It took her longer than she would have liked, but she eventually made it to the top. Aurora was there waiting to help her up. Logan's sweat-soaked palm slid out of Aurora’s grasp, and Logan almost fell back until Aurora hooked her fingers with Logan’s and yanked her up.
The others clapped politely once Logan was safely on the roof and it was Brielle’s turn to ascend the building. The southern belle looked nervously up at the task ahead of her and mouthed something to herself, which Logan assumed was a prayer.
The way Brielle moved up the wall was comparable to how she appeared to live her life. Slowly, cautiously, over-thinking each step. Judging the path of the people who’d gone before her and following in their footsteps. That was unless they had taken a particularly dangerous path, which Brielle avoided at all costs.
After painstakingly placing her feet and hands in the precise right places and climbing her way up the wall, Brielle made it to the point where Logan was supposed to pull her up. The others had moved to the back of the roof, mingling and chatting, ignoring Brielle as they usually did. Even Verity was distracted by Sev asking her a plenitude of questions about demons, scratching his answers in a small notebook.
Mouth curving up into a mischievous smile, Logan turned back around and lowered her voice to a murmur. “You know what you need, Brielle? You need to live a little.”
“What?” Brielle panted, straining for Logan’s hand.
“You need to let loose and experiment. Explore yourself. Explore your sexuality.”
“What the heck are you talking about, Logan? Help me up.”
Logan kept her hands resting just out of Brielle’s reach. “Kiss me first.”
“What?” Brielle looked up at her incredulously.
“I said kiss me first. Then I’ll help you up.”
“Are you insane?”
“Not at all. I’m one of the sanest people you’ll ever meet. Now kiss me, and I’ll help you.”
Brielle stared, wide-eyed, at Logan like she’d completely lost her mind, but her arms shook, and her feet shuffled on the narrow windowsill. “Why do you want me to kiss you?”
Logan leaned forward, keeping her hands to herself. “Because I want you to feel what it’s like to do something you’ve always been told not to.”
Their faces were inches apart, and Brielle’s breathing came faster and harder as she looked from Logan to the ground and back. Without warning, Brielle reached up and pulled Logan’s face to hers until their lips met. Sparks sizzled and flew around their heads, and Logan’s mouth turned up in a smile when she tasted Brielle’s strawberry lip balm.
What Logan had only meant to be a quick peck transformed into a full-blown kiss with lips massaging lips, tongues venturing out to tease one another, and deep intakes of breath. The only reason they broke apart was because Brielle pulled at Logan’s head a bit too enthusiastically and Logan lost her precarious balance. With gasps of surprise turning to screams of terror, Logan and Brielle both parted ways with the wall and went plummeting to the ground.
Eight
BRIELLE
A billion things flashed through Brielle’s mind as she was ripped from the wall with Logan spinning around her. What had she just done? What had she been thinking? Why had Logan wanted her to do that anyhow? What would Jesus think? What would her parents think? What would everyone think?
But then...
She’d liked it.
The rush.
Kissing someone—anyone—while dangling off the side of a building was a sure sign you were brilliantly and blazingly alive. But she was a Stone, and Stones didn’t do things like that. They were pastors and pastors’ wives and pastors’ daughters. They didn’t willingly and knowingly break God’s sacred laws. And, if they did, surely they wouldn’t enjoy it.
But she was still falling and didn’t have all that much time to dwell on such things. Seconds felt like hours as she neared the cushioned mat at the base of the building that couldn’t possibly be sturdy enough to save them from a ten-story fall.
But somehow it was.
Knocking the breath out of her, Brielle landed flat on her back with Logan inches away.
“Holy shit.” Logan clutched at her chest. “That was terrifying and sort of awesome.”
Brielle pushed Logan roughly in the shoulder. “You’re insane.”
Logan laughed. “You didn’t have to kiss me, darling.”
“I did if I wanted you to pull me up.”
This wasn’t the whole truth, though. Brielle had known Logan would have eventually pulled her up. But she also knew Logan thought Brielle was a delicate, little flower who always took the safe roads. And she wanted to prove the dark twin wrong.
That, at least, had been accomplished.
A shout came from above. “Oh my God, guys!”
“Are you okay?” another cried down to them.
“Perfect!” Logan called back.
“What happened?”
“Slipped!”
Logan came off so nonchalant about the whole thing. So calm and cool and collected. Brielle’s brain was exploding like an endless fireworks display. She couldn’t get it to calm down or make sense of things. She couldn’t wrap her head around what she’d done or why.
When the group broke for the day, Brielle waited until Logan was left alone, stuffing her things into her bag and slinging it on her shoulder, before she approached her. “Can you please explain to me why the hell you did that?”
“Wow. Did I just hear Brielle Stone say hell? It must have actually frozen over.”
“I’m serious. Why did you do that? Do you—like every single person in our freaking group—enjoy messing with me and making fun of me because of my faith? Are you trying to break me down or something? Is that what you want?” Her voice began to tremble, so she stopped talking.
“Listen,” Logan said sincerely now. “I didn’t mean anything malicious by it. I just…I’ve noticed you. I’ve noticed how you see things and how you live your life. That’s totally your prerogative, but you sort of remind me of myself.”
“I remind you of you?” Brielle said incredulously.
“When I was younger, I mean. My parents were religious too. Really religious. I’m talking church every Sunday and Wednesday and lots of days in between. Prayers in the morning, before meals, before bed. No cursing. No boyfriends. No talk of sex. Imagine how they would have reacted to my being a lesbian.”
“Would have reacted?”
