“Yeah, but I’d never heard of it before.” Alex frowned down at the page. “We knew all about their habits at the camp – nothing about their politics.” It was interesting news that this Council, whoever they were, planned to appoint an angelic Church head for Mexico – Alex had always had the impression that Raziel, who was head of the Church in the US, had simply grabbed all the power for himself. So did that mean this Seraphic Council were above Willow’s father, in the angelic scheme of things?

But more than that, Alex found himself staring at the phrase their safety is vital for all angelkind. Kara reached across and tapped the words. “That’s the reason we came here,” she said. “It sounded like if we did away with this Council, then maybe it would be a real strike against the angels – only we didn’t know that for sure, or when they were arriving, or even where, exactly.”

“Past tense,” noticed Alex, straightening up to look at her. “You do now?”

“Some of it,” said Kara. “When we first got here, the cathedral had just reopened and I went there a lot, pretending to be a devotee. I, ah...well, I’ve managed to get kind of friendly with the preacher’s main assistant, a guy named Luis.”

Alex smiled wryly; he had no trouble reading between the lines. Obviously, Luis was not supposed to be talking to random devotees about this stuff – and just as obviously, Kara had the poor guy so enamoured he couldn’t help himself.

She crossed her forearms on the table. “First of all – this thing is huge. Much bigger than we’d even hoped.” She took a breath. “The reason the high-ups at the Church are so concerned about the security risk is because the Seraphic Council is like the angels’ heartbeat. They’re called the Twelve, and their energy is the original angel energy – apparently it’s to do with them being the ‘first formed’. And the angels can’t live without them. Literally can’t live without them. If the Council of Twelve dies—”

“They all die,” finished Willow faintly. She looked at Alex; the blood had drained from her face. “My dream – the twelve angels vanishing, the sound of millions of them screaming...it all fits.”

“Jesus,” murmured Alex, sinking back against his chair. His heart started pounding as his eyes locked on Willow’s. They had a second chance to destroy them. They actually had a second chance. If they managed to get rid of the Council, then eventually humanity would start to recover; the world would be safe. His family flashed through his head. Willow’s mother. They had to succeed this time, so that what had happened to the people they loved would never occur again, not to anyone else.

“Do you have any other details?” he asked Kara finally.