Stellar (The Halo Series Book 3)

by Melody Robinette

  “It must be hard to feel like you have allies on both sides of a battle…”

  Soren blanched and spoke in a haunted voice. “I have no allies. I’m not like anybody. I’m part Halo and part Horn. Nobody else is like that.”

  “You’re also half human," Gray said. "Like all the rest of us. Demons and angels go about things differently, yes. But they are also surrounded by either good or evil all the time. The angels live in the land of Light and the demons bow down to Darkness. Humans are the ones who must make the choice between the two because the Earth is filled with both. You chose the Light, Soren. Something within you must have known you were more good than bad. And I think it was the human side of you, not the angel side.”

  “Then why have bad things always happened to the people I care about?” Soren asked, no louder than a whisper.

  Gray recalled what Aurora had mentioned about Soren saying he’d killed his parents. The conversation had arrived at dangerous waters, so he made sure to tread carefully. “Are you talking about what happened to—”

  “My parents,” Soren interrupted. “Yes. All of them. Not just the first ones. All of them.”

  “What happened to them?”

  “They all died. The first ones...I don’t remember their names; I was too young. They died when I was three, in a car crash that I survived. The next ones--Mum and Pa--died in a house fire that I survived. Then there was Lady May, the nice old woman who fostered me. She died of a heart attack. Then Mr. and Mrs. Lang. They were both shot by a burglar. Then there was no one else…for a while. That’s why I ended up just staying in the orphanage. No one wanted to take me. They thought I was cursed. But, a few months ago, Mr. and Mrs. Waters wanted to foster me. They didn’t believe in curses...then they got turned to Beasts. And that’s when David found me.”

  Gray felt the blood drain from his face as he swallowed dryly. And he’d thought he had to deal with a lot of personal deaths in his life. Soren was on a whole other level, shrouded in a cloak of loss and mourning and guilt.

  No wonder he didn’t want to get close to Aurora. He thought he was cursed. But, more importantly, this revelation meant Soren hadn't actually killed anyone. He just thought he was the one responsible.

  Gray chose his words carefully. “Knowing Samuel… I wouldn’t be surprised if he was responsible for those deaths. He may have thought it would be easier to convince you of your Dark side after growing up like that. I lost my mom and my uncle, and it took me years to not think it was my fault. Even now, I get an overwhelming feeling of guilt thinking about how I could have helped, or at least done something more. Then, when I found out I was different from other humans—that I was a Halo—I felt even more guilt. Like, I actually may have had the power to do something to save them.”

  Soren looked over at him again with round eyes that matched Aurora’s so perfectly that Gray felt an eerie shiver run down his back.

  “I’ve always known I was different,” Soren murmured. “Than other kids, I mean. They would make fun of me at the orphanage for reading so much. And they said I talked funny.”

  “That’s because you speak like an adult. Probably because you’ve had to deal with some pretty adult things in your life.”

  Soren’s head hung at this. Gray continued. “You know, Snape was picked on in school for being different too. And, even though he did lots of bad things during his life, in the end, he chose the good side. Samuel was an angel, and he chose to fight for the Darkness. Lucifer and Caducus were angels too. It isn’t your blood that’s important, Soren. It is your choices. And nobody else can choose for you. You already chose the Light once when you saved Aurora from David. You saved her. We need heroes like that on our side.”

  Soren’s blue eyes flickered with light as he looked out at the approaching city before them.

  Gray pushed himself out of the swing into a standing position. “So? You staying here? Or are you going to choose to fight for the good side?”

  Soren’s mouth turned down in a frown of thought, his legs swinging forward and back slightly. Then they stopped…and he stood up.

  As Gray returned to Aurora’s room with Soren trailing behind him, he thought she would be pleased that he’d managed to convince her son to leave the safety of the swings and venture with them into Hiraeth. He had been wrong. He should have known that assuming anything about Aurora Coel was a mistake. Just when he thought he knew how she might react to something, she switched things up on him.

