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Seb moved closer, but still didn’t touch her. A stunned silence; every face in the van was gaping at her. “You have got to be kidding me,” breathed Kara. “Alex, did you—” She cut off as she saw his face. “Oh my god, you did! You knew this. ”
“It didn’t seem important,” said Alex shortly.
Kara’s voice rose. “Not important? Your girlfriend’s father is like, Mr. Head Evil Angel, and that wasn’t important enough to ever mention it to us?”
“She’s not my girlfriend any more,” snapped Alex. He turned to Willow. “Look, what do you mean, you were able to read his thoughts? What’s going on?”
Willow glanced at the others again; her face was tense but determined. “Could you and I go inside maybe, and I’ll explain?”
Alex blew out a breath. Part of him wanted to tell her that if she had something to say, she could say it right here – but her eyes were pleading with him. “Fine,” he bit out.
“Alex—” protested Kara, straightening in alarm.
“I’ll just be a minute. ” He turned and strode back to the house, heading for the front door; Willow and Seb followed. “You and I” had apparently meant “Seb too”.
“This seriously cannot take long,” Alex said from between gritted teeth as they went inside. “We’ve got to go. ”
“I know, we were coming to help you,” said Willow. They were in the range; she stood against the wall near the basement door. “But then on the Metro. . . ” She hesitated, visibly shaken. Alex ignored the concern he felt; Willow wasn’t any of his business any more.
She collected herself and went on. “On the Metro, I found out that I have a sort of. . . link with Raziel. ”
Just the word made Alex’s hackles rise. “Really? Is this like your link with Seb?”
Seb gave him a narrow look. The tips of Willow’s ears turned red, but her voice was level. “No, not really,” she said. “When Raziel and I fought in Denver, it’s like we exchanged particles of energy, or something. He’s had a spark of his energy in me, and I’ve had one in him. I didn’t know anything about it until now, but he’s been using it to spy on us. Alex, he’s been manipulating everything all along. ”
“Manipulating how?” he demanded.
“Everything! It’s why Luis suddenly trusted Kara; it’s why Sophie suddenly appeared to give you security details and VIP passes—”
A chill went over Alex. “How did you know about that?”
“I just told you! I’ve been in Raziel’s head!” Willow’s voice rose in frustration. “Things are different in this world than in the angels’ world. It’s not definite that all angels will die if you take the Council out; that’s only one option. What Raziel’s hoping is that only the Twelve will die, and that he’ll still be alive to take everything over, but. . . but there’s other possibilities too. . . ” She faltered to a stop.
“El DF will be destroyed, that’s almost certain,” put in Seb. “The Council have put down roots of energy here – if they die, they take the city with them. ”
“But not just Mexico City!” Willow’s tone was anguished. “Alex, they’ve done the same thing all over the world, in every place that they think feels out of control. There are so many major cities that could be affected now, everywhere – there could be earthquakes, cities falling – millions dead—”
The hair on the back of Alex’s neck rose as he stared at her. “This doesn’t even make sense,” he said in a low voice. “If the angels destroy so much of humanity, how will they live?”
“It’s not the angels, it’s just Raziel!” cried Willow. “He knows the Twelve will kill him anyway, so he’s willing to take the gamble! And if it pays off for him, the AKs will all be executed – the information Sophie gave you is flawed. There’s a. . . a hallway on the map that’s not right, or something. You can’t get out that way. ”
Remembering the plans, Alex suddenly felt cold with dread; his stomach clenched so tightly that he felt physically sick. Oh, Jesus. Was this really true?
“Please believe me,” said Willow softly, her gaze fixed on his. She made a motion as if to take his hand and then pulled back, her face pained but imploring. “No matter what’s happened between you and me, you know I wouldn’t lie about this. Alex, the attack can’t go ahead. It just can’t. ”
“Okay, that is enough,” hissed Kara’s voice. “I don’t know what she’s been saying to you, but I hope you’re not believing it. ”
Alex spun, and saw that she’d come in through the kitchen; Sam was behind her. Seb had straightened too, his eyes watchful as Kara strode over to them, her boots rapping against the floor.
“Let me deal with this, Kara,” said Alex shortly.
“Alex, please,” whispered Willow, ignoring everyone but him. Her hands were tight fists at her sides. “Please. ”
“She’s Raziel’s daughter!” cried Kara. “Of course she’s trying to get you to stop the attack – she’s trying to save the angels!”
Alex slowly shook his head, staring at Willow as he remembered her sobbing with relief in his arms to know that her mother was still alive. “She hates Raziel, she always has,” he said. All he could think was. . . millions dead. Even if there was a chance that it wouldn’t happen, if it was a possibility at all, they couldn’t take the risk.
Watching him, Sam’s expression had turned dumbstruck. “Alex, you can’t really be listening to her, right? This is saving the world, man! We gotta do it, we don’t have a choice!”
“Yes, tell me you’re not listening to her,” said Kara, her eyes hard. “She lied to you, remember?”
“I remember. ” Alex’s gaze was still locked with Willow’s; on some distant level his heart felt shredded just from being next to her. Yeah, she’d lied to him – but he couldn’t doubt her, not about this. He let out a breath. “Look, guys, I think—”
Kara moved so quickly that he hardly saw it. Suddenly she’d jumped at Willow and grabbed her from behind – one arm tight around Willow’s throat, the other holding a gun to her head. Willow gave a choked cry.
Alex’s pulse jumped and he started forward; in a blur, he was aware of Seb lunging too – of Sam throwing himself at Seb in a flying tackle. The two of them crashed to the floor with a heavy thud, struggling.
Kara flicked the safety off her gun, stopping Alex in his tracks.
“Think again,” she said. The muscles of her forearm were rigid against Willow’s neck. “I am not letting you compromise this mission, Alex. Drop your gun. Now. ”
“Alex, don’t,” gasped Willow, clutching Kara’s arm. “I’m only one person; it doesn’t matter about me—”
“You don’t even know what she said!” burst out Alex at the same time. “Kara, listen to me! It’s true; the attack can’t go ahead—”
“Did you hear me?” she snapped. “Because I’ll blow her brains out right now if you don’t drop your gun. ”
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