Charmeine sighed. “Yes, I suppose. It’s just...this isn’t easy, Raz. They delve me almost every day, to make sure I’m still compliant. It’s draining, having to keep them psychically at bay and act like nothing’s wrong. But I’ll keep holding out, don’t worry. It’s only for a few more weeks.”

“Do I have a few more weeks?” he asked bluntly. “Or are they going to call me down there and execute me anyway?”

There was a pause. “I don’t know,” said Charmeine finally. “They’re planning some kind of response to your interview soon, but I’m not sure exactly what – they want to make you squirm for a while longer. I do know they’d prefer to take care of you in your own cathedral; they feel it’s only fitting. If you lie low, you might be okay for now.”

Raziel nodded, grimly hoping she was right. Before the Council had a chance to come for him personally, the tables would have turned.

“Anyway, they’re pretty preoccupied with their own plans at the moment,” added Charmeine.

Raziel’s chair squeaked as he leaned back with a frown, remembering the images he’d seen in her mind. “They’re still going ahead with that?”

She gave a short laugh. “Have you been to Mexico City lately? The angels here aren’t exactly an advertisement for behaving with decorum. The Twelve are more concerned about our ‘baser instincts’ than ever. They’re going to link with the energy here first, calming it down, then spread out to all the other places in the world where they think things are out of control.”

Raziel’s gaze narrowed at a painting on the wall. If the Twelve’s energies were linked with those of Mexico City, and then the Twelve were destroyed...he gave a mental shrug. All right, so the Mexican capital would definitely take some damage; it could even be levelled. As for the world’s other angelic “hot spots”, who knew? The kind of long-range energy work the Council was planning wouldn’t be instantaneous; maybe it wouldn’t have had time to fully take effect. Thankfully, at the rate humans bred, the angels’ food supply being curtailed wasn’t really an issue either way.

He could almost hear Charmeine coming to the same conclusions; her identical mental shrug. “Anyway, we’ve got to get the new information to your little band of thugs,” she said. “And it can’t be someone that close to the Council again; I only barely got to Luis in time. Should I just give it to them myself?”

“They can see auras,” pointed out Raziel.

“So? I’ll pretend to be a rogue. They were all pally with Nate, right? I’ll just put on my sanctimonious, holier-than-thou face.”