one hand, the other tugging out a knife.

“You really think I’m going to let you do that?”

“You really think you can stop me, you pathetic child.”

I rather wished Hunin had stuck around to provide an aerial distraction. Or that Clara was here…except no sleep spell or similar would work on her.

Sara was squirming. I heard fabric rip. “You’d be surprised. Besides, you’d have done it already if you were going to.”

“I want to make you watch. I want to show you what will happen to your girlfriend if you don’t take her and leave. Now.”

How fast was she? She wasn’t a war demon. She wasn’t optimized for combat. And she looked like a black pit, threatening to swallow souls.

Then with a flicker of vision I saw her as she really was. Still female. Still beautiful, but that wasn’t a knife she was threatening to gut Sara with, only her claws.

I tensed, and then the fyrhund moved. He leapt to grab her knife hand. Not expecting that, she tried to slash at him with his jaws closed around her wrist.

I moved…to grab Sara, tugging her away quickly. Her shirt ripped, but that could be replaced.

“Oh my god,” she whispered.

I wondered which one, and whether that was enough to give her any protection.

Maybe it was, because I sensed a fluttering of wings. The succubus freed herself from the fyrhund and fled as fast as apparently quite real high heels could take her.

“Show yourself,” I asked mildly.

The angel stepped out of apparent nothingness. She looked vaguely familiar, but she had probably been involved with the invasion of Hell or something.

“What’s…” Sara stared between us. Then she fainted.

“I guess that answers which God she was calling on.”

The angel smiled. “Get her to a bed.” And then she was gone.

Guardian angel, perhaps?

Perhaps.