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the contact with Hugo ’ s bombardment.
    Stop this, Sent Notus, his thoughts raw with grief – his and his son ’ s. You need to take control otherwise this council will fall apart.
    Ripping his gaze away from his Chooser, the Angel shook the tears from his eyes. Hugo ’ s triumph pelted down on him and he knew Notus was right. Several of the Masters and Mistresses had tears in their eyes, some, like Bridget, wept. Fernando seemed immune, his face tight with fury. He had not meant to rend his wounds open ever again, and never had he planned to do so in front of others.
    “ Where is your whore, l ’ Ange ? ” pressed Hugo, enjoying the discomfort the Angel appeared to be in. His assistant behind him snorted a laugh and fell quiet.
    Hugo ’ s abuse of Jeanie's memory rang in the Angel ’ s mind, igniting the anger he had once felt when Hugo was just Aimeri ’ s second and he had first named Jeanie a whore. The Angel had punished Hugo, ejecting him from the roof of a warehouse after fighting him while holding onto Jeanie with one arm. The fact that Hugo was referring to Jeanie in such a manner sent heat though his body.
    “ Jeanie is dead, ” stated the Angel through clenched teeth. Oh how the words knifed him to the core. He ignored the nervous chatter as grief turned to an anger the other Chosen easily picked up upon. Notus laid a hand on his arm in an effort to calm him, but he shrugged it away. The plan laid out no longer applied and he no longer cared about the consequences.
    “ You asked for the Angel to stand here and testify to the truth. Here I am. ” Barely contained rage tinged his words. “ Jeanie is dead. Killed by a Vampire. ”
    “ Zis is preposterous! ” shouted Gennadiy. “ Ve all know ve are za Vampires. ”
    “ That is not so, ” interjected Notus, in an attempt to keep the Angel's rage from lashing out.  He had never seen his boy in such a state. Notus pressed on despite the disquiet in the room. “ I was their victim. I saw how they fed, for they fed on me. ”
    The admission stunned the council into silence. Even Hugo ’ s eyes went wide at the revelation. They all knew about Father Paul Notus ’ harrowing detention by the Mistress Katherine. It was still hard to believe she was another creature who had subsumed the identity of a Chosen so at to manufacture the genocide of the Chosen. The idea of a Chosen exsanguinating another to a hands breath of death was unheard of.
    “ Despite our many centuries of friendship, ” commented Jorge. “ I, too, must admit that the whole concept that Vampires are different from us, and are the ones poisoning our food supply is hard to swallow. It is more likely that mortals are doing this. ”
    The declaration erupted a heated argument between the Chosen on stage, raising voices in the debate of the truth of what the Master of Britain had told them, what the Good Father and the Angel stated, and their own choice to refuse to believe.
    The Angel watched the Masters and Mistresses give voice to the anger he felt. Notus was right, the Council was falling apart and it galled him. Jeanie was dead and buried because of       Vampires. He was called to stand before this Grand Council because of Vampires. Hugo incited his anger because of the Vampire who obviously now stood second to the Master of France. All that he had endured that made it impossible to be around other Chosen was because of Vampires. The cold voids that stood scattered around a room filled with frothing emotions were the reason why he was here.
    If the Chosen could not see it, he would open their eyes. To Hell with the plan . He would wrest control whether they liked it or not, whether he was sentenced for Destruction or not. His life no longer mattered without Jeanie. If this one rash act brought unity and a chance of surviving this war against the Vampires then so be it.
    Closing his eyes, the Angel took a deep breath and slowly let it out as he opened his eyes. The ancient words