Unconsciously, Raziel swivelled his chair from side to side as he took everything in: how Juan had stumbled on the information; the help of Luis; all of their plans and schemes. A slow smile grew across his face. He’d never have believed it, but he actually had reason to be thankful that he’d spawned an offspring, like some animal of the lower orders – because the family tie between them had now resulted in a psychic link, set in motion by their inadvertent exchange of energies in the cathedral. And Willow was completely unaware of it.

Though he had everything he needed for now, Raziel somehow found himself lingering. Willow’s energy was unmistakably half-him – he’d have known she was his daughter even if she looked nothing like Miranda. Strange, he thought with a frown, letting the feel of it wash over him. It wasn’t quite as unpleasant as he’d initially thought.

Willow’s angel was stirring – the girl had sensed the rushing energy between them, though she had no idea what it was. Quickly but thoroughly, Raziel hid the spark of his energy that dwelled within Willow, disguising it so that it was as similar to her own essence as possible.

As Raziel opened his eyes again, he was sure the girl would never suspect their psychic connection: he could carry out any further explorations with no danger. Willow’s own spark within himself didn’t worry him, either – if she hadn’t gotten anything from him yet, she was unlikely to. Raziel sensed strongly that his greater psychic experience gave him the advantage here. His daughter’s skills were impressive, but sadly for her, they were hardly on a par with someone who’d been refining them for millennia.

Seeing that his computer had switched to the Church of Angels screen saver, he tapped his mouse and brought back Willow’s photo.

Maybe Paschar was right after all, he mused, steepling his fingers. Paschar, an angel who’d been killed by Kylar almost two months ago, had had a vision that Willow could destroy all angelkind. A half-angel who might have the ability to annihilate them all: Raziel couldn’t hold back a grin. Yes, that sounded like a fair contender for someone to take out the Council.

The first thing, of course, was to tone down the manhunt against Willow and Kylar. Ironically, keeping Willow safe needed to be his top priority now. He’d make a few phone calls tomorrow – get the media to gradually back off. After a few weeks of not being bombarded with her image, the general public would forget; they had the attention span of a squirrel. The other angels wouldn’t be nearly so easy to divert, but at least with the human portion of the Church pacified, Willow stood a chance of not being killed by a lynch mob.