Page 48 of Semi-Fallen

Benny, Lucas, and Quinn snickered like third graders until Harper cut them off with a sharp glare. “Don’t pick on the guy who’s here to help, yeah?”

Quinn and Benny put their heads down, looking properly chastised, but Lucas merely shrugged and offered Carl an apology he probably didn’t entirely mean.

Carl didn’t seem to care, though. He was too busy staring at Harper with an expression that was equal parts horror and fascination. “I can’t believe I’m actually seeing you face-to-face,” he murmured. “Guardian angels are never supposed to reveal themselves like this.”

She shrugged. “Yeah, we’ve never really done anything the supposed to way around here.”

Benny snorted. “Ain’t that the truth.”

Carl’s brow furrowed as he tore his gaze off Harper long enough to ask Evangelyn, “Why am I here?”

Unfortunately, after hearing everything his fellow angels had to say, he wasn’t as receptive to going up against Rion as Seraphina had been.

He shook his head furiously, further messing up his already messy auburn curls. “Oh, no. You’re not dragging me into that mess. My job is to protect Harper Hall, and believe me when I say, it keeps me plenty busy.”

“Don’t I fucking know it,” Riddick muttered.

Carl shot him an almost worshipful look. “My workload was cut in half after she found you. The job’s still too much for one angel to handle, but at least with you to help I have a shot.”

Harper rolled her eyes. “You act like I blindfold myself and stroll into oncoming traffic for kicks.”

“You don’t?” Benny asked, earning him a punch in the arm from Harper.

Lucien cleared his throat. “Carl, you know what Rion did was wrong. If you’ve been around Harper for any length of time, you know what needs to be done.”

Carl remained unmoved. “I’m sorry, Lucien. You’ll have to find another angel. I can’t do what you’re asking me to do.”

Evangelyn muttered a curse. “It can’t just be my word and Seraphina’s against Rion’s. The other archangels will want more than that. And Lucien doesn’t count since he’s clearly not impartial. With Carl we have a shot. Without him…”

She left the rest of her sentence unsaid. Lane understood, nonetheless. Without Carl, they were screwed.

Everyone was quiet for so long, Lane was getting ready to ask what Plan B was. Plan A was clearly shot to shit. It was Harper who eventually spoke up.

“Well, Carl,” she said, “I understand where you’re coming from. And I thank you for your service over the years.”

He winced. “It wasn’t service. I’m a keeper of destiny, and protector of your part in it.”

“Po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe,” she replied with a shrug. “But trust me, I get it. And no hard feelings.”

He let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. I’m glad you—”

“Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m going to give up.”

“What do you mean?”

“Lane’s part of my family, Carl,” Harper said. “So, if you know anything about me, you know I don’t turn my back on family. Which means that with or without you, we’re going up against Rion. Without your help, we’ll all probably die, right Lucien?”

“Most assuredly.”

Harper nodded sadly. “Hopefully Rion will kill us all quickly and we won’t suffer too much.”

“He won’t,” Evangelyn added. “Not his style.”

“Well, bummer.” She shrugged again. “But anyhoo, what happens to you when I’m dead, Carl? I mean, if your whole job is to protect me and I get smited—or is it smote?—by an archangel because you didn’t help me, do you get a new assignment, or something? Or will there be some sort of awful punishment for you? ‘Cause I’d hate to see you end up in angel jail—or worse—because of your complete failure to do your job.”

Riddick nudged Seraphina with his elbow. “That’s my wife,” he said proudly.

Carl appeared to move through the stages of grief in a few moments before their eyes. When he hit acceptance and knew he’d been beaten, his chin hit his chest. “Fine,” he whispered on a gusty sigh. “You win.”

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