Start the song. It's The Devil's Feet by Azure Ray.

Tyler could barely breathe as he helped Mr. Dun and Josh's brother carry him upstairs. His body was convulsing as blood gurgled from his mouth. Tyler fished the key out of Josh's pocket and unlocked the bedroom door before helping them to bring Josh in and lay him out on the bed.

Ashley sat up with wide eyes. "Oh my god. What happened?"

"Our mortal bodies are not fully equipped to contain a deity as powerful as Satan. Joshua will recover, but it will take time," Mr. Dun explained.

Tyler climbed onto the bed, putting Josh's head in his lap as Mrs. Dun opened her bag of medicines. "He's too young, Bill. We shouldn't have made him do this."

"The boy has dark blood. He'll survive," Mr. Dun told her sternly. "Jordan, go find Abigail. Tell her your mother needs to borrow some of her ipecac."

"What the hell does she have ipecac for?" Mrs. Dun asked as she unbuttoned Josh's shirt.

His eyes were rolled into the back of his head and his body was arching off of the bed while blood poured down his chin. Tyler pressed him down by his chest, fighting back tears. Josh was trying to talk, but it was coming out in gurgles.

"Joshua, just rest. I'll take care of you. I always do," Mrs. Dun commanded.

Josh turned his head and vomited blood onto the sheets. Chunks of flowers and berries swam in the liquid. Mrs. Dun froze, looking up at her husband.

"You all drank from the same chalice?" She asked quietly.

"Yes, why?" He asked as Jordan came back into the room followed by a small girl.

It was all Tyler could do not to throw up when Mrs. Dun reached into Josh's vomit and pulled out a berry. "Bill, this is mistletoe. One of the very first things you learn here as kids is that mistletoe is poisonous. The elders would know. Whoever added this in wanted to kill Joshua."

"We all drank it. The mistletoe couldn't have been in there," Mr. Dun insisted, looking overwhelmed.

"Unless he swallowed all of the berries that were in there," Jordan whispered. "He swallowed three in this puddle alone."

"Go check the vomit outside," Mrs. Dun told him. "If there's more, this might be more than I can fix."

Suddenly Josh went still. Tyler felt every neuron in his brain begin to panic. Josh's parents were arguing about the mistletoe, Jordan ran from the room, and Ashley was too busy sobbing. Tyler reached below Josh's nose and felt for breath. It was faint, but it was there.

"Come on, Josh," he whispered. "Keep breathing. Just keep breathing."

Tyler looked up when the little girl, Abigail, placed her hand on his arm. There was sympathy on her face, but no fear. She climbed onto the bed beside Josh and placed her small hands over his eyes before closing hers. She began to whisper under her breath, and it took Tyler a moment to realise that she was praying.

"Laura, you've gotta do something," Mr. Dun insisted. "I'll find out who added the berries."

"Bill, whoever it was, I want them dead. Do you understand me?" The levelled tone of her voice scared Tyler. She didn't care who'd done it or why. She just wanted them to be dead.

Tyler brushed Josh's sweaty hair off of his forehead lightly when Abigail removed her hands. She held her brother's cheeks softly.

"Mama, he's dying," she said quietly.

"He is not going to die. I won't allow that. We just need to get all of these out of his system," Mrs. Dun told her. "Do you have your syrup?"

"Yes, ma'am." Abigail pulled a small bottle out of the pocket in her sweater before climbing over Josh and into Ashley's lap. She handed it to her mother. "Bubba isn't gonna die, is he?" She asked again, bringing her sleeve up to her mouth and chewing on it.

"Joshua is going to be just fine. Ashley, take her out back to the sanctuary. I'll come get you when this is over. Tyler, you help me get him to the bathtub. He's about to throw up everything in his stomach," Mrs. Dun ordered. "Bill and Jordan, go kill whoever the hell hurt my baby."

"Yes ma'am," every single person in the room chorused as they were set into motion.

Ashley picked Abigail up and ran out of the room, followed by Jordan and Mr. Dun. Tyler started to lift Josh when Mrs. Dun stopped him.

