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

“Well, if it helps, you’ll probably be able to go home this afternoon, once the doc’s had a chance to check you out,” the nurse said. “You’ll need to keep the oximeter on your finger and the blood pressure cuff until then, though, just as a precaution.” He cleared his throat. “But I can go ahead and take the catheter out, if you want.”


Aiden hadn’t noticed the catheter either, but as soon as the nurse mentioned it, he wanted it out very, very badly. Greg quietly steered Cassandra out of the room while the nurse dealt with it, though Aiden was honestly too upset about everything else to really care if he had witnesses. But before he left, the nurse raised the bed, and Aiden was finally able to have his water.


Chapter 20