Monday morning, 7:30 am, in front of the Church of the Covenant buildings.

It was Rafael's first time in this neighborhood, as it was on the other side of town from his home. Here, the ochre-colored social buildings stretched as far as the eye could see, between them was small shopping and activity centers that were surely the only places of leisure in the area. The foreign environment, and the looks that some passers-by were giving him, made him feel out of place, but it was probably just an impression due to his disguise.

For the occasion, Rafael wore false glasses and a false moustache. Dino probably wouldn't be there, but he didn't want to risk being recognized by someone else. If the Church of the Covenant was indeed a rival organization, its members had to know his face. That's also why he didn't take his motorcycle, and came by bus instead.

A part of him regretted that Ilona had not come with him. His disguise would have made her howl with laughter, and they would have spent the whole way bantering, but, with the events of the day before, he really couldn't afford to bring her. She was still too unstable.

Rafael headed for the ceremonial area of the Church of the Covenant. About a dozen people were gathered in front of the building, waiting for the mass to begin. He stood back a little and took advantage of the wait to examine them all one by one. They were mostly women in their thirties, but there were also some younger ones, and a few men. They seemed normal... except for the fact that they had gotten up so early on a Monday morning to go to mass.

The doors opened, and everyone went inside. The ceiling was much lower than a real church, but the rest was similar: the rows of chairs in front of the altar where a censer was burning, the raised pulpit from which the priest would give his homily, the stone baptismal font at the back of the room, and there was even a small organ on the side.

Rafael took a seat in one of the middle rows, just behind a group of rather large women who should hide him. He nervously ran a hand over his moustache to make sure it was stuck, and pulled his glasses up over his nose, which reminded him when Leonard did it. The ceremony was about to begin.

An emaciated old man came to sit down near him, and Rafael could not help but wrinkle his nose at the smell. He hesitated to get up and sit in a chair farther away when everyone suddenly stood up, carried by an invisible signal. He hurried to do the same, only to find that his neighbors had opened a small booklet in front of them. He did not have it.

He felt that everyone could see that he was an impostor.

Music rang out, and it was only then that he noticed that an organist in black had taken up residence in front of the musical instrument. The faithful immediately began to sing a hymn to the glory of God. Rafael tried to open and close his mouth in rhythm, but he felt ridiculous, and he didn't even have that famous booklet to pretend to read. What a great spy he was.

Fortunately, the opening song lasted only a few minutes, and after a beautiful musical finale, everyone sat down again. Rafael was relieved, but was beginning to think that he shouldn't be here. Even if a secret organization existed within the Church of the Covenant, its members would not go to a public mass, let alone Dino with his injury!

Just then, the priest entered the church. Rafael almost jumped, it was him, it was the priest Gregory Cordier! But at second glance, he wasn't so sure. The man was clean-shaven, wearing a large black robe and a biretta on his head. Moreover, Rafael could not feel the mistletoe seed that he had implanted in his arm. He must have made a mistake. Maybe it was a member of his family or something?

Yet a part of him could not shake off a strange feeling of unease, and it only grew when the priest spoke: it was the same voice he knew.

"My brothers, my sisters, welcome. I am delighted to see so many of you here today to receive the Lord's blessing. Jesus Christ died for our sake, and the Church of the Covenant offers you divine union with him."

Everyone repeated the last sentence before Rafael could realize what was happening.

"The world is divided, contaminated by discord," the priest continued. "What we need is to unite across the differences. We need to forget what separates us like borders, politics, race, gender... and all unite in the Covenant with our Lord."

Everyone intoned, "We will gather with our Lord."

The priest nodded, scanned the congregation with his eyes, then said in a loud voice. "Discord causes many problems in the world. War is present on every continent, and we can only pray for our brothers and sisters who must suffer this scourge. But here, in our city, we can do more than pray. We can act to spread love!"

People began whispering among themselves, seemingly excited by the prospect. Meanwhile, Rafael was quietly circulating his spiritual energy to check for the mistletoe seed. But, no matter how hard he concentrated, there was not a trace of it. Yet it was Gregory Cordier, it was not possible otherwise. He tried to hide it, but Rafael could feel that aura of light around him.

"God has revealed to me a source of discord here, a few steps from our congregation. They call themselves the Association, a devil's cult worshipping fallen angel Rafael who betrayed God like Lucifer in his time. Around him have gathered many demons seduced by his perverse promises of magical powers, and they stand there, hidden among us. Plotting hellish plans to keep us from the love of Jesus."

Murmurs of anger ran through the assembly as Rafael consolidated his conviction that it was indeed the priest he knew. He must have found a way to get rid of his parasitic seed. Hell, if he knew how.

"I spoke with the mayor, and he refuses to involve the police. He tolerates the devil's cult just as he tolerates the drug trade in Little Maghreb, allowing the demons to poison the bodies as well as the minds of our children."

"What can we do?" shouted a woman in the audience.

"Don't worry," the priest replied, throwing back the flaps of his habit. "God is with us, God offers us his miracles. Look! He gave me my arm back."

What? What is he talking about?

Unlike Rafael, the congregation seemed to be in awe, eagerly awaiting the rest of the priest's speech.

I should get out of here as soon as possible, every second that passes increases the risk that he spots me.

The priest spoke again. "Gathered with our Lord, we are also capable of miracles. Let us take our children to catechism, let us denounce the Association to the schools and newspapers, let us offer our donations to the Covenant mission that fights against heresy. I know I can count on your involvement and generosity."

