Marcus had told me about Sellers. He had mentioned Tony in particular. He had told me that Tony was not to be trusted, but I had never met him until now.

For some reason Tony can’t bring himself to look at me. He was looking every other direction. That might be because of the sheer hatred I’m beaming towards him.

“Now would be the ideal time to kill you, but we’re gonna double check to see if our suspicion is right. If it turns out that clue is with your father, we won’t need you anymore. Then we can come back and let Chaos get the first crack at you,” Rage says.

“Thanks, boss. Looking forward to it,” Chaos says with a sneer.

“The Guardians are coming to get me. And when they do, I’m gonna make sure you get the express to hell,” I say to all of them. They just laugh and head out the door.

Now it’s just me in the room. As much as I hate Tony, being here alone isn’t the most comforting feeling. I wish I knew Morse code or something. Do angels know that code? What does it matter? I have been here for hours and no one has come.

Okay, let’s look at the bright side here. There has to be one, right? Well, I didn’t have to drink any more Weeping oil. That’s only because they think I gave them what they want. What in the world had led them to believe that? I held out on telling the Guardians because it hurts to admit that my whole existence is a mistake. But if I thought it were a lead, I would have told them.

“Where the hell are you guys?” I shout in frustration.

Just then, the door opens up.

If they feed me Weeping oil again, I will die.

The figure that enters the room was the last person I thought I’d see again.

“You have to be quiet,” he says.

“Screw you, Tony. Did you come here to make sure I was still tied down like an animal?”

“I knew you’d still be tied down because I’m the one who tied you.”

“I freakin’ hate you, you evil bastard. I was worried about you.”

“I know.”

“Just kill me, or whatever you are here to do, and get out.”

He bends down within my reach. I rain blow after blow on top of him. He tries to fight me off, but I’m too pissed to be stopped.

“Die, Seller trash.” He never hit me back. All he did was block the blows.

“Alright, I get it. You want me dead, but can I do this first?”

“Do what?” I look down and he is untying me.

“Why?” I ask, stunned.

“I told you, I’m not a completely bad guy.”

“You helped them tie me up and torture me. You think you’re still in the gray area? Are you freakin’ kidding me?”

“Look, I could have left you tied up.”

“I could have beat you senseless.”

“The point is, you’re free now.”

“Why did you free me? And don’t give me that crap about not being a total jerk, because you are.”

“When you thought I was in trouble like you, you were willing to help.”

“So?”

“Well, I’ve never had anyone go out of their way for me. Plus, Marcus has had plenty of chances to kill me but he hasn’t. So, I thought I’d do him a favor and help you out.”

“You’re doing this because of Marcus?”

“I’m doing it because I don’t think you would have revealed your secret if just your life depended on it. You only did it to save me. You put my life ahead of yours. That was nice.”

“Had I known you were a traitor I would have told them to roast you and let me dance on your ashes.”

“You have a dark side to you, you know that?”

“I’m not an angel. I can have as dark a side as I damn well please.”

“I can see why he likes you. You’ve got a little fire in you.”

“I had a lot of fire in me moments ago, and it’s all because you helped them.”

“I didn’t tell them to use the Weeping oil. That was an executive decision.”

“Rage?”

“And Lucy.”

“So, you and all your friends just sit around thinking of ways to hurt people?”

“I had nothing to do with that.”

“Why am I even standing here talking to you? Which way do I go once I leave here?”

“You can’t leave. They have a meter at the door. It will tell them if a human has entered or exited. The only one who can come and go is me. I know the code to turn it off.”

“Then get moving,” I say as I head towards the door. He takes my arm. I pull it away from him.

“You touch me and I’ll make you beg Lucy to end it for you right here and now.”

“I’ll help you, but you have to let me go first.”

“You could be setting me up again.”

“For what? You already gave them what they needed.”

“Thanks to you.”

“I did not torture you.”

“Who sold them the Weeping oil, Tony?”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, you’re a swell guy”

“They have something I need. They said if I helped they’d give it to me.”

“What?”

“Never mind. It can only be found in the Hun Market. It costs a lot of money and they were gonna get it for me.”

“So, it’s something to do evil.”

“You do-gooders are so judgmental.”

“Shut up and help me get out.”

“Okay, no need to shout. You know, on TV the guy who rescues the girl gets a kiss.”

“The guy isn’t usually the one who put the girl in danger in the first place. Now move.”

