“Only the oldest and the most connected with the Boss are aware of the true origins of the Warden. Shouting it from the rooftops would defeat that pesky blind faith thing, wouldn’t it? That would tick off the One up there and the one down below. No one has time for that.” He peeled open the box as he plopped down onto the couch. “And whatever Wardens have figured out their origins would go to their graves before admitting that they come from those who Fell,” he said, repeating nearly the same thing the Throne had. “It was the Wardens who rewrote what became of the fallen angels. They killed their own dirty little secret.”

“Okay. Great. You know all about the fallen angels, but you’re still wrong.” I dropped into the corner of the couch. “I didn’t do anything. Zayne chose to Fall.”

Cayman turned his head toward mine, and I wished I could tell if his eyes had lost the reddish black hue. “Do tell?”

I told.

I told Cayman all I knew, right up until moments earlier, when I realized that the Crone could be of help. “So, do you think what the Throne said was true? That my grace won’t kill Zayne but bring him back?”

“Honest? I have no idea,” he admitted, setting the empty box down on the counter. How he’d eaten the whole box of cheesy crackers was something I could relate to. “I’ve never known a Fallen to become anything other than a Warden or a really big player down below. And the ones who are on my team? Those who made it into Hell with their wings and grace still intact didn’t keep them long. Our Boss is not dumb enough to allow something nearly as powerful as Him to be occupying the same 666 area code. He stripped their wings, therefore taking their grace. Even then, those Fallen are still hella powerful. Not even Roth wants to mess with one of them. Lucky for him and all of us, they take way too much pleasure in their jobs.”

“Fallen angels in Hell have jobs?” I asked.

“Everyone has a job, Trin the Trueborn. We call them Judges. They spend their time making sure really bad people spend eternity wishing they had made better life choices,” he said. “But the thing is, no angels have Fallen in a hella long time, like not since the Byzantine Empire kind of long time, and there’s Layla. She’s the closest thing to a Fallen, but not really.”

“Huh? I thought she was part Warden and demon?”

“She is and she’s not. Long story short, she was given the blood of one of the originals—you know, one of the very first of the angels to Fall. So was her mother, but again, she’s not a true Fallen. Neither is Lilith.”