“Do you have any idea what you put us through tonight?” my mom shouts.

“I’m sorry but—”

“Don’t you dare try to excuse your behavior!”

“I had to help Randy.”

“And how did you help him? By placing him in the path of demons? By having him nearly fall to his death in the warehouse?” my dad asks.

“That wasn’t my fault. The demons came out of nowhere,” I argue.

“That’s what demons do,” my dad snaps.

“Look, I know I broke the rules by telling Randy and by leaving the house when I was grounded, but this was for a good cause,” I plead.

“Mommy, what’s wrong?” Sam asks from upstairs as he comes out of his room.

“Nothing, baby, go back and Recharge,” my mom replies.

“Pryor, did you lift up the house over your head? Dad said not to do that,” Sam advises me.

“Sam. Recharge. Now,” my dad orders.

He wisely goes back to his room and closes the door.

It has been about half an hour since my mom came into the warehouse and made everyone go home. She was going to have East Mind wipe Randy so that he didn’t remember, but after nonstop begging from Randy, she decided to let him keep his memory.

“I know I’m in trouble but I can’t just let Randy die. I can’t,” I beg.

“You think we like this? You think this is fun for us? Watching our child in pain? Pryor, we would fix this if we could,” she tells me.

“If that’s true then why aren’t you going to see Oden?” I challenge.

“What did you say?” my dad asks, his tone firm.

“She overheard us talking about Oden, and she gathered the others so they could go see him,” my mom replies.

My dad comes closer to me and speaks in a tone that makes my hands tremble. He rarely uses his First Guardian tone on us but when he does...

“Pryor, you are never to go near Oden. He is vile and he does not need to make contact with you in order to hurt you. He would do anything to get his hands on a Noru. You cannot under any circumstances go see him. Do you understand?”

“But I—”

“DAMN IT, PRYOR, YOU ARE NOT TO GO NEAR HIM; DO YOU HEAR ME?”

The entire house shakes when my dad shouts. His wings flap furiously against the air. I look him in the eyes and nod slowly.

“You may be the leader of the Norus but you do not rule in this house. Do you get that?” he pushes.

“Yes.”

“Your mother and I will not have this conversation with you again. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Go to your room and don’t even think of leaving this house,” he orders.

I run up the stairs but then turn around once I get to the top.

“Can I say something?” I ask.

“You can always speak to us but if I were you, I’d be very careful which words I choose,” my mom says sternly.

“Every day since Sam and I were born you and Dad drilled into us how important it was to help others and to protect humans. You risked your lives over and over again because humans were worth fighting for. That’s what you taught us. And now you two stand there and tell me to go to my room while a human’s life is in danger...I think it’s hypocritical and it’s wrong. It’s just...wrong.”

I’m locked in my room. It’s not an actual lock, it’s a small vial the length of a pencil that’s placed at the center of my room. It scans for me every five seconds. It’s called The Eye and I freaking hate it. If it scans the area and if I’m not sitting on the bed at the center of the room, it seals off all windows and doors, then notifies the being who programmed it, in this case my dad. It does this in a fraction of a second. It’s too fast for me to outmaneuver. I wish I had Swoop’s powers right now.

Just because I’m on lockdown doesn’t mean I can’t help Randy. I text the group and have them searching for any info on where Oden might be and also what his powers are. I need to know how he can help Randy and also what kind of powers we will be going up against. Then I call Randy to make sure he isn’t losing it.

“Are you okay? I mean considering,” I ask.

“Considering I’m supposed to die? Yeah, I’m great.”

“Randy, I told you I wouldn’t let that happen.”

“I owe you an apology,” he says.

“For what?”

“I kind of freaked out in the warehouse.”

“Well, yeah, but when you learn your BFF is an angel and you’re gonna die, you are allowed to freak out. Go figure.”

“I just thought I would handle something like that...better,” he confesses.

“So you’ve been in this situation before?” I tease.

“No, but it’s classic hero stuff. They have to save their loved ones. The loved ones put on a brave face throughout their adventure. I didn’t do that. I totally freaked. And Keyohmi saw it.”

“She knows this is hard for you; it would be for anyone, Randy.”

“Hey, did she say anything to you?”

“About what?”

“About me.”

“Randy, Key is with Bex. They have been together like forever. I’m sorry.”

“How could she go out with that jerk?” Randy says, frustrated.

“Bex is not that bad. In fact he’s a pretty great guy. It’s just that my abandoning them hit him harder than the others because he helped train me. He really was counting on me.”

“If you say so. I still think she could do better...” he says, mostly to himself.

“You’re worried about getting a girl even with your life on the line?”

“Well if I have to die, getting a kiss from her wouldn’t be a bad way to go.”

