Aiden Lobo is a graduate student in a world where magic, gods, and demons are part of everyday life. After a terrible betrayal, he is cursed with a Crack in his heart, slowly turning him into a living doorway for an ancient war demon. If Aeshma breaks through to Earth, he will kill millions.<br><br>But before Aeshma can open the Crack, Aiden is rescued by his guardian angel, who uses his own Light to seal Aiden's heart. As a servant of the divine, the nameless angel was supposed to kill Aiden to avert the growing cataclysm inside him. But he loves Aiden too much to end his life, even to save the world.<br><br>It's impossible for Aiden not to love his warm, generous guardian in return. He names the angel Eskandar, but then learns to his horror that because Eskandar was created for him, when Aiden dies, Eskandar will too. The angel has long since accepted this fate, but Aiden refuses to. He will do anything to keep his beloved angel safe. But with no other recourse than to sacrifice himself to prevent the apocalypse, there's only one way for Aiden to save Eskandar: a terrible betrayal of his own.

A Crack in the Heart

He drew his sword anyway, though he fervently hoped he wouldn’t have to use it. Straight As and practice aside, he’d only ever had to fight with it once, against a goblin. Goblins were little homicidal maniacs, and this one had been vicious, but only about two feet high. Aiden had felt bad about killing the thing, despite how obviously it had been trying to kill him


Cassandra’s apartment in the graduate residence was right on the edge of campus. It was a relief to see his friend relax when they were close to the traffic lights and other people hurrying home before midnight. Twelve A.M. was nearly two hours away, but the sunset came earlier now it was late summer, and everyone knew the Dark Things didn’t always wait. The big grin Cassandra gave him as they walked up the stairs to the building underscored how nervous she’d been.


Chapter 4