Kara shook her head. “No, and I didn’t touch anything in his apartment either – just got out of there as fast as I could.” She took a deep breath. “Plus the Council’s not staying at the Nikko Hotel – I headed over there and couldn’t feel any sign of them. So then I went to the Torre Mayor, but to get past the lobby you have to have a pass for the card reader. I don’t know if the angels are still there or not – they’re really high up if they are; I couldn’t tell.”

There was a long pause as we all took this in. “So. Looks like the Church must have gotten wind of your boyfriend giving out security information,” said Alex wryly.

“Less of the boyfriend, please...but yeah.” Kara looked more shaken than I’d ever seen her.

“Okay, this is not good, this is officially really, really not good,” muttered Brendan, scraping at his rust-coloured hair.

For a change, Sam didn’t argue with him. Neither did anyone else. Wesley was glowering even more than usual; Trish and Liz looked as pale and stricken as I felt. At least Kara had never given Luis any information about us – though I felt guilty even thinking that, just then.

“So...I guess the same invitations for the reception won’t be any good now,” said Trish faintly.

“No way,” said Alex. I could hear the strain in his voice, though I doubted anyone else could. “Basically, we don’t have a plan any more – we’re back to square one.”

“Wait – what does that mean?” demanded Wesley. He hardly ever spoke with more than a few people around; now his fists were clenched at his sides. “Are you saying the attack can’t go ahead? Because there is no way that—”

“Of course I’m not saying that,” cut in Alex in a low voice. “This is the only chance we’re going to have at the Council. We’ll find a way to get to them, no matter what.”

I swallowed hard, but knew he was right. Everyone glanced at each other. Three weeks – that was all we had now.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find out what’s going on.” Kara’s voice was matter-of-fact again, back in control. “What do you want me to do? Should I go over to the cathedral tomorrow, see if I can get any information? Any change to the Council’s visit was sure to have been organized by someone in the office there – they’ve been coordinating everything.”

Alex nodded, looking deep in thought. “Yeah, good idea – we need anything you can get. Won’t they recognize you, though?”

“No, I don’t think so. I usually met Luis at his place. He didn’t have my cell number or anything.” She managed a small smile. “I was a woman of mystery.”