Melchizedek returned to the church and found Gabriel laying across a pew, tossing a ball of light in the air and catching it again. Mel narrowed his eyes and smacked the light out of Gabriel's hand.

"You weren't supposed to act until I returned," Mel snapped. "And yet I hear a demon was released."

"What?" Gabriel frowned, sitting up. "I didn't release a demon. I told you I would wait and I did."

"Then what happened? The mark I placed on her was tracked," Mel said, crossing his arms. "I felt it when it happened."

"I don't know what happened, but I did not send a demon after her," Gabriel said. "If I was going to send anyone after her, it would've been an angel to hold her until we figure this out."

"I released the demon."

Gabriel and Melchizedek turned, finding Uriel standing near the altar.

"Uriel," Mel said, trying to keep his tone even. "Why did you send a demon of all things after Katherine? We only resort to that if we don't successfully separate them, did you even try to send an angel in first?"

"I wasn't going to forgo my duties just because the two of you did," Uril answered, walking towards them. "We have a responsibility, a duty to fulfill under their command. They aren't going to change their laws for one demon."

"Old laws," Mel sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You had no right to act on this."

"I had every right," Uriel said, standing. "I've acted under the law. I'm the only one acting under the law."

"This wasn't your situation to handle," Gabriel snapped.

"The laws do not specifically address a situation like this," Mel argued. "Their situation is unique and it requires us to approach it differently than we normally would."

"The laws do address it," Uriel countered. "They address it when they say demons cannot mingle with humans, cannot be close to humans."

"You know as well as I do that was made for demons that were possessing and manipulating," Mel said, narrowing his eyes. "He has not done that to her. He loves her, Uriel. He loves her and she loves him. Who are we to say they cannot love each other?"

"We aren't the ones that have a say," Uriel snapped. "We made vows, unless you're forgetting. To uphold the laws. It is our duty whether we like it or not."

"Our duty is not to just approach every-" Mel began but was interrupted.

"Gabriel," a loud growl came from outside the doors, shaking the entire building.

Mel frowned and walked toward the window, his eyes widening when he saw Nex outside flanked by Lucian and Marcus, and several pairs of red eyes behind them, hidden in the storm. The snow was melting around them and the fury in Nex's eyes was unlike anything Melchizedek had ever seen.

"What did you do?" Mel asked, looking over at Uriel. "I know you summoned the demon but what did you do? Is she dead? Please tell me you did not kill her."

"She's not dead," Uriel said, crossing his arms. "Yet. I underestimated how quickly he would get to her. It won't happen again."

"That was not the right way to handle this," Gabriel hissed. "Death is always the last resort. Where's your wisdom?"

"Don't question my wisdom when you weren't fulfilling your duties," Uriel snapped.

"You should've spoken with the demon before going after the girl like that!" Gabriel argued. "We hadn't even separated them yet."

"Gabriel, I know you're hiding in there. Get your ass out here right now," Nex growled, shaking the walls again. "Or so help me I will have every single fucking human that makes their way down this street slaughtered and you will have to listen to their screams."

"That's who you're defending," Uriel said, gesturing towards the window. "Did you hear what he said?"

"You tried to have the woman he loves killed," Mel groaned. "You activated that anger and now you better be ready to face it," Mel said, walking past Gabriel and opening up the doors, stepping out into the snow.

"Melchizedek," Nex growled, balling his fists. "I should've known. When one is here the other isn't far behind. I'm not entirely certain you two aren't fucking each other, do you ever go on missions alone?"

"Nex," Mel said, holding his hands up in surrender. "I had no part in hurting Katherine. Let's take a breath, shall we?"

"No part?" Nex spat, pacing back and forth along the property line. "Wasn't it you that marked her? That sent her out into fucking traffic? Or do I have someone else to hunt down?"

"The mark was meant to have someone pull her away from you, not kill her. I didn't let her get hurt," Mel defended. "The traffic incident was a test, that's all. I wouldn't have let her come to harm."

"A test?" Nex growled. "I'm so sick of you and your realm's fucking tests. Stop being cowards and come out here."

"You don't want to start a fight," Mel tried. "You don't have your leader's support. Let's just try to work something out without violence."

"I don't need my leader's support," Nex growled. "You're the ones that started the violence, not me. You fucking started that. I swear on everything that's unholy if you two do not come over here and stop being fucking cowards I will raise hell in this city. I will rip it apart and that will be on you."

"I see your point," Uriel said, coming down the stairs and sending Mel a side-glance. "He's perfectly reasonable, I don't know why I didn't approach him first after all."

"Uriel," Nex said, his eyes widening. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Uriel was the one that sent the demon," Gabriel said, coming down the steps of the church. "I wouldn't have sent someone to kill her Nex, if anything I would've separated the two of you."

"You sent the demon after Katherine," Nex said, narrowing his eyes at Uriel. "When I get my hands on you..." Nex growled.

