Fallen 2. Torment(84)

plastic tray of food.

"Well, how's this for speedy service?" she asked. "Now, which one of you had the

pigs--"

"Me!" Shelby startled the waitress with the quickness of her reach for the plate.

"Anybody need any ketchup?"

They shook their heads.

"Extra butter?"

Luce pointed down at the ice cream scoop of butter already on her pancakes.

"We're all set. Thanks."

"If we need anything," Arriane said, beaming down at the whipped cream happy

face on her plate, "we'll holler."

"Oh, I know you will." The waitress chuckled, tucking the tray under her arm.

"Holler like the world's about to end, this one will."

After she left, Arriane was the only one who ate. She plucked a blueberry from

the pancake's nose, popped it into her mouth, and licked her fingers with relish. Finally

she glanced around the table.

"Dig in," Arriane said. "There's nothing good about cold steak and eggs." She

sighed. "Come on, guys. You've read the history books. Don't you know the drill--"

"I haven't," Luce said. "I don't know any drills."

Arriane sucked meditatively on her fork. "Good point. In that case, allow me to

present my version to you. Which is more fun than the history books anyway because I

won't censor the big fights and curses and all the sexy stuff. My version has everything

but 3-D, which, I have to say, is totally overrated. Did you see that movie with"--she

noticed the blank looks on their faces. "Oh, never mind. Okay, it starts millennia ago.

Now, do I need to catch you up on Satan?"

139

"Waged an early power struggle against God." Miles's voice was a monotone, as

if he were repeating a third-grade lesson plan while he speared a bit of steak with his

fork.

"Before then they were super-tight," Shelby added, dousing her pigs in blankets

with syrup. "I mean, God called Satan his morning star. So it's not like Satan wasn't

worthy or beloved."

"But he would rather reign in Hell than serve in Heaven," Luce chimed in. She

might not have read the Nephilim histories, but she'd read Paradise Lost. Or at least, the

CliffsNotes.

" Very nice." Arriane beamed, leaning toward Luce. "You know, Gabbe was big

friends with Milton's daughters back in the day. She likes to take credit for that phrase,

and I'm all 'Aren't you enough people's darling already?' But whatever." Arriane moved

in on a forkful of Luce's eggs. "Damn, these are good. Can we get some hot sauce over

here?" she bellowed toward the kitchen. "Okay, where were we?"

"Satan," Shelby said through a mouthful of pancake.

"Right. So. Say what you will about El Diablo Grande, but he is"--Arriane tossed

her head--"somewhat responsible for introducing the idea of free will among angels. I

mean: He really gave the rest of us something to think about. On which side do you throw

your weight? Given the choice, a whole lotta angels fell."

"How many?" Miles asked.

"The Fallen? Enough to cause something of a stalemate." Arriane looked

thoughtful for a moment, then grimaced and called out to the waitress. "Hot sauce! Does

it exist in this establishment?"

"What about the angels who fell, but didn't side with--" Luce broke off, thinking

of Daniel. She was aware that she was whispering, but this felt like a really big thing to

be discussing in the middle of a diner. Even a mostly empty diner in the middle of the

night.

Arriane lowered her voice too. "Oh, there are plenty of angels who fell but still

technically ally with God. But then there are those who threw in with Satan. We call them

demons, even though they're just fallen angels who made really poor choices.

"Not like it's been easy for anyone. Since the Fall, angels and demons have been

neck and neck, split down the middle, yada yada yada." She slathered butter into the

pancake's nose. "But all that may be about to change."

Luce looked down at her eggs, unable to eat.

"So, um, before, you seemed to be suggesting that my allegiance had something

to do with that?" Shelby looked slightly less doubtful than she usually did.

"Not yours exactly." Arriane shook her head. "I know it feels like we've all been

hanging in the balance forever. But in the end, it's going to come down to one powerful

angel choosing a side. When that happens, the scale finally tips. That's when it matters

which side you're on."

Arriane's words reminded Luce of being locked all the way up in that tiny chapel

with Miss Sophia, how she kept saying the fate of the universe had something to do with

Luce and Daniel. It had sounded crazy at the time, and Miss Sophia was evil bananas.