Finale

of
obligation than a sign of acceptance. The robe was heavier than I expected, made of thick velvet that felt slippery in my hands. “Have you seen Dante?” she asked me in an undertone.
    I slipped the robe over my shoulders but didn’t answer.
    My eyes fell on Scott and Vee, and my chest loosened. I drew my first deep breath since leaving Patch’s townhouse. Then I saw that they were holding hands, and a strange loneliness washed
over me. My own empty hand tingled in the breeze. I worked my fist to keep it from shaking. Patch wasn’t coming. Never again would he thread his fingers through mine, and a soft moan escaped
my throat at the realization.
    Sunrise.
    A band of gold illuminated the gray horizon. Within minutes, rays of light would filter through the trees and burn off the fog. Dante would come, and the Nephilim would learn of their victory.
The fear of swearing fealty and the dread of Cheshvan would become stories written in history. They would rejoice, cheering wildly and hailing Dante as their savior. They would carry him on their
shoulders and chant his name. And then, when he had their unanimous approval, he would call me up out of the crowd. . . .
    Lisa walked to the center of the gathering. She amplified her voice to say, “I’m sure Dante will arrive shortly. He knows the duel is strictly set for sunrise. It isn’t like
him to be late, but in any case, we may have to delay a few—”
    Her remark was cut short by a rumbling that seemed to ripple across the ground. It vibrated through the soles of my feet, growing stronger. An instant uneasiness clamped like a fist in my
stomach. Someone was coming. And not just some
one
, but several someones.
    “Fallen angels,” a Nephil whispered, fear threading her voice.
    She was right. Their perceptible power, even from a distance, made every nerve ending in my body tingle. My hairs stood on end, stiff with aversion. I guessed their numbers to be hundreds. But
how? Marcie had burned their feathers—I’d watched her.
    “How did they find us?” another Nephil asked, dread rattling her familiar voice. I glanced sideways sharply, seeing Susanna Millar’s mouth pucker with bewilderment beneath the
folds of her hood.
    “So they’ve come at last,” Lisa hissed, a bright thirst for blood gleaming in her eyes. “Quick! Hide your children and gather your weapons. We will go against them, with
or without Dante. The final battle ends here.”
    Her command spread through the crowd, followed by calls for order. Nephilim staggered and jostled into hurried, disorganized ranks. Some had knives, but those who didn’t picked up rocks,
broken bottles, and any other debris they could find to arm themselves. I ran to Vee and Scott. Without wasting breath, I directed my first words at Scott.
    “Get Vee out of here. Go somewhere safe. I’ll find you both when this is over.”
    “You’re insane if you think we’re leaving without you,” Vee stated firmly. “Tell her, Scott. Pick her up and carry her out of here if you have to.”
    “How are fallen angels here?” Scott asked me, searching my face for an explanation. We’d watched the feathers burn together.
    “I don’t know. But I plan on finding out.”
    “You think Patch is out there. That’s what this is about, isn’t it?” Vee said, looking in the direction of the distant rumble that made the ground beneath us quake.
    I met her eyes. “Scott and I watched the feathers burn. Either we were tricked, or someone has opened the gates of hell. Instinct tells me the latter is a better bet. If fallen angels are
escaping hell, I have to make sure Patch gets out. And then I have to shut the gates before it’s too late. If I don’t end this now, there isn’t going to be another chance.
It’s the last day fallen angels can possess Nephilim bodies, but I no longer think that means anything to fallen angels.” I thought of devilcraft. Of its power. “I believe they
have the means to enslave us indefinitely—that is, if they don’t kill us first.”
    Vee nodded slowly, digesting the full weight of my words. “Then we’ll help you. We’re in this together. This is as much Scott’s and my fight as it is yours.”
    “Vee —” I began warningly.
    “If this really is the fight of my life, you know I’m gonna be there. Whether you say so or not. I didn’t pass up those last few doughnuts to get here on time, just to turn
around and leave,” Vee told me, but there was something almost