Finale

to be your boyfriend and then
wham
. Earlier tonight. And now this.”
    I braced my hand on the wall for support. My head spun and my knees shook. Patch took the phone from me.
    “She’ll call you back, Scott. Let us know if you hear anything else.”
    I sank into Patch’s sofa. I stuck my head between my knees and drew several rapid breaths. “He’s going to publicly accuse me of treason. Later tonight.”
    “Yes,” Patch agreed quietly.
    “They’ll lock me in prison. They’ll try to torture a confession out of me.”
    Patch knelt in front of me and placed his hands protectively on my hips. “Look at me, Angel.”
    My brain automatically switched into action. “We have to contact Pepper. We need the dagger sooner than we thought. We need to kill Dante before he can make his announcement.” A
rattled sob escaped my chest. “What if we don’t get the dagger in time?”
    Patch drew my head against his chest, gently kneading the muscles at the back of my neck that were clenched so tight I thought they’d snap. “Do you think I’m going to let them
lay a single hand on you?” he said in that same soft voice.
    “Oh, Patch!” I flung my arms around his neck, tears warming my face. “What are we going to do?”
    He tilted my face to look at his. He brushed his thumbs under my eyes, drying my tears. “Pepper is going to come through. He’s going to bring me the dagger, and I’m going to
kill Dante. You’re going to get the feathers and win the war. And then I’m taking you away. Someplace where we’ll never hear the words ‘Cheshvan’ or ‘war’
again.” He looked like he wanted to believe it, but his voice wavered just enough.
    “Pepper promised us the feathers and dagger by Monday at midnight. But what about Dante’s announcement tonight? We can’t stop him. Pepper has to bring the dagger sooner. We
have to find a way to contact him. We’ll have to risk it.”
    Patch fell silent, rubbing his hand across his mouth in thought. At last he said, “Pepper can’t solve the problem of tonight—we’re going to have to do that
ourselves.” His eyes, unshaken and determined, flicked up to mine. “You’re going to request an urgent and mandatory meeting with the most prominent Nephilim, schedule it for
tonight, and steal Dante’s thunder. Everyone is expecting you to launch an offensive, to catapult our races into war, and they’ll think this is it—your first military move. Your
announcement will trump Dante’s. The Nephilim will come, and out of curiosity, so will Dante.
    “In front of everyone, you’ll make it very clear you’re aware there are factions in favor of putting Dante in power. Then you’ll tell them you’re going to put their
doubts to rest once and for all. Convince them you want to be their ruler, and that you believe you can do a better job than Dante. Then challenge him to a duel for power.”
    I stared at Patch, confused and dubious. “A duel? With Dante? I can’t fight him—he’ll win.”
    “If we can delay the duel until Pepper gets back, the duel will be nothing more than a gimmick to stall Dante and buy us time.”
    “And if we can’t delay the duel?”
    Patch’s eyes cut sharply to mine, but he didn’t answer my question. “We have to act now. If Dante finds out you’ve also got something to say tonight, he’ll put his
plans on hold until he knows what you’re up to. He has nothing to lose. He knows if you publicly denounce him, he merely has to point a finger at you. Trust me, when he finds out you’re
challenging him to a duel, he’ll break out the champagne. He’s cocky, Nora. And egotistical. It will never cross his mind that you can win. He’ll agree to duel, thinking
you’ve just dropped a cake in his lap. A messy public pronouncement of your treason and a drawn-out trial . . . or stealing your power with a single shot from a pistol? He’ll kick
himself for not thinking of it first.”
    My joints felt as though they’d been replaced with rubber. “If the duel goes through, we’ll fight with guns?”
    “Or swords. Your preference, but I’d strongly suggest pistols. It will be easier for you to learn to shoot than to sword fight,” Patch said calmly, clearly not hearing the
distress in my voice.
    I felt like throwing up. “Dante will agree to duel because he knows he can beat me. He’s stronger than I am, Patch. Who knows how much devilcraft he’s consumed? It won’t
be a fair fight.”
    Patch took my