The words echo inside my skull on an endless loop, yet I can’t bring myself to accept them.

“That’s not possible,” I argue.

“Yeah, it was a shock for me too,” the demon confesses.

“Uncle Rage, Aaden would never do that.”

“Yeah, well he did.”

“No, I don’t believe it. He wasn’t that kind of guy,” I plead.

“He changed; you of all people know that.”

“Just because he started acting aloof doesn’t mean—”

“It wasn’t just that. Aaden started to pull away from your group. He pulled away from me too. He got moody and sullen. He became...introverted,” Rage says.

“Just because he turned into a loner doesn’t mean that he would commit murder. That wasn’t who he was. There has to be some other explanation. What did Aaden say when you asked him?”

“He was in Bliss for a whole year and he refused to see me.”

“What did he do when he got out of prison?” I ask.

“He made it clear he wanted nothing to do with me or the Angel world. It’s not just you, Pryor. My son hates everyone.”

“Why? What happened?”

“The older he got, the more he learned about his mother’s death. He started to blame me because I couldn’t save her. It was just a teen rebellion thing. I thought it would blow over,” he says, sounding pained.

“Well what happened the night of the murders?” I ask.

“I wasn’t there. All I know is that a few Paras flying by heard a crowd of humans screaming and running away. They landed near the commotion, in front of some dive bar, and found Aaden standing over five dead humans. When they asked what happened, Aaden confessed. He said the men hustled him all night, and when he was trying to leave, they came after him. And he killed them.”

If Aaden had been human, he could have made a case for self-defense. But the fact of the matter is humans with an armload of weapons can hardly hurt an angel, let alone cause serious injury. So, if Aaden did kill the humans, it wasn’t out of fear for his life but out of pure desire.

Could Aaden really have done that? 

Suddenly there are images of Aaden attacking the humans in my mind. I can “see” their blood splatter on the sidewalk as they crumble to the ground, lifeless.  I feel light-headed and weak. It takes more energy than it should to remain standing.

“Pryor, are you okay?” Uncle Rage asks.

“No, I’m not,” I admit, shaking my head.

“Here, sit down,” he says, helping me sit on the steps.

I hang my head low and look down at my feet. I wait for the spinning in my head to stop. This takes a few moments.

“As I said before, this isn’t about you, Pryor. I failed Aaden. I was supposed to keep him from his evil side and I guess I fucked that up,” he says.

I don’t reply. I just continue to look down.

“Your mom is always on me about not cursing. Sorry, but sometimes there’s no other word that can fit better than ‘fuck,’ as in I fucked up my only son’s life,” Rage adds.

“Where is he?” I ask.

“I don’t know, but he’s under watch by the Paras.”

“Are they watching him to protect him from the new evil or because the Paras are afraid Aaden’s a full-on demon?”

“Both.”

All I can do is nod. I’m worn out. It’s like I’ve been flying all day and just need a place to land; a safe place to land...

“I don’t know how to...talk and junk. I can’t make you feel better. Your parents are good at that. You should talk to them.”

“All they do is lie.”

“They agonized over whether to tell you kids about your brother.”

“They made the wrong decision.”

“Maybe, but it’s done; suck it up and deal.”

“Is that the advice you gave Aaden?” I snap.

His face is clouded over. I thought he’d be mad at me but the demon isn’t angry; he’s hurting. He blames himself for what’s happened with his son.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that,” I tell him.

“Its fine,” he lies.

“How was Malakaro able to stop the Council from freezing the humans?” I ask, attempting to change the subject.

“He’s stronger than they thought. He’s stronger than we all thought. There’s never been an evil with both the power of darkness and light. The birth of Malakaro could signal the end of well...everything.”

“So I hear...” I quip.

“I guess I should get back home. Thank you for telling me about Aaden.”

“Why? I just added to the ‘suck pile,’” he says.

“Yeah, but you gave me something good too.”

“What?”

“You gave me something I haven’t had all day: certainty. I don’t care what you or anyone else says: I’m certain Aaden didn’t do what you think he did. And until I hear it from him, I will hold on to that.”

“You really are very much like your mom.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“Mostly...

“We need to get going, I have to meet the others in the light,” he says.

“I thought they never let you up there,” I reply.

“No, they never have before. It’s serious enough that the Council is willing to have me come to the light. Just about every angel of influence is up there right now.”

“That means we’re in real trouble,” I conclude.

“Yeah. But the Guardians and I will fix it. We’ve battled evil before and we’ll do it again. No matter what happens, we will protect you guys.”

“Aren’t we supposed to be doing that?” I ask.

