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stacked against the longest wall. In the far west corner of the room, where the shadows were deeper and darker, a gray knot of writhing limbs obscured the unpainted cement and rickety shelving.
    The nest.
    Taking the lead, Brian dove at the softly humming dark mass, his blade slicing through the air with ruthless intent. He cut through the shield around the demons, creating a long, thin rift in the protective bubble and exposing them to the open atmosphere. Immediately, the babble escalated into a crescendo of howls and twelve demons swooped out into the room, their agile, winged bodies diving at the Soul Gatherers.
    Em ducked.
    The trick to defeating a havoc is never to let it grab you.
    Which wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Havocs were almost invisible. Only a faint outline of their bodies showed up, and even that appeared as a shimmery, transparent flicker. If you weren’t quick, they had a nasty habit of digging their claws into your clothing, increasing their hum to a fever pitch, and exploding. All in the space of a few seconds.
    Em closed her eyes and let her senses find the demons.
    In her mind, she swiftly identified the twelve patches of putrid ooze that represented the demons, separating them from the brilliant white light pulsing at the core of each Gatherer. Then she attacked.
    Her sword was short and light, specially designed to suit her teenaged body. She let instinct guide its swing, and with a soft swoosh of air, struck one of the havocs accurately in the throat, killing it instantly. As demon gore slid down the blade, the steel brightened with green luminescence and vibrated with the pent-up energy of a demon blood enhancement spell.
    Em dodged an incoming demon, pivoted smoothly, and thrust the blade into the belly of another of the creatures. The move took her a shade too close to the tip of Brian’s sword, and she felt the cold steel slice into her arm.
    He swore.
    She ignored the wound and dove at yet another prey.
    With six Gatherers fighting alongside her, each of them a seasoned warrior with immortal strength and dazzling speed, the battle did not last long. In no time at all, twelve bodies were heaped atop the pentagram and sprinkled with holy water from Lena’s purse.
    “Time to call in the cleanup crew,” Em said with a satisfied grin.
    Brian lifted his gaze from the demon carcasses. “You take too many risks, Emily. Do you really need to fight with your eyes closed?”
    “Sorry. I know it sounds weird, but closing my eyes helps me see them. I didn’t mean to spin so close to you.” Glancing at the bleeding wound on her arm, she willed it to mend. The flesh instantly knitted, leaving only healthy pink skin. “All better.”
    “ All will only be better when I don’t have to send a fifteen-year-old into a nest of demons,” he said grimly.
    “I’m going to be sixteen in a couple of weeks. Practically an adult. I’ll be able to get my driver’s license.”
    He grunted. “Don’t remind me.”
    A flash of blue electricity forked through the attic, grounding against a folded metal chair and the blades of a rusty fan. The air dried and the sharp scent of lemons filled Em’s nose. A second later there was a pop, and a handsome young man with long brown curls and a loose skater-boy outfit appeared out of nowhere.
    “Uriel,” Em greeted with a smile.
    The archangel smiled faintly in return, then nodded to Brian. “Great job. No one was hurt?”
    Brian sent a pointed glare at Em, then said, “No, we’re all good. How did the Virginia miracle go?”
    “Excellent.” The young man raked a hand through his hair and grinned. “The virtue angels are quite impressive. They chose a firefighter who was already admired for his bravery and had a habit of kissing his Saint Christopher medallion before entering a burning building. With their divine help, the fellow guided his team to the exact locations of eight trapped people and pulled all of them out of the structure before it collapsed. It