The next morning, I was going to cancel going to the concert. But I realized Jay would have killed me. So I let them go to the concert and I stay behind to go see Tony-Tone.

The moment Tony spots me, he takes off. I pull out my cell as I take off after him. The fact that he’s running means he’s done something; suddenly, having our only clue partying in a crowd a country away feels like a very bad idea.

“Rio, get Jay to take Emmy home. The rest of you get back here. Tony’s up to something. Hurry!”

I hurl myself at Tony, we crash down to the ground. I strike him hard in his chest. He gasps.

“Okay, okay. This guy came in. He said he was a GW but there is a small chance he might have been a Runner working for Akon. I was gonna turn him down but he offered me three third-coats. That’s a lot of money.”

“I will put my hand through you and pull out that waste of space called you heart right now if you don’t tell me what you sold.”

“Let’s not get violent. There’s a good chance I did nothing wrong,” he says desperately.

“He paid you three third-coats and he doesn’t even have wings! Where did you think he got them from?”

“Hey, like the humans say—don’t ask, don’t tell.”

I pick him up off the floor with one hand and slam him into the nearby tree. I hold him there and reflect a quick flash.

“Please, no.”

“Talk, rat.”

“I sold him something I got from the market.”

Hun’s market is run by seamy Sellers who are always on the run from the council. They sell items that have been outlawed by both Omnis and the council. The founder of the Market was Hun Moorland. Hun was a ruthless terrorist with a background in chemistry and biology.

Hun was killed when the bomb he was making to blow up a building in the heart of downtown Tokyo accidentally went off in his face. Hun had made a deal with Atourum: in exchange for not burning for all eternity, he would invent things to help Atourum wage war against good.

He invented a number of things for Atourum. Among them, Quips, which are bullets filled with a liquid substance that attacks an angel’s soul.

The other invention Hun is known for is the Zan. Zans are boxes that keep a soul alive without needing a body. Hun invented the Zan and gave it to Atourum, who then used it to store the darkest of souls before re-releasing them on humanity.

Hun’s most famous invention is called the Peel. It is a black-powdered substance that peels away the face and soul of an angel and impresses them on someone else. Think of it as identify theft for angels. The Peel lasts a few hours and then the soul will be returned to the angel from whom it was taken.

A few cycles ago, a demon used a Peel and took the appearance of a Traveler. The demon got as far as the gates of the council. Soon, Paras came with word from Omnis that there was a darkness in the light. The demon was punished and Atourum was made to destroy Hun.

Many have theorized that Atourum never got rid of Hun. The conspiracy nuts think that he’s still on Earth. They go so far as to say he’s still inventing things for his master. Everyone claims to have seen Hun at some point. Hun sighting are as common among angels as Elvis sightings are among humans.

“What did you sell from the Market?” I ask, fully intending to carry out my threat.

“Okay, but don’t get mad.”

I ram my hand into his chest. He gasps as the pressure I am putting through his chest becomes more than he can handle.

“I sold him a Peel.”

I pick him up from the ground and throw him across the street.

“You sold a Peel to a Runner?” I ask.

“He paid me extra not to say anything. He may or may not be a Runner. And anyway, it was Human Peel. The Runner can only pretend to be another human being, not an angel.”

“Why would an Akon send a Runner to impersonate a human?”

“I don’t know. What can a human get Emmy to do that an Akon or Runner can’t?”

“Trust,” I say as it hits me right then. The Runner is going to Peel into someone Emmy trusts and take her to the Akons.

Once I land on the roof back at the house, Jay comes running up to meet me. His face is dark with rage, which is not a common thing to see on Jay. It alarms me instantly. Ameana comes up behind him.

“Where’s Emmy?” I ask.

“She’s fine,” he spits out.

“What’s up? What’s going on?” Miku asks.

He looks at me like he wants to rip my throat out.

“Jay, what’s up?” I put my hands on his shoulders. He shrugs them off.

“Back off me,” he says.

“Jay what’s up?”

He speaks in a cold and unforgiving voice.

“I want a yes or a no answer to this question. And don’t you lie to me, Marcus. Did the Sage see you Turn and this mission failing?”

“What?” the twins bark at the same time.

“Answer the question, Marcus.”

“No, Marcus would have told us if the Sage had said that,” Miku says with certainty.

“Marcus?” Rio asks.

They are all looking at me. Jay is frozen in anger and disgust.

“Listen guys—”

“Did the Sage say that to you?” Jay asks accusingly.

“Jay, calm down,” Ameana says.

“Answer me,” he shouts, ignoring everyone else.

“Yes.”

Their reactions ranged from anger to hopelessness.

“How could you not tell us?” Jay asks.

“I was going to when the time was right.”

“And when was that, Marcus? When New York was littered with bodies?”

“I was planning on telling you.”

“How dare you keep that from us,” Miku shouts.

“You knew this whole time? I knew you had a secret but I thought it was… How could you not tell us?” Rio says dumfounded.

“It’s not a big deal. We’ll figure it out.”

“We? Man, bump that. You decide to hold out on us and now you sayin’ ‘we’ like we’re all a team?”

“We are a team.”

“No, we ain’t. If we were, I wouldn’t have to hear this crap from a bunch of Travelers. It’s all over the damn Splash. Had I not overheard it, we never would have known.”

“I was gonna tell you.”

“That’s a damn lie. You weren’t gonna tell us nothing.”

“Just because the Sage thinks it can happen, doesn’t mean it will. You guys know me. I would never Turn; I would never betray my team.”

“The Sage is never wrong; we’re screwed,” Miku says, almost to herself.

“You’ve known about this the whole time?” Rio asks.

“What else did he say?” Miku demands.

“He said that Emmy will somehow bring about the end of me.”

“Perfect. That’s freakin’ perfect!” Jay’s words are full of venom and sarcasm.

“Just because the Sage says it doesn’t make it a fact. Jay, it’s not true.”

Ameana speaks in a calm voice. “Look, I don’t agree with what Marcus did. But he has a right to make that decision. He’s our leader and we have to follow him.”

“Follow this,” Jay says crudely as he takes off into the air.

We all leap into the air after him, except Ameana. We were calling out his name and arguing loudly back and forth. We didn’t even realize Reese had Blinked onto the roof.

“Did you hear what I said?” Reese blares like a mad man. We all turn to face him. He repeats what we didn’t hear the first time. He says two words that change everything:

“Emmy’s gone.”