“You will when your powers get to their full strength. Right now, none of you is strong enough to take on Malakaro. It would be stupid to try.”

I’m about to answer him when I get an emergency text from Swoop.

“I have to go,” I inform him as I start to take off.

“What’s wrong?”

“Don’t know yet; but Uncle Rage, don’t worry, Aaden didn’t do what they said. I’m sure of it...”

When I get to the warehouse I find everyone waiting for me, including Randy. In addition there’s a male angel about our age, whom I have never seen before. He wears jeans and a grey sweatshirt. He jams his hands inside the pockets; he darts his eyes back and forth.

“What’s going on? Where is Sam and who is this guy?” I ask. 

“Sam is with the sitter. And this guy, well, Swoop thought it would be better to hang out with him than to return our calls,” Key says.

“Really, Key? You can’t drop the attitude even with everything going on?” Swoop snaps.

“No, I can’t. You are so damn selfish. We spent hours looking for you,” the older twin replies.

“Well you found me, so chill the hell out,” Swoop replies.

“We thought something happened to you. Why didn’t you text us back?” Key pushes.

“I’m not a child. So how about you back off?”

“Our parents were worried about you.”

“They were so worried they went to a meeting?” Swoop challenges.

“They knew they could count on me to find your spoiled ass,” Key replies.

“I said I was sorry. I didn’t hear my phone, okay?” Swoop barks in return.

“No, it’s not okay. Your sister was worried sick about you. When the hell are you going to grow up?” Bex asks.

“If she spent all night with you and she was thinking about me, I think you have bigger problems,” Swoop retorts.

“Watch how you talk to me,” Bex warns her.

“Yeah, and what are you gonna do about it, Para?” Swoop pushes.

“Don’t you talk to him like that!” Key scolds.

Soon they all start talking at once.

“EVRYONE SHUT THE HELL UP!”

All eyes turn to me. I survey the room and try my best to remain calm.

“I can’t tell you how screwed up my day has been,” I tell them.

“We heard about your ...new brother. Sorry, Pry. How do you even deal with that?” East asks carefully.

“No idea, but I just found out some really messed up stuff going on with Aaden. I mean, seriously, you won’t believe what they think he did.”

“Oh, the prison thing?” East says casually.

“What? You guys knew about that?” I ask, shocked.

“You know it’s nearly impossible to keep things a secret in the Angel world,” East reminds me.

“Why didn’t you guys tell me?”

“Why should we?” Bex retorts.

“Bex, I had a right to know what was going on.”

“You don’t have a right to anything,” he shouts.

“Bex, honey, please—” Key begins.

“No, Pryor left us. You walked out on us. No call, no text, nothing! Then she comes out of the blue and wants us to save some guy we don’t even know.”

“I’m sorry, Bex, I thought we could save Randy just because he needed saving. I didn’t know he had to be a friend of yours. Silly me, I thought saving humans is something we do.”

“There is no ‘we.’ You made sure of that when you walked away and never looked back.”

“Yes, I know. I messed up your destiny. If you are so anxious to be in battle all the time, then you need to join the Omari. Spend your days hunting and killing angels that have broken the laws.”

“They wanted me and I turned them down because I thought I was already part of a team. I should have known better than to count on you,” Bex counters.

“Seriously, what the hell is your issue with me? Everyone knows what I did. But you are holding on to it like a dog with a damn bone. Just bury that shit already.”

“Whatever, I’m outta here,” Bex says, shaking his head angrily.

He makes his way towards the exit. Swoop yells out to him. Normally Bex would not even slow down but the words that come out of her mouth make him stop dead in his tracks.

“Bex, this is Donavan. His father is Keeper of the Pathway. Malakaro has him.”

Bex turns around to face us. Randy watches as the entire demeanor of the room changes. We are all on high alert. The entire warehouse is coated with dread and doom.

“Um...guys, what’s the Pathway?” Randy asks.

“It’s ...um...” I can’t finish the sentence.

It’s as if saying it out loud will make things even worse. But I know Randy is lost and I need to snap out of it.

“The Pathway is the only way in and out of the light. Evil destroyed it a long time ago. It was rebuilt. And now for added protection, its location changes hourly,” I tell him.

“My dad maintains it. He makes sure it runs smoothly and on schedule. But most of all he makes sure to guard it against evil by ensuring that it continuously moves. But for the past few hours, the Pathway has stayed in the same place,” Donavan informs us.

“If evil found the Pathway, they could already be in the light,” Swoop says.

“And that’s bad, right?” Randy asks.

“Yes, Randy. Demon. Pathway. Bad,” East says. 

“What makes you think Malakaro has him?” I ask Donavan.

