Fate's Revenge (Twisted Fate, Book 4)

Chapter Forty-Three

Clotho and Atropos sat in the two chairs across from the couch. Lachesis opted to stand—no doubt a symbol of her authority—and rested her arm against the mantle of the fireplace that had once again followed her movements. If she were human, I'd pity her. No way could a girl explain a clingy fireplace to visiting boyfriends. Oh, it's just keeping me warm.... Right. Combined with enough gold to feed all the starving people in the world, that would never be taken well. The only man that would stick around would be one that wanted a chunk of her riches or... Yeah, no. I couldn't imagine any guy sticking around Lachesis for anything but her obvious wealth.

"So, where were we?" Atropos asked.

"Uh, I think you were about to explain the, uh... excess Glory trimmed from naughty angels," I said, trying to keep a smile on my face and my tone light. "If you could just start there and act like I haven't realized where it's leading? That would help me understand."

Lachesis angled her body to face me without having to turn her head. "We don't have time to go in-depth now, Alyssa, not since you took a time out and—"

"Lachesis," Gabe warned, cutting her off.

She sighed. "Atropos trimmed the cords of angels who defected to Darkness. She attempted to give the excess to Him, but he refused, thinking it would be tainted."

"So not only am I cast-offs, I'm what? Tainted?" I shook my head. "This just gets better and better, doesn't it?"

"You aren't tainted," Gabe said, squeezing my hand. He looked up at Lachesis, almost growling as he repeated himself. "She's not tainted."

Lachesis narrowed her eyes on where he continued to hold my hand. She drew in a deep breath and appeared to have to force herself to look at me. "You are a Pure Soul, Alyssa. The Pure Soul, so no, you aren't tainted. You aren't a cast-off, either. If you think about it, you are made from what is good about angels, the part the angels who defected no longer deserved to be a part of."

"So, if Atropos was better at trimming, I would have received tarnished parts?"

"No," Atropos said, her voice like acid, and I realized I had offended her. "We tested it first."

Disbelief bubbled past my lips as a burst of laughter, and I leaned forward, blinking fast over wide eyes. "I'm sorry, what? You tested me?"

"It took a long time to gather enough for your soul to form," Lachesis said. Atropos huffed and sat back in her chair to glare at me as Clotho studied the cuticles of her fingernails and Lachesis continued. "Each time Atropos gathered more, we tested its purity. If it was tainted, it was discarded. Otherwise, we stored it with the rest until there was enough."

"Yeah, you should have seen the first batch." Clotho giggled. "All the powers of Heaven with the morality of Hell!"

Gabe's hand tightened around mine, reminding me to breathe, and he turned his head to face Lachesis. "The first batch?" he asked, his voice frosty, chilling me even though it was aimed at her. "Like an experiment?"

"Thank you, Clotho," Lachesis said, rolling her eyes. She turned to us and said, "It wasn't human like Alyssa. Or, it was human, but not from the Mortal Realm. There was a boy from another world. He was born without a soul after an epidemic nearly exterminated his race. Only a few survived but his mother was pregnant during that time, and when it was over, no one thought to imagine her baby was affected."

"Because she was fine," Clotho added.

"They came to us for help," Atropos said.

"Yes." Lachesis nodded. "His mother knew, as mothers always do, from the moment she held him that something wasn't right. As he grew, he didn't cry. He didn't speak. He showed no emotion, not even pain." She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "By the time the mother came to us for help, the boy was a shell. It was small, but then they always are when they are young, and it would grow as the boy got older."