Finale

feeling this way for a while,” I said, made uncomfortable by his silence and anxious to prove my point of view. “I’m not going to let fallen angels
continue to bully Nephilim.”
    “Are we talking about fallen angels and Nephilim, or you and me?” Patch asked quietly at last.
    “I’m tired of playing defense. Yesterday a war party of fallen angels came after me. That was the last straw. Fallen angels need to know we’re done being messed with.
They’ve harassed us long enough. And the archangels? I don’t think they care. If they did, they’d have stepped in by now and put an end to devilcraft. We have to assume they know
and are looking the other way.”
    “Did Dante have anything to do with your decision?” Patch asked, not a single crack in his quiet composure.
    His question irritated me. “I’m the leader of the Nephilim army. I call the shots.”
    I expected his next question to be, “Where does this leave us?” so his ensuing words took me by surprise. “I want you by my side, Nora. Being with you is my top priority.
I’ve been at war with the Nephilim a long time. It’s shaped me in ways I wish I could take back. The deception, the cheap tricks, even the brute force. There are days I wish I could go
back and take a different path. I don’t want you to have the same regrets. I need to know you’re strong enough physically, but I also need to know you’re straight up here.”
He touched my forehead gently. Then he caressed my cheek, holding my face in the palm of his hand. “Do you really understand what you’re getting into?”
    I pulled away, but not quite so hard as I’d intended. “If you’d quit worrying about me, you’d see I’m up for this.” I thought of all the training I’d
done with Dante. I thought of how gifted he believed I was at mind-tricks. Patch had no clue how far I’d come. I was stronger, faster, and more powerful than I’d ever imagined possible.
I’d also been through enough over the past several months to know I was now firmly in his world.
Our
world. I knew what I was getting into, even if Patch didn’t like it.
    “You might have stopped me from meeting Blakely, but you can’t stop the war from coming,” I pointed out. We were on the brink of a deadly and dangerous conflict. I wasn’t
going to sugarcoat it, and I wasn’t about to look the other way. I was ready to fight. For Nephilim freedom. For mine.
    “It’s one thing to think you’re ready,” Patch said quietly. “Jumping into war and seeing it firsthand is a different ball game. I admire your bravery, Angel, but
I’m being honest when I say I think you’re rushing into this without fully weighing the consequences.”
    “You think I haven’t thought this through?
I’m
the one who has to lead Hank’s army. I’ve spent many sleepless nights thinking this through.”
    “Lead the army, yes. But no one ever said anything about fighting. You can fulfill your oath and stay far out of harm’s way. Delegate the deadliest tasks. That’s what your army
is for. That’s what
I’m
here for.”
    This argument was starting to make me bristle. “You can’t constantly protect me, Patch. I appreciate the thought, but I’m Nephilim now. I’m immortal and less in need of
your protection. I’m a target of fallen angels, archangels, and other Nephilim, and there’s nothing I can do about that. Except learn to fight back.”
    His eyes were clear, his tone level, but I sensed a certain sadness under his cool exterior. “You’re a strong girl, and you’re mine. But strength doesn’t always mean
brute force. You don’t have to kick ass to be a fighter. Violence doesn’t equal strength. Lead your army by example. There’s a better answer to all this. War isn’t going to
solve anything, but it will tear our two worlds apart, and there will be casualties, including humans. There’s nothing heroic about this war. It will lead to a destruction unlike anything you
or I have ever seen.”
    I swallowed. Why did Patch always have to do this? Say things that only made me more conflicted. Was he telling me this because he honestly meant it, or was he trying to sweep me off the
battlefield? I wanted to trust his intentions. Violence wasn’t always the way. In fact, most of the time it wasn’t. I knew that. But I saw Dante’s point of view too. I
had
to fight back. If I came across as weak, it only hung a larger target on my back. I had to show that I was tough and would