She gave a snort. “Raz, the whole world saw your interview. Yes, of course they did, and they’re more annoyed than you can imagine. But no, that’s not what I meant. Something else has happened—” Charmeine broke off; he could feel her tension as she listened to something. “I have to go,” she said abruptly. “I’ll call you back when I can.”

“Wait! What’s going on? What—”

She was gone. Raziel swore, knowing he’d get nothing from her psychically now, other than whatever front she was putting on for the Twelve. He shoved his chair away and stood up, propping his hands on the window sill as he glared out at the mountains. In the distance, a heavy rain was falling, obscuring the peaks in dense cloud and heading his way.

“I’m going to take the team on a practice hunt tomorrow,” said Alex.

Kara was sprawled sideways on the battered armchair. She turned her head to look at him. “Are they ready?”

The two of them were in the TV room; the others were scattered around the house somewhere. Willow was helping Liz in the kitchen – Liz had thawed towards her enough to let her chop lettuce for a salad, or something. Alex didn’t hear them talking much, but supposed it was a start.

He shrugged. “As ready as they can be for now, without angel holographs to help train them. They’ve got to get some real-life experience.” He felt his lips move into a small, wintry smile. “Can you imagine what my dad would say? Taking a team on a hunt before they’ve had at least a year of training?”

Kara had on sweatpants and a tight, cropped T-shirt, showing the sleek muscles of her arms and stomach. She smiled too. “Vividly. It’s different times though, Al. I’m sure this is the right thing.”

He made a face, hoping she was right. His mind was already ticking over the details of the hunt; how best to manage it. Bosque de Chapultepec, the large, leafy city park off the Paseo de la Reforma, seemed the best bet to him – parts of it were kind of remote, and quiet during the week. If the team came across any feeding angels, they’d have space to manoeuvre and little chance of being seen. The important thing was keeping them all as safe as possible.

A news story had come on: another confrontation between the Crusaders and the Faithful. Alex gazed at the screen, only distantly taking in the shouting, angry faces. He’d known being in charge of a team would take over his life; what he hadn’t anticipated was how much he’d care about all of them – even the ones he didn’t particularly like.