Finale

blackmailing Pepper Friberg? Nephilim don’t dance with archangels.”
    Dante winced as he tried unsuccessfully to roll onto his back. “Can’t you untie the whip so we can have a civil talk?”
    “You threw civility out the window the minute you tried to strangle me.”
    “I’ll need a lot more than three minutes to tell you what’s going on,” Dante returned without sounding the least bit concerned by my threat. I decided it was time to show
him just how serious I was.
    Food,
I told the black dog, which had hung around to watch the proceedings with interest. With his fur lying flat, I could tell he was scrawny and half-starved, and if I’d needed
more evidence of his hunger, his anxious pacing and the routine licking of his lips would have been plenty. To clarify my command, I sent to his mind a picture of Dante’s flesh, then stepped
back, relinquishing my claim on Dante. The dog loped over and sank his teeth into the back of Dante’s arm.
    Dante cursed and attempted to squirm away. “I couldn’t have Pepper muddling up my plans!” he spat finally. “Call off the dog!”
    “What plans?”
    Dante writhed, hitching up his shoulder to fend off the dog. “Pepper was sent down to Earth by the archangels to run a full-fledged investigation into me and Blakely.”
    I worked this scenario out in my head, then nodded. “Because the archangels suspect that devilcraft didn’t disappear with Hank, and that you’re still using it, but they want to
know for sure before they act. Makes sense. Keep talking.”
    “So I needed a way to distract Pepper, all right? Get your dog off me!”
    “You still haven’t told me why you’re blackmailing him.”
    Dante squirmed once again to avoid my new favorite dog’s snapping jaws. “Give me a break here.”
    “The faster you talk, the sooner I give my new best friend here something else to snack on.”
    “Fallen angels need Pepper to enchant several objects using the powers of heaven. They know about devilcraft, and they know Blakely and I control it, so they want to harness the powers of
heaven—they want to make sure Nephilim don’t stand a chance at winning the war.
They’re
blackmailing Pepper.”
    Okay. This also seemed plausible. There was just one thing that still didn’t make sense. “How are you messed up in this?”
    “I’m working for the fallen angels,” he said so quietly I was sure I’d heard wrong.
    I leaned closer. “Care to repeat that?”
    “I’m a sellout, all right? The Nephilim aren’t going to win this war,” he added defensively. “Any way you size it up, when all is said and done, fallen angels are
going to come out of this on top. And not just because they intend to harness the powers of heaven. The archangels are sympathetic to fallen angels. Old ties run deep. Not so for us. The archangels
consider our race an abomination, always have. They want us gone, and if that means temporarily siding with fallen angels to accomplish it, they’ll do it. Only those of us who form an
alliance with fallen angels early on have any chance at survival.”
    I stared at Dante, unable to digest his words. Dante Matterazzi, in bed with the enemy. The same Dante who’d stood by the Black Hand’s side. The same Dante who’d trained me so
faithfully. I couldn’t grasp it. “What about our Nephilim army?” I said, my anger surging.
    “It’s doomed. Deep down, you know it. There isn’t a lot of time left before fallen angels make their move and we’re thrust into war. I’ve agreed to give devilcraft
to them. They’ll have the powers of heaven
and
hell—and the backing of the archangels. The whole thing will be over in less than a day. If you help me get Pepper to enchant the
objects, I’ll vouch for you. I’ll make sure some of the most influential fallen angels know you helped out and are loyal to the cause.”
    I took a step back, seeing Dante through new eyes. I didn’t even know who he was. He couldn’t have been more of a stranger to me at that moment. “I don’t— This
whole revolution— All lies?” I finally managed to choke out.
    “Self-preservation,” he said. “I did it to save myself.”
    “And the rest of the Nephilim race?” I sputtered.
    His silence told me just how concerned he was about their well-being. A disinterested shrug couldn’t have been more telling. Dante was in this for himself, end of story.
    “They believe in you,” I said with a sick feeling swelling in my heart. “They’re