Page 53 of Semi-Fallen

Rion shoved his hands through his hair. “You don’t understand! She deserved better than some…human,” he seethed. “She should have stayed in Heaven.”

“Falling should have been her choice,” Raphael said. “Father was always clear about that. You should have let her go.”

“She was mine!”

Michael’s look turned pitying as the room shook with the force of Rion’s pain and rage. “No, brother, she was not. When Father returns, He’ll decide your punishment. But until then, Nephilim will not be destroyed—by you, or anyone else.”

“Can I assume you wish to be reassigned as guardian for this Nephilim, soldier?” Raphael asked.

Lane had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from grinning as Lucien, stone-faced as ever, said, “I do.”

“Well that makes everything a lot easier,” Raphael muttered. “We’ll just ignore that whole ‘unseen’ part of the rules since this is a…strange situation.”

Lucien rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “It’s stranger than you know. She’s my fated mate.”

Raphael looked a little grossed out by the thought. “And you’ve…claimed her as such?”

Many times and with great enthusiasm, Lane thought.

But Lucien opted for a more controlled response. “Yes, I have.”

He sighed. “I’m finding that I don’t care. Michael?”

Michael waved him off. “I couldn’t possibly care less.”

Raphael shrugged. “Fine. At least being fated mates means you’ll be motivated to keep her safe. Oh, and while we’re discussing guardians, Carl?”

“Yes?”

“I’ve been meaning to tell you that you’ve been reassigned.”

Carl actually fell to his knees and looked like he might weep. “Oh, thank you. I wasn’t sure how much more of her I could take.”

“Well, that’s just hurtful,” Harper muttered.

Raphael jerked his chin in Haven’s direction. “You’re with her now.”

Benny pointed at him. “Ha! Jokes on you. Haven’s way worse than Harper.”

Haven grinned at Carl. “Oh, this is awesome! I always wanted a guardian angel!”

“It’s not like getting a pony, baby,” Riddick said, shaking his head.

Carl was still on the floor, looking flabbergasted in a way only someone who’d been on the verge of escaping Section 8—then getting freedom yanked away at the last minute—could. “No,” he whispered. “It can’t be.”

Evangelyn slapped him on the shoulder congenially. “By the way, there’s a demon outside the room that’s been trying to get to her since the trial started. I’ve been holding him off, but should I just let him in?”

“Oh, that’s just Roan,” Haven said with a dismissive hand wave. “He’s my stalker. He’s harmless.”

“She’s being stalked by a demon from a hell dimension, and she says he’s harmless,” Carl said mostly to himself since no one else seemed to be listening.

“Hey, guys,” Evangelyn called out to the archangels, “Can I have my job back? I only ran ‘cause I thought Rion would kill me to cover up what an asshole he is.”

Michael waved his hand. “Yes, fine, whatever.”

She did a fist pump. “Awesome! OK, toodles!” Then she poofed off to…wherever reapers went.

“You people are all crazy,” Seraphina muttered before following Evangelyn’s lead and existing stage left.

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