Finale

fallen angels was even an option.”
    “It is now—now that we have devilcraft. We were never strong enough before. I’ve been training a few select Nephilim, including myself, in secret on the process of possession
for months now. Mastering this skill is going to be the turning point of the war, Nora. If we can do it successfully, we stand a chance.”
    “You’ve been training? How?” Possession was possible only during Cheshvan. How could he have been practicing the technique for months?
    “We’ve been training on fallen angels.” A wicked smile sparkled in his eyes. “I told you: We’re stronger than we’ve ever been. One fallen angel wandering
around alone can’t hold his own against a group of us. We’ve been picking them up off the streets at night and taking them to the training facility Hank organized.”
    “
Hank
was involved in this?” It seemed his skeletons would never stop spilling from the closet.
    “We pick the loners, the introverts, the ones we don’t think will be missed. We feed them a special devilcraft prototype that makes possession possible for short periods of time,
even when it’s not Cheshvan. And then we practice on them.”
    “Where are they now?”
    “Detained at the training facility. We keep a metal rod enchanted with devilcraft stabbed in their wing scars when we’re not practicing on them. It keeps them completely immobilized.
Like lab rats at our disposal.”
    I was certain Patch knew nothing of this. He would have mentioned something if he had. “How many fallen angels do you have detained? And where is the training facility?”
    “I can’t tell you the location. When we set up the facility, Hank, Blakely, and I decided it would be safer to keep it top secret. With Hank gone, Blakely and I are the only Nephilim
who know where it is. It’s better that way. If you relax the rules, you get turncoats. People who’ll do anything for a profit, even betray their own race. It’s Nephilim nature,
just like it’s human nature. We’re eliminating the temptation.”
    “Are you going to take me to the training center to practice?” I was sure there would be protocol in that, too. I’d either be blindfolded, or have my memory of the route
erased. But maybe I could find a way around it. Maybe Patch and I could retrace our way to the training center together—
    “Don’t need to. I brought one of the lab rats with me.”
    My eyes darted to the trees. “Where?”
    “Don’t worry—the combination of devilcraft and a rod through her wing scars is keeping her cooperative.” Dante disappeared behind a boulder, but returned dragging a
female fallen angel who didn’t look more than thirteen in human years. Her legs, two toothpicks sprouting out from white gym shorts, couldn’t have been much thicker than my arms.
    Dante threw her down, her limp body settling on the dirt like a sack of trash. I turned away from the rod protruding from her wing scars. I knew she couldn’t feel a thing, but the image
made the hairs on the back of my neck tingle just the same.
    I had to remind myself that she was the enemy. I had a personal stake in the war now: I refused to swear fealty to any fallen angel. They were all dangerous. Every last one of them had to be
stopped.
    “Once I pull the rod out, you’ll only have a couple seconds before she’ll start fighting. This particular devilcraft has a short half-life and won’t linger in her body.
In other words, don’t let your guard down.”
    “Will she know I’m possessing her?”
    “Oh, she’ll know. She’s been through this drill hundreds of times. I want you to possess her and command her actions for a few minutes to get used to the feeling of
manipulating her body. Warn me when you’re ready to exit her body. I’ll have the rod ready.”
    “How do I get inside her body?” I asked, goose bumps crawling up my arms. I was cold, but not only from the chill in the air. I didn’t want to possess the fallen angel, but at
the same time, I needed to give Patch as much information as possible about how the process worked. We couldn’t solve a problem we didn’t understand.
    “She’ll be weak from the devilcraft, which will help. And we’ve entered Cheshvan, which means the conduits of possession are wide open. All you have to do is mind-trick her.
Take control of her thoughts. Make her think she wants you to possess her. Once she lets her guard down, everything becomes a piece of cake. You’ll gravitate