Willow’s angel was a little ahead of Seb’s; she darted in front of the final Council member just as Raziel shot. In the same moment, Alex and Sam tackled him, bringing him down with a crash. It was too late. Alex looked over his arm and saw that the bullet had passed through Willow’s angel and hit its mark: the final Council member was shuddering in the air, her scorching wings flapping helplessly. Willow’s angel was now nowhere in sight.

The explosion as the last of the First Formed died was silent, but Alex felt it through every inch of him, and ducked his head against the blast. It roared past, a vortex of gut-wrenching sensation that tore at his skin and hair. A shudder seemed to pass through the world – and then calmness fell. When he finally looked up, only twinkling lights remained, glinting around the room like fireflies on a summer night.

Alex lay, breathing hard, aware that the others had been thrown to the floor, too. Bizarrely, only minutes had passed since they’d entered the room. In the sudden silence, he could still hear the string quartet playing Mozart.

Willow – was Willow okay? He scrambled to his feet. Against the wall, he could see a weak-looking Seb sitting up now, gripping her hands and talking softly to her; her eyelids fluttered. Alex’s shoulders sagged. His relief was matched only by the longing to go to her himself.

Sam had risen also, his broad face bruised and swollen. “Alex...look,” he said, staring at the floor.

Raziel had gone still.

Alex’s heart started beating painfully fast as he stared down at Raziel’s body – the moist blooms of darkness on his purple shirt; the crisp black hair with its widow’s peak. He heard Willow’s voice again: It might be that killing the Council really does kill all the angels – that’s what most of them think will happen.

“I...I think maybe we’ve done it,” whispered Sam in a choked voice. “I think maybe we’ve really done it.”

Kara was just getting up, looking shaken. Suddenly Alex did a double take around the room, his skin prickling with alarm. Wait a minute, where were Trish and Wesley? No, he wasn’t imagining things – they were both gone.

The moment he registered it, their shouts drifted in from the reception: “They’ve just killed the Council! They’ve killed all the angels!”