“We didn’t want to overwhelm you,” Priya said, looking at me like I was a frightened caged animal.

  “Right. Well, okay,” I mumbled. I wasn’t often at a loss for words but I was right now.

  “Together?” Priya wrapped her arm around me.

  I nodded and we stepped up to the door. Our names were required for entrance.

  “Priya Banks-Haldar.”

  “Lincoln Matsen.”

  The door glowed a fluorescent blue and slid open to reveal darkness. I took a breath and stepped through.

  The blackness cleared in a flash of light, and a small man waited for us on the other side.

  “This way, please.” He nodded curtly and began to lead us down a narrow hallway to another door. “Take your assigned seats and we will begin as soon as the last representative arrives.” He disappeared the way he came. The door in front of us slid open to reveal a huge lecture-style hall. Many seats were already filled. The head counsel and board of directors were seated around a stage in a semicircle at the room’s center.

  Mine and Priya’s names were in the front row. That felt intimidating.

  I swept my gaze back and forth and concluded that there were about three hundred people here of different shapes, sizes, and shades. We settled in and I noticed that Emir’s name was on the other side of Priya’s.

  The auditorium filled with noise and the nervous energy permeated the air, making me jumpy. Emir showed up about ten minutes later and the last few seats started to fill. A woman in a hijab stood up in the center of the counsel and snapped her fingers. A hush fell over the crowd as a thick feeling of magic consumed the space.

  “That’s the head of the entire counsel, Amira,” Priya whispered.

  “Thank you all for gathering swiftly and calmly.” She swept her hands out and smiled at us but she didn’t seem happy. She was concerned, irritated, and on edge.

  “As you all know, the last decade has been building up to something we could not fully know. We have been working tirelessly to establish connections back to the afterworld and the queen. We have done so, painstakingly, without much luck. The epicenter is upon us. As we speak, demons are crawling about and we are asking you to mobilize all of your task forces. It is of the utmost importance that you remain calm and competent leaders. We do not know what will happen to this realm or the afterworld, but we must protect Earth’s people, our people, at all costs,” she said.

  A silence filled the space like time had frozen, like all the air had been sucked out of the room and I could barely breathe.

  “Demons are incredibly dangerous. We will lose some our fellow comrades, but you are capable and trained warriors. We must keep our legacy alive.” Her voice grew louder and more passionate as she spoke. I felt like I was watching the end of the world play out. “We will do whatever we need to do to ensure our survival in the mortal realm,” she continued, her dark eyes scanning the crowd until they landed on me.

  I wanted to shrink in my chair.

  “Which is why the counsel, board of directors, and I have decided that the time for our deathwalker to enter the afterworld is now. Lincoln Matsen, come forward.” Priya and Emir tensed next to me.

  I knew she had called my name, but I couldn’t get my limbs to obey me as I stared at her. I had dumbly thought that I wouldn’t be called to be a hero.

  She looked at me expectantly and finally, my brain started working properly again. I pulled myself up and walked forward, taking her outstretched hand. Suddenly, I was self-conscious of the bodycon dress I was wearing that was supposed to be for my and Priya’s date. I looked back to see Priya with tears slipping down her cheeks. Emir whispered feverishly in her ear. We all thought we’d have more time.

  The air turned cold and a crack sounded through the auditorium like thunder had exploded. People screamed and gasped as two huge winged creatures landed on either side of me. The ground rumbled. I heard Priya yell my name, then there was only black smoke and the smell of electricity. Nausea rolled through me.

  I heard blades sing, chains rattle, and metal clang.

  I shrieked and threw my hands out, extending my fabrics. They coiled around my arms and expanded to ensnare the two huge winged beasts flanking me. I pulled hard and flicked my hands so the fabrics coiled around the beasts’ throats.

  “Now Lincoln, is that any way to treat your guardian angel?” Elijiah crooned as the smoke began to clear and he unfurled his wings. They expanded, with gray and black feathers opening in a halo around him.

