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

“You’ve never even read it, have you?” Tanner asked Aiden over his water bottle.


Aiden grinned at him, opening his. “Nope.”


“But I’m sure Aiden wants to,” Cassandra cut in cheerfully. She looked at him, all innocence. “You could stay and read it. Tanner has volume one.”


Tanner blushed, then clearly tried to cover it by drinking his water. “Actually, I was, um, kind of hoping I could walk you home. If you wanted,” he said after he’d swallowed a few times.


“Really? ‘Cause, um, I’d like that. I’d like that a lot,” Aiden said. He didn’t even try to be cool, especially when he could see Tanner wanted it as much as he did. He took a long drink as well, mostly so he wouldn’t fidget.


“Oh, yay. I knew you walking me home was a good idea!” Cassandra bounced and clapped like a little girl.


Chapter 5