He leads the way, puts a key in the door and opens it. I see a series of dark hallways. We stay low and run down the first corridor to the left. At the end of the hall is a room where the Akons had gathered. Their voices fill the hallway. Tony mouths soundlessly that we need to keep moving. But I move towards the sound. This way I can find out how much they know or how much they think they know.

Tony keeps waving “no” and tries to steer me towards the exit. I won’t go. I have to find out as much as I can. This is my chance to really be of help in this mission. I come as close as I can to the door without touching it.

I hear Frenzy speak from behind the door.

“I’m telling you, this is what we’ve been looking for.”

“So, let’s kill her, then go find her father,” Chaos adds excitedly.

“We have to make sure. After we get the father, then we kill her. Lucy won’t like us jumping ahead of ourselves,” the leader, Rage says.

“I’m sure enough for all of us. The council gave us this guy’s daughter as a starting point. Now we have to find him,” Chaos replies.

“He’s right. We need to wait on the girl.” I think that was Mayhem speaking, but I’m not sure.

“Where’s Tony?” Rage asks.

“He went to get some food.”

“I forget that bastard’s human. They’re so weak. They need to eat several times a day. How pathetic,” Chaos says.

“Weren’t you like that?” Rage asks.

“I always choose job over food. Any opportunity to see the look on the victim’s faces as they cry out and ask you to spare their worthless lives. That was the only fuel I needed.”

“That why you weigh ten pounds,” Frenzy says.

“Oh, you wanna go? Anytime man.”

“Enough. Tony should have been back. Go check on the girl.”

“Tony would never help her. That guy is only two cycles away from being owned by Lucy. There’s no way he’ll make it into the light.”

“Chaos, shut up and go find him. And if he is anywhere other than in the front door guarding the human, take him out,” Rage orders.

I hear Chaos making his way towards the door. Tony drags me down the hall and into a stairwell. We run as fast as we can. We hear feet running behind us. They’re shouting to each other to catch us before we get to the exit. We go down two flights of stairs and down the hallway. Hand in hand, Tony and I head for the exit at top speed.

At the exit is an alarm code of some kind. Tony goes up to it and punches in a few numbers. Nothing happens. The door remains shut.

“What’s the problem?”

“I can’t remember the code to get out.”

“What? C’mon.”

“Shh. I need to focus. Stop rushing me.”

“They’re coming.”

The footsteps get louder.

“Tony, hurry!”

“I got it.” He keys in the numbers, the alarm flashes green and the lock springs open. We never get a chance to open the door because at that exact moment Rage sends a ball of flames hurtling down the hallway towards us.

We hit the floor as the blaze blasts the door wide open. Flames are everywhere. Tony drags me up off the floor. I get up just in time to see Rage’s next attack. The ball of flames is too close to us: we won’t duck in time.

We brace ourselves as it bears down on us. Suddenly every thing goes black. I hear voices, so I think I’m still alive. How is that possible? I think back to the last time I felt this kind of darkness: it’s Rio. He’s shielding Tony and me from the ball for flames. I am right: when the darkness lifts, Rio hovers above me.

Marcus had attacked Rage while Rio protected Tony and I.

“We gotta go,” Rio says. Tony and I follow him out of the gaping hole that had once been a door. As we get outside, I look up and see Mayhem and Frenzy flying above us. They don’t get in the way of us trying to escape because they’re too busy attacking the other Guardians.

From the roof, Frenzy aims at Miku and shoots a bolt of lightning from each hand. The lightning rocks her body. She shakes uncontrollably. Her eyes are wild and her hands clench. Seeing this, Ameana looks for a way to help her friend. She finds the perfect opportunity when Mayhem shoots daggers at Reese, who has just Blinked in.

Ameana redirects the daggers so that they by pass Reese, go around her and head right for Frenzy’s chest. He sees the daggers coming and has to stop electrocuting Miku in order to take cover.

No longer held up by jolts of electricity, Miku drops to the ground. She isn’t moving. Panicked, Ameana goes over to check on her. War sees Ameana is distracted and blasts a dose of acid directly at her. Reese Blinks in from behind and attacks War causing him to misfire. Jay helps Marcus take on Rage and Chaos. Rio leads us around the corner away from the fight.

“Stay here. I’ll get Reese to Blink you home,” he says.

“No,” I shout after him. He doesn’t hear me. He has already taken off.

“We have to go help them.”

“I’m just a human. There is nothing I can do.”

“Fine, Tony. You stay here and be the coward they all think you are.”

“Wait!” he says.

“What?”

“I learned some information about the Triplex from the Akons that might help you. I was gonna sell it to Marcus for a small fee but….”