"You'll do what?" Uriel asked, cocking his head to the side. "Tell me, what powers do you possess right now while you're trapped in this blood bond?"

"I have help," Nex said, inclining his head to the demons behind him.

"No blood needs to be shed," Mel said, looking between Uriel and Nex. "Nex, you know the rules with humans. Surely you knew some sort of discipline would be coming. Let's agree that both parties could've handled this better and resolve it without a fight."

"Is that what you call trying to kill an innocent woman? Discipline?" Nex scoffed. "Call me what you like. Maybe I am a demon. But I've never spilled innocent blood, can you say the same?"

"I agree with you that wasn't the way it should've been handled. Uriel was not supposed to be a part of it," Mel said, sending Uriel another glare. "I apologize for his actions. I don't blame you for being angry but she's fine and we now need to work something else out."

"She's fine? You think she's fine? She was thrown off a fucking bridge," Nex snapped. "She's had enough trauma in her life and you just made it worse. She's not fucking fine."

"Thrown off a bridge?" Gabriel said, dropping his head in his hands.

"I didn't specify how the demon was to get rid of her," Uriel shrugged. "The method doesn't matter. They need to be made into an example or they'll be more instances like this," Uriel said, gesturing the demons whose eyes were all they could see through the snow. "Look at them, already they're threatening us."

"It's only still just a threat because you're too much of a coward to get off that fucking holy ground," Nex growled. "I will force your hand, Uriel. If you have no problem spilling innocent blood then why should we?"

"Let's not spill any blood," Mel sighed, looking between them. "We won't be coming after Katherine like that again. There's no reason to continue the violence."

"You won't be coming after Katherine again?" Nex asked, tilting his head to the side. "I thought you weren't allowed to lie, Melchizedek."

Mel frowned in confusion then turned towards Uriel who only gave him the briefest glance before continuing his stare down with Nex. "What did you do now?" Mel hissed.

"It's part of our duty," Uriel said simply. "I'm only fulfilling the vows I made. The girl is not innocent, she's been knowingly sleeping with a demon," he said, gesturing to Nex. "It ends now. It wasn't very smart of you to leave her alone. If you truly loved her, you would've stayed with her instead of coming after me. That action proves it's not love, it's infatuation and lust. If you loved her, your love would've controlled your temper."

"What did you do?" Mel repeated.

"He sent an angel out to do the job himself," Nex said, tilting his head to the side. "Isn't that right, Uriel? One of your angels finally decided to get their hands dirty. Did you really think I'd leave her unguarded after what you did? Did you really think I wouldn't do everything to protect her? Don't fucking tell me what I have with her isn't real, she is everything to me. There's nothing I wouldn't do for her."

Gabriel and Uriel stilled. Melchizedek closed his eyes, shaking his head and taking a breath before responding. "Nex, what did you do?" He asked, afraid to hear the answer.

"What did I do?" Nex repeated mockingly. "I made sure my innocent Katherine was protected," he growled, stepping aside as the head of an angel was tossed forward, rolling over and stopping in front of Uriel. "Send as many angels as you like," Nex snapped. "They're weak from centuries of having us do the work they couldn't handle. Send all your angels for all I care," he growled, crossing his arms as several hundred demons emerged from the snow, surrounding the area. "You won't win and you will not lay a hand on her again."

"Nex," Mel scolded. "I was trying to get a pardon for you, do you have any idea how unlikely that is to happen now that you've had an angel killed? That's practically unforgiveable."

"It's not practically unforgivable, it is unforgivable," Uriel said angrily, stalking towards Nex. "This ends now." Demons moved in front of Nex as Uriel approached, a sword appearing from nowhere in his hands. "You think your fellow demons can help you?" Uriel asked, tilting his head to the side, a flash in his eyes as all the demons unwillingly sank to their knees. "Tell me again how weak we are," he said, raising his sword and bringing it down towards Nex.

The blade never reached Nex because another blade caught Uriel's. "That's enough," Gabriel said, glaring at Uriel and shoving him back onto holy ground and away from the demons. "That's enough. Enough blood has been spilled and attempted to be spilled. This is not how we handle things."

"You dare to step in right now when you failed to fulfill your duties?" Uriel snapped, stalking towards Gabriel.

"I dare to do a lot of things when you decide to take things too far," Gabriel said, narrowing his eyes, a light flashing in his eyes shortly before Uriel froze before crossing out of the holy ground, unable to move. "We are angels. We don't spill innocent blood, we don't act relentlessly."

"As angels we-" Uriel started

"I think you've lost the right to call yourself an angel," Nex said, narrowing his eyes. "Go ahead and hide on your holy ground because I've got time, I intend to stay with her until our last breaths and I will keep her safe no matter who I have to fight."