I smile and shake my head; we grow silent. When I speak next, my tone has gone from lighthearted to concerned. I know he’s trying to be okay with the situation, but the truth is, he’s terrified.

“Randy, you don’t have to come with us when we go looking for Oden. In fact it may be better if you stayed behind,” I warn him.

“No, I’m not gonna let you risk everything while I stay home and play video games. I’m coming with you.”

“Okay, if that’s what you want...” I reply.

We fall silent yet again; this time, it’s his tone that changes.

“So...how do you feel about Aaden and the ‘lots of girls’ comment Swoop made,” he asks.

“It’s whatever, really.”

“C’mon, Pry. It’s me,” he says.

“Look, if Aaden wants a harem, then fine. He can have a million girls. I don’t care,” I reply.

“Wow, so angels lie too huh? Cool. I’m gonna write that down.”

“Very funny.”

“No, I mean it. I’m keeping a record of our adventures, like a true sidekick,” he informs me.

So my bitterness and jealousy will be on record; oh joy...

I hear a knock on my door. My dad asks if he can come in.

“Randy, I gotta go. Just please stay inside and don’t—”

“Run with scissors, or crack my head in the bathtub?” he jokes.

“Just be careful,” I reply as I hang up.

My dad enters and sits beside me on the bed.

“I lost my temper and I shouldn’t have; I’m sorry,” he says.

“Okay,” is all I can manage to say.

“You were right, we did raise you to protect humans and care what happens to them.”

“But I can’t save Randy?”

“No, because Randy’s death is part of a bigger picture. He’s going to die because he was meant to live a certain amount of years and his time is up. It’s not fair. And it hurts, but it is what it is. You don’t have to like it. Your mom and I don’t like it either. But we don’t get everything we want. No one does.”

“So that’s it, my friend dies and I have to suck it up?”

“Yes, Pryor, that’s it. But sweetheart, you’re not alone in this. It’s okay to be sad and to mourn for him. You love him.”

“You make losing people sound so easy, like it’s no big deal, Dad.”

“I think you know that’s not true. It never gets easier to lose people you love; humans or otherwise. Not a day goes by that the Guardians don’t mourn our fallen members. We grieve every day. But we have to accept it.”

What if I can’t accept it?

“You and Mom never asked me why I didn’t show up to the Atu,” I reply, distant.

“No, we never did.”

“Why?” I ask.

“I went into your room that day, after you didn’t show up, and I saw the journals of our past mission on your bed. You were reading and stopped at page eighty-seven. We knew that’s what stopped you from leading your own team. Page eighty-seven would stop many of us.”

“Does that make me weak?”

“No, Reesie. It makes you...a girl with a lot of heart.”

“I really tried to get past page eighty-seven but I couldn’t,” I confess.

“I know, but one day, you’ll get to the next page and then the next chapter,” he assures me.

“How?”

“When you’re a leader, no matter what happens you have to keep going. That is your job. You find a way to keep going.”

“What helped you do that?” I ask.

“Your mom. In the end, she was all I had...”

“And you fought for her. Randy’s all I have, Dad. And I’m sorry, but I’m going to fight for him no matter—”

“They found the Alexi birds,” my mom says as she bursts in.

“Where were they?” my dad asks.

“Completely off course,” she replies.

“But Alexis don’t get lost,” my dad reminds her.

He’s right. Alexis are immortal birds that have a perfect sense of direction.

“Marcus, I’m telling you the Alexis were found miles from where they should have been,” my mom insists.

“That doesn’t make sense,” my father says to himself.

“It gets worse,” she says.

“What do you mean?”

“All the Alexis that went missing were found—dead.”

The next few moments everything happens at once. My parents are getting calls from every member of the Guardian team, seemingly all at once.

“Hey, Jay, I heard. Emmy just told me,” my dad reports.

“Miku, I’m sure Swoop is fine. She always comes home a little past curfew,” my mom assures her.

“No, you’re right. We need to meet up and find out who’s doing this,” my dad confirms.

There’s a note of alarm in my parents’ voices. They are trying hard to conceal it as they speak to the others. They pace up and down the living room as they try to formulate a theory about the death of the immortal birds.

All of the noise and commotion wakes Sam up. He sticks his head between the bars of the railing and calls out for my mom. She goes up the stairs, picks him up in her arms, and cradles him at her side.

Meanwhile, I text the group and everyone but Swoop responds. Knowing Swoop, she’s safe but won’t reply until she feels like it. According to the others, their households are frenzied too.

“Does anyone know what’s happening?” I ask East over the phone.

“No, but all the angels on my block are taking to the air,” he says.

“If you find out anything let me know,” I reply.

“I will. And if Swoop calls, tell her to call Key, she’s worried.”

