The city had taken on a nightmarish feel of flames and shouting; the sound of breaking glass and sirens came from somewhere nearby. Oh god, Willow, please be alive, thought Alex as he raced towards the chaos and the looting. If Willow had died, his heart would die, too. Though he knew he’d still try to save the world from the angels – for his family and Willow’s family and everyone else who’d been hurt by them – for him, it would be too late.

The world would already have ended.

Chapter Twenty-four

FINALLY WE LEFT THE PLASTIC tunnels of the marketplace behind and came to a dark street full of warehouses and boarded-up buildings. I felt Seb scan; decide it was safe. “This is it,” he said, heading down the side of one of the warehouses.

I stepped carefully, hardly able to see – there was only the distant gleam of street lights. A rustling noise came from some nearby weeds. A cat, maybe. A tall chain-link fence rose up alongside us, with razor glints of barbed wire curling over the top.

Seb went to a dim corner, where the barbed wire lay flattened for a foot or two. “Can you get over?” he asked.

I eyed the fence. “You’d better go first,” I said. “Then I can land on you if I fall.” I wasn’t totally kidding; high heels weren’t ideal for things like this.

Seb nodded and grasped the fence; it rattled as he climbed up and swung himself over. He dropped the final few feet, landing nimbly on the cracked concrete. I took out the file from beneath my jacket and slid it under the fence. Then I followed, angling my sandalled feet awkwardly in the diamond-shaped holes. Manoeuvring myself over the top, I was hotly conscious of my short skirt, and just how much leg I was showing.

Finally my feet touched the ground again. Seb was barely visible – just his white shirt, and the slant of his cheekbones catching the faint light. “It’s over here,” he said. He led me to the back of the warehouse, where I could just make out a pile of trash lying against the corrugated metal wall: an old sofa; some broken office chairs, scraps of plywood.

He glanced at me. “I’m sorry – we have to crawl. There’s a loose panel behind this we can get through.”

I thought of the rustling noise from the weeds, but I nodded. “That’s okay. How did you ever find this place?”

Seb was already on his hands and knees, edging behind the sofa. It lay at an angle against the warehouse, forming a sort of entrance. “Just poking around, after I escaped from the orphanage,” he replied, his voice muffled. “I used to have lots of hiding places, all around the city. Most of the buildings are torn down now, though.”

A metallic creaking noise, then a long pause.