Stargaze: Half Light

by Alyssa Rose Ivy

  My head spun. I was so overwhelmed I couldn’t think straight. “I can’t just leave now.” I tried to accept all the crazy things I was learning. “If I could find Benjamin someone else will.” I buried my face in my hands. I couldn’t keep up. I couldn’t accept that somehow over seventy years had passed on Earth when I only experienced thirteen.

  “He will be safe.” Ella appeared beside us. “But we need to go. Your companions are growing antsy. They may be ejected from North Star by my brother if we don’t return quickly.”

  “Ejected?” Noah narrowed his eyes. “What happened to guaranteed safe harbor?”

  “We all have our limits.” Ella put a hand on her hips.

  “Dale,” Angie and Noah said in unison.

  “How can I be sure Benjamin is safe?” I wasn’t ready to leave. After everything I couldn’t leave my only surviving relative in danger.

  “We’ll bring him to North Star.” Ella pulled out a tablet and removed the cloaking from her ship. “Don’t worry. He will be fine.”

  “What if he doesn’t want to go?” He didn’t even want to talk to me.

  “What’s the alternative?” Angie asked. “Let him die? I wish we could move my parents.”

  Ella looked down.

  “What?” Angie frowned. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “They are safe too.”

  “You moved our parents?” Noah’s eyes bulged.

  “I told you I can sense anyone close to you. It was necessary to ensure their safety.”

  “Where are they?”

  “The same place where Benjamin will go. They won’t even know they are there…”

  “Explain. Please.” Angie pursed her lips.

  “Not now. Once we get back.” Ella looked all around her.

  Noah took my hand. “And here I thought I was robbing the cradle. Instead I’m with a cougar.”

  “What?” I had no idea what either phrase meant, although I knew a cradle had to refer to a baby.

  “It’s a joke. You were born way before me.”

  “But we’re almost the same age in actuality.” I didn’t really get why the time that passed was different, but I knew it had only been thirteen years for me.

  “I know. It’s crazy, but not the craziest thing I’ve seen yet.” He brushed his lips against mine. He did that a lot, and I would have been fine if he did it even more.

  “We have to go.” Ella shooed us toward the waiting craft.

  We boarded, all strapping into our seats. I took the same seat again, right beside Noah. Angie was on his other side.

  Ella started the ship. Amsi beeped from her spot in front of the console. We’d left her on the ship. Seeing how things went down with my brother, it had been a wise decision.

  “That’s it. It all makes sense.” Ella turned around her seat so she was looking at us rather than the console. I was glad Amsi was locked into the system. At least someone was paying attention.

  “What does?” Angie asked.

  “Why Rachel was taken. I don’t know how I didn’t see this before.” Ella pulled her legs up under her. “It is so obvious.”

  “What’s so obvious?” If it was obvious I would have known.

  “The Andrelexa have technology like none other. Your father figure, Telton was it? He found you. He knew you were a starmate and assumed you were the other half to Caspian. But he was wrong. He was completely wrong, but in his mistake he made it possible to meet your true starmate!” She bounced in her seat. “So obvious!”

  “Uh, I’m not following.” Every time the whole starmate thing came up I got more confused.

  “The reason there has been no starmates for so long is that two halves of two different pairs were being forced together. Caspian is a feeler. He sensed what you were but couldn’t see you weren’t his. All we need to do is find his true starmate and all will be right again. The time clock will once again hit equilibrium, and everything will be fine. It’s so simple.”

  Amsi beeped. We were getting ready to land.

  “Simple? So you know where to find this starmate of his?” Angie adjusted the straps on her seat belt.

  “No. But Noah should be able to help. He’s a feeler too. One set of a pair always is,” Ella explained.

  Amsi beeped. “Landing complete. Locked.”

  “What’s the other side?” I unbuckled.

  “A feeder.”

  “Uh...” A feeder sounded way less appealing than a feeler.

  “It means you feed emotions to others. We really don’t have time for this.” Ella opened the access door and stepped off.

  I waited for Noah and Angie, and we followed her off. Amsi marched behind us.

  “Okay. So if we need a feeler to find her, what does Noah have to do?” I wasn’t quite sure what the equilibrium was. But I understood it needed to be dealt with.

  “He has to look.” She led the way inside the aquarium. I looked out at the water. It appeared darker now. Murky. Maybe I was only imagining the change.

  “Can’t Caspian help too?” It was his starmate after all.

  “Well, he can if you can point me in the right direction to find him. I can’t find him since he does not connect to either of you.”

  “Wait, isn’t he here?” Etan had only brought Angie to us before we left. He said the others would be waiting for us when we got back.

  “No. If he was we wouldn’t need Noah to find the fourth starmate.”

  “Oh. I guess I didn’t tell you.” Angie looked down at her boots “Caspian turned himself over.”

  “Turned himself over to who?” I gasped. Caspian didn’t give up. It made no sense.

  “You mean to whom?” Etan corrected.

  “Does that really matter?” Ella snapped.

  “The Lexas I think,” Angie explained. “I wasn’t there for that part. But it had something to do with Dale being bait and Caspian trying to protect you.”