“What is it?”

“According to the Akons, Lucy said that each member of the council has a say in where the Triplex is placed on Earth. Even though the council is not made up of humans, they each have traits that are specific to them.”

“So they can be bad or good?”

“No, that’s not what I mean. Take the first member to the council, Death. It acts independently of Omnis, but it cannot oppose the other two members. That means if Death wants to take a man’s life, it can only do so with the permission of Time and Fate.”

“So the Triplex has to be somewhere that can be affected by Time, Fate and Death?”

“Exactly. All three of them have to agree on the hiding place.”

“So the Triplex is going to be somewhere all three can agree on. But that doesn’t really help, Tony. Fate, Time and Death exist in everything.”

“No, Emmy. Think. Where can there be no death?”

“Where there was no life.”

“Exactly. How can something die if it never lived?”

“So Death would want the Triplex in a place where death can occur, like a hospital or a nursing home?”

“Yes. Next comes Time.”

“How can we narrow down where on Earth Time would hide the Triplex? Time is everywhere.”

“Yes, but everything doesn’t require the same amount from it. Flowers need weeks to grow. Trees need hundreds of years. But still they all require some aspect of time in order to come about. The thing which you are looking for will require a portion of time.”

“We’re looking for something that needed a set amount of time in order to exist, like a plant?”

“Yes. And lastly, we have Fate. The trick with Fate is to try not to argue with it. It has already seen which moves you will make and how to counteract. Its only purpose is balance. Fate will petition to have the object put where both good and evil are likely to be found. Fate will want to give each side a fair chance of entering.”

“So the Triplex wouldn’t be in a holy place like a church?”

“Nor will it be in a casino or a politician’s office. That’s it. That’s all the info I know.”

“The Akons could kill you for helping me. This is very brave of you.”

“If I were really brave, I’d run back there and help you.”

“You can still come with me. I’ll protect you.”

“I’m sure you would. When you were fighting with me earlier, I notice you have a great right hook.”

“I’ll tell them what you told me as soon as I have a chance.” I smile and rush off. Things are even more chaotic. Marcus picks up War and hurls him at Chaos. The two crash into an empty store front, flattening it completely. They flee the scene with Marcus furiously on their tail.

Marcus catches up to them. War screams and begs to die because of what he sees reflected in Marcus’ eyes. Marcus holds him there longer. War begs again to have his life taken; before his wish can be granted, Chaos attacks Marcus from behind.

“Emmy, look out.”

I didn’t even see it coming. I whip my head around in time to see the daggers make their way to me. The person who warned me was Jay. I wanted to thank him but there would be no time. Fear has me frozen in place. I close my eyes. Please, don’t let this hurt too much.

I open my eyes. I’m sitting on the floor, a block away from all the action. Nothing has happened. There is no blood. No sharp unrelenting pain. I’m in the arms of an angel. I smile gratefully when I see who it is.

“Are you sorry it’s not him who saved you?”

“No, I’m glad it’s you, Reese.” I hold him tightly and wrap my arms around him.

“I’m into saving pretty girls,” he says pulling me back to look into my face.

I thought I saw him wince, but I must have been mistaken because now he’s grinning like a kid. A tingle goes down my spine. I move in closer and kiss him with slow, building passion. He kisses me back with intense longing. His hair starts to glow. It’s like a beam of light was shining on his head. I pull away suddenly. Why is his hair illuminated? Is it some kind of angel alarm? I had seen Ameana’s hair glow before but this was even brighter. What did it mean? I was about to ask him when I see Rage in the air, sending a fireball straight at us.

“Reese, Blink. Blink now.”

I close my eyes and open them again. I am in the same spot. I can’t take my eyes off the fire coming for us. In that moment a soft wind blows past me and lifts me up off the ground.

I look up and Jay has snatched me out of the way just in time. He puts me down on the ground and goes back to fight Rage. Ameana joins in and redirects the latest fireball back at Rage. He ducks and the ball hits Chaos.

Chaos doesn’t move in time and the flames catch his arms and spread. Frenzy helps him put them out and then launches a bolt of electricity at Ameana. Miku sings softly to Frenzy, causing him to misdirect the bolt and send it into the building behind me. Every single window shatters into millions of pieces, all of which are headed for me. Marcus swoops in and grabs me just as the rain of glass falls.

As Marcus takes off into the air with me, War attacks him. The acid War spews latches onto Marcus’ wings, burning and eating away at them. He howls in pain and loosens his grip on me. I slip out of his hands and down to the ground below. I don’t even have time to scream as the wind whips around me. It’s a twenty-story drop, and I’m falling fast.

