Chapter 1

1

“Never thought I’d see the day when someone like you would be slumming it with the likes of me.”

Galen Lykaios halted in his tracks and turned around. He didn’t know the owner of that particular mocking tone of voice, but he certainly recognized what the man was.

“You’re one of the grim reapers.”

The grim reaper bowed at Galen while sneering at him at the same time. “Odon at your service, Your Majesty.”

Galen suppressed the temptation to get into a fight with Odon. Not that he was frightened of Odon. After all, they were both angels. While Odon was the angel of death who stayed in the underworld for the most part, Galen was the angel of love, better known as a cupid, who had to live on the mortal plane because he was tasked with uniting two or more souls. He wasn’t provided with a choice as to where he wanted to reside, though. Heaven would never welcome someone like him. All of the occupants in hell hated the ones in heaven, and the animosity, for some unfathomable reason, bled over onto him even though he had never stepped one foot into anywhere up there.

“Are you here to pick up a soul?” Galen inquired while pointing at the restaurant in front of them.

“No. I’m here on a holiday. Hell is getting too warm this time of the year.”

Odon’s facial expression was neutral, but there was no mistaking the sarcasm in the grim reaper’s tone of voice. Moreover, Galen knew hell was always burning hot anytime of the year. He scoffed at Odon in response.

“Whatever.”

After that, Galen ignored Odon, and he decided he should get as far away from the grim reaper as possible before he lost his temper. He was just about to make his escape when Odon cleared his throat loudly. Galen stopped and faced Odon once again, waiting expectantly for the grim reaper’s next snide remark.

“More than one soul.”

Galen immediately gaped at Odon. He wasn’t sure if he was more astonished by the fact that Odon was willing to share that particular information with him, or by the impending reality that many people were about to die soon enough. However, that wasn’t important. His angelic magic might not include the ability to predict the future, but he didn’t need it. Odon’s answer to his earlier question was clear enough. That was the moment Galen noticed all of the other angels of death that surrounded him. All of them, including Odon, were dressed in white from head to toe. Even the feathers on their wings were pure white everywhere. Galen stared at the restaurant for a second or two before he turned toward Odon.

“No survivor?”

Odon shook his head as he gestured at the buildings on both sides of the restaurant before glancing at some of the vehicles that were stuck on the road because of the traffic jam. He also darted his eyes toward some of the pedestrians who were close enough to the restaurant.

“They have to die,” Odon replied.

Galen was quiet for a short moment because he didn’t quite know how he was supposed to respond to that announcement. He had been a cupid for nearly four thousand and six hundred years now, and he had witnessed many deaths over the same time period. However, it didn’t make it any easier each and every time he happened to encounter such an event, especially when it occurred in a sudden and violent manner. Galen briefly wondered how the grim reapers could bear the pain and heartache of witnessing death after death over the years, and he clenched his fists as he attempted to ignore the terror that coursed through his entire being when he noticed some of the children inside the vehicles or running around in close proximity to the restaurant.

“Including the children?”

Odon nodded. “All of them.”

“Why—”

“Everything is written in the book of fate, and nobody has the right to question anything that is meant to be,” Odon interrupted with a shrug, and in the next instant, all of the grim reapers began to glow. “It’s time.”

Galen knew what that meant. He shut his eyes a second before he heard the blast. He could feel the debris, glass shards, fire, and many other things slamming against the protective cocoon of his angelic magic. He heard the screams. He could sense the excruciating agony that sliced through the victims’ souls. He knew the moment those people died because he was able to detect when their souls departed from their bodies. However, there was nothing he, or anyone else for that matter, could do to help any of them. He was a cupid. There was only one specific reason why he existed. Everything else was none of his business.