Echo (The Halo Series Book 2)

by Melody Robinette

  Echo

  Melody Robinette

  Copyright 2017 by Melody Robinette

  All rights reserved.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This story is a work of fiction. Names characters, places and incidents either are the product of my imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Cover illustration and jacket design by Natasha Snow

  Editing by Kressa Melander

  Available in ebook and paperback

  http://www.melodyrobinette.com

  For the AWESOME FOURSOME. (Minus myself) Vaun. Jesse. Kristi.

  My people.

  Contents

  1. One

  2. Two

  3. Three

  4. Four

  5. Five

  6. Six

  7. Seven

  8. Eight

  9. Nine

  10. Ten

  11. Eleven

  12. Twelve

  13. Thirteen

  14. Fourteen

  15. Fifteen

  16. Sixteen

  17. Seventeen

  18. Eighteen

  19. Nineteen

  20. Twenty

  21. Twenty-One

  22. Twenty-Two

  23. Twenty-Three

  24. Twenty-Four

  25. Twenty-Five

  26. Twenty-Six

  27. Twenty-Seven

  28. Twenty-Eight

  29. Twenty-Nine

  30. Thirty

  31. Thirty-One

  32. Thirty-Two

  33. Thirty-Three

  34. Thirty-Four

  35. Thirty-Five

  36. Thirty-Six

  37. Thirty-Seven

  38. Thirty-Eight

  39. Thirty-Nine

  40. Forty

  41. Forty-One

  42. Forty-Two

  43. Forty-Three

  44. Forty-Four

  45. Forty-Five

  46. Forty-Six

  47. Forty-Seven

  48. Forty-Eight

  49. Forty-Nine

  50. Fifty

  51. Fifty-One

  52. Fifty-Two

  53. STELLAR

  More from Melody Robinette

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  About the Author

  One

  AURORA

  There wasn’t a wooden swing-set on Arx Isle, but there was a tree with a low-hanging branch standing on a high hill overlooking the island.

  So, for the past two months, this had been Aurora’s new place of solitude. It was difficult for her to believe two months here had only been minutes in the real world. She didn’t feel like time was moving more slowly. In fact, it felt like it was flashing by like a high-speed train she’d just missed boarding.

  She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was a Halo—a half-angel—because she sure as hell didn’t feel angelic. But, as Samuel had proved to her, angels didn’t always act as they should. The day the demon portals were opened on Etheria still ran through Aurora’s mind like a slideshow of pictures she was being forced to watch when all she wanted to do was run away.

  But they were always there.

  Some were unbearable, like flashes of dead Halos and poisonous demons dripping with black blood. Others weren’t so bad at all, like the kiss she’d shared with Gray—a kiss so powerful, the demons couldn’t bear to remain on the ship with them. A superpower kiss.

  Aurora and Gray were Stellars, meaning the stars known as Celestials which housed a piece of their souls, had crashed into one another—ultimately fusing until they’d become one. So, yeah, they were soul mates. Literal soul mates. Something Aurora struggled with on a daily basis.

  Once they had left the magical oblivion known as Etheria, Aurora felt like she’d been thrown back into reality—even though Arx Isle was nothing like reality. It was still solid ground. And Aurora couldn’t walk on solid ground when she allowed herself to be blinded by her feelings for Gray.

  So, what did she do? Stifled them, of course.

  Gray seemed unsurprised by her sudden avoidance of him during daily Halo training and angel lessons. She had to hand it to him; his ego was impressively resilient.

  Training was becoming increasingly easier, and Aurora grew more confident by the day. Because Samuel was no longer on their side—or no longer pretending to be—Aurora, Gray, Chord, Sev, and Brielle were assigned a new Power leader. Her name was Verity and, if she were human, she’d be considered either a hippie or a hipster, depending on which generation you were from. Strawberry blonde hair fell to her waist with small strings of braids hiding in her loose curls. Verity was also remarkably tall. Even lofty Brielle was dwarfed by Verity.

  Due to the deadly battle on Etheria, two girls named Luna and Logan had also been added to their group because the rest of their group had perished. Luna and Logan happened to be twins, but they couldn’t look more unlike one another. Logan’s scraggly mane was jet-black with dark blue streaks running throughout, and she wore tinted contacts that made her eyes look aquamarine. The other twin, Luna, had ash blonde hair and eyes of steely gray, like storm clouds before a heavy rain.

  Their personalities matched their appearances. Logan was edgy, sarcastic, and blunt—on the verge of being downright rude at times—and Luna was quiet, sweet and calm. Aurora got along with them alright, though Logan had come close to being backhanded a couple of times.

  After being surrounded by people all day, Aurora relished her time alone in the branch of the tree. She’d taken to bringing a journal with her, writing and sketching things she couldn’t get out of her mind. A lot of her drawings were of Gray, though she’d never admit this or let him see. Others were of angel wings and faceless demons with protruding horns.

