The evacuation took three hours.

Three hours of moving the wounded through back streets and forgotten tunnels. Three hours of watching the sky for angelic patrols and the shadows for demonic hunters. Three hours of Azrael maintaining a defensive perimeter while his people fled to the haven he'd built.

The hotel emptied slowly. Each departure felt like losing ground in a war he didn't know how to win.

Marcus and his squad left with the first wave of critically wounded. Kara led the families with ...