  “How the hell did you do that?” she asked as Soren left the room to pack the few clothes he’d acquired on the ship.

  Gray shrugged, feeling the tension emanating from Aurora in a way that made him stay in the doorway. “I just talked to him about Harry Potter for a little bit.”

  Holding a pair of shorts, Aurora balled her hands into fists, bunching the fabric as she clenched her jaw and pursed her lips. She shoved the unfolded shorts into her bag. “Well, that’s just awesome.”

  “I’m confused…” Gray kept his hands in his pockets, afraid what finger he might hold up if he released them. “I thought you wanted him to come with us.”

  “I do.”

  “Yet now you are apparently pissed at me.”

  “I’m not.” The tone of her voice said otherwise.

  “You’re pissed and you’re lying.”

  “I’m not lying. Or pissed. Just…go hang out with your new best friend or something.”

  Comprehension crept over him like a dark shadow. “Oh. I see. You’re jealous.”

  Aurora scoffed as she stuffed another shirt unceremoniously into her suitcase. “Don’t be ridiculous, Gray. I’m not jealous of you.”

  “Yeah, I think you are, actually.”

  She slammed the next shirt into the bag like she was dunking a basketball. “Well? He’s my son. Mine. You had no part in creating him. Why would he listen to you and not me?”

  “Maybe that’s why he listened to me. He doesn’t know how to feel about you, I don’t think. Not that there is anything wrong with you.” He held his hands up quickly at the look on her face. “But, after what happened with his dad, I think he’s confused. He just has to get to know you.”

  “Whatever.” Her lips were pursed, but she seemed slightly less upset now. She wasn’t throwing clothes anymore, which was a good sign.

  “And when he does get to know you,” he continued, taking the chance of slowly moving forward now, “he won’t be able to help but fall in love with who you are.”

  The mechanical process of picking up an item of clothes, folding it, placing it in the bag, and repeating, evidently took all of Aurora’s concentration. Gray walked to her side, taking the risk of being potentially backhanded or perhaps worse by the one person who could get away with it.

  “Aurora,” he said in a low murmur, so as not to scare her away. “Don’t try to find reasons to be mad at me. You already admitted you love me. It’s too late for all of that now.”

  The corner of her mouth twitched slightly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Yeah. You do.” He slid his arm around her waist, turning her towards him. To his surprise, she let him. “Just say ‘thank you’ and kiss me.”

  “Thank you?”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “That’s not what—”

  “And now you kiss me.”

  Aurora opened her mouth to respond, but then seemed to think better of it, shaking her head back and forth before reaching an arm around his neck and moving up on her toes.

  “You’re lucky I love you.”

  “You’re right.”

  Three

  BRIELLE

  “Lo?”

  Logan sat on the edge of her bed, staring at a spot on the wall. Brielle hovered in the doorway, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

  “The ship is docked now…”

  Still nothing. Silence had become their new way of communicating. No words. Nothing but gestures. Well, no, that wasn’t true. When
Logan wasn’t sitting in stony silence, she was fuming, yelling, angry. Brielle could tell she didn’t want to yell at her now. So that meant silence.

  “They’re letting the Power Halos off the ship. Don’t you want to—?”

  Logan swept up from the bed and grasped the handle of her suitcase. “Yeah, yeah. I heard you. I’m coming.”

  No matter how many times Brielle told herself it wasn’t personal, the way Logan spoke to her now still hurt like the sting of a thousand killer bees. Before, Logan had been an empowering presence in her life. She had been the one person who made Brielle feel like she could do anything she wanted to. A force of positivity and freethinking. Now she felt like she had to tiptoe around Logan, lest she blow up like a soda can under pressure.

  Brielle couldn’t blame her. Luna died. Logan’s twin had died. And Brielle clearly had no idea what it felt like to go from being a pair to a singleton in one day. She was an only child, so she didn’t know what the bond of having siblings brought. Maybe part of Logan’s personality had been dependent upon her sister.