  “Dale being bait?” Noah laughed dryly. “For real?”

  “Why would he do that? Why would Caspian do something that crazy?” I already understood that I didn’t know Caspian as well as I thought but still. If he was siding with his father he would have taken Telton prisoner. But from what Angie was making it sound he’d gone alone.

  “To protect you.” Angie shrugged. “At least that’s what Kelby says.”

  “No matter his reasons you need to retrieve him and find his starmate.” Ella led the way back through the castle. “If he dies, the balance may never return.”

  “And I thought saving Earth was going to be hard enough.” Noah took my hand.

  “That’s only the beginning,” Ella called over her shoulder.

  “Hey, at least we’re together.” Noah stepped closer to my side as we walked out onto ‘the porch’.

  “We are.” I squeezed his hand

  “We are.” Kelby walked toward us from the corner of the patio. His eyes zeroed in on Angie. “Glad you are okay.”

  She flipped her hair off her shoulder. “Because you know I’m…useful.”

  “That. And because I like having you around.” He grinned.

  “Uh. What am I missing here?” Noah looked between them.

  “Nothing as crazy as starmates.” Angie rolled her eyes. “You have more explaining to do than I do.”

  “Starmates?” Kelby grunted. “Can this web get any more tangled?”

  “Oh yes. Oh yes, it can,” Ella said with far too much cheer for the words she was delivering.

  “I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.” Noah led me away from the others and around the corner to a private area overlooking the ridges of coral. A school of pastel yellow fish swam by as the sun set above, adding a pinkish tint to the water.

  “Pretend all you want, but it’s true,” Ella sang after us.

  “Give us a minute. Then we’ll be ready for some starmate hunting.” Noah put his arm around my waist.

  I rested my hand on his chest. “I’m not sure what a starmate is, but I’m g
lad you’re mine.”

  “Right back at you.” He leaned in, and I lost myself completely in his kiss.

  Thank You

  Thank you for reading Stargaze (Half Light #2). I hope you enjoyed it! Please consider leaving an honest review at your point of purchase. Reviews help me in so many ways!

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  You can email me at alyssaroseivy@gmail.com

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  To see a complete list of my books, please visit http://www.alyssaroseivy.com/book-list-faq/

  Afterward

  The Half Light series will continue with Starless coming June 28, 2018.

  Please keep reading for a preview of Flight (The Crescent #1), a Mature Young Adult/ New Adult Paranormal Romance by Alyssa Rose Ivy

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  Flight

  Sometimes you just have to take flight.

  A summer in New Orleans is exactly what Allie needs before starting college. Accepting her dad’s invitation to work at his hotel offers an escape from her ex-boyfriend and the chance to spend the summer with her best friend. Meeting a guy is the last thing on her mind—until she sees Levi.

  Unable to resist the infuriating yet alluring Levi, Allie finds herself at the center of a supernatural society and forced to decide between following the path she has always trusted or saving a city that might just save her.

  Preface

  Closing my eyes, I tried to block it all out. Convinced I was about to die, I was only partly aware of his arms around me.

  “You said you wanted an adventure,” he said quietly, teasingly, as he tightened his hold.

  My stomach dropped out as an intense and complete feeling of weightlessness engulfed me. The wind stung my face as memories flooded my mind. I thought of my parents, of all the things I wanted to tell them but never did, my friends from home, and the experiences I longed for. Quickly my thoughts changed to more recent memories, to Levi.

  “Open your eyes,” he whispered, somehow knowing my eyes were clenched shut.

  Against my better judgment, I listened. The scream died in my throat as we hurtled toward the water that had seemed so beautiful from the roof above.

  Chapter One

  I’d sworn off men, or really boys, because those were the only type of males I tended to attract. The numbers on the pump moved painfully slow as I reminded myself of the decision. Tying my hair up in a knot on the top of my head, I struggled to save my neck from the heat created by my long brown hair. Even a ponytail wasn’t enough for the Mississippi heat. I had heard all about the hot summers of the south, but I didn’t expect the temperatures to be quite so scorching in June. I was terrified to think about what August would feel like.

  Finally finished with the gas, I got back in the car to wait impatiently for my best friend Jess. We were only a few hours away from New Orleans, but after two days of driving, every minute was torture. I started the engine and turned the AC on high before leaning back into the comfortable seat. The new car smell still permeated my Land Rover, an over the top high school graduation gift from my father. I loved it and appreciated the gift but wished my dad had checked with me before special ordering it in what he believed was my favorite color—lavender. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that purple had stopped being my favorite when I was five.

  After a few minutes, Jess slid into the passenger seat. “Want some chips or soda?” she asked while smoothing out her blond hair, putting a few strands back in place behind her ear. The effort was wasted. Her hair was still messy and matched the flushed expression she wore.

  “Please tell me you didn’t make out with someone to get free chips.” I rolled my eyes hoping she would surprise me just this once by not having done it. We had been best friends since the sixth grade, and she had been boy crazy the whole time I’d known her.

  “I didn’t make out with him for the chips; I did it because he was hot.”

