Relieved, I started to answer – but before I could, Sam jumped in. “No, wait,” he growled, tossing his fork down with a clatter. “Alex, I want to know how it is you’re so sure we can trust this guy. At least with Willow, we all saw her angel defending Liz. Who is he, anyway? He’s just appeared out of nowhere, and now he’s on the team?”

Seb glanced at him. “I’m Sebastián Carrera,” he said, cutting a piece of his pork chop. “I’m not from nowhere; I’m from right here, Mexico City. And if I say I’ll help you fight, I’ll help you fight.”

“Willow’s read his hand,” added Alex as Sam opened his mouth to respond. “We can trust him.”

“Got it,” said Sam, giving me a look that wasn’t massively friendly. “So I guess that’s why she was holding hands with him when they went running off together this afternoon, right? ’Cause she was giving him a reading on the hoof?”

My face went bright red as everyone stared. “Oh, that sounds nice and cosy,” muttered Liz. Trish gazed down at her plate, obviously hating the tension.

On either side of me, I felt both Alex and Seb bristle. “That was my fault,” said Seb in a voice that was calm, but had a challenge under it. “I grabbed her hand to help her run when we saw the angels. We had to go fast, you know?”

Sam snorted. “Yeah, you sure did go fast,” he said to me. “You were in an awful hurry to go tearin’ off with this guy, weren’t you? Guess we must not have heard you when you tried to tell us what was going on.”

“I did try!” I said, stung. “I shouted Alex’s name, but—”

“Stop – you don’t have to explain anything,” broke in Alex, reaching for my hand. He enfolded it in his. “Drop it, Sam. Willow’s already told us what happened.”

Sam opened his mouth.

“Drop it,” repeated Alex.

Silence fell again. I’m not sure whether the quality of it was any better than the last one. More crackling with tension around the edges, maybe.

“Well,” said Brendan finally. “Acting normal was fun.”

I could still feel Seb’s aura mingling with mine; he was concerned for me, wanted to soothe me. On my other side, Alex’s hand felt so warm, so safe. I held onto it tightly. I longed to be someplace alone with him – really alone, the way we used to be. Things had been so simple when it was just the two of us, with no one else around. Nothing felt very simple at all any more.