  Logan moved past Brielle, keeping her now grayish-blue eyes straight ahead. Though, the color of her eyes wasn’t the only startling change in her appearance. Bruise-like half moons had appeared under her now melancholy eyes. And the blush she wore on her cheeks stood out on her bone-white skin. She still took care in styling her black and blue streaked hair and applying her winged eyeliner, but it didn’t mask the pain she was clearly feeling. In the few days since Luna’s death, Logan had already lost a few pounds, making her ribs and hip bones jut out.

  Forcing her way past Brielle, dragging her suitcase behind her, Logan stuck her head up and set her lips in a hard line. There was no getting past her wall of anger.

  Upon entering the living room, Aurora and Gray could be seen holding hands and speaking close together in whispers. Logan’s eyes landed on the pair of them, and her knuckles turned white from gripping the handle of her suitcase ever harder. “Jesus Christ. Would you two just chill out with that shit?”

  Aurora pushed away from Gray to glare at Logan. “We aren’t even doing anything, Logan. Watch who you’re talking to like that.”

  A feeling of dread sank heavily in Brielle’s stomach as burning anger flashed like flames in Logan’s eyes. “I believe I’m talking to the two people responsible for my sister’s murder.”

  “Excuse me?”

  Aurora moved forward, but Gray grabbed ahold of her arm, pulling her back. “Aurora, it’s okay. Just let it go.”

  “No. It’s not okay, and I’m not letting it go.” She jerked her arm back from Gray and whirled around to face Logan again. “Listen, Logan. I’m sorry about Luna. I honestly am. But it's not our fault she did what she did. It’s not our fault she became crazed with jealousy and obsessive over Gray.”

  “It is your fault, actually.” Logan looked bristled, like a dog getting ready to attack. Chord and Sevastion made an appearance down the hallway then, coming to an abrupt halt as they were hit with the overwhelming tension of the room. Logan ignored their presence and continued on. “It’s both of your faults." She looked to Gray and said, "It’s your fault for dating her in the first place when you were clearly in love with Aurora,” before turning back towards Aurora, “And it was your fault for running away to Seattle, knowing full well that Gray would go after you.”

  “Actually,” Sev said morosely from the doorway, “I believe it’s my fault.”

  The two girls who were now only a foot away from each other, shooting fireballs from their eyes and breathing smoke of anger, looked over at Sev in surprise.

  “What?” Aurora said.

  Sev set his suitcase down and folded his hands grimly before him. “I’m the one who told Luna about what would happen to Gray if you were killed. She wouldn’t have known had I not said something. So, it’s my fault.”

  Aurora shot Logan a sharp look while speaking to Sevastion. “No, Sev. It’s not your fault at all. It was a tragic accident. No one’s fault. Sometimes people just think they need to put the blame on someone else to make themselves feel better, which is terrible and rude and selfish.”

  Logan let out a humorless laugh. “Ha! Of all the people to call me selfish.” She grasped her suitcase again and shook her head. “You know what? Screw all of this.”

  With this, Logan stormed out of the stateroom, slamming the door behind her, leaving behind a room full of tension and eyes cutting left and right and down to the ground. Brielle felt a tug in her stomach as she longed to go after Logan, but knew that would be like trying to chase the wind.

  CHORD

  Everyone was getting a bit too touchy in Chord’s rather judgmental opinion. They were Halos for the Light’s sake. They knew death was a possibility, if not a probability now that Caducus had descended. Especially for someone as fragile and, let’s be honest, clinically insane as Luna. If someone had asked Chord who of the seven of them would have died first, his money would have been on Luna. He understood why Logan would be upset about her twin sister dying. Obviously. It was tragic. But, that was no reason to be a jerk to the rest of them. Like they could have done anything to stop it.

  Aella—whose usual job had been working as a barista in Etheria’s coffee shop—was there to greet them as they neared the exit. They’d seen quite a bit of her since re-boarding the ship, given that she made the best lattes in the literal universe.

  “Good evening, Chord,” she said with a bright smile. “Evening, Sev.”

  “Hey, girl.”

  “Cheers, Aella.”

