Rage and Ruin by Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,180

faithful and most deserving, the ones who defend His glory and spread His word—never were?”

“Because...you’re angels? And you’re not human?” I was so confused. So confused.

“We have auras. We have a pure essence.” He looked at me, those all-white eyes beyond creepy. “But we do not have souls.”

He turned slightly, looking to where Sulien was eyeing the demons, and then to the ceiling. “God has done everything to protect man. Given them life and joy and love. Purpose. The ability to create. Raised the Fallen to watch over them, and given them souls as reward. Has done everything to ensure that, when they leave this mortal coil, they find peace. Even those who sin can find forgiveness, and only the most evil and the most unforgivable face judgment. That will change. Mankind as we know it is at its end. Many of us warned God this day would come. There was no stopping this.”

“I don’t understand what you’re getting at.” I tried to keep an eye on Sulien as he nudged Cayman with his boot. “God—”

“God has believed in man, and man has betrayed God. What have they done since creation? What have they done with the gift of life and eternity? They made war and created famine and disease. They brought death to their own doors, welcoming it in. They judge as if they are worthy of doing so. They worship false idols who preach what they want to hear and not the gospel. They use the name of God and the Son as vindication for their hatred and their fear.” Gabriel tilted his head, his voice smooth and soft. “There has not been one minute in the course of human history that mankind has not made war upon itself. Not an hour when they do not take another life. Not a day they do not hurt one another with words or deeds. Not a week that they do not strip this land of everything God has given it to offer. Not a month where weapons created to destroy life do not pass from hand to hand, leaving nothing but blood and despair behind.”

Gabriel’s smile disappeared. “This world that once was a gift has become a revolting curse in which people are judged by their skin or who they love and not by their deeds. Those who are most vulnerable and in need are the most ignored or vilified. If the Son were alive today, He would be scorned and feared, and that is what mankind has done. Children kill children. Mothers and fathers murder their young. Strangers kill strangers by the dozens, and—the worst sin of all—it is often done in the name of who is Holy. That is what man has done since creation.”

Okay. He kind of had a point there. Mankind could be pretty terrible. “Not everyone is like that, though.”

“Does it matter when it takes only a small part of decay to rot and destroy the entire foundation?”

“Yes. It matters. Because while there are terrible people out there, there are many more who are good—”

“But are they? Truly? No one can cast a stone, and yet that is all man does.”

“No.” I shook my head. “You’re wrong.”

“You say that, with your limited experience, when I’ve had thousands of years of watching man aspire to nothing? Watching man become so obsessed with the material and the fallacy of power that they will sell their own sons and betray their own countries to make a profit? Time and time again, I’ve witnessed entire nations fall and the ones birthed out of the ashes follow the same path as the ones before them. You think you know better?”

“I know enough to know you’re making broad—like, huge—generalizations.”

“Tell me, what festers in that human soul of yours? The need to make the world better? The desire to protect? Or is it consumed with carnal needs? Is it full of anger over his betrayal... Misha’s?”

I sucked in a sharp breath.

“It was I who came to him. I who was able to sway him and from whom he learned the truth. He knew what needed to be done to rectify this, and while you might have ended his life, you did more damage to yourself than you could have ever done to him. Your heartache. Your rage. It was your ruin. Your human soul is corrupt.”

The same words Sulien had spoken carried a different weight now. There was a heaviness of truth, but it was more than that. “Humans are complicated. I’m