“Worried or pissed that Swoop won’t reply?” I ask.

“Both.”

I hung up my cell just as something out the window catches my eye. I go in for a closer look and a scream escapes my mouth before I can stop it. My parents run up to my room just in time to witness the unbelievable sight: one human just jumped off the roof across the street.

The human didn’t hesitate or pause in the least. He just walked off the roof and jumped to his death. We look out and a second man is about to do the same. I’m frozen in shock, but my mom places Sam in my arms, smashes through the window, and takes off into the air. My dad immediately follows her. They try to catch the second human before he hits the ground.

My mom reaches the guy just in time. I lean far enough out the window so I can get a good look and I see something even more incredulous. There is another human on a different roof a few yards away, and she too is about to jump.

I tell Sam to stay in the house, then I head out the window. Once in the air, I make my way towards the lady, who has now taken the final step before her fall.

“Hey stop, please don’t do it!” I shout.

She doesn’t even look at me. She just steps off the roof and tumbles down the side of the building. I cut though the air as fast as I can, the wind whips and whirls around me. I have never flown this fast in my life.

“Gotcha!” I say breathlessly as I snag the lady by the hood of her jacket just before she hits the pavement.

“Pry, can I play too?” Sam shouts as he takes off into the air.

“No, Sam. Go back in the house. I caught the lady so the ‘game’ is over,” I reply.

“What about the others?” he asks.

What others?

I place the lady on the ground and fly up to where Sam is hovering. That’s when I see them—there are humans on every rooftop of Manhattan. They are jumping to their deaths one by one without making so much as a sound. 

Before I can register what’s happening, a flash of bright orange light catches my eye. I turn towards the light and watch in horror as a couple standing at the gas station douse themselves with gasoline.

Oh no, please no...

Both my parents and I take off towards them but we are too late. They light a match and set themselves on fire. My dad manages to smother the flames but the humans are charred beyond recognition. We look around, and all over the city humans are dying by their own hands.

“I can’t freeze them,” my mom shouts to us.

“What the hell is going on?” my dad replies.

“We don’t know, but it’s happening all over the world.”

We turn and find the rest of the Council standing cloaked and hooded before us. Time and Fate hover several feet in the air as they address us. To be honest they always did creep me out—the robes, the deep dark voices, and the impossibly bright light emanating from them.

“Who’s doing this?” my mother asks the Council.

“I can’t make out a face,” Fate replies as he looks in his mind’s eye.

“It’s as if someone is speaking to them,” Time replies as he studies the humans around us.

My mom holds out her hands and Pulls a human off the roof. The human, still in a zombie-like state, stares out into nothing as his body is air lifted towards her.

“Who is talking to you?” Time asks, adjusting his complex voice patterns so that the human can process it. 

When the human replies his voice is soft and distant.

“All,” he says.

“What is ‘All’?” Time asks.

Then every single human around us turns and replies in unison.

“ ‘All’ is the start of the end; the darkness that will swallow any remaining light. All does not reason. All does not forgive.”

Then, offering no more explanation, the remaining group of humans leap silently to their deaths. Finally after several attempts, the Council is able to freeze humanity. The humans are frozen mid-fall.

“I don’t understand; who is this ‘All’ being?” I ask

“He’s the new evil,” Fate announces as his eyes glaze over with a milky white haze.

I’ve heard about Fate getting flashes but I have never seen it in person.

“What does he want?” my dad shouts angrily.

“You know what he wants; he wants to meet her,” Fate says, looking at me.

What?

My parents look over at me and concern fills their faces. I’ve never seen them so terrified in my life. My dad quickly comes towards me and places me protectively behind him.

“He will never see her,” he vows.

“Marcus, you were told about this before. You knew this new evil was coming,” Fate says.

“He is causing this havoc all around the world because he doesn’t know where she is. Once he does, he’s coming for her. He will kill the other Norus certainly, but his obsession is with Pryor,” Time replies.

“Me?” I ask, dumbfounded.

“You didn’t tell her?” Fate shouts at my parents.

“We warned you to tell your children—” Time begins.

“Marcus and I talked it over and we decided against telling the kids before it was absolutely necessary,” my mother informs them.

“The new evil is not like the others before him. He is far more powerful and you know how he got that way, Marcus,” Time scolds.

“Please, Dad, tell me what’s going on. Why is this new evil different than the evil before?” I beg.

My parents exchange a look of concern and my mom signals for my dad to address me. My dad looks at the floor and rubs the back of his neck as if he’s in pain or soon will be. Whatever they are about to tell me is causing them great stress and hesitation.

“We have wanted to tell you since we first found out, but...”

“Dad, c’mon, just tell me. Who is this new evil?”

“His name is Malakaro; he’s your brother.”