"Wait. Throwing up might make it worse." She sighed, looking at Tyler with tear-filled eyes. "Tyler, I can't treat this. This is so far out of my league. I don't know what to do. I need.... God, they'll kill me, but I have to take him out of the community for this. He'll die if I don't."

Tyler was shaking with fear. "What do we do then?" He was barely holding back tears as he brushed Josh's hair back again. "I can't...we can't...what do we do?"

She shook her head. "I don't know."

Josh's eyes opened suddenly. He gasped, trying to sit up. Tyler eased him back down, whispering softly. "Stay down, Josh. It's okay. Breathe."

Josh's eyes were unfocused as he looked up at Tyler. He smiled slightly when he saw him. Tyler sobbed as he leant down and pressed his forehead against Josh's. Josh's eyelids fell shut.

"Don't you dare leave me here. Not now," Tyler whispered. "I love you so much." He sat up slowly, combing his fingers through Josh's dirty hair.

Letting out a shaky breath, Josh turned his head and rested it against Tyler's thigh. His chest was rising and falling unevenly, but it was clear that he was trying. He mumbled something before relaxing again.

"Breathe," Tyler whispered again, taking Josh's hand while Mrs. Dun felt around on his stomach.

Josh mumbled something again, but it was too garbled for Tyler to understand. His hand squeezed Tyler's softly. "I love you," Josh mumbled shakily.

Tyler sobbed again as he kissed his hand. "Then stay with me, okay?"

The faint nod that Josh sent Tyler was enough to give him hope. He traced Josh's facial features softly with the pads of his first two fingers. Josh smiled slightly. Tyler couldn't help but smile back despite the overwhelming pain in his heart.

"His stomach isn't swelling. That's a good sign," Mrs. Dun said quietly. She looked frazzled. "I think he might have gotten all of the berries out on his own. How long has it been since he last threw up?"

"Maybe five minutes," Tyler replied, smiling when he felt Josh squeeze his fingers again softly: a gentle reminder that he was still hanging on. "He's doing a lot better right now."

"I'm just going to give him ginger root for his stomach. Wash this blood off of him. I don't want him waking up and panicking," Mrs. Dun told Tyler. "Let him get some rest. Ashley can stay with Abigail in the sanctuary tonight. Joshua seems more calm with just you around anyhow."

"Yes, ma'am," Tyler replied.

Mrs. Dun looked to Tyler suddenly, holding his face gently in her hands. "Listen to me. Regardless of how you got here, you are my son now too. I want you to know that if this were you in this situation, we would try just as hard to save you, and we have. You're safe here."

"Thank you, Mrs. Dun," Tyler whispered.

His heart ached for his own mother. More than ever, he wanted to be home with her. He wished he could scoop Josh up and carry him out of the community and to his dad's church. He wanted to be home safe with his family, and that included his husband.

-----

Blood stained the water as Tyler washed Josh. The first things he'd washed away were the markings around Josh's eyes. He hated them for what they'd done tonight. That hadn't been Josh out there. The thing that had slaughtered Mathias and maimed Ash was a side effect of the poison that Josh had been given.

Josh was barely conscious, watching Tyler tiredly. "I'm sorry," he whispered weakly.

Tyler shook his head as he washed blood away from Josh's shoulder. "Don't apologize to me. You haven't done anything wrong. Just relax, okay? Your body has been through enough tonight. Your mind has too."

Josh sighed, resting his head against Tyler's shoulder. Tyler took it as an opportunity to wash Josh's back, massaging his stiff muscles as he did so. He smiled when Josh sighed softly. This was the safest Tyler had felt since getting here. Josh's family trusted him to take care of their son while he was injured. They were looking out for him too.

"Is my sister okay?" Josh whispered against Tyler's shoulder.

"I don't know, Josh," Tyler replied softly. "I'll find out for you, okay?"

Josh nodded slowly, "Okay."

The sound of arguing downstairs brought Tyler a fresh wave of anxiety.

"Josh, how's your stomach?" He asked, mostly to distract himself from the arguing.

"Hurts," Josh mumbled. "There's still Hell inside of me."

Tyler sighed, helping Josh sit back just enough to press their foreheads together. He pressed his palm against Josh's stomach. "I still love every part of you, even the parts that Hell has touched."