"Nex, I understand why you're angry but you need to breathe. You don't really want to start a war with us," Mel said, shaking his head. "You know you won't win. They will be on our side and you will still lose her. The only way I can fix this is with cooperation on your part."

"Or we'll just send for Lilith," Uriel said. "She's already been wanting to handle this problem and she could handle it quickly."

"Uriel," Mel hissed.

"How dare you call yourself an angel," Nex snapped. "How the fuck can you look Katherine in the eyes and give her a death sentence for something she didn't even know was against the rules? What kind of fucking justice is that?" Nex spat, turning his glare to Melchizedek. "You looked into her soul, I know you did. She told me how you touched her hand," Nex said, his eyes seeming to glow even brighter. "I may not be able to look into her soul as deeply as you can but I don't need to. I know purity when I see it and Katherine is the embodiment of it. There isn't a soul in the world purer than her, and you're going to fucking kill her because of me?"

"No," Mel said, shaking his hand and holding his hands up in surrender again. "No. We're not sending for Lilith," he said, sending a glare to Uriel. "And we won't send someone out to kill her. I'm doing what I can, Nex, but you can't leave it all on me. I need you to calm down," he said, his expression softening. "For her sake, calm down. You know fighting with us won't help. You're smart. You know that this," he said, gesturing between Uriel and Nex. "This will only make things worse. I cannot help you if you're so angry you can't think straight."

"He's a demon, he's not going to control his temper," Uriel muttered. "He can't. It's not in his nature."

Nex's eyes snapped to Uriel, his nostrils flaring and his fists clenching and unclenching. He briefly wondered what the odds were he could get Katherine to give him Uriel's name to kill. He could find a way back to her after that. He would find a way back to her after that. Nothing would keep him away from her.

"For Katherine he can," Mel said, watching Nex's reaction closely.

Nex's eyes drifted back to Mel, his fists clenching so hard his nails dug into his palms, drawing blood. Nex closed his eyes briefly, breathing in and out. When he opened them again, they were at least slightly less full of unbridled rage.

"I don't trust you," Nex growled, narrowing his eyes at Melchizedek. "I don't trust any of you."

"I understand why you don't trust Uriel but when have I ever been unfair to you?" Mel pointed out. "We've worked together over two hundred years, Nex. When have I ever betrayed your trust?"

"When you marked my Katherine," Nex snapped. "When you let your brother send someone to go after that mark."

"Nex," Melchizedek sighed. "I'm sorry for what happened. Trust me when I say, I will handle it," he said, sending an annoyed glance to Uriel before focusing on Nex again. "I will try to make an appeal for you the best I can and I'll take Uriel with me to keep you at ease. I felt confident I would succeed until this," Mel said, gesturing to the head of the angel still lying in the snow. "They're not going to let that slide without some kind of discipline, Nex. You're going to have to give me time and patience. If you let me close to her, I will take the mark off her an-"

"Take the mark off her?" Gabriel snapped. "You can't do that. I am also sorry that things happened this way," he said, looking at Nex. "I'm sorry Uriel acted so relentlessly but it doesn't change the fact we have to do something," he said, turning to Melchizedek. "We at least have to separate them. It's the law and if we don't uphold it, we'll get disciplined ourselves."

"Go ahead and fucking try to take her from me again. I fucking dare you," Nex growled, his eyes glowing once again.

"Gabriel and Uriel, go inside," Mel snapped. "You're not helping anything."

"You cannot remove the mark from the girl," Gabriel said, shaking his head.

"If you think I'd let you anywhere near her after tonight, you're really fucking stupid," Nex growled.

"Nex, I wouldn't hurt her," Mel said, frowning.

"You already did," Nex snapped. "You marked her. You knew what that meant. Even if you didn't intend to have her killed, you still intended to have someone take her away from me. That would've scared the shit out of her."

"And now I want to make it right and remove that mark as a peace offering," Mel tried.

"No," Nex snapped. "No. Neither you nor any of your pets are coming anywhere near her."

"It's for her safet-" Mel started.

"I don't fucking trust you," Nex snapped. "You stay the fuck away from her."

Mel sighed and decided to drop it. "I will make an appeal for you," he said. "I suggest you and your friends be on your best behavior because they aren't going to be happy about you killing an angel. Keep your head down while I try to smooth this over, all right? No attacks on Gabriel or Uriel."

Nex's eyes slid over to Uriel and while every part of him wished for his normal abilities so he could rip Uriel apart, he wanted to stay with Katherine more than anything. Nex and Uriel stared each other down for a long moment before Nex's gaze returned to Melchizedek.

"I'm not leaving her," he warned. "I don't care what happens. I don't care what verdict is reached. If you try to separate us from each other, I will not go down without a fight," he growled. "Keep that pathetic excuse of an angel away from Katherine," he spat, sending Uriel another glare. "If any angel comes within a mile of her, they die. Consequences be damned, I will not let them live."