Finale

have lovely legs,” Mom teased me.
    I hitched my thumb at the stairs. “I’m going to my room to bang my head against the wall a few thousand times. Anything has to be better than this.”
    “You and Anthony could be Scarlett and Rhett,” Marcie called after me. “Or Buffy and Angel. What about Tarzan and Jane?”
    That night I left my window cracked, and just after midnight, Patch crawled inside. He smelled earthy, like the woods, as he slid quietly into bed beside me. Even though I
would have preferred to meet him in the open, there was something undeniably sexy about our secret rendezvous.
    “I brought you something,” he said, setting a brown paper sack on my tummy.
    I sat up and peeked inside. “A caramel apple from Delphic Beach!” I grinned. “No one makes them better. And you even got one dipped in coconut flakes—my
favorite.”
    “It’s a get-well present. How’s the wound doing?”
    I lifted my nightshirt, showing him the good news myself. “All better.” The last of the blue discoloration had vanished a few hours ago, and as soon as it had, the wound had healed
almost instantly. Only the palest ribbon of a scar remained.
    Patch kissed me. “That is good news.”
    “Any sign of Blakely?”
    “No, but it’s only a matter of time.”
    “Have you sensed him following you?”
    “No.” An edge of frustration crept into his tone. “But I’m sure he’s keeping tabs on me. He needs the knife back.”
    “Devilcraft is changing all the rules, isn’t it?”
    “It’s forcing me to be inventive, I’ll give it that.”
    “Did you bring Blakely’s knife with you?” I eyed his pockets, which looked empty.
    He lifted his shirt just high enough to reveal the handle sticking out of his leather belt. “Never let it out of my sight.”
    “Are you sure he’ll come for it? Maybe he’s calling your bluff. Maybe he knows the archangels aren’t as straitlaced as we all thought they were, and he knows he can get
away with devilcraft.”
    “It’s a possibility, but I don’t think so. The archangels are good at hiding things, particularly from Nephilim. I think Blakely is scared, and I think he’s going to make
a move soon.”
    “What if he brings backup? What if it’s you and me against twenty of them?”
    “He’ll come alone,” Patch said confidently. “He screwed up, and he’s going to try to salvage this mess privately. Knowing how valuable he is to the Nephilim,
there’s no way he was allowed to attend a football game by himself. I’m betting Blakely sneaked out. Worse, he left behind a knife enchanted with devilcraft. He’s sweating this,
and he knows he has to fix it before anyone finds out. I’m going to use his fear and desperation to our advantage. He knows we’re still together. I’ll make him swear an oath not
to breathe a word of our relationship, and I’ll tell him he won’t get the knife back until he does.”
    I loosened a presliced wedge from the caramel apple and bit it in half. Might as well fake calm.
    “Anything else?” Patch asked.
    “Hmm . . . yeah. During training this morning, Dante and I were interrupted by a few fallen angel thugs.” I shrugged. “We hid until they went away, but you can tell Cheshvan
has everyone’s blood heated up. You wouldn’t happen to know a skinny fallen angel with markings all over his chest, would you? This made the second time I’ve seen him.”
    “Doesn’t ring a bell. But I’ll keep my eyes sharp. You sure you’re all right?”
    “Positive. In other news, Marcie’s throwing a Halloween party here at the farmhouse.”
    Patch smiled. “Grey-Millar family drama?”
    “The theme is famous couples from history. Could she be any less original? Worse, she’s roped my mom into this. They went shopping for decorations today. For
three
whole
hours. It’s like they’re suddenly best friends.” I picked up another apple slice and made a face at it. “Marcie is ruining everything. I wanted Scott to go with Vee, but
Marcie already convinced him to go with her.”
    Patch’s smile widened.
    I aimed my best sulky look at him. “This isn’t funny. Marcie is destroying my life. Whose side are you on anyway?”
    Patch raised his hands in surrender. “I’m staying out of this.”
    “I need a date for the stupid thing. I need to upstage Marcie,” I added on a spark of inspiration. “I want a hotter guy on my arm, and I want a better costume. I’m going
to come up with something a million times better