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"But they left," Ava said "They left their wives Their children How could they?"

Malachi said, "Angels were never meant to live here The Fallen were heavenly creatures who turned their back on their purpose And as Max said, their offspring were frightening Soods Others became so powerful their own fathers were forced to destroy theiven returned to heaven because--though they realized they could rule over the Earth--that poas contrary to everything they had been created for So they left us and returned They sacrificed their oer for the good of humanity and were redeemed"

"And their children?" Ava’s voice wavered, and Malachi took her hand when her eyes filled with tears "You said some were destroyed, but the Irin are still here Even with the Irina one--"

Damien broke in "The Creator took iven and on their children He protected the offspring ere not destructive Allowed thee of their fathers, but on the condition they would watch over this new race of humans That is where we caels Neither wholly huuide huuard it Servants on Earth as our fathers were servants in the heavens That became our purpose"

"And the Fallen?"

"The Fallen are an abos meant to serve who repudiated their Creator and desired to rule They didn’t leave, because they sought to conquer They saw hus They break every law of the universe, simply by their rebellion The Fallen cannot be trusted Their very presence on Earth is evidence of their dishonor That is why their children are cursed"

"The Grigori," she said

"Yes," Malachi drew her closer "They became predators like their fathers, the Fallen They prey on the humans we seek to protect It has always been so"

Ava asked, "How els are there?"

"We don’t know," Rhys said from the desk "There are nine prolobe Each rules over an area, but there are minor Fallen as well They kill each other off occasionally Fight their oars, which we only pay attention to when it affects us or the humans"

Leo muttered, "It’s not as black and white as you all believe There are variations Subtle shifts in power that--"

"We all know your fascination with the to understand the Fallen doesn’t make them any less evil"

Leo and Maxim siain, how young the two cousins were Only around two hundred, they were babes when the Rending happened, hidden by their mothers somewhere in the cold North No one kne, exactly, the boys had survived They had been delivered to a scribe house in rural Finland weeks after their families had been destroyed