  “Elijiah, what the fuck?” I pulled my silks back to look at him before swiveling to the other person beside me, a woman with a shaved head and light brown skin. She wore similar attire to Elijiah: black slacks, a short-sleeve black button-down, and black loafers.

  Was this some sort of angel of death uniform? I had never seen his wings before, but I wasn’t surprised that he had finally revealed his angel of death identity. I wondered why he had concealed it in the first place. Why couldn’t he have told me earlier?

  And are all angels of death as much of an asshole as he is?

  “Hate to crash the party, but things are escalating quickly. This deathwalker has been called by the queen herself.” Elijiah produced a scroll from his hand in a shimmering trick of the light.

  Amira snatched it and unfurled it, scanning the contents with a scowl. “There’s something not right about this,” she said, holding it in her palms.

  Priya stared at Elijiah intently, like she was trying to remember something but couldn’t quite place it.

  “Lincoln,” she whispered. Her chains came to life and she reached for Elijiah. “YOU!”

  He flicked his hand to bat them away. In a flash he was behind her, his hand around her throat. He snapped one of the chains and whispered something to them. They crumbled into nothing more than dust.

  Priya clawed at his hand and I lunged for the pair of them.

  What is going on?

  “Tsk, tsk, “ Elijiah reached his hand up and splayed out his palm. The whole arena froze and the woman he had come with was behind me, her arm around my shoulders and the other braced against my stomach.

  “Let her go, Elijiah!” I screamed. Priya struggled and grabbed at her own throat, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  “It’s time, my little protégé,” he said, his eyes glowing a deep blue.

  “Time? Who are you? I thought you were supposed to help me! Why didn’t you tell me you were an angel of death in the first place?!” I struggled against the woman behind me. “Goddamn it! Why don’t I know anything?!!” I swore, huffing and puffing as I tried to call my fabrics to me.

  “You’re magic won’t work, we’re emitting a dampener. All of the magic you have is weakened. Your fighting, your weaponry, your healing…,” she whispered in my ear.

  “It’s time for you to claim the throne…,” Elijiah said, releasing Priya in a heap. He walked up to me and grabbed my chin. “With me. Or else she dies. Choose Lincoln, you have five seconds to decide.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Five….”

  “Lincoln don’t do it, let him kill me,” Priya gasped out on the ground as she tried to crawl to me. Everyone else was still frozen around us, their eyes wide and frightened.

  Emir had fire in his and the counsel was full of shock and surprise.

  “Four….”

  “Elijiah, what happened to the queen?” I asked as his grip on my chin tightened.

  “Three….”

  “Goddamn it answer any of my questions!”

  He released my chin and flashed over to Priya with a sickening grin as he raised a dagger.

  “Two….”

  “If she dies she will come to the afterworld right?”

  “She will be imprisoned for all of eternity. Most likely she will turn into a demon and never know rest,” Elijiah smiled maliciously.

  “One….”

  “Fine!” I screamed. I clawed at the arm around me and she finally released me to the ground.

  I looked at Priya.

  “I can’t let your afterlife be like that,” I murmured.

  Priya pleaded with her eyes. “It’s him, Lincoln. He’s the one who murdered my team! Amaya and the others. He looks different but he feels the same, I know it. I would know this power anywhere.”

  Finally I understood, and my brain felt sluggish as things started to fit together.

  “She’s right. And soon I’ll come back to end the rest of you. But first, we must balance the power and take what I’ve been waiting twenty-five years for!”

  “What does that mean?!” I hollered.

  I looked at him, horrified, as he began to transform. His blonde hair turned black and his eyes went dark, his feathers shifting to the color of a starless night sky.

  “Time to go,” he whispered.

  Before I had time to think, the darkness of his eyes consumed me and I fell deep into the unknown.

  22

  “What is going on?” I asked groggily as I came to, blinking at the unfamiliar room.

