Alex blew out a breath. Part of him wanted to tell her that if she had something to say, she could say it right here – but her eyes were pleading with him. “Fine,” he bit out.

“Alex—” protested Kara, straightening in alarm.

“I’ll just be a minute.” He turned and strode back to the house, heading for the front door; Willow and Seb followed. “You and I” had apparently meant “Seb too”.

“This seriously cannot take long,” Alex said from between gritted teeth as they went inside. “We’ve got to go.”

“I know, we were coming to help you,” said Willow. They were in the range; she stood against the wall near the basement door. “But then on the Metro...” She hesitated, visibly shaken. Alex ignored the concern he felt; Willow wasn’t any of his business any more.

She collected herself and went on. “On the Metro, I found out that I have a sort of...link with Raziel.”

Just the word made Alex’s hackles rise. “Really? Is this like your link with Seb?”

Seb gave him a narrow look. The tips of Willow’s ears turned red, but her voice was level. “No, not really,” she said. “When Raziel and I fought in Denver, it’s like we exchanged particles of energy, or something. He’s had a spark of his energy in me, and I’ve had one in him. I didn’t know anything about it until now, but he’s been using it to spy on us. Alex, he’s been manipulating everything all along.”

“Manipulating how?” he demanded.

“Everything! It’s why Luis suddenly trusted Kara; it’s why Sophie suddenly appeared to give you security details and VIP passes—”

A chill went over Alex. “How did you know about that?”

“I just told you! I’ve been in Raziel’s head!” Willow’s voice rose in frustration. “Things are different in this world than in the angels’ world. It’s not definite that all angels will die if you take the Council out; that’s only one option. What Raziel’s hoping is that only the Twelve will die, and that he’ll still be alive to take everything over, but...but there’s other possibilities too...” She faltered to a stop.

“El DF will be destroyed, that’s almost certain,” put in Seb. “The Council have put down roots of energy here – if they die, they take the city with them.”

“But not just Mexico City!” Willow’s tone was anguished. “Alex, they’ve done the same thing all over the world, in every place that they think feels out of control. There are so many major cities that could be affected now, everywhere – there could be earthquakes, cities falling – millions dead—”