I nodded, my emotions so mixed I could hardly make sense of them. Part of me was still stunned that Seb was even real, much less that he was coming back to the house with us.

There was no sign now of Alex’s own mixed emotions about Seb, though I knew he must still have them. “Good,” he said, sounding like he was talking to any member of the team. “And you know what we do, right?”

Seb bent down to pick up his bag. “No. What do you do?”

“We’re Angel Killers,” said Alex. “AKs. Those angels you saw” – he nodded at the Torre Mayor – “if we can get rid of them, we can destroy all the angels in the world. That’s our goal.”

It was as if he’d knocked the breath out of Seb. He straightened up slowly, staring. “You...this is a joke,” he said. “You’re going to kill all the angels? Really?”

“No joke,” said Alex. “There’s a group of us; that’s what we’re trying to do. If you come back with us, then you help us fight them; that’s the deal. All right?”

Seb stood gazing up at the tower. From nowhere, I got an image of a young girl with big eyes and a grimy face. Seb would have come with us no matter what it was we did, I knew that – but something about this young girl in his thoughts made his shoulders straighten a little.

“Yes, all right,” he said. “I’ll help you fight.”

We started heading back through the park, Seb walking on the other side of me from Alex. I could tell how much he still wanted to be talking to me, but he stayed quiet, his steps long and loping. Alex took my hand, weaving his fingers through mine and letting Seb go a few paces ahead of us.

“So what happened?” he asked in an undertone.

I explained as best I could, from Seb first finding me to Alex finding us together. Uncomfortably, I was aware of how much I was having to leave out – such as Seb putting his arm around me and me not even minding at first, because it had felt so natural.

“But Alex, are you really sure you’re okay with this?” I finished. “I mean – Seb doesn’t have to come back to the house with us.” Though I knew if he didn’t, I’d be counting the seconds until I saw him again. There was so much I was aching to ask him; so much I needed to find out.

Alex glanced at Seb. I caught a hint of resigned dislike; then it faded as he seemed to push his own feelings aside. “Yeah, I’m sure,” he said quietly. “If he can teach you how to change your aura, so you can be safe...that’s all that matters, Willow.”