Page 71 of The Nephilim's Finesse

"Agreed," Puriel chimed in, wiping black blood from her brow. “I thought the attacks would end the second Thorne was out of the picture.” Her eyes pierced mine. “I’m sure Victorija is behind this.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. If she agrees with this, she had no reason to kill Thorne.”

“Maybe she wanted her power back,” Azariel suggested.

“She said that she wanted to stop him.”

“And you believe her?” Nate asked. I nodded.

"But who or what could possibly be controlling these demons if not Victorija? And to what end?" Azariel exclaimed.

"Let's not waste any more time speculating," I interjected, feeling renewed urgency. "We need to get to the bottom of this. The lives of countless humans, witches, Nephilim, and fae depend on us."

As we stood together in the aftermath of the battle, I knew that our mission had become even more crucial. The stakes were higher than ever, and the darkness grew stronger. We'd face it head-on and emerge victorious. The question was, for how long?

A witch limped over to join us, blood-matted hair sticking to the side of her face. "The demon hordes must be stopped," she rasped. "Before it's too late."

The next day, Puriel, Nate, and I sat together in our office, having a video call with the Nephilim leaders all around the world.

“This has to stop,” Dimitri said in his thick Russian accent. “Those bloodsuckers can’t kill so many of us and humans and go unpunished.”

“We don’t have the numbers to fight them all on our own,” Raziel said. “Shanghai was overrun by demons last night. I don’t know what we should do.”

“I hate to say this, but ask the witches and fae for help.” An audible gasp was Puriel’s answer. “I know. I didn’t like the idea very much in the beginning, either. However, we are too few to fight on our own. The witches and fae have to be interested in sustaining this world as it is. We have to fight together to win.”

“I’ll call Seraphina and the fae queen and advise that they should talk to their other sites as well. If we approach them from both sides, maybe that will convince them,” Nate said.

“But why are they doing this now? We can fight the symptoms, but we have to eliminate the root of this,” Jophiel, the leader of the Sao Paulo Nephilim, stated.

“Absolutely!” Gabriel from New York said. “We should capture some of those bloodsuckers and question them.”

I took a deep breath. “I think the root lies here in London. Victorija started something, and Thorne took over. She made a pact with a powerful demon, and the only way to stop this is to withdraw from that pact.”

“Or you just kill that bitch, Raphael Blackwing!” Dimitri said.

Fury boiled in me. This wasn't the time to tell them not to call her names.

“If we kill her, someone else will take over. No, we have to convince her that she has to keep peace, or the world will fall.”

“Good luck with that!” Jophiel laughed bitterly.

“Seriously, how do you think you will achieve that?” Nate asked.

“I’ll go to her and talk.”

Puriel's eyebrows shoot up.

“You remember the flower she left? I know what she wanted to tell me with it. I’m sure she will talk to me.”

“All right, you can give it a shot. If it doesn’t work, we have to figure out what to do next.” Gabriel sighed.

“I think we should pursue both. Talk to the witches and fae and form alliances. That should give us some time to sort things out and get to the root of all of this,” Nate suggested.

After some back and forth, we all agreed and ended the call.

“What are you going to do?” asked Nate.

“I’ll go to her and beg her.” To take me back, love me, and end all this madness—in that order.

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