Marcus ignores the searing pain in his wings and dives down to catch me. Just as we make contact, War attacks him again causing him lose his balance. He drops me again. The fall is inevitable now. I’m going to hit the ground.

But just when I think I’m dead and it’s all over, someone catches me. I’m only a few feet from the ground. Relief washes over me. I look up into Marcus’ face. It’s not him. He isn’t the one that stopped my fall, it’s War.

“Let’s go have a little talk,” he says as he throws me to the ground. I cry out as my body hits the ground. I hadn’t been high enough for the fall to be life-threatening, but I feel something snap. I roll over and over until I hit a row of trash cans.

I try to get up but a sharp pain in my rib cage wouldn’t allow me to. I know what I broke—a rib. That is the only thing that makes sense. My side is in so much pain I can barely see straight. It hurts to breathe, but I need to get up before War comes back.

“Where are you going? We haven’t had our talk,” he says a few feet away from me. I look up in the air and Marcus is trying to fly down to me. But Rage is keeping him busy by trying to torch him.

“Your boyfriend is busy. This is between us,” War says venomously.

I use the side of the trash can to pull myself up. It hurts so bad I’m gasping just from standing upright. Digging around furiously in the trash can, I find a broken mirror. I pull out the longest piece I can find and hold it like a knife.

War sees my weapon and laughs.

“You’re the funniest human I’ve encountered. I’ll tell you what. I like you. I won’t spray you. I’ll just dismember you. How does that sound?”

“Don’t be a punk. You want me, come get me,” I bark.

I’m holding the weapon so hard it cuts into the palm of my hand. Blood travels down to my wrist. It swirls around my arm and falls drop by drop onto the ground. I can’t feel the pain of the cut. I can’t even feel my side aching anymore. I’m just pissed off now, and I’m tired of being tortured and pushed around.

“You come near me and I’ll kill you.” My voice trembles with a mixture of fear and rage. But it’s mostly rage. I know he will tear me apart, but damned if I’ll let him do it without a fight.

He lunges at me and I attack him with the mirror. I slash and cut through the air. I make contact with his body several times. He tries to stop me by reaching for my hand, but I am too quick. The whole thing is more annoying to him than hurtful. The only injury I’ve caused is mostly to myself. The glass cuts deeper and deeper into my hand. The slashes that I have made on War are all but scrape on his steel-like body.

“I’m done playing.” He lunges at me again. I don’t move out of the way in time. I go flying backwards and hit the ground. The weapon slips out of my hand. Pain spreads down my body. War is on top of me. He wraps his hands around my throat and squeezes.

“I’m trying to kill you quickly. Keep struggling and I will make it slow. And trust me—you don’t want that.”

I kick and scream trying to get him off me. I am finally able to reach the piece of broken mirror that I dropped. I take it and plunge it into his shoulder blade.

“You bitch,” he shouts.

I use this momentary distraction to crawl away from him. He pulls out the glass from his shoulder like it’s a toothpick. He looks at me with murder in his eyes. Everything about him is looming and sinister. He charges toward me like an enraged bull. I can’t get away fast enough. He picks me up and throws me into the trash cans.

My head hits the sidewalk. It feels like my brain is being shaken inside my skull. I land on the side with the broken rib. I am crying so hard from the pain that I can’t hear anything else going on. War comes towards me again. I close my eyes. I don’t want his face to be that last thing I see before I die.

He takes my hand and hovers over me. I totally lose it and yell so loud it comes out like a shrill.

“Get away from me. Get away from me!” I punch, kick and scream, all with my eyes closed.

He gathers my hands inside his to stop me from attacking him.

“Emmy, stop it. It’s me.” I open my eyes and Marcus’ face is looking back at me. I glance over his shoulder and see War flying away. There isn’t one Akon to be found anywhere. The street is eerily quiet. The Akons had wisely decided to flee.

I look back at Marcus and burst into tears. He takes me into his chest and wraps his arms around me.

“It’s over.”

“They tortured me.”

“I know.”

“I tried to fight them but they’re so strong….”

“I know, Em. It’s over.” Marcus kisses me on my forehead. He holds me patiently and lets me cry. It’s minutes before I stop shaking. Finally, I grow quiet. He looks into my face. He’s stricken by sadness and grief.

“What’s wrong?” I ask. He touches the bruises and cuts on my face. His touch is light and charged with longing and regret.

