Wind rushing past – the blur of angry faces staring down at us. The street below spiralled, growing larger; I could see our falling reflections in the curved green glass. In my angel form, my wings beat frantically as I struggled with the unused-to weight. A little away from me, Seb was having the same trouble, only worse – his angel was carrying three people.

I was not going to let us crash; somehow managed to get the fall under control. It was like a parachute had opened, snapping us into buoyancy. Below us, I saw to my relief that Seb’s powerful wings were in control now, too.

“Are you okay?” asked Alex over the wind.

“Fine,” I got out, my arms still tight around him. I could smell his warm Alex-smell. We were so close, just like we’d been a thousand times before; all I wanted was to lift my face to his and kiss him. I looked away, but not before I saw his throat move.

“Willow...” he started – and then broke off as a sound like thunder rumbled. That ominous sense of the Council’s roots, moving on their own now. The Twelve’s absence had unbalanced everything, like a boulder teetering on the edge of a cliff.

“It’s not good, is it?” said Alex, watching my face.

Before I could answer, my angel self stiffened in alarm – and in a bright blur, Raziel swooped down out of the sky, his angel-image reflected in the glass.

“You know, I think this whole scenario would go better if there was more falling involved,” he said, and he beat at my angel with wings of light that jolted her, threw her off kilter. My human hands went icy as our fall accelerated again – we were still about thirty storeys above the ground.

“Hang on,” shouted Alex in my ear, and he let go of me with one arm to reach for his gun. Raziel saw the motion; with a snarl, he reached for Alex’s life energy, his long fingers stretching towards it.

No! In my angel form, I let my wings go completely still, plummeting us downwards like a rock. My human self clung to Alex as we started to tumble, earth and sky and wings flashing past. I almost lost my grip; his arms tightened. “I won’t let you fall; I’ll never let you fall,” he murmured, and I knew he wasn’t even aware he’d said it out loud. The wind was tearing at me; my angel self could barely move her wings. No, we were not going to die this way. Panting, I beat frantically.

I righted us just as Raziel appeared again; his wings flashed through the blue sky as he dove at Alex from behind.