Michael was so far away at that moment that it was impossible for their words to reach him and make his ears. He was at the heart of the City of Heaven in the Great Hall, the place where the angels went to receive their orders. He’d flown there as soon as he’d heard Jack the Ripper tell Judas that a group of dark souls calling themselves ‘The 10’ had learned about the secret Grove and were desperately close to finding a way inside. ‘He’ needed to know this, and that was why Michael was standing in the far corner of the hall, waiting to be summoned by one of the heralds so that he could make his report and learn what his next course of action was going to be. There were many other angels waiting silently ahead of him, and in the Great Hall all were equal, so the wait was going to be longer