“Can I ask you to do something I have no right to ask for?”

“Yes.”

“Can I hold you a little longer?”

“Yes.”

He holds me tighter. We lie there on the ground. But that’s okay. All the places that are bruised and broken in my body don’t hurt anymore. Or maybe they do and I just don’t care. Because for the next few moments, I get to be with him. For the next few moments, no one is keeping us apart.

From the corner of my eye, I see Ameana looking in on us from a building nearby. Half of her body is hidden, but I can see her face clearly. I can’t imagine what she’s feeling but I think her heart is breaking. I’m sure she’ll be coming over to us. I should make him let me go. But I can’t.

Just a few more minutes with him, please.

She doesn’t come over. She stands there taking in the situation. Marcus can’t stop looking at me. I can’t stop looking at Ameana, who can’t stop looking at Marcus.

“We should go,” I tell him softly. He nods reluctantly and helps me up. Just then I flash back to the last guy who saved my life a few moments ago.

“We have to go find Reese. I think something’s wrong with him.”

“What is it?” Marcus says fully alert and ready to attack.

“He Blinked in time to save me from Mayhem’s daggers, but then his hair started glowing.”

“His hair was glowing?”

“Yeah. Oh, no. What does that mean? Is he in danger?”

“That’s not what makes an angel’s hair glow.” He’s upset or maybe even suspicious, but I don’t know why.

“Oh, what does it mean then, because he was almost illuminated.”

“What were you and Reese doing when his hair was Shining?”

“Talking.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I can’t believe Reese would do this to me.”

“You’re losing me here.”

“Reese kissed you.”

“How did you … ?”

“It’s what makes our hair glow.”

“So, he’s okay?”

“Not when I’m done with him. Why would he kiss you? He knows that you and I are….”

“What are we, Marcus? We have nothing between us.”

“What?”

“You told me to find someone else. You said you weren’t going to leave Ameana. So don’t get mad at Reese for wanting to be with me.”

“You can’t be with him.”

“Why?”

“Because I—you and I—”

“All we have at the end of the day are feelings you won’t commit to. Oh, and a crazy girlfriend. Not to mention a kid who warned you about me. What am I suppose to do, Marcus? How long can I pine for you?”

“You think this is easy for me? How could you let him kiss you?”

“He didn’t kiss me, I kissed him.”

“You kissed him?” he says, sounding hurt and betrayed.

“Don’t you dare give me that wounded look. You have a girlfriend and you’re mad at me for having a love interest?”

“Oh, so now Reese is a love interest?”

“You are not an option for me. You have told me that in every single way possible. You’re the one who’s walking away from us, so don’t you go blaming Reese. You made the choice to stay with her, and I’m making a choice too.”

“You’re choosing Reese? Is it really that easy for you to give yourself away?”

I slap him, hard. I would have punched him but my hands are too sore to make a fist. He looks at me as if the slap hurt. There is no way I can actually inflict pain on him. At least not the physical kind.

“I don’t freaking believe this crap. You hit me for Reese? Is he really that important to you?”

“You have no right to talk to me the way you just did. You have no idea what I have been through in the past few hours.”

“You? I wanted to kill the whole council. I just wanted to go up there and take them all out because they wouldn’t let us strike until the holiday was over. Do you know what it was like to think that Rage made some Runner hurt you, or worse, kill you? What would I do then? How am I supposed to function without you?” he shouts.

“You better learn to deal, Marcus, because that’s what you told me to do the night you chose Ameana.”

I’m livid and resent being made to feel badly for acting like the single girl I am. He looks directly at me and speaks softer now; he’s deeply hurt.

“How could you kiss him?”

“How could you kiss her?”

“Aargh!” He kicks the trash can so hard it goes flying down the street and gets embedded into wall.

“I need to talk to Reese,” he says as he marches ahead of me.

“What? No. You leave him alone.”

“He warns me to stay away from you. They all do. Then all of sudden, he wants you? He can’t keep his hands off of you?”

“You don’t own me or Reese. You can’t tell us what to do.”

“Maybe not you, but I can damn sure tell him what to do.”

“This has nothing to do with the mission. Leave him alone. I told you, I think he’s hurt.”

“His hair Shining doesn’t mean he’s hurt.”

“It’s not just that. When Rage threw the fireball at us, I told Reese to Blink and he didn’t.”

Just then Jay Glides over to us.

I run over to him. I’m grateful to be talking to someone who’s rational right now.

“Jay, Reese is hurt.”

“He?