Rafael was still asking himself many questions when he arrived home. He knew what he had to do, but still wondered how, and if he would be able to carry out the plan. The Church of the Covenant had at least two shamans: the priest Gregory Cordier and Dino. Rafael knew their powers, so he could prepare to counter them, but what if there were others? Ideally, he would be able to spy on the convent for several months to locate them all, except that time was of the essence. They had to strike first.

The second thing that worried him was whether he could kill the priest in cold blood. He knew there was no other way, yet he wasn't sure he could do it. Jay didn't seem to have that many questions about Dino… He was all about revenge and protecting Tiffany. Why couldn't he have the same mindset? Was it because resorting to violence made him feel like he was betraying his uncle's values?

Rafael let out a long sigh, he would have to find a way to deal with this on the fly, but with the help of others everything should be fine. He was not alone like last time, and some of the members of the Association were crazy powerful. Ilona for one. She had a hell of a time controlling her spirit, but her destructive power could be counted on.

He should have one of the Alchemist's serenity ointments on him at all times. Ilona had recovered quickly at the nightclub, but that might not always be the case, and there was a good chance that one of the shamans would lose control of his spirit during the assault on the convent. Either one of the Association or of the Curch of the Covenant.

Besides, the Alchemist may have time to make marigold ointments to use as first aid. In synergy with Tiffany's powers, this should allow them to heal any wounds they would receive during the battle.

I also need to buy a new batch of pepper spray.

Rafael had a lot to do in a very short time. It didn't matter if the priest had spotted him at mass or not. He and Dino knew each other, which meant Rafael was already in his sights. He found himself wishing he had killed the priest the first time. Everything would have been easier... but Inspector Diego Martinez didn't give him the opportunity to do it then. He would have ended up in jail like Paulina...

Rafael shook his head to regain his composure, then sat down on his bed. There, he took out his cell phone to warn the others that he was organizing an Association meeting on Wednesday night. He would have liked it to go faster, but he had to prepare what he was going to tell them. How did you announce to people that psychopaths had targeted them?

Suddenly, Rafael looked up, caught by a sudden realization. He hurriedly connected to his plant spirit, and the surrounding plants, to perform a spiritual scan of his house and the entire neighborhood. Nothing. He sighed with relief, the priest was not there. He had to remember that he could turn invisible and strike at any time. Rafael had won the previous battle, which was probably why the priest had taken a less direct approach to getting rid of him, but there was no guarantee that it would continue that way. Especially with Dino's failure.

Now that the meeting was scheduled, Rafael could go to Alek. The old man was the best advisor in this kind of situation, and, if half the stories he told were true, a true badass on the field. Thanks to his death spirit, Alek had grown much stronger since the beginning of the year. The nurses could hardly believe that it was the same sickly old man that they had been caring for.

Rafael was convinced that his mentor was capable of wiping the floor with the priest... and he would surely agree to help him do it. He always complained about being bored at the nursing home. Besides, it had been ten days since Rafael had gone to bring him treats, and he was probably getting impatient.

Reassured that Alek would attack the convent with them, Rafael put away his fake glasses and mustache, then prepared to leave. He also took out the disruption stick that he had used against the priest, well decided to keep it on him until this whole mess was finished. He would have to plan something against Dino's powers too, but he might be even harder to approach than the priest. A stick probably won't do.

Taking his motorcycle, he left for the nursing home. A few kilometers and a short stop at the supermarket later, he was there, and was walking briskly towards the entrance. Sarah was at the reception desk. She greeted him with a grimace instead of her usual smile.

"Hi, is something wrong?" asked Rafael.

"Alek Dimavski is gone."

Rafael slowed his stride, stopping near the desk. "What do you mean he's gone?"

"Well, his staying contract was only paid for a year. When we asked him to schedule a renewal, he said he was tired of this house full of dying people, and wanted a change of scenery. We tried to hold him back, but he escaped during the night."

Rafael ran his hand over his face, distressed. The old man knows how to choose his moment for sure.

"Why didn't you call me?" he asked.

Sarah looked him squarely in the face. "I would have, but I don't have your number. You never called me..."

It was true. He had never even sent her a message. Convinced that she had only given him her number because of his leaking aura. Was he wrong? His gaze lingered on her body, and he noticed again how beautiful her bleached hair was. Maybe he should have been a little nicer with her.

"Sorry, that was rude of me," he admitted.

"Hmph, it's okay. It's kind of my fault...I'm not usually this aggressive. But you should have at least registered it in the system! I tried to call Alek's two contacts Leonard Duprat and Paulina Stone several times, but I got no answer. I was very annoyed. If you hadn't come in today, I probably would have called the police."

Just the thought of the police chasing Alek almost made Rafael burst out laughing. He'd have them pissing in their pants in no time.

But in retrospect, there was nothing funny about it. His uncle had pledged to support Alek, and he, instead of continuing his work, had only used him to gain stronger magical powers. He felt a little ridiculous now, with his treats in his bag, and Alek out on the loose. How was he going to find him? He didn't even have a phone.

"Did he leave an address or something?"

"We're not really allowed to go through residents' things without a manager or a guardian so I don't know, but, now you're here, we can go look in his room if you want."

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Rafael nodded, and Sarah abandoned the office for a few moments to accompany him. They walked the halls in silence, a strange tension between them. The age difference intimidated Rafael a little, he felt that she should not have been interested in him... However, she was not affected by his aura, he had verified it several times already, and it had been months since he had had any control problems anyway.

