The building appeared to be an old office block, with a dank, mouldy air. Some plaques showed a few companies still had offices there, but many rooms were left abandoned. Cam worked his way to the window his son had watched him from.

Even before Cam opened the door, he felt he had guessed the right room. His son stood inside quietly, arms behind his back, surrounded by old desks and chairs. His rigid posture, lean physique, and dark hair reminded Cam of Balthiour – no, stop thinking that. They’re not similar.

“Nice to see you again,” he said lightly.

Cam stepped closer, ready for a trap to be sprung at any moment. He was glad he didn’t bring the notebook with him, at least. “Why are you here?”

“I wanted to see you. We didn’t have the best of introductions earlier.”

Cam stopped a few feet from him, his heart racing. This was all too unreal for him. “What’s your name?”

“Vassago. Vass.”

Have I heard that name before? “How… how are you here? I… I didn’t even know Alyssa became pregnant.”

“I guess that’s the problem with dying. Not being able to tell people things after. Not that she would’ve known, anyway.”

Cam shook his head. He lifted his arms and slapping them back down, unable to hold back his thought. “I have to know how you’re here.”

Vass nodded. He took a slow step forward and began pacing. “So, Sephiaza, mistress of darkness, Alyssa Moreno’s ugly side… soon after being summoned into this world, she discovered something strange. She was with child.” He appeared to relax as he paced, becoming more casual once he got going.

“No one could say how it happened, really, something about her dormant demon genes allowing her human side to fall pregnant by an angel. An angel who was part human himself. She decided to have the baby, thinking it could be a great ally to her. Shortly after she gave birth, she killed the baby.” Vass paused to watch Cam’s pained expression. He was enjoying watching Cam suffer, hearing all this.

“She killed the baby, of course, to transport its soul to Hell. There she was able to summon it back to this world using one of those special cauldrons that also brought her here. Now as you know, time is simultaneous. Everything is happening, has happened, all at once. The humans just experience it linearly. Sephiaza, in her infinite wisdom and ability, was able to take my future self and put me here, in this time, wanting a competent fighter now, rather than in twenty-four years.”

“You have the powers of both angels and demons,” Cam said.

“Sort of, not quite. I don’t have a pure demonic form and as such cannot transform, like the demons do. But I can channel my darkness outwards, like your brethren extend their light.”

“I don’t get it,” Cam admitted. “She killed the infant you, so how could she bring you from the future?”

Vass tutted, giving him a mock-disappointed expression. “Pay attention, Dad. Time is simultaneous, everything exists all at once, multiple versions of time. When a person is born, all their lives exist at the same time. Killing the baby just cut off its future path, but that path still existed, like everything exists at the same time.”

“And you lived your years, raised by her, and then were brought back in time to now?”

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“That… is somewhat correct. But complicated.”

“Tell me something else I don’t know. Why did you stab me?”

At this, Vass appeared taken aback, almost embarrassed, even.

“I’m sorry about that,” Vass said. “I was surprised to see you, and I guess I acted out. I felt bad for dropping you in the canal. After so many years of my mother talking about you like you were our greatest enemy… I didn’t know what to think.”

“And you do now?”

Vass sighed. “I’m not sure anymore.” His troubled expression, and his doubt, reminded Cam of himself.

“What changed?” Cam asked.

Vass shrugged—another gesture that reminded Cam of himself—and said, “I’m not sure. I just knew I wanted to meet you again, properly, and apologise for our first meeting.”

A car horn honked outside; sounds of the street beyond filling the silence.

“How about you apologise by telling me what Sephiaza is planning?”

Vass grinned, shaking his head. “You’ll have to try harder than that, father of mine.”

“So tell me this, then,” Cam said. “What does my injury mean? It’s stopped hurting now, but am I infected with the demon’s darkness, from your dark light?”

Vass’s expression darkened. “You are infected. You have time, though, to seek your healer—” He paused, brows rising slightly. “I’m sorry; I didn’t know that Sephiaza would send an attack on your hideout. I… don’t speak to her much, if I can help it. And she rarely shares her thoughts with me.”

So Cam had a matter of hours, a day at most, before the darkness spread beyond healing. His heart raced, but somehow he didn’t feel shock or fear, just a faint numbness to it all.

“It doesn’t have to be this way,” Vass said, his eyes pleading. “Light against dark, the endless war and an ever shifting balance. The darkness is stronger than the light. And we have both; both of us do. We can lead a new order, together. Think about it: an army of light and dark wielders creating an actual balance to the world.”

“That will never happen,” Cam said. “I’ll only serve the light, for as long as I can. Until I’m called back to Heaven.”

Vass sighed harshly. “You know, I felt something in you. Not just how we can sense other brethren, but when my light was inside you, I felt a kind of connection. Didn’t you feel it?”

“I was too busy being stabbed.” If Cam really thought about it, however, he realised he might have felt something in that moment too.

“It doesn’t matter though,” Vass said. “I was mistaken. You don’t have the strength to see the vision I have.”

“I want to know,” Cam said. “I want to know who you are. And who Sephiaza is and what she wants. I want to understand you.”

Vass paused, his eyes glaring. “That’s it, isn’t it? What you really want.” His voice began to shake. “You just want to speak to her! You don’t care about me. I’m nothing to you.” He pulled back, eyes widening with realisation. “You think you can bring her back. You still care about that human. But she is no longer. She died and in her place rose Sephiaza, and there’s nothing you or anyone else can do about it.”

Vass jerked forward and stopped himself, breathing heavily. “You know, I could take you down right here. I should.” He stepped back and moved his hands over his face and hair, sighing. “No… I wouldn’t do that. I—I’m sorry. I just…”

Cam watched his constantly moving eyes and reddening complexion. Vass reminded him of a child; someone who just wanted to be accepted. For the first time, he saw him as a son who wanted the respect of a father. At least, that was as much as he could understand from the situation.

“Vass,” Cam said. “Let me help you.”

Vass glared at him, his brows tensing and mouth curling into a snarl. The softer, casual manner he displayed completely left him, revealing something hideous that frightened Cam.

“I’m not the one that needs help,” Vass said fiercely. He inched closer, as if about to pounce, and then turned towards the window. He opened it and paused, looking back at Cam. “I’m sorry again for stabbing you,” he said, calmer now. “It was good to see you again.”

With that Vass leapt out the window towards the roof.

Cam stood there for some time, taking in the meeting he’d just had. The loud street below sounded deafening in the quiet room.

Eventually he stepped to the window and looked down at Barratt and Sean, still sitting outside the coffee shop. They looked so oblivious. Cam could go to them, seek their support and return to the angels, but something held him back.

I can’t risk anyone else, he thought. Every time I try to help I end up getting people killed.

He would have to go on his own. He grimaced, a dark thought tightening his chest. A part of him felt as though he didn’t belong with the angels anymore.

Cam stepped through the window and jumped out.