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“But how many people in the underworld are like you and Vee?”

“More than you’d think, uess an exact nus The idea that all fallen turn evil is a misconception We have solid proof of that The fallen have been—well, deuess—because we look scary and we can do scary things and the underworld is scary It’s all a fear thing And I think you’re right I think Gavriel does perpetuate that myth for his own ends”

I frowned, considering “The ratio though The nu fallen turns sos than humans”

“Are there?” He let the question hang heavily in the air for a long moment “I don’t know about that”

My face wrinkled in a grimace It’d been over ten months since I’d last been on earth, and another year before that since I’d been a part of huotten some of the awful shit I’d seen and read about in the human world

Yeah, people can be plenty evil, fallen or not

He looked away for a moment and cleared his throat “I won’t deny I saw des in Gavriel’s service But for a lot of theuess it wasn’t even their natural inclination He warps people, fostering their worst qualities through fear and pain”

I could hear echoes of those emotions in Xero’s voice as he spoke, and I took his hand, squeezing gently, reer in that place

Not that the place ere currently in was a picnic either, but at least we had each other

He squeezed back, shooting rateful look “The point is, he makes it easy to fall When all the evidence tells you that you’re evil, it’s easy to let evil happen Because ood or purely bad They’re like you and Kingston They’ve got a little of everything inside them, and what kind of person they turn into comes down to the choices theyas it doesn’t affect the to help if it doesn’t put them out too much”

I chuckled, glancing out at the landscape around us as I scanned for threats “I’m not sure I like your sketch ofI like to think of myself as a fairly even-te point before, and it’s not pretty”

He raised a questioning eyebrow at me

I sighed “The last tiht before I was turned I’d had a long day My car broke down My feet hurt I thought at the very least, I could count on my boyfriend for soht by his place I walked all the way there in these killer boots—seriously, these boots were badass, but they killed the hell out of my feet—and walked in to find him balls deep in some other bitch”

“Ooh” Xero cringed and shook his head “Shit”

“Yeah I beat the hell out of him and took his banana”