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’d better hope to all the hells that he didn’t,” Greg said. He gently tapped Aiden’s chest with a fingertip. “Because if that’s really a Crack in there, and Aeshma’s coming through…two hundred million will be just the beginning.”


“Oh.” Whatever was left of Aiden’s heart dropped to somewhere near the center of the planet. “I didn’t know that.”


“Me neither,” Cassandra said softly. “Greg? Can you find out what Tanner really did here, please?”


Greg swallowed. “Yeah. Sure.” Abruptly he threw his arms around Aiden and hugged him. “I’m really sorry I didn’t believe you.” Aiden was still blinking in surprise when Greg patted him a couple of times on the back before he pulled away. “We’ll figure this out,” he said, then turned and trotted back to the stump.


Aiden automatically began to follow Greg, but then stopped with a gasp when the pain worsened just from taking a few steps nearer the altar.


Chapter 29