Jeremy led us into the alley. Everyone made way for the trio covered in blood and filth. We walked in silence. There would be time to explain later. Time to figure out what had happened and what it meant.

For now, we were all alive and safe. I had to call Sean, to find out where to take Bryce—Los Angeles or Miami. Either way, he’d get the best care possible. Then we’d all take a breather and regroup.

Back in that alley, the man—demon, angel, whatever he was—had told me a war was coming. When I glanced back over my shoulder at the rubble, then ahead at my battered and sick brother coming our way, supported by Jaime, it looked like that war had already begun. The initial battle had been fought. Who’d won? I wasn’t sure. But it had indeed only begun.

We needed to be ready.

I needed to be ready.