  “If you wouldn’t mind putting these on your wrists.” Aella held out two thick black bands that looked like silicone bracelets. “It is called a Prophecy. It will allow us to communicate with all of the Halos promptly.”

  “How will it do that?” Chord asked as he slid the band over his hand. The bracelet shrank when it reached his wrist until it was strapped securely to him—not too tight, not too loose. “Does a little holographic angel pop out and start whispering in our ears?”

  Aella winked. “Maybe.”

  “Finally, we have a way to communicate with the angels that isn’t a letter or a weird, disembodied voice coming from the air.”

  “You’re actually the one who gave them the idea,” Aella said with a smile. “Verity told us about your discontent with angel communication, so Michael made these happen.” She tapped on a Prophecy attached to her own wrist.

  “No shit?”

  Aella simply giggled and nodded in response.

  Chord and Sev shuffled into line then, behind the rest of the Power Halos filing out of Etheria—donning their fancy new angel technology—onto the narrow dock. They looked like they were all going to a super emo angel concert or something.

  Stormy seawater splashed up, spraying them brutally in the face. A steep stairway was chiseled out of the stone in the cliff, each step taken up by a Halo of one choir or another. The Power Halos had arrived at the same time as the Dominion Halos. The red and ebony armor of the Powers and the golden cloaks of the Dominions set the two choirs apart as they trudged up the cliff.

  “Ever feel like we are just a bunch of angel nomads who travel from place to place and do almost nothing of importance?” Chord muttered as he moved slowly behind Sev up the slippery stone steps, admiring the view. And by view, he meant Sev’s surprisingly rounded ass.

  “We just locked the souls of millions of people, darling," Sev said. "What more do you want us to do? Fighting demons every second may sound great, but in the grand scheme of things, it isn’t doing much for the people of the world.”

  “True… um, did you just call me darling?”

  Sev continued up the steps without looking back at Chord. “Do you not want me to call you that?”

  The corner of Chord’s mouth quirked up. “No, I kind of like it actually. It sounds like we’re an old married couple or something.”

  “That may be the closest we ever get to that, given the circumstances.”

  Sev matte
r-of-factly said this, but it hit Chord harder and deeper than he thought it would. He’d never really expected to get married in his old life. He’d longed for it, sure, but it always sounded rather unlikely. Marriage laws had passed in California that technically made it legal for him to land himself a husband if he so desired, but he'd been at a place in his life that held no room for a mortgage and an adoption portfolio. And he’d been obsessed with his ex in an unhealthy way.

  But Sev made him feel like he was coming home...cliché as he knew that sounded.

  After climbing about a gazillion stone steps, slipping on only half of them, Chord collapsed dramatically onto the grass as they made it to the top of the cliff.

  “Glory Hallelujah. Just because we magical angel people can walk up the side of a cliff without dying, doesn’t mean we should.”

  Sev looked down at him in amusement as a group of Dominion Halos passed by, raising their eyebrows at Chord’s immature display. "What was it you said your educational focus was at University? Drama?"

  “Cinematography, you British ass.”

  “Who is a British ass?” a voice asked from behind them.

  Chord swiveled his head around to see Aurora and Gray approaching them, followed by Aurora’s little demon-sperm-and-angel-egg creation. Otherwise known as Soren. All three of them wore the thick black bands—AKA, Prophecies—on their wrists.

  Brielle appeared after them looking sullen. Logan was noticeably absent. Probably torturing some poor, innocent soul. Misery creating company. “Shouldn’t we stop cursing around him?” the brunette asked. “He’s just a kid.”

  Aurora shrugged. “Pretty sure he’s heard worse in his short lifetime, unfortunately.”

  “Duh. His dad was a Horn,” Chord said, groaning as he pushed himself to a standing position. “He’s probably heard all the vilest words of hell. You know? He’s probably—”

  A violent throat clear cut him off, and Chord’s eyes focused on Aurora, who was now fixing him with one of her murderous looks, something she had never thrown in his direction before.