Josh tilted his head up and kissed Tyler softly. It was brief, but Tyler knew it would've been longer if Josh was able. He ran his fingers through Josh's wet hair and pressed a kiss to his nose.

"Let's get you to bed, okay?" Tyler suggested softly. "Ashley's staying in the sanctuary with your little sister. Don't panic when you see she isn't there."

Josh nodded before his eyes glazed over slightly. "I feel like I'm going to pass out."

"That's okay. I'll carry you," Tyler told him easily.

"Why are you so nice to me?" Josh whispered. It was so quiet that Tyler barely heard it.

The answer came so easily. "You're my husband."

He got a towel off of a shelf and went back to Josh, helping him stand despite his shaking legs. Josh watched him with hazy eyes as he dried him off. His touch was gentle on Josh's stomach, which was obviously still sore.

"You were nice to me before then," Josh pointed out as Tyler wrapped the towel around his waist.

Tyler wrapped his arms around Josh's waist and looked him in the eye. "The first time I ever really talked to you, you promised you'd save my life. Every day since then, you've kept that promise."

"Mathias cracked your skull, Tyler. I wasn't protecting you then." Guilt was written across Josh's features.

Tyler sighed. "Josh, you married me five minutes after just to keep me safe. You've redeemed yourself. Besides, tonight...."

Josh's eyes became hazy suddenly, and his body fell forward against Tyler's. Tyler caught him, picking him up carefully. His heart ached in his chest. Josh didn't deserve this, and the only way Tyler could even help was just to get him to bed. He carried him into the hallway, nearly crashing into Ash. Her tear-filled eyes widened when she saw Josh unconscious in Tyler's arms.

"What happened to him?" She asked anxiously.

The bandage on her hand was already soaked through with blood, but it was likely that no one would help with that while they were worried about Josh.

Tyler hesitated before saying, "Follow me."

She trailed after him timidly as he carried Josh back to their room. He laid Josh on the bed before going to the closet and getting one of the few shirts he had. Her eyes widened when he ripped it into strips.

"What are you doing?" She asked nervously.

"That's going to get infected if you don't change your bandage. I don't see any other bandages around. Give me your hand," Tyler told her.

"This is my punishment. If Satan wanted me to have a new bandage, he'd allow it. He hasn't," she said, despite the longing look she sent the makeshift bandages.

Tyler sighed and took her hand, already unwrapping it. "Yeah, well, maybe he sent me to fix this."

Ash watched him as he unbound her hand, although he was barely withholding vomit at the sight of her severed skin. She looked away when it was revealed, tears filling her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered to him. "I'm selfish and wrong and a sinner and-"

"I forgave you a long time ago," he told her honestly as he began wrapping her hand. "You still scare the shit out of me, but this isn't your fault."

It took Josh's sister a moment to digest that information. By the time she had, Tyler had finished wrapping the bandage. He was surprised when she hugged him, burying her face against his chest. As soon as he could regain control of his body, he wrapped his arms around her as well. The hug ended as quickly as it had began, and Ash left the room quickly, closing the door behind herself.

Tyler stood in shock for a moment before looking back to Josh, who was still unconscious. Taking in a deep breath, Tyler grabbed Josh some clothes and dressed him carefully. Just as he was pulling the blankets up around Josh, his eyelids fluttered open. He looked around in panic for a second before his eyes landed on Tyler. Relief came across his features.

"It's okay," Tyler assured him as he walked over and locked the door. "We're safe."

Josh nodded slowly as he watched Tyler climb into bed beside him. "Where's Ashley?"

"In the sanctuary. She's safe too," Tyler told him softly.

"And my sister?"

"She's safe," Tyler replied. "Come here. Sleep, Josh. Everyone is safe."

Josh let Tyler pull him against his chest this time, wrapping him up in his arms. His eyes fell shut instantly. It was no surprise to Tyler that Josh was exhausted. He massaged Josh's back gently as he watched him drift back off to sleep. There were still voices arguing downstairs, but Tyler didn't care. Josh was safe, and that was all that mattered.