The congregation shouted "Alleluia" several times, and then stood up again to sing. Rafael took advantage of this moment to slip away in the direction of the doors, and leave the church. He did not see the priest's gaze on him as he passed behind the last row, nor the evil gleam in his eyes as he chanted the sacred songs.

Outside, Rafael didn't leave right away. He preferred to lie in ambush on the corner to watch the exit of the mass. With a little luck, he would be able to follow the priest, and get new clues about the Church of the Covenant. He hoped he wouldn't go by car, as there was no way to find a cab easily this far from the city center.

The wait was endless. He must have underestimated the length of a mass, or maybe it was his impatience that made him find the time so long. Finally, the faithful came out, and after greeting each other, they went their separate ways. This moment of shared spirituality had undoubtedly energized them for their workday, but it had only stressed Rafael.

He had to wait fifteen more minutes before the priest came out of the church, still in his ceremonial clothes. It wasn't difficult to follow him, since he only walked a few meters before entering the convent. Rafael was stuck, he had no way to enter, and if he got too close, he would be spotted.

Not wanting to leave with so little information, he decided to walk around the neighborhood, to see if there was perhaps a back door through which it would be possible to enter. After a quick tour, he found that there were indeed other doors, but they were made of metal and locked.

When Rafael went back to the bus stop, he made an unexpected discovery. On the corner, only a few meters from the convent, was Dino's car. It was impossible to confuse it with the red lightning bolts on the side and the fins on the trunk.

So it was true. The priest and Dino were part of a rival organization within the Church of the Covenant. His mistletoe seed had not disappeared by accident, someone had helped the priest in some way. And they wanted to destroy the Association in order to have a magic monopoly in the city. Rafael could only imagine what they would do with that power. He shuddered. His uncle was right, magic was turning society upside down. They were already close to civil war.

The bus arrived, and Rafael climbed inside, his mind in full activity. He would have liked to resolve the situation peacefully, but it seemed impossible. The priest had already shown his hostility and violence several times, Dino had not killed Tiffany, but it was just as if he did it. He could not know that she could heal herself. And the other members of the Church of the Covenant had to be of the same ilk.

No, there is only one solution. Strike fast and hard, to annihilate them.

It was a difficult decision because he could not foresee how it would turn out. His companions would be in danger, civilians would undoubtedly be caught in the crossfire of the magical battles, not to mention the bad publicity the Association would inevitably get from the authorities. Rafael ran a hand over his face. He wished he had another solution, but all other paths seemed to lead only to disaster. They couldn't wait to be attacked again without doing anything!

His phone rang. It was Inspector Diego Martinez. Rafael picked up:

"Hello?"

"Hello," Diego answered. "How did the mass go, any discoveries?"

"Yes, actually, the priest Gregory Cordier gave a sermon, and I found Dino's car near the convent."

"What?!"

"And that's not all," Rafael continued. "The priest freed himself from my magical restraints. He has regained his powers."

"That explains why the Church of the Covenant was targeting the Association," Diego said. "They must want to purify the city or something."

"I'm afraid so," Rafael replied, "The priest is calling us the devil's cult, and inciting the congregation's followers to act against us."

There was a long silence between the two of them, which Diego finally broke: "I haven't found much on my end, but Vicente Calderón is the biggest financial donor to the Church of the Covenant. He's Dino's brother. There's definitely something fishy going on. Unfortunately, the finance department says that it will take several months to get approval to search their accounts further. Plus, it's always politically complicated to go after a religious congregation. I'm sorry, but the police won't be able to help you."

"I wasn't counting on it anyway," Rafael replied, "Thank you, you've already done a lot, we'll take care of the rest on our own."

"Wait!" cried Diego as Rafael was about to hang up. "I want to be part of your plans."

Rafael was surprised. To him, Diego represented law enforcement. He would have expected the inspector to arrest them rather than wanting to participate. They had already flirted with the limits of legality several times, but this was something else. The Inspector would be entirely compromised with no way back if he followed through.

"Are you sure?" Rafael asked. "You know we'll have to storm the convent. You risk getting fired, even put in jail, and that's only if you survive the attack. You don't have magic powers, remember!"

Diego growled, "They're the real cult. I have to do something. They brainwashed my wife, and made her abandon me, abandon our daughters! I want them all in jail, but since that's not possible... let's take more drastic measures."

This is personal. I understand now.

"Okay, I'll hold a meeting with the others to explain the situation, and prepare our battle plan. I'll send you the info."

"Thanks," Diego said. "I'll make it up to you. And I never told you, but I'm sorry for the way we met. I should have done more to protect your uncle."

Thinking about it was still painful for Rafael, he preferred not to stir up those old memories to better focus on the task at hand. He knew that the right thing to do was to answer the Inspector that it was okay, and that he didn't blame him... yet he couldn't bring himself to do it.

The silence stretched.

"By the way," Diego resumed after a moment. "Has your friend got any news about the Bodega?"

Rafael gave a little cough of embarrassment. "I went there yesterday, but I didn't find out anything, and I don't think we will be able to before a while."

"Why? What happened?"

"Ilona set the building on fire, and the nightclub is closed for several weeks for repairs. But rest assured, no one was hurt."

Diego didn't answer right away, but he was still there, Rafael could hear him breathing into the receiver. Finally, the Inspector said in a tired voice:

"Let's pretend you didn't tell me anything, shall we?"