“Everything dies, sooner or later, we just got it over with a bit earlier than most.”

“All well and good, but you still aren’t in the book.” The angel glared over the top if the page at the group. “And if you aren’t in the book, you aren’t in the book.”

“And that means..?”

“It means you don’t get in,” the Angel sniffed. “Next!”

“Now wait a minute–”

“I said ‘next’.”

“But what–”

“I said ‘next’.”

They glared at each other for a moment and then Tony grudgingly led his group away from the gate.

“So where do we go now?” Michelle drew misty circles in the cloud-like ground with the toe of her sneaker.

“Nowhere, I guess.” He shrugged when Todd gave him a questioning look. “Well, we can’t go in, and I don’t see any other doors.” He gestured at the blank greyness of the landscape.

“So we’re stuck.”

“It all depends on your definition of stuck.” The group turned to face the newcomer, unconsciously shifting so that Tony stood between them and the angel. “I’ve got a bit of a bargain for you…”