Alex gave Willow a pair of lavender wings, avoiding her gaze. Willow avoided his too, accepting the wings silently. She had on a short black skirt and top she’d borrowed from Liz, with a jean jacket over it and a pair of unfamiliar heeled sandals that gave her a long-legged look. Seb was in a pair of grey trousers and a crisp white shirt he’d borrowed from Wesley. The others were dressed similarly; Alex had wanted them to blend in with the churchgoing crowd as much as possible. While it grated to take orders from him, Seb had to admit Alex was good at what he did. It was a job he himself would have had no desire to take on.

“Are these straight?” Willow asked him in an undertone. She presented him with her back, where the lavender wings hung askew. Seb straightened them for her, adjusting an elastic strap where it had twisted on her shoulder and trying to ignore how the short skirt showed off her figure. Out of the corner of his vision he saw Alex watching them, and held back a snort. If Alex was jealous, it was his own stupid fault. Willow would never normally have asked for Seb’s help instead of Alex’s own.

“They’re straight now,” he told her. You look beautiful, he managed not to add.

He’d come so close to saying the words that Willow caught them easily; her cheeks coloured. “Thanks,” she said, and he knew it was for the compliment too. “Yours are fine,” she added, glancing at his white wings.

Kara came sprinting back. “Alex, it’s bad,” she panted. “There’s been a security alert at the cathedral; they’re worried about a terrorist attack with the Crusaders rally going on. They’ve installed a metal detector.”

“What?” Alex’s head jerked towards the cathedral doors. He swore under his breath.

Seb went still, thinking of the switchblade in his pocket. He was carrying a gun too – the holster felt strange under his waistband – but knew he’d have been likelier to go for his blade in case of trouble.

“So...what does this mean?” asked Liz finally.

“It means we’ll take our guns off and go in anyway, right?” offered Brendan.

Alex’s frustration was almost palpable. “What good would that do? If there’s any trouble, we need to be able to shoot. Damn it.” He shoved both hands through his hair. “We can’t put it off,” he muttered to himself, staring at the line of people. “The security code will change tomorrow...”

“We might not need the code,” pointed out Willow, her voice cool.