  On this particular day, she chose to sketch the view before her, as she was uncertain how long she’d be there or if she’d ever come back. Her cellphone—dead and useless now—lay somewhere in her suitcase, so she had no way to photograph the place, and mental pictures always fade. She wasn’t as good of an artist as Chord was, but she could draw more than stick figures, at least.

  Suddenly a twig snapped behind her.

  Aurora didn’t even have to look to see who was interrupting her much needed alone time.

  “Hello, Grayson,” she said dully.

  “Good to see you too, Rora.”

  She shuddered at the nickname he knew she hated and closed her journal to look over at him. Two months’ time together hadn’t gotten rid of the butterflies that filled her stomach each time she laid eyes on his head full of dark, tousled curls, his full lips that turned up into a crooked smile, or his kaleidoscope eyes of green, gold, and light brown. He wore his Halo armor, a leather-like uniform of blood red and ebony, laced with demon kryptonite. AKA: salt.

  “Have you been training?” she asked him. “It’s a Sunday.”

  He shrugged. “I’m a workaholic, I guess. And I’m not a creative introvert like you, so I have no other ways to entertain myself. What’re you drawing today?”

  He climbed the rest of the way up the hill until he was level with the branch upon which Aurora was sitting. “Just the island. It’s not very good.”

  Taking the journal from her hands, Gray opened it to the page she’d bookmarked with her charcoal pencil. His fingertips brushed against her hand and a shocking current coursed through her veins. Breathe, Aurora reminded herself sternly.

  “I t
hink it’s really good,” Gray said, examining the half-finished drawing. “You’re too hard on yourself.”

  “Well, we both already knew that.”

  “True. Are you planning on doing this all day?”

  “I try not to plan anything on Sundays.” Aurora took the journal from Gray before he was tempted to flip through the rest of it and see his own eyes peeking up at him from the pages. “Day of rest, remember?”

  “Ah.” Gray nodded. “So, I suppose that means you don’t want to ride the rapids with the rest of us?”

  “In that case, screw relaxation.” Aurora immediately jumped down from the tree branch. “I’m always down for riding the rapids.”

  Gray chuckled. “I figured as much.”

  “Let me just go change into my Halo armor,” Aurora said. “Last time I was thrown up against a rock, and my bathing suit and t-shirt were not even kind of enough padding.”

  “I’ll go tell the others you’re coming.”

  Aurora nodded when what she wanted to say—what her body wanted her to say—was: No, why don’t you just come with me. Come into my room. Take off my clothes. Make me feel like you did the day we saved Etheria.

  But she didn’t say this, of course. That would be far too honest. Far too dangerous. That would be going far too far.

  Two

  GRAY

  Every time Aurora rushed away from him without acknowledging their massively complicated—yet mutual—infatuation, another little piece was chipped off of the growing hole now residing within Gray's core. Because that day on Etheria when they had both given in for just a moment, he’d felt completely full. Everything bad that had ever happened to him just sort of fell away, becoming temporarily insignificant.

  Now, as he watched her trample down the path to town, he wondered what their world would be like if Aurora's past hadn't been so dark. Aurora had scars—deep, jagged scars that pulled and tugged and made their presence known with every passing moment. Her body had been violated against her will by a man she had trusted and maybe even loved in a sick, unhealthy way.

  Whenever Gray thought about her going through that, it made him physically ill. He wished he could take the memories away from her. All of them. But, then, would Aurora still be Aurora? She’d told him of how she’d become a different person after that. A stronger person. Gray just couldn’t ever picture Aurora as weak.

  The others were waiting for him at the dock where they’d flagged down two boats sturdy enough to conquer the rapids.

  “Is Aurora coming?” Chord called as Gray came into view.

  “Yep!” he answered. “She’s going to change into her Halo armor in case she gets thrown into another sharp rock like last time.”

  “Damn.” Logan swept her wavy, black and blue hair into a high ponytail. “I should’ve thought of that.”

  As it was, Logan was wearing a black one-piece suit with blue parachute pants, perhaps to match her hair color. Gray wasn’t sure. Fashion was lost on him.

  Luna looked uncertainly down at her delicate yellow cover-up and white shorts. “We still have time to change.”

  “Eh, you’re fine.” Chord waved a dismissive hand at the two of them. “We’re Halos. If we can’t take a couple of sharp rocks, we’re kind of screwed.”

  “Sharp rocks aren’t affected by a crux or a sword,” Sev said mildly as he flipped through the pages of an incomplete demon book he’d found in the library downtown.

  Chord pursed his lips but said nothing. Gray wasn’t exactly sure what had gone wrong between the two of them, but something clearly had.

  “Ready!” Aurora called a few minutes later, jogging towards them in her Halo armor that, in Gray’s opinion, fit her perfectly in every miserable way. “Sorry, I thought I needed extra protection this time around.”

  Logan smirked. “Let’s hope if one of us has to get thrown in, it’s you.”

