‘Probably not. Someone who can get the word out through humans but not likely to know about the camp. He was probably sent to the church by someone like her.’ He nods in the direction that the cult woman went.

I’m probably better off bringing Raffe to this mysterious person than risking him finding the camp while looking for Raffe.

I glance at Paige, who is singing Mom’s apology song to her locusts perched on the branches above her. I walk over to her. ‘If I leave for a little while, are you going to be okay on your own?’

She nods. From the edge of the shadows, Mom walks back to us. I’m not entirely sure whether Paige is better off with or without her, but since Mom is walking back alone, we must have at least a little time before her next shenanigans.

I walk back to Raffe. ‘I’m all yours. Let’s go find that church.’

I’m not as familiar with downtown Palo Alto as I am with downtown Mountain View, so it takes us longer than I expect to find the churches. The first one only has a tiny strip of stained glass, and I’m guessing that’s not the one they meant. When someone says ‘the church with the stained glass,’ I assume they mean a whole lot of stained glass.

Downtown Palo Alto used to be the hip spot to be. It was known for its waiting list restaurants and cutting-edge startup companies. My dad used to love coming here.

‘Who’s looking for you?’ I ask.

‘I’m not sure.’

‘But you have guesses.’

‘Maybe.’

We walk down a street lined with craftsman houses. The cute suburban neighborhood seems to have mostly survived, except for a few blocks where houses have been randomly destroyed.

‘So is it a military secret? Why aren’t you sharing your guesses?’

We turn a corner, and there’s the church with the stained glass.

‘Raphael,’ says a male voice from above.

A ghostly shape floats down toward us from the church’s roof. A painfully white angel lands in front of us.

It’s Josiah the albino. His skin is as unnaturally white as I remember, and his eyes are freakishly blood red, even in this dim moonlight. He looks like pure evil. Backstabbing creepy bastard.

My lip twitches in a snarl, and I pull off the teddy bear, gripping the handle of my sword.

Raffe stays my hand.

‘I’m glad to see you’re well, Archangel,’ says Josiah. ‘That was quite the scene last night.’

Raffe arches his brow arrogantly.

‘I know what you’re thinking,’ says Josiah. ‘But it’s not true. Look, give me two minutes to explain.’ It’s amazing how a guy who so blatantly betrayed Raffe could sound so sincere and friendly.