“They were terrified of vehicles and they hated the idea of the PRT. They had a lot of peculiarities. They couldn’t stay in one place for long. Communities pulled together. It was a really cool thing, they’d get motel rooms paid for by fans, they had tutors come to visit. There was talk of trying to get them into the school system. It was tricky because they were tricky.”

Rain nodded.

“It was a really cool thing,” Sveta said. “There were blogs that followed them, and they were really positive. There was art drawn of them—I really liked that. A couple of times a week there would be articles talking about how they were doing something new and better and it was a step forward.”

“I knew some of it,” Rain said.

“You should know all of it. There was a time in my life when I could only vicariously enjoy those sorts of things, and I’d wake up and I’d tell myself I would check the blog after lunch and I would check the art page after dinner, and that was the sort of thing that helped me get through the days. Weld stuff was first thing. There were others. But Peat and Fen were big.”

“I know,” Rain said.

“They went down the wrong stretch of road and some Fallen jackasses on motorcycles thought they’d get a good reaction from people by holding the pair down and taking a chainsaw to their horns. To decorate their fucking helmets!”

Rain nodded, averting his eyes.

“Knife marks suggested someone tried to cut off one of their faces to wear it as a mask. You can imagine how I felt,” Sveta said. She moved her hair, showing the edge of her face, the mass of pencil-thin black tendrils behind it. “Since I’m only a mask and an assortment of lethal weapons. You can imagine how I felt, when instead of my daily pick-me up I got the news that they’d died from loss of their horns.”

Kenzie ducked her head, and started to walk away. When I went to follow and check her head, Ashley held up a hand and bid me to stop, following Kenzie instead.

“This isn’t an inquisition,” Erin said. “Rain isn’t responsible for everything the Fallen have done.”

Sveta ignored Erin for the moment. “Other Fallen groups have taken us for freak shows. The embodiments of the end times. Tom and Jake Crowley. I know that’s not on you, Rain, but you have to realize they aren’t good people.”

“I’m more than aware.”

“Then at least tell me you’re not going to go back,” Sveta said.

“I have to,” Rain said.

I could see Sveta’s face fall.

“I have to,” Rain said. “I have no choice. Really.”

“Okay,” Sveta said, her voice sad. “I think you have more choice than you think you do.”