  My head swam and I felt like I had sandpaper in my mouth. I looked down and I was in more practical clothing. My silks had been taken, and I tried to find them with my mind but I couldn’t feel my magic weapon anymore. I tried to calm my breathing. Now was not the time to panic, even though anxiety threatened to choke me and swallow me whole.

  The last hour of details slammed into me and threatened to collapse my resolve, but I held on. Elijiah was nowhere to be seen and the woman he had arrived with lounged across an armchair adjacent from the bed I lay in.

  “Good, you’re awake. Let’s go.” She hauled me up to my feet.

  I winced as her grip bit into my arm and she led me through the only door in the room to a dark hallway that looked like a deserted hotel. She marched me through the passages, her wings tucked in close, until we arrived in front of a door that looked fairly modern. She waved her hand and the door disappeared as she shoved me inside. Elijiah stood against a huge black desk with a drink in his hand, like he didn’t have a single care in the world.

  “Who are you, actually?” I snarled.

  “Sit, Lincoln,” he said, waving his hand and suddenly I was forced into a chair that had materialized from his gesture. I tried to wiggle free but it was hopeless. I aimed to scowl at him instead. He looked gleeful and smiled wolfishly.

  Oh, Jesus Christ.

  “Let me tell you a story….”

  “Is this genuinely how you’re going to reveal your evil plan? Like a cliché cartoon villain?” I sneered.

  “Hush, there’s a reason it’s used over and over again, isn’t there?” He chuckled as if the whole thing amused him greatly.

  “Sure, reveal your evil plan,” I bit out. With a flourish of his hands, like he was waving a spell, he began to tell me his story.

  “At the beginning of time there was the mortal realm and the afterworld. The afterworld was created in the image of the mother of death. The queen herself. She is an immortal. She does not need to create another to rule, because she is bound to death itself. Therefore, she has no need for a king because she is supreme. She was always meant to rule because her power keeps the souls at permanent peace and the demons damned to their cages for all eternity.”

  “I know all of this. Care to share something helpful?” I snapped at him.

  His gazed turned feral. “It’s rude to interrupt.”

  I said nothing and waited for him to continue.

  “The queen realized quickly that providing a realm for all the dead would require assistance. So she created beings from herself. She created many servants of death for many different purposes in the afterworld. The most important beings were her own personal guards, the angels of death.” He fluttered his wings as if to emphasize his power.

  “They were given immense power from her own magical reserve including wings. The wings are meant to symbolize the ability to soar through life and death as emissaries. The afterworld cannot exist without the queen in the realm, it would collapse. Which is why gatekeepers must come here. The realm would implode without her power. It would decimate the mortal realm.”

  “All common knowledge, Elijiah. Where is the interesting part of your monologue?” I drawled out.

  “Interrupt me one more time, Lincoln, and I will have your tongue cut out,” he seethed.

  I didn’t know if he would actually follow through on that promise, but I did not want to find out so I simply nodded. He continued on.

  “She made angels in her vision. Immortal, powerful, lethal to those who opposed the queen. Then, she created a lesser extension of them. Deathwalkers. She realized that gatekeepers, who were more mortal than death, would not be able to move freely between the realms. And she could not send her angels out into the mortal realm, so created the deathwalkers as liaisons in the image of her angels. Not as powerful, but a blend of the two worlds.”

  He smiled as he perched on top of the desk and drummed his fingers lightly on the wood.

  “The original deathwalker families were created from the blood of the twelve angels of death. The elite afterworld guard offered their blood, to be consumed only once, to forever remain bound to whatever family line they chose.

  However, twenty-five years ago myself and another angel, Anthonia, demanded change. We were tired of serving the queen and being servants of the mortal realm. As angels, we are far more powerful than anything on Earth. Why should our job be about helping disgustingly corrupt mortals rest? We should not have to serve them. They should answer to us.” He finished off his drink then snapped his fingers and the drink refilled again.

  What, exactly, were the limits of his powers here?

  “The queen disagreed. She said it was not our way. Anthonia battled the queen and lost.” His voice cracked.

