Page 50 of Semi-Fallen

“Good, decent people,” Rion said with a sneer. “When it comes to Nephilim, there’s no such thing.”

“And that’s where you’re wrong again,” Lucien said, taking a step back out of Rion’s reach, then to the right just enough to give him a glimpse of Lane. “Because this Nephilim is the best person I’ve ever met, and none of us have any intention of letting you—or anyone else—destroy her.”

Lucien had expected Rion to continue with his angry blustering, but he was too busy staring at Lane to be outraged. He’d gone pale and was looking at her like he’d seen a ghost. Which, if what Evangelyn had said was true, he was seeing a ghost.

The ghost of Cassiel.

“Lucien, Seraphina, all these humans, and I speak for this child’s innocence and right to live,” Evangelyn said. Then she glanced over at Carl who was cowering behind Riddick and added, “And Carl, too. Kind of.”

That seemed to snap Rion out of his stupor. “What are you saying?” he hissed.

“Since God’s on sabbatical, we’re calling for a trial,” Lucien said, giving Rion a half smile that probably looked more like a feral snarl. “We’re calling Raphael and Michael. You can tell them why you carried out a decree that we all know God didn’t sanction.”

And that was how a room full of supernatural creatures accused an archangel of misdeeds against Heaven, and summoned his archangel big brothers to decide Lane’s fate…and the fate of them all.

No pressure or anything.

CHAPTER 26

The whole thing looked like the scariest possible episode of Law and Order ever filmed.

Tables and chairs had appeared out of nowhere (Lane supposed that kind of magic was child’s play to a handful of archangels), along with an elevated judge’s bench that appeared to be made of solid gold.

The gym had been divided into two sides: Rion sat on one, everyone else on the other. And everyone had been ordered (under threat of death) not to address the archangels unless they were asked a direct question.

Something told Lane the humans weren’t going to be asked too many questions during this particular trial.

Archangels Raphael and Michael were every bit as cocky and pretentious as Rion. They obviously didn’t think much of the lesser angels—as they called Lucien, Seraphina, Evangelyn, and Carl—or her family.

That might work in their favor, though, as Lucien had pointed out. Their egos wouldn’t take kindly to Rion making unilateral decisions for them with no explanation. A slight by their brother would mean way more to them than the murder of however many innocent Nephilim and Cassiel.

So, needless to say, Lane was not feeling inclined to like anything about Raphael and Michael.

It did her heart good that they weren’t nearly as attractive as the lesser angels, though. Raphael was bald as a cue ball and did not have the bone structure to pull off the look. In his dated brown suit, he looked more like an insurance salesman than an archangel.

Michael wasn’t necessarily unattractive, but he wasn’t as stunning as Lucien, either. He had the kind of face that would’ve been hard to pick out of a lineup. Everything about him was average. Average brown eyes, nondescript features, plain black suit. There just wasn’t anything that would’ve made him stand out in a crowd.

Michael leaned forward in his seat and looked down his nose at Rion. “Well, what say you, little brother? Did the order to destroy Nephilim come from you?”

Raphael brushed a piece of lint off his sleeve. “I always assumed the order came from you, Michael.”

Michael shrugged. “I assumed it came from you.”

The fact that a bunch of archangels assumed something like that and were so blasé about murder was just horrifying to Lane. What kind of shitshow was going on up there in Heaven?

Lucien shot her a sharp look, letting her know her thoughts, while true, were not appropriate in the presence of the most powerful archangels in Heaven. Which was…fair, she supposed. Sorry, she mouthed.

His gaze kept its edge, but the twitch in his lip gave him away. He wasn’t offended by the direction of her thoughts. He was amused.

Oh, how she loved this man.

Rion shifted in his seat, looking guilty as fuck. As Lucien had explained, Rion would dance around the truth, but he would avoid lying to his brothers outright if he could possibly help it. If he was backed into a corner, though…no one really knew for sure how he would react.

And after everything, there was still no guarantee that Michael and Raphael would side with her over Rion, either, which was an epic bummer.

“It came from me,” Rion said. “I saw what the Nephilim were capable of. They have as much power as a lesser angel, and if they were ever to seek each other out and organize…well, there’s no telling what kind of havoc they could create—on earth and in Heaven.”

Michael narrowed his eyes on his brother. “And why didn’t you come to us about this first?”

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