When they come down, they’ve caught all four. They tie the hellions down with leather thongs that some of them had wrapped around their wrists. Apparently, Raffe had trained them to collect bits of useful items from the local environment whenever they were on a mission.

‘You’re smarter than you look,’ I say to Raffe.

‘But not as smart as he thinks,’ says Howler.

‘I can see discipline has broken down during your vacation,’ says Raffe.

‘Yeah, it’s all that lounging on the beach with nothing to do but drink and watch women.’

At the word women, the Watchers become awkward and self-conscious.

‘I have to ask,’ says Thermo. ‘I know the others are wondering this too. Is she your Daughter of Man?’ He nods toward me.

I glance at Raffe.

Am I?

Raffe thinks about that for a second before answering. ‘She is a Daughter of Man. And she is traveling with me. But she’s not my Daughter of Man.’

What kind of answer is that?

‘Oh. So she’s available?’ asks Howler.

Raffe gives him an icy look.

‘We’re all single now, you know,’ says Hawk.

‘They can’t punish us twice for the same crime,’ says Cyclone.

‘And now that we know you’re out of the race, Commander, that makes me the next best-looking in line,’ says Howler.

‘Enough.’ Raffe doesn’t look amused. ‘You’re not her type.’

The Watchers smile knowingly.

‘How do you know?’ I ask.

Raffe turns to me. ‘Because angels aren’t your type. You hate them, remember?’

‘But these guys aren’t angels anymore.’

Raffe arches his brow at me. ‘You should be with a nice human boy. One who takes your orders and puts up with your demands. Someone who dedicates his life to keeping you safe and well fed. Someone who can make you happy. Someone you can be proud of.’ He waves his hand at the Watchers. ‘There’s nobody like that in this lot.’

I glare at him. ‘I’ll be sure to pass him by you first before I’ – settle for – ‘choose him.’

‘You do that. I’ll let him know what’s expected of him.’

‘Assuming he survives your interrogation,’ says Howler.

‘Big assumption,’ says Cyclone.

‘I’d like to be there to watch,’ says Hawk. ‘Should be interesting.’

‘Don’t worry, Commander,’ says Howler. ‘We’ve all come to our own conclusions. We’ve all been there.’

Then a somber mood comes over them. Thermo clears his throat. ‘Speaking of . . .’

‘Some of them survived,’ says Raffe.

‘Which ones?’

‘It won’t help to know,’ says Raffe. ‘Just know that I managed to rescue some of them, and they lived.’

‘And the children?’ There’s no hope in Thermo’s voice when he asks this.