“My dad got the same look on his face that the humans did before they jumped off the rooftops. He got on a Port and I haven’t seen him since. I called Swoop because we usually hook up to like...you know,” he replies.

“Yeah we know. But why are you just now telling us?” Key says.

“I’ve been looking for help, but everyone is in the light, at the meeting,” he reminds us.

“Oh no,” I reply, mostly to myself.

“What is it?” Bex asks.

“Nearly everyone is in the light; that’s why he did this. Malakaro threw the humans off the roof not as an intro but as incentive to have the angels gather. That way when he attacks there will be the maximum number of angels there to kill.”

“We gotta get to them,” East says as he jumps on his Port.

“Do you know where the Pathway is now?” I ask the Keeper’s son.

“Yeah, my dad tells me where it will be, as a backup. It’s in Bangkok. It has been for the past few hours.”

“Good, let’s go.”

We land in a small town just outside of Bangkok called Amphawa, where the many sights and sounds of the floating market greet us. I’ve been to this part of Asia before with my mom. She loved showing me all the human world has to offer. This is actually one of my favorite places. When I was here, I fell in love with the city’s main attraction: the river.

There are merchants sitting inside the canoes along the banks. They sell everything from fresh seafood to fried bananas. I love their large brimmed hats and their makeshift money exchange system. They place the food in small bags, tie it to the end of a stick, and extend it out to the customers waiting on land. The customer gets the food and places the money into the tin buckets, also tied to the end of a stick.

The homes along the riverbank range from well built, three-story units with Asian-style roofs, to dilapidated one-room shacks. The women hang their laundry on modest but sturdy clotheslines, while tending to their toddlers and seeing to daily chores.

My mom and I would watch as the merchants rowed their canoes over to homemakers and offered up the catch of the day with a side of local gossip. Life among the floating market is simple, peaceful, and free of worry. 

But I’m not here to visit like last time. So we don’t stop and admire or shop like I know the twins would have loved to do. Instead we follow the Keeper’s son down a dark, narrow alley spaced between two run-down homes along the river.

The fear that we might be too late forces us to move swiftly. So much so, Randy gets left behind once or twice. I debated taking him along, but he refused to stay behind and we simply didn’t have time to argue with him.

Finally we get to a field just off the main street. Donavan points to the small beam of light just ahead. But he didn’t need to do that. We knew we were in the right place because of the hordes of demons standing at the base of the cylinder-shaped Pathway.

We hide behind a tree and scan the area.

“What are they doing?” East asks.

“Who cares, let’s go after them,” Swoops says.

“We can’t just run in there. There’s hundreds of them and six of us,” Key says.

“Um...seven. I’m here too. You know, if you...need me,” Randy says, smiling bravely at her.

“Yeah, that’s not gonna get annoying,” East quips.

“What is that?” I ask Donavan as I move in for a closer look.

The demons place an object on the base of the Pathway. It is a football-sized glass tube with a red and black liquid inside it. 

“It’s a bomb called Gova. I’ve seen something like it before. Once the red liquid touches the black, it goes off and shreds anything in sight with a soul,” Bex says.

“They’re going to activate it and send it up into the Pathway,” Key concludes.

“Once the Pathway lights up, it means it’s about to transport something into the light. If that happens, we’ll only have seconds to stop it,” Bex tells us.

“They can’t blow anything up unless my dad agrees to it; he’s the Keeper. And anything that goes up or down the Pathway does so with his permission. He would never agree to anything like that,” Donavan says.

“I don’t think they gave him a choice,” East says, signaling to the still figure on the ground a few yards away.

“Dad!” Donavan screams and goes out to help his father.

“Donavan, no!” Swoop yells.

But she’s too late; our position is blown. The hordes of demons turn their attention towards us. The Powerballs descend upon us with full force. 

I take my bracelet off and throw it at Randy. He’s surprised when a bubble-like prison springs out from it and encases him. It’s called a Holder and I place Randy inside it to prevent him from being attacked. But it also prevents him from helping us in any way. That really upsets him. Yet, I don’t have time to explain anything to my friend. I take to the air with the group.

“Whatever happens do not let them get the Gova inside the chute,” I order.

Swoop whizzes by with inhuman speed and kills half a dozen demons. She snaps their necks in two and they fall to the earth below. A pair of demons, seeing this, launches dark smoke from the palms of their hands. The smoke forms four ghastly serpent-like shadow creatures that lunge towards her.

“Swoop, look out!” Bex shouts.

Swoop ducks just in time to get out of the way of the massive Powerball Bex had thrown. Thankfully it missed her and hit the serpents; they are killed on impact.

