“…worldwide, the news is also dire. We have confirmed accounts of the destruction of London, Paris, Tokyo, Madrid…”

Finally the terrible litany came to an end.

“There are no words for what has happened,” said Raziel. “Cities have been levelled. Millions have died. And Willow Fields is at fault. She has done this to your world.”

With a small whimper, Willow pressed a hand to her mouth; her shoulders crumpled as if she’d been punched.

“No!” Alex straightened quickly and pulled her away from the others. “You do not believe this,” he said fiercely. “You are never to believe this crap. Do you hear me? It was not your fault. It was him – Raziel. He’s the one who’s done this.”

Willow had a hand over her face, crying. “I should have known – I should have figured out sooner what he was up to. Oh god, all those people…”

Alex folded Willow into his arms as she began to sob. “How could you have known?” he demanded. “You were trying to save the world. Raziel knew that – he used it!” Alex drew back, stroked her hair from her face with both hands. “Willow, don’t believe him! Tell me you know it wasn’t your fault.”

“I…” Willow struggled to speak against the tears. “Maybe not completely my fault, but—”

“It wasn’t your fault at all!”

“Of course it was! I had a role in it, Alex. How can I get away from that – how?”

“You had a role like a pawn in a chess game has a role, querida,” Seb said vehemently from behind them. “That’s all.”

Over Willow’s shoulder, Alex could see the expression on Seb’s stubbled face, his love for Willow clear. “And you weren’t the only one who didn’t know Raziel was spying on us,” Seb added. “I checked too; I found nothing!”

“I know that!” Willow cried. “But if I’d just figured it out sooner—”

“How?” broke in Alex. “You didn’t know he was in your head in the first place!” He gripped her hands. He thought he’d do anything, pay any price, if he could take this anguish away from her. “Willow, there was no way you could have stopped it – none. This was all him, okay? Not you. Never you.”

She clung to his hands, her face tormented. Finally she gave a faint moan and leaned forward onto Alex’s chest. He wrapped his arms around her, cradling her.

No one spoke. In the background Raziel’s voice was reciting the list of cities again. On a loop, Alex thought, his own shock and grief pulling at him.

When Willow at last raised her head, she looked as if she’d aged a decade. “Okay,” she said woodenly. “I’ll – try not to blame myself.” Her eyes were locked on his; her voice lowered to a whisper. “And…I love you, by the way.”

He kissed her, not caring about the others standing there. He knew, though, that this would haunt her for ever, and inwardly he cursed Raziel even more. The destruction of half the world was still too much to take in; his mind kept skittering away from the reality of it. But what the angel had done to his own daughter made Alex want to rip Raziel’s halo apart with his bare hands.

Liz cleared her throat, her cheeks damp. “He’s – he’s still talking.”

Willow let out a breath and nodded; they returned to the others.

Raziel’s voice had become reassuring. “But you don’t need to be afraid! I have a plan that will save us all.”

Alex stiffened. No matter how bad things were already, he had a feeling Raziel was about to make them worse.

“As you know, you currently have no power,” the angel continued. “Sadly, reinstating it everywhere is not an option – we must conserve our resources from now on. And so selected cities are going to be transformed into bountiful Edens, where life will continue as before! There you will have warmth and electricity, food and comfort.”

Alex frowned. Selected cities? But if they bypassed the damaged stations on the grid until they were repaired, bringing back the electricity shouldn’t be that difficult. There was no reason to permanently ration power.

No, no reason…except to gain control.

“…meanwhile, emergency camps are being set up. The military is providing assistance. Make your way to one of the temporary camps, and soon there will be glorious Edens for all!”

Great. So Raziel now had control of the military too. Alex could practically see the angel’s feigned sad smile as he finished: “These are dark times, but a new dawn is coming. I will take care of you. That is my promise.”

After a pause the message began once more.

Seb’s jaw was taut. “These Edens will be—”

“A trap,” finished Alex flatly. “Yeah, I bet he wants to conserve his resources; he’s just knocked off half the angels’ food supply. So now he’ll lure people to live in a few centralized places where he can control everything.”

“Like fish in a fish farm,” whispered Liz.

On the radio, Raziel was denouncing Willow again.

“Oh, man.” Sam’s voice was bleak. “How is he even still alive? How?”

Alex shook his head; he had no idea. Raziel had been battling rival angels above the lurching streets of Mexico City – there’d been a flash of light they’d all thought had meant his death.

Yeah, right. They should have known better – beings like Raziel stuck around until the bitter end. Alex grimaced and moved to snap off the radio; Willow’s hand flew out to stop him.

“No, wait,” she murmured. “I can almost…” She trailed off, staring at the speakers as Raziel said again, “But you don’t need to be afraid! I have a plan that…”

“Afraid,” Willow echoed. Abruptly, her face cleared. “There’s something we haven’t thought of!” she gasped. “Alex, remember on top of the Torre Mayor, when my mind linked with Raziel’s? I sensed that half the angels had died – because he knew it. But there was something else.”

Alex saw again their altercation atop the highest building in Mexico – Raziel running after the AKs with a howling Church of Angels mob just behind. “Go on,”he said.

Willow took a breath. “He was scared. He still is; I can hear it in his voice. Because with so many angels dead, the survivors are vulnerable too now.”

Harsh excitement swept over Alex. Of course. The angels were creatures of energy, all linked. If you killed one, they each felt it.

And if enough died, the rest would follow.

He gripped Willow’s hand urgently. “How many more have to die?”

“Not many.” Willow’s expression went distant again; Alex could practically feel her studying the brief encounter with her father. “The number was almost right there in his head… I think we’re talking hundreds, not thousands. More like one hundred, even.”

A hundred angels. Alex didn’t move as electricity sizzled through him.

Liz looked dazed. “But…that means we’ve almost defeated them.”

Her words seemed to rouse Sam. “A hundred?” he yelped. “Hell, we could do that in a week!” He slapped the desk. “Okay, who’s with me? I say we leave here right now and go kill us some angels!”

“No,” Alex said sharply. “We’ve got to plan this carefully – really carefully.”

“You want a plan?” retorted Sam. “Okay, here’s one: we go out there, start shootin’, and don’t get caught! Now, come on!”

Alex’s voice rose. “There are only five of us! The second we kill one, they’ll all feel it; they’ll know we’re still around! If they wipe us out before we finish them off, then that is it, for ever.” He rapped a fist against his palm, his mind ticking as he considered options, then discarded them.

“We need a bigger team,” he muttered. “A lot bigger. We’ve got to lie low for a while – months, a year even – let Raziel think we died in Mexico City. And then when there are enough angels gathered in one place, we’ll strike – get rid of them all at once.”

“But what about the Edens?” protested Liz. “If we wait too long, he’ll fill the whole world with those places!”