Your Soul to Take (Rise of the Fallen) by Sean Hayden Page A

believing that.
    “No!
He is the Creator. He Creates. He doesn’t oversee, or govern. He creates and
lets his people thrive, or fail. But he loves us all the same.”
    “With
that mentality, why the huge fight over free will? Couldn’t it be considered
the Creator’s intention?”
    “That
is our argument, but the Chosen interject with the theory that the Creator made
us to rule.”
    “Ahh.
I see.”
    “Don’t
worry. You won’t figure it out overnight. We’ve had millennia and we aren’t any
closer than we were in the beginning.”
    “Kind
of like the Republicans and Democrats, huh?”
    “Exactly.
Except none of us are as evil as some politicians.”
    “One
of us is,” I said and nodded to where Jenny had been murdered.
    “True.
What bothers me about it is no one has broken the Truce since the Rift.
To Reap a soul that didn’t break the law is…” She let her voice trail off,
letting me know that even she couldn’t get a grasp of it.
    “Well,
it happened. Now we need to find out who did it and hope they don’t do it
again.”
    She
nodded. “Keep a close eye on your sister. If she really was its target, it
might try again.”
    “You’re
right. Can I ask you something?”
    “Of
course.”
    “Promise
you won’t freak out?”
    “No.”
    “At
least promise you won’t hurt me?”
    “Maybe.”
    It
was as good as I was going to get. “How much do you know about Raven? The
girls said the attacker was cloaked all in black. You’ve seen Raven. She makes
goth look cheerful.”
    “She
is one of the oldest of the old. She is, or was, one of the Dominions.”
    “What
does that mean?”
    “They
were the middle hierarchy of the angels. Only the Seraphim, Cherubim, and
Thrones had more power. They were the ones who were the administrators of the
Creator’s will. What was passed down, came to be.”
    “What
do you mean?”
    “Floods,
famine, all the good stuff. Their power was, and still is, incredible.”
    “Then
why is she teaching me, and why isn’t she on the Triad?”
    “The
Rift. You know that the Usurper was a Seraphim, the most powerful of us all,
right?”
    I
had heard that before and nodded. “Yeah.”
    “Well,
after the Rift, most of the middle and upper hierarchy decided they were done
with this plane of existence and left.”
    “You
mean they committed suicide?”
    “No.
That is one of the greatest of laws. They just vanished. No one knows where
they went. A few of them, such as Raven, stayed to advise, but they would never
assume a leadership role. There is no trust among us that they wouldn’t cause
another Rift. That and they care little for anything anymore. They are not what
they once were. So to answer your question if I think it could be Raven? My
answer is no. She would have little interest in your sister, this world, or
anything else. She probably only agreed to train you for a bit of a chuckle.”
    “Gee,
thanks. The rest of it makes sense, though. Fighting takes it all out of
you.”
    “Especially
the Rift War. From what I hear, it was bad. Unimaginable bad.”
    “Gotcha.
So when were you born?”
    “A
few millennia after. I was one of the last. Until you came along that is.”
    “And
you were born a Fallen?”
    “Yes.”
    “Where
are your parents now?”
    “You
know Darius. My mother lives in another realm.”
    “Wait.
Wait one stinking minute. Darius is your father ?”
    Clarisse
chuckled softly. “He sired me. I don’t know if you would call it being a
father. We are not born helpless like human babies. We are not coddled. We are
acknowledged. That is about it.”
    “That
is kind of the saddest thing I’ve ever heard. Do you love your children?”
    “Love.”
She seemed to think about it for a few minutes. “Not like you do. Down
deep, we love everyone, but… We are more embracive to the more passionate
emotions. Love, when you live forever, just like hate is an emotion better left
unfelt.”
    “Okay.
I take it back. That is the saddest thing I’ve ever