“Cutting it close, huh?” Swoop says.

“Who says I was aiming for them?” Bex jokes.

“Hey, a little help here?” East shouts as a slew of demons chase him with lightning.

Bex tackles them, and along with Swoop’s help, they subdue them. Bex turns his attention towards his girlfriend only to find that she does not need any help. Key turns almost two dozen demons into bloody “works of art.”

I raise my hand and Pull as many as I can. They are dying fast but lots more are coming towards me. East takes on the new wave of demons.  He uses his force field to surround them and drain them of their energy. The demons kneel down to the ground, too weak to remain standing.

I tell the group to cover me as I head for the demons near the base of the Pathway. They hurriedly try to set up more Gova. One of the demons tells the other that they are running out of time.

“We’re supposed to send three up there,” the demon reminds his partner.

“There’s no time. Two is fine,” the other demon replies.

They agree, but that’s the last thing they do on earth because I Pull the life force from them. However, they already placed the bomb at the center of the Pathway.

“The Pathway is glowing, it’s taking the bomb into the light!” Bex yells.

I look around for a way to stop the Pathway from lifting the bomb. But there’s no way. The bomb is lifted several feet in the air. It begins its ascent. The entire angel race will perish, including all our parents.

Without thinking, I scan for the other two bombs; I find them not too far from where the dead demons lay. I race towards them and grab hold of them desperately. I shake them and watch as they fuse together. The group calls out and asks what the hell I’m doing. I have just armed two massive weapons.

“Bex, Key, when I give the signal, aim all your power at the Pathway. Then everyone take cover,” I shout at them.

I hurl the bombs at the Pathway itself and give them the signal. The impact of both the Norus’ powers and the Gova causes a nuclear-sized explosion to erupt. It chases after us like an angry tidal wave. We run for our lives, literally.

The roar of the explosion, right behind us, tells us we won’t be able to get enough distance before it catches up with us. The group and I exchange a look of pure fear and terror. Without needing to communicate, we all know the only course of action: duck under anything we can find.

The only thing around us is a run-down house with a series of tattered canoes attached to it. The wave of fire and pressure that has been ruthlessly pursuing us is now seconds away from landing on top of us and killing us all.

I leap into one of the canoes, turn it over so that it is shielding me, and I brace myself. The rest of the group follows my lead. Three seconds later, just as we take cover, the wave hits on top of us and lets out an earth-shattering roar as it engulfs everything around it. The explosion rings out to all of Thailand.

The floating market is at peace no more...

We crawl out from under the rubble and debris. There are small fires blazing around the homes, plants, and canoes. All around us the humans are running for their lives, confused and fearing more terror is yet to come.

I am weak with relief when I see that everyone in the group is relatively okay. The Holder that was protecting Randy held up, although it did send him flying several feet in the air. I pick up my Holder; it turns back into a bracelet. Randy is set free.

“Randy, are you okay?” Key asks.

“How. Awesome. Was. That?” he replies, wide-eyed.

“Yup, the human is just fine,” East says.

“I can’t believe it! That was such a rush! I LOVE THIS!!!!” Randy says, too excited to stand still.

“Randy, you realize you were just thrown several thousand feet in the air by a raging inferno, right?” East asks him.

“A thousand feet huh? Wow, that’s pretty...high. I don’t know if—” Randy faints immediately.

It takes about fifteen minutes for Randy to wake up. When he does, he finds the group and I looking down at him.

“What happened?” he asks.

“You fainted,” Bex says.

“Oh. Was it a manly kind of faint? You know, the kind the hero does after he’s overcome overwhelming odds?” Randy asks, filled with hope as he looks towards Key.

“Yes, it’s the kind of fainting heroes do—after they discover the pretty dress for the ball they bought has a rip in it,” East says.

“Very funny. Anyway, I’m better now, so please help me up,” he says.

I give him a hand and he stands on his own, although he looks pale and not quite his natural color. 

“What you did was so cool, Pry. You knew you couldn’t stop the bomb so you destroyed the path where it was headed; genius,” Randy gushes.

The whole team avoids eye contact with me. Randy looks around at them, confused.

“What is it? Why aren’t you guys happy? We just stopped the demons from going to the light,” Randy says.

“Yes, we did. But I closed the Pathway,” I reply softly.

“So?”

“So, no demons can enter, but no angel can exit.”

“I don’t get it,” Randy admits.

“What Pryor wants to say is that the angels who could protect us, like our parents and the Council, are stuck in the light with no way to come back,” Swoop replies.

“Wait. Pryor, you mean...?”

“Yes, Randy; we are alone.”