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

“It’s not okay. You look like hell.” Then Greg’s eyes widened. “Cass has a new amulet for you. Hang on. I’ll be right back.”


He disappeared down the hallway and came back with a small disk of some kind of metal attached to a leather thong. “I wanted her to put Gwan-eum on it, because I figure you could use all the mercy you can get. But she insisted that you’d just want the happy face.” He tossed it at Aiden before Aiden could reply.


Aiden caught it automatically, snagging the disk out of the air. The second it touched his palm, he felt a blast of cold like he’d been shoved into a freezer. His chest suddenly hurt so badly, he dropped the amulet and doubled over with pain. He could feel the black, bloodlike liquid trickling down his chest.


“All the gods! What is it? What happened?” Greg was in front of him, his hands on Aiden’s shoulders. They felt like frostbite, burning his skin. Aiden grunted in pain and jerked away.


Chapter 45