“Are you going to stop me, archangel? Do I need to stay here and grieve while I wait patiently for my summons to the Sanctum? And in the meantime, do I need to have my throat cut by the psycho who stole the body of the best Guard you have? Tell me,” I shrieked. “What. Do. I. Need?”

I didn’t wait for him to reply. I didn’t care what his answer was. I was ready to take the biggest gamble I ever had, because I only cared about one thing. One thought. One person. Beyond reason, beyond duty.

Beyond my fear of dying again.

I took a quick backward step and threw myself off the cliff.

Tumbling, falling, I only had time to mark the glitter of moonlight on water, the soft lap of waves I could finally hear, because the wailing in my head had gone silent the moment I accepted what I had to do.

I was going to find my way to the Mazikin realm.

And I was going to get Malachi out.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

SO MANY PEOPLE HAD a hand in making this book what it is: the Amazon Children’s Publishing team, especially Margery Cuyler, Tim Ditlow, Deborah Bass, Jenny Parnow, and, of course, Courtney Miller, my amazing editor, who has shepherded it through the process, advocating for it every step of the way. My developmental editor, Leslie Miller, whose positivity, patience, and understanding of the story and characters made the revision process a true pleasure. I would like to thank my copyeditors, Jennifer Williams and Carrie Wicks, and my proofreader, Ruth Strother, for seriously excellent nitpicking and detail work. Thank you to Tony Sahara, for designing a cover that perfectly captured the emotional intensity in the story.

I want to thank the team at New Leaf Literary—most notably Joanna Volpe, Danielle Barthel, Jaida Temperly, and Pouya Shahbazian—for supporting both this series and my career in general. Most importantly, I want to thank Kathleen Ortiz, my agent, for managing all details big and small, for understanding the intersection between intellect and emotion, for keeping things in perspective, and for talking me off the ledge whenever necessary.

My intrepid beta readers: Justine Dell, Jaime Lawrence, Leah Block, and Stina Lindenblatt, thank you a thousand times for both criticism and encouragement. My dear friends, Jennifer R., Lydia Kang, and Brigid Kemmerer, for listening—my day is made every time I see your names in my inbox. My patient and understanding boss, Paul Block, for making it possible to balance two worlds, and my incredible colleagues: Liz Cantor, Catherine Allen, Kim Bennett, Heather Drever, Anne-Marie Bora, Yerissa Mago, and the entire CCBS staff, for understanding the weirdness of my double life, for being excellent, and making my “day” job easy. And Petra (Safari Poet), for reaching out from across the ocean to support suicide prevention, a cause I hold dear.