[Begin 10/17/99]
Dominic shows up in Janet's office around 4:30 with a Cherub named Nimrod. Janet calls Gil, who is practicing at his dojo, and arranges to meet at her apartment at 6 pm.
Nimrod tracks the Balseraph with the ear of the Nephallim. They end up in the Grand Hyatt, next to Grand Central Terminal. They continue to follow Nimrod, who leads them to the 34th floor, which is locked. Shilom opens the door to the floor with a Song of Opening. They find the hotel room, which has loud music coming through the door. Zenaniel and Shilom take up stations on either side of the door. Nimrod knocks, and a skinny man answers. "You must be friends of Rumah, come on in!"
The room is completely trashed. An unconscious woman is sprawled on one of the chairs, and two men are smoking dope on the couch. A mirror with lines of cocaine sits in front of them. There is food everywhere, including the walls and ceilings, and an open cooler full of beer. Bottles of alcohol, some full and some not, are on the floor and the table. In the bathroom, pictures ripped from porno magazines are pasted to the mirrors with ketchup. The whole room looks as if a bomb had gone off, and smells of sweat, sex, and various chemicals.
Nimrod nods at a half-open connecting door, and heads for it. The man who let them in asks if anyone wants a beer, and as he goes to get it, Nimrod slips into the next room. It's in a similar state to the first. Two men are having anal sex on the floor, while the Balseraph is standing at the foot of the bed, screwing one woman while another lies unconscious on the bed.
Janet takes her beer and goes in as well. The man tries to stop them, but Zenaniel gets in his way. As Zenaniel tries to block his entrance, he is suddenly wounded in the arm, although no one seems to have touched him. He quickly realizes he is fighting with a Calabite, and brings out his swords.
Janet throws the beer against the wall at the head of the bed, startling the Balseraph enough to let her get the Will Shackles around one of his wrists. General mayhem ensues. Nimrod does a Song of Binding on the Balseraph while Shilom gets his other wrist into the cuffs. One of the men on the floor launches himself at Janet, sprouting fangs as he does so. Nimrod uses the locket to identify him as a Shedite, and informs Shilom. Shilom uses Song of Harmony to subdue the Shedite long enough to cuff him with temporary cuffs, and then cuffs all of the humans in two rooms.
Zenaniel and the Calabite square off. Zenaniel tries to throw the Calabite out the window. The Calabite puts up a Song of Shields, then breaks the window himself and flies out into the night. Zenaniel is annoyed, but cannot follow.
Janet takes the Balseraph out to the car, over the protests of hotel security, while Zenaniel and Nimrod figure out what to do with the Shedite, who refuses to leave its human host after it realizes it is too spindly to inhabit Zenaniel. Finally, Zenaniel resorts to a ruse: he calls Janet's apartment, and pretends to be talking to Appoggee. The thought of a Kyriotate coming to force it out throws the Shedite into a panic, and it leaves the human, trying desperately to run away. Nimrod and Zenaniel go celestial, tear it into little pieces, and then fly down to the first floor of the building, where they catch a cab and head for the Tether to Judgment.
All three meet there, and present themselves to Amy, the tether's Seneschal. She offers her bathroom as an execution place, and there Shilom chops off the head of the Balseraph. It can be seen slowly dissolving under the focussed rays of Heaven. Nimrod searches the body, and finds a few vials of crack cocaine, and a plane ticket to Austin, Texas.
Zenaniel is so pleased that he spends the next while happily cleaning the bathroom, while Shilom and Amy throw the body in the trash. When he is done, Shilom suggests that the two of them have unfinished business. Zenaniel thinks she wants to have sex. Shilom is actually talking about fighting in the Groves. They finally figure out their mistake, and though Zenaniel seems disappointed, he agrees to the fight.
They ascend, and go to the groves. Shilom is easily beaten, after which she and Zenaniel talk for a while before returning to earth. Shilom spends the rest of the night driving through the streets, looking for humans in need of help, while Zenaniel goes to talk with Oscar.