This thought came to him later that night in his bedroom; he only barely managed not to punch the wall. He couldn’t just sit in here; he’d go insane – he pulled on a pair of sweatpants, yanked on a T-shirt, and headed out. Sam, Wesley and Brendan were in the dorm playing cards. They looked up as he passed through. Wesley’s arm was in a home-made sling; it hadn’t improved much since the day before.

“Hey bud, you okay?” said Sam, his voice casual.

“Great,” said Alex shortly. He opened the cabinet where the towels were kept and grabbed one.

“You working out? Want me to join you?”

“No, thanks.”

Down in the exercise room, he did fierce, pumping reps on the machines for almost an hour, then ran for miles on the treadmill, until the sweat was streaming and his muscles felt limp. Finally he stopped, panting. He’d pulled off his T-shirt as he ran, and now he used it to mop his face and chest. The house was quiet around him; he knew it must be after midnight.

His frenzied workout hadn’t helped much. It hadn’t even obliterated the fact that this was the night he’d been going to take Willow to the hotel, so that they could finally have the privacy they’d both been craving. He’d actually bought flowers to put in the room; chocolates, which now the maid or someone would eat. He’d wanted it to be so incredibly special for them both, but especially for Willow.

And instead, she had been with Seb.

Oh god, do not think about this. He wadded up his shirt and threw it across the room. Restlessly, he went upstairs to the TV room, where he sat on the sofa and opened up Brendan’s laptop, studying the plans once more.

When he’d first looked at them, the relief had been almost indescribable. This was exactly what they’d needed: someone on the inside, getting them in as guests. The attack might actually succeed now – Charmeine the rogue angel had thought of every conceivable detail. Any doubts he might have had about the information’s authenticity had vanished as he read through the notes; Charmeine clearly wanted the Council dead as much as they did. The VIP passes meant they could just walk right in through the main entryway without being stopped. There were also floor plans of the VIP area; a schedule for the afternoon’s events; notes pointing out where the private audiences would take place and at what times. Best of all, the team now had a private audience with the Council themselves.