  Stifling a laugh, I pulled back out onto the road toward I-57. “Sure.”

  “We’re only young once. Don’t be so uptight.” Jess snapped her gum loudly.

  “Hey, it’s fine, but don’t come complaining to me when you get some weird communicable disease from one of the random guys you hook up with.”

  “Allie, I love you, but you have to relax. Promise me you’ll at least try to have fun this summer.” She sighed dramatically.

  “I’ll try,” I said with exaggerated frustration. I planned to have a great summer, just one that didn’t involve guys.

  “That’s not good enough. You’re not going to let Toby ruin the entire summer are you? So you dated a jerk, who cares, forget about him.”

  “I’m not going to let Toby ruin anything. I’m the one who dumped him, remember?” Thinking about Toby threatened to put me in a worse mood. He had only been the latest in a string of disappointing dating experiences. First there was Steve, we broke up when I found him cheating on me—with my best guy friend. After that was Matthew, who took commitment phobia to a whole new level when he actually set a cap on how often I could text message him. With Toby it wasn’t anything dramatic, the romance just didn’t live up to my expectations. Somehow, his declarations of how great of a power couple we would make didn’t cut it. As relieved as I was about avoiding him all summer, I still had to deal with him at Princeton in the fall.

  “So does that mean you’re ready to move on?” Jess asked excitedly.

  “No. I told you, I’ve sworn off men.”

  “Sweetheart, you do realize that men have many valuable roles other than boyfriends, right? Instead, how about you swear off boyfriends and just have fun?”

  “I don’t care what you do with guys, but I am never going to be the girl that just hooks up, okay?”

  “We’ll see about that.”

  Wanting to avoid a fight, I decided to ignore her last comment. Sometimes it was easier to let her think she won.

  When I didn’t answer, she decided to continue. “Maybe getting away from high school boys will help.”

  “Maybe,” I mumbled under my breath.

  She appeared not to hear me and changed the subject. “It was so cool of your dad to let us come down and hang out at the hotel all summer!”

  “You mean it was cool of him to give us jobs, right?” I tried to keep a straight face, but really, I wasn’t surprised by her choice of words. When Dad called to ask if I wanted to work at a hotel he had recently purchased in New Orleans, I agreed only if Jess could come with me. She wouldn’t be much use as a coworker but she did have the ability to make any situation fun. I was counting on her working her magic.

  * * *

  ***

  The Crescent City Hotel looked exactly as I expected; a historic building complete with wrought iron balconies and the dangling ferns that were in every picture I had seen of the French Quarter. Following along with the GPS, I turned onto Royal Street and pulled up front to the valet, not sure where I was supposed to park. Before I could worry for long, my dad knocked on the window.

  He opened the door once I unlocked it, taking my hand to help me out. “Hey sweetie, how was the trip?” He pulled me into a hug as soon as my feet hit the pavement. If you didn’t know any better you’d think we had a normal father-daughter relationship.

  “It was fine, we made great time.”

  “Hi Mr. Davis!” Jess yelled as she ran around the car.

  “Hi Jessica, I’m so glad you were able to come down with my Allie.”

  “Of course! Thanks again for the job!”

  “It’s my pleasure; I hope you girls have a nice time.” He caught my eye over Jess’s head. Even as little as he knew Jess, he was under no misc
onceptions about her work ethic.

  Dad glanced behind him, lifting a finger and a bellhop a little older than us started unloading bags from the back of the car. Before he had finished moving our bags to the cart, Jess was already chatting him up. With my dad watching, the poor guy was trying to stay professional.

  “Let’s go Jess.” I grabbed her arm and led her inside. Dad had already gone ahead.

  The lobby felt huge, much larger than it looked from the outside. All the money my dad had poured into the updates showed. Large travertine tiles covered the floor and dark wainscoting framed the room, while a beautiful chandelier with dangling crystals helped light the space. The etched glass in the sidewall that bore the name of the hotel typified the way he had modernized the hotel without losing all its historical character. I especially loved the solid mahogany bar. I’d like to say my dad had an eye for design, but I’m sure he had nothing to do with the selections. The fact that he was even at the hotel was surprising. He usually oversaw his properties from afar.

  Looking up from the bar, I locked eyes with an incredibly hot guy. At over six feet tall with brown hair and wearing a tight shirt that barely concealed his muscular arms and chest, it would have been impossible not to notice him. He smiled at me and I found myself smiling back before I snapped myself out of it. Ignoring the invitation in his smile I quickly looked away. “You swore off men,” I reminded myself.

  “Do you girls want to see your room or get some lunch first?” my dad asked, relieving me of my thoughts about the guy.

  “See our room,” I answered quickly. “Is that okay, Jess?”

  “Yeah, sure,” she said distantly. I didn’t bother looking, assuming she had found the same distraction.

  My dad laughed as he led us to the elevators. “I put you girls in a suite on the top floor.”

  The elevator reached our floor and we walked toward our room. It came as no surprise, but our suite was luxurious. Jess and I each had our own room with a bathroom and we shared a large common living space complete with a kitchenette. Two French doors in the main living area opened out onto a balcony overlooking the street below.