  I looked at him aghast. This was much bigger than any of us had realized.

  “You loved her?” I whispered, understanding that his hurt and hatred was clearly fueled by more than just his own selfish desires. I snapped my mouth shut, hoping that I didn’t just sacrifice my own tongue.

  “We were supposed to be together for eternity! The queen took her life and made me watch. She erased her from this realm completely and I begged her for the remnants of Anthonia’s soul and power. Something for me to remember her by and hold on to. Her punishment was to simply be erased from everything.” His sadness erupted from him as if he could no longer contain the hurt he’d experienced. He breathed rapidly and closed his eyes, placing his fingers to his temples as if to compose himself, the cutting of my tongue completely forgotten.

  “The queen took pity on me. She said my punishment was to replace Anthonia with a mortal. A way to force me to accept that we were all working together. It was to humble me. An educational experiment, if you will. She demanded that I take this new human under my wing for twenty-five years and teach them what it meant to be a part of the afterworld. This human would then become an angel of death, a new addition to the guard.” He rose then, and started pacing around the room.

  “She wanted to disgrace Anthonia’s power remnants by soiling it with a mortal. However, the queen grew preoccupied with the state of the afterworld. Unrest was happening because of what Anthonia and I did. We had stirred up other merchants of death, demons, and corrupt souls. We showed them that it was possible to take a stand.” He threw his glass at one of the walls and it exploded into a million fragments. I winced trying not to get hit by any of the shards.

  “I used the distraction of the afterworld to my advantage. I needed to plan my revenge. I needed to place my Anthonia’s power in someone inconspicuous. Someone outside of the gatekeepers’ and deathwalkers’ society altogether. Hide it in plain sight and keep her distracted with the growing restlessness here. So I fueled it, releasing a demon here and there, convincing the queen her magic was failing, undermining her authority and whispering in the ears of her enemies.” He walked over to me then and placed his hands on the chair I was stuck in, and leaned in.

  “So I had to bury Anthonia’s power deep. Keep the magic, the sight, everything locked down. Hidden and protected. Distract the queen and hide my own project under the guise of her educational experiment.” His breath was hot on my face and I wanted to turn and look away, but I made myself stare into his depthless eyes.

  “But sometimes it was too powerful. Sometimes it flashed out and attracted parts of the afterworld that I had tried so hard to keep away. I needed you to never be a beacon until I was ready to take the necessary steps here in the afterworld.” He backed up then and returned to his place on the desk, seemingly unbothered by the glass shards he crunched through.

  “Why would you want to keep it hidden? What could you possibly have gained from secrecy?” I blurted out as my mind tried to wrap around this complex story of what had been happening since the day I was born. I had been chosen at random as an unlikely and unknowing pawn to Elijiah’s asinine game.

  “I was able to bide my time. My plan needed meticulous planning in order to create the right opportunity to get rid of the queen. You can’t simply overthrow an eternal monarchy on a whim. But I hit a small snag. An exceptionally gifted oracle was born in the gatekeeper line and had a prophecy about my plans. She asked for an audience with the queen herself, and had already disclosed her discovery to her husband, so I killed them. But their pesky children continued to meddle in the affairs of the afterworld.” He sighed loudly, rolling his eyes.

  I had read about oracles and heard about them in my gatekeeper lessons, but I didn't know of any, personally. And if this was the same demon from years ago….

  “Priya’s mom,” I whispered, suddenly realizing the string that seemed to hold all of these tragedies together.

  “Yes. Then I checked back every few years on Priya herself to see if the oracle gift had passed on to her. She seemed unaffected until she tried to engage with me once and I had to kill her companions. Too bad her damn magical chains acted on their own accord. I didn’t come with a dampener that time because I didn’t think I would need it. My own mistake that I would not be making again. She should have been dead but I wanted her to suffer for trying to go against me. I never anticipated that you, my little reincarnated angel of death, would find the woman who was so hell-bent on destroying me without really understanding what lies ahead.”