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Sleeping soundlessly under blankets with Andrew’s warm body pressing against her, Kate awoke groggily from the noisy footsteps racing the brightened hallway. Usually, she didn’t mind the rushing pattering on the smooth pearl tessellated flooring due to a party happening or excited Prowlers that finished their missions successfully.

Yet, no elated shouts were flooding the corridor. Only the quickened pace brought a silent, ominous vibration to the hallway. Her gut churned with uneasiness, and she unwrapped herself from the comfort of her boyfriend’s arms, sliding flip-flops and rubbing her tired eyes.

Andrew hadn’t noticed and was still asleep. Tip-toeing to the door and hoping to not wake him up, Kate opened it a crack. She witnessed Choirs frantically running to the Harmony Sanctum with startled countenances.

Other Prowlers blinked sleepily at the spectacular scenario. Dread seeped in a wrenching way. Not missing a beat, Kate followed the chaotic Choirs. She asked hurriedly, “What’s happening?” She prepared for an Infernal finding their way to the Celestial Realm, in which the Harmonies had protocols to deal with the matter—but the way they were acting—it didn’t feel right.

“Pitch had escaped with the sword!” A Choir replied in astonishment.

Horror stuck like a light bolt. Kate gasped, sputtering out her question, “How?” The sword had been placed in a protective room with the Archangel’s powers lingering around it. The High-warlock—or anyone—stealing the sword from such a safe holding seemed impossible.

Until now.

A heavenly fire burst from her hands, and a portal glimmered alive. Plodding into it, Kate’s pulse electrified through her as if she had too many shots of espresso, making her jittery. When she emerged from her portal, her hazel eyes stared awestruck at the destruction in the basement. Where walls stood, they were crumbled, and dust clung thickly in the air.

Choirs were picking up many pieces of walls from their severely wounded siblings. Seeing the new warlock shaking in his shoes, if she recalled correctly, Timothy was his name.

Timothy rumbled on what occurred to the Archangel, who looked in the distance in sheer shock.

The Prowler stepped over parts of walls, and her feet crunched under glass. The invisible carrier containing Thomas Pitch had become concrete and was destroyed. She swung around to see where the hidden room used to hold the sword; it was razed, and the weapon was gone.

Her heart pounded with worry. She gulped, fearing what the High-warlock planned to do with the sword. Realizing why Pitch barely fought her and Sara at Heaven and Hell to divulge herself so he could be caught, Kate clammed her mouth to stop her grunting in frustration at his tricky.

Pitch had arrived at the bank to pretend to stir trouble. He always had bigger plans than what the eye saw. How couldn’t anyone see his master plan? She thought of why Pitch didn’t kill Michael right there and then, but he probably had left in a hurry from being outnumbered and trapped at the Celestial Realm.

He had to know he couldn’t stay to slay Michael off, planning to vanish without a trace when he stole the sword. Thinking Pitch might have bigger motives, she was flustered with rage at their stupidity. Of course, Thomas Pitch wouldn’t have been that easily caught unless he wanted something from them.

Balling her hands into tight fights, Kate tried to slow her angered heart as she listened to her boss. Michael helped the young warlock up. He ordered the Choirs to take him to the hospital wing right away. Then, he walked to her with a clutched jaw and piercing golden eyes. “As you can see, Pitch has escaped with the sword.”

For the first time, Michael looked dejected and lost for words. Yet he hadn’t lost the authority and formal posture that were somewhat stiff. The Archangel snarled, “I should’ve killed him when I had the chance.”

“If Pitch is after me, then he’s after Lucifer,” Michael stated bitterly. “We need to look at the footage and see what exactly happened. I dumbly thought he couldn’t free himself. If he could escape the first time, certainly he can do it again. I left him without any security besides the cameras and brought my guard down.”

Michael strolled to the elevator, Kate preceding him, uncertain if she was being helpful or not. She pursued her lips into a thin line on the way back to the office. Unsure what the days might bring after tonight, she felt bad for what the Archangel had to deal with.

Turning around at the Prowler before entering his office, Michael urged, “It’s midnight, Kate; you should get some rest.” Heavy bricks loaded on his broad shoulders, pressing him down to what he had to fix. Rage fueled him to put his head up and work for the rest of the night, which he always did anyway, but the task of finding Pitch felt more burdensome than ever.

Kate chimed and watched her boss’s flared gaze. “I’m your sidekick. Whatever your burdens are, they are also mine. We help each other. If you don't, I’ll go to bed, but if you do, I’m here for you.”

Smiling at her kind words, which livened his spirits up, Michael said, “You are so dedicated, Katerina. It is what makes me so proud of you. Sure, you can look over the footage for me, but then you will go to bed; that’s an order. You shouldn’t overwork yourself, even though I’m not a prime example.”

Swaying her head in agreement and heading into the office, Kate moved a chair next to his desk. If Sara were here instead of her, she would’ve been sitting on his lap. Yet she had to be happy enough to work with him during this crisis.

She placed her hand on her thighs. Wearing a baggy T-shirt and short pants, she inhaled a deep breath to unnerve her and wake her up a bit more. Kate hoped she wasn’t in his business but felt it was her duty to help whenever the chance arose.

When the Archangel saved her from the hands of her parents’ killers, a closeness between them grew from that day forward. Even though she had made a lot of mistakes—one that disappointed Michael—he counted on her to hold his secrets and be there when he needed her the most.

They studied the footage carefully. However, they didn’t find out how Pitch broke the barrier. Watching in horror, Timothy flew back, an ugly cracking following afterward, they were relieved when he healed himself quickly.

Pitch destroyed the basement, took the sword, toyed with Michael, and disappeared dramatically.

After the video, Michael dialed Demetrius to come over to see if they picked up on any clues from the previous videos years ago. While waiting for Demetrius’s arrival, they observed the video again. She stared at it with a blank mind.

Leaning his elbow on the desk and combing his locks with his fingers, Kate realized he wouldn’t act so casually with anyone else besides his other sidekicks. If anyone else sat with her, he would’ve been in a proper posture with hands on his laps and not with any expression on his face. His gaze was hardened by watching the video, detest flashing on his angelic features.

The frosted office doors opened, and not only did Demetrius walk in, but his girlfriend and Ricky followed him. Kate's eyes perked up at seeing her brothers.