  “Thanks, Lo,” Aurora said dryly.

  “Don’t mind her,” Gray heard Luna whisper to Aurora as they split into two groups, descending into the boats: Aurora, Gray, Luna, and Chord in one, and Sev, Logan, and Brielle in the other.

  “Oh, I don’t,” Aurora said.

  They pushed off from the dock and set the boat compass, directing it to the rapids to the west of the island.

  “Remind me where you guys are from?” Chord asked Luna.

  “Ketchikan.”

  “Bless you,” said Chord.

  “Ketchikan, Alaska.”

  “Oh, right. I’m sort of sad we didn’t get to visit more of Alaska. Juneau was super gorgeous, but I wanted to stop at other ports.”

  “Demon fighting and sugarclouds weren’t enough for you?” Gray teased.

  Chord winked. “Never.”

  The boat rocked as it cut smoothly through the water. Gray looked at the silver-plated sidewalks lining the saltwater river running through town. Handfuls of Halos could be seen strolling together, venturing into various buildings, laughing, exploring. Aside from the daily angel studies and Halo training, they could almost pretend they were on some sort of international college vacation.

  Looking over at Aurora’s serene face as she stared ahead at the stony mountains surrounded by a thin layer of clouds in the distance, he wondered what it would be like to backpack across Europe or somewhere with her. Probably terrible. She would hate everything he suggested and likely end up parting with him permanently to venture off on her own where she wouldn’t have to deal with his stupidity.

  Aurora glanced obliquely at him, their eyes connecting. Rather than shoot him an annoyed glare, her eyebrows turned up in a melancholy way. Gray's head fell sideways like a curious animal, wondering what would bring this on. But before he could figure it out she twisted back around.

  They neared the rapids, and the water moved more quickly. The boat rocked and swayed with each mini-wave that slapped against it. The other boat with Sev, Brielle, and Logan was in front of theirs so they could preview what was about to happen to them. When the others suddenly disappeared from view after having soared down a three foot drop, Gray, Aurora, Chord, and Luna clutched down harder onto the sides of their boat.

  Then, seconds later, they were on a roller coaster. The water was no longer a clear blue, but a foaming, raging white, shooting them forward without any consideration for the delicate beings inside the boat. The girls and Chord let out squeals of either fear or excitement, Gray couldn’t tell which.

  Looking ahead, Gray watched the other boat tilt forward over an unseen drop, followed by a chorus of shouts. He and Aurora exchanged anxious glances and, without thinking, released their hold of the seats and took each other’s hand, her left in his right.

  Chord let out a string of curses as the boat jetted forward, teeter-tottering for a fraction of a second on the edge of the precipice before it fell forward.

  Aurora’s hand clutched Gray's more tightly, and they all kept a death-grip on the side of their boat as it plummeted down. The tip of the vessel cut into the base of the waterfall, submerging them in cold saltwater for a handful of eternal seconds. Evidently, his phobia of feeling trapped included being held underwater.

  When the boat popped up, the water having mysteriously drained through the bottom, Gray took a deep, gasping breath. He tried to calm his fast-beating heart, but then Aurora looked over at him with sapphire eyes, surrounded by wet eyelashes and a calm settled over him.

  “Where are the others?” Luna said, her voice rapidly rising to a hysteric pitch.

  Looking wildly around, Gray spotted the other boat, upturned against a rock…with no one in it.

  Three

  CHORD

  Demons, Sev could annihilate. Demons, Sev could slice in two. Demons, Sev could slaughter with nothing but a flimsy sword.

  But, water, on the other hand...

  Water could quickly change him from a snarling, teeth-baring lion into a quivering, drowning lamb. Granted, the water was extremely powerful, and Chord was also being pummeled by the vicious, crashing wav
es as he dove in after Sev. Though, the rope tied around his waist may have given him a tad more security. Aurora, Luna, and Gray were already pulling a coughing Logan and Brielle out of the rushing rapids onto a flat expanse of stone.

  Sev clutched onto a sharp rock, the muscles in his back and arms rippling from the effort of holding on for his life.

  “Hold on!” Chord called to him.

  “Is it not clear that’s what I’m doing?” Sev returned with an edge of annoyance.

  Treading hard, Chord worked to reach the rock Sev was clinging to with his vice-grip, but every time he gained a few feet, he was pushed back just as far by the violent current. Summoning every last ounce of energy, Chord butterflied through the water until he was only a few feet from Sev. It was at that moment a great rushing wave swelled over the two of them, knocking Sev out of sight.

  “No!” Chord shouted, salt water flooding his mouth and nose and eyes. “Sev!”

  He dove into the crushing darkness then, grasping around, searching for some hint of an arm, a shoe, long black hair. Then, as if by a true angel miracle, Sev bobbed up only mere inches from Chord’s face. Grabbing ahold tightly, Chord struggled to pull Sev through the violent river to the rocky shore.