They arrived quickly in Alek's room. It was in its usual state, as if he was going to come back any minute, but, according to Sarah, he had been missing for three days, and after his statement about a change of scenery…

Rafael opened the cupboards, looking everywhere in the hope of finding a clue. He didn't have much luck. Alek's clothes were still there, but they were just old rags given to him by the social services. His books were neatly arranged in the library, except that Rafael knew he had already read them several times.

The enchanted wood was the only thing he really cared about.

He went to the chest of drawers to open the bottom one. A horrible smell greeted him. The old shaman kept several pairs of dirty socks there to discourage people from rummaging around. Rafael forced himself to ignore the stench that brought tears to his eyes, and felt around the bottom of the drawer. Nothing. Alek had taken away the enchanted wood and the engraving pen.

"Do you know how he left?" asked Rafael to Sarah, who was rummaging around on her side.

She shook her head. "No, I called the cab company to see if they picked anyone up from the nursing home that night, but they say no. It looks like he left on foot, but on the street, at his age..."

The thugs have a lot to worry about.

And so do I if I have to attack the Church of the Covenant convent without him. He could have left me a letter with a way to contact him at least. The old man really doesn't give a fuck.

Rafael's phone rang. It was Ilona. He sighed, she was supposed to be meditating all day, what was it now? He glanced at Sarah who was still searching Alek's room, and decided to answer it anyway. Ilona probably just wanted to apologize for what had happened at the nightclub.

"Hey, Ilona, I wasn't expecting to hear from you today."

"I know, I know," she said. "I should be meditating. I was doing it before, but my father called... We had a fight, and, now, it's impossible to get me back in the right frame of mind. It's a mess in my head."

"What did he want," Rafael asked as he sat down on the bed.

"The usual stuff," Ilona replied in a falsely confident voice. "Telling me I'm not good enough to be a Delacroix, and forbidding me to see you again or menacing to disinherit me..."

She was doing her best to control herself, but Rafael knew her well enough to know that she was close to tears. He wished he could hugged her and comforted her. On the phone, though, he wasn't sure what to say to her, especially with Sarah listening.

"It'll be fine," he finally said, knowing it wouldn't be.

"That's not all," Ilona continued. "I don't know how, but he found out we were both at the Bodega yesterday, and about the incident."

"He knows that—"

"No, no, he doesn't know it was my fault, thankfully."

Rafael sighed. This thing with Ilona's father was bound to blow up at some point. Oddly enough, this problem worried him more than the threat of the Church of the Covenant. The priest and Dino were bad people who deserved to be eliminated, that much was clear, but Florent Delacroix was doing all this out of genuine concern for his daughter. Rafael didn't know what to do with someone who refused to see that his good intentions were hurting others.

"Did you find any clues at the mass?" asked Ilona.

"Yes, I'll tell you on Wednesday," answered Rafael succintly.

"Okay, sorry again for yesterday..."

"That's okay," he said, eager to hang up. "I'll see you later."

Rafael tucked the phone back into his pocket, trying to get his mind back to more immediate concerns. Finding Alek for example. It was then that Sarah asked:

"Was that your girlfriend?"

"Uh, no," Rafael replied, unsettled. "She's my ex... but that reminds me. Didn't Alek have some kind of lover among the residents? A woman with curly hair and gold-rimmed glasses."

"Ah, Mrs. Lewis, it's true they were together a lot, maybe he told her where he planned to go!"

"Let's go see her," Rafael decided.

They walked out of Alek's room, and Sarah guided Rafael to a part of the nursing home he didn't know: the library. In reality, it was more like a small living room because there were almost no books. Only two half-filled shelves, and the books were over the hill. Anyway, most of the old people who were there were reading the newspaper. Mrs. Lewis, whom Rafael had met several months earlier, was busy doing the crossword puzzle in a celebrity magazine.

Sarah called to her in a soft voice: "Mrs. Lewis, how are you? We'd like to talk to you about Alek Dimavski, do you know where he is?"

The old woman put down her magazine with a grimace that brought out all her wrinkles.

"Don't tell me about that traitor. After all this time together, he abandoned me like I was a dirty old sock. He should have taken me with him instead of leaving me in this hellhole!"

Sarah gasped at Mrs. Lewis' resentment. Rafael took the opportunity to ask:

"Do you know where he is?"

"No, and if you find him, tell him never to come back. I'm too old to accept being treated like this."

"Ma'am, please this is very important," Rafael said, "Do you remember anything he told you that might help us?"

"Hmph, nothing at all. The other day he said he was going to need money, but other than that..."

Indeed, that's not very helpful.

"Maybe he's looking for money to pay us to renew his contract," assumed Sarah.

Ah! I don't think so!

"Is that why he left?" asked Mrs. Lewis thoughtfully. "He didn't have the money to pay for the nursing home?"

Sarah replied, "Yes, I'm sure we'll hear from him soon. He didn't abandon you!"

"Still, he should have warned me," Mrs. Lewis grumbled as she returned to her crossword puzzle. "He'll have to work hard to make up for it."

Sarah and Rapahel's eyes met, and she shrugged with a comical pout. Rafael couldn't hold back a smile. What a heartbreaker, this Alek. Maybe he should learn from him. Sarah had shown more than a little interest, and he had been alone for so long...

As they both walked back down to the front desk, Rafael gathered his courage, and asked:

"Are you doing anything tonight?"