“Yeah, my mom was diagnosed with cancer. It happened really quickly. Weeks later, she was just…gone. And my stepdad couldn’t cope. He drank himself into a stupor every day. He didn’t go to church anymore, and neither did Luna or I. It took me a long time to realize just how brainwashed we had been. No offense to you,” she said, holding her hands up. “I’m not saying all churches brainwash kids, but ours did. They made me afraid I was going to hell. I was nine. And I was scared I was going to hell because I'd told a couple of lies before. Anyway. My stepfather was eventually turned in to CPS, and Luna and I were placed in foster homes. Luckily, they kept us together.”
“Wow. I’m so sorry,” Brielle said. “I had no idea.”
“It’s okay. It built our character, you know? Going through things like that just makes you more thankful for the happy times. We were eventually placed with a nice family when we were in seventh grade. And they’re completely okay with my sexuality.”
“Well, that’s…that’s good.”
“Yeah. My point is that I’ve sort of taken an interest in you because I don’t want you to end up like my parents.”
“Dead?”
Logan rolled her eyes. “Oh my God, Brielle. No. I mean miserable and controlling and lifeless. There’s a difference between being dead and being lifeless, you know. You can still be alive without actually living.”
Brielle folded her arms tightly across her chest, hugging them to her. “I have a life.”
“There’s also a difference between having a life and liv
ing one.”
Brielle pursed her lips to the side. “Fine. Teach me how to live then.”
Logan bit her bottom lip, and the corners of her mouth turned up into a smile. “With pleasure.”
GRAY
Giving Aurora space was easier than Gray initially thought it would be. He supposed it helped that she was giving herself space by staying in her own head—far away from him. But, for once, he didn’t push her or try to make her see him. He didn’t try to force his way back into her vision. Even though sometimes every nerve in his body screamed at him to go after her when she walked away, to touch her, to at least talk to her. When this happened, instead of going after Aurora, he went looking for Luna.
Luna was a breath of fresh air. She was open and honest and kind. She wasn’t cryptic or closed off from him in any way. He enjoyed her company. He did. He just had to ignore the voice in the back of his mind whispering, Yeah, she’s great, but she’s not Aurora.
“Hey,” he said to Luna after their wall-climbing session.
She was walking alone, her twin having stayed behind with Brielle, probably bickering about making her fall off that building. Whipping around, Luna’s gray eyes met his, her cheeks filling with color.
“Hey,” she said breathlessly, though they hadn’t done anything physically exerting for at least a half hour.
“You feel like getting ice cream or something?”
“Um, sure,” she answered, though she was frowning.
“Are you sure?” He chuckled. “You don’t seem all that thrilled about it.”
Luna glanced to Aurora, who was several paces ahead laughing with Chord about something. Then Gray realized why Luna was hesitant.
“We aren’t together, you know,” he said quietly.
Luna’s eyes snapped back to him, and she blushed deeper. “Oh, I—I didn’t, um…”
“So, ice cream?”
Luna bit her lip before smiling shyly. “I’d love that.”
The ice cream shop downtown was located right on the waterfront. Glass windows allowed the patrons a view of people ambling down the shining silver sidewalk and sitting in boats drifting lazily down the river dividing the town. Gray swore he’d seen a few large marine animals swimming alongside them a couple of times.
He and Luna ordered two bowls of ice cream—chocolate mint for him and vanilla for her—and sat on the stools facing out the window. Luna ate her ice cream self-consciously, covering her mouth with a hand after each bite.
“So, what’s it like living in Alaska?” he asked her through a mouthful of chocolate and mint.
She giggled, brushing the flaxen hair out of her eyes. “It’s really dark half of the year and really light the other half. And it’s cold most of the year. The summer is full of tourists, and the winter is full of snow. But, really, it’s just like any place else. Ketchikan, that is. It has a small town feel about it. The locals know the other locals. I love it there.”
“Sounds ideal to me.”
“Where are you from, again?”
“New York.”
“City?”
Gray nodded.
“Oh, wow. That’s big.”
“Eh. If you call eight million people big.”
Luna giggled again.
“Did you live there during 9/11?” she asked after they’d both eaten a few more bites of ice cream.
He opened his mouth and then closed it, thinking of how to respond. He’d told Aurora his whole story surrounding the events of 9/11. Every little detail. That was the day his uncle had died, and the catalyst to Gray becoming a fireman. These were important facts about his life. So, why didn’t he feel like telling Luna about them?
“Uh…yeah, I did,” was all he said in answer to her question. Luna seemed to sense he didn’t want to talk about it any further and considerately obliged.
As the day turned into twilight, their conversation grew easier and more natural. Luna didn’t seem quite so self-conscious. Gray learned Luna liked to read more than anything, her favorite color was baby blue, her middle name was Eleanor, which she hated, and her sister was her best friend even though they had nearly nothing in common. Luna divulged more information in a few hours than Aurora had in a few weeks. Months, even.
Luna was truly everything a guy could ever want in a girl. Beautiful, honest, funny, sweet. And yet…he couldn’t help but notice the voice in the back of his mind—or perhaps the back of his soul—that continuously and maddeningly whispered, but she’s not Aurora.
AURORA
It’s been said—in love—you don’t always know what you want until it's out of your reach. Well, that had never been Aurora’s problem. She’d known all along what she wanted. She also knew she couldn’t have it if she wanted to keep Gray safe and sane. Even after everything he’d been through, he was still an innocent. She wasn’t. She never would be. Not after what had happened to her. She was damaged in more ways than one, and he was too good to taint with all of her issues.
So, imagine Aurora’s mixture of hurt, disbelief, annoyance, and finally, bitter acceptance when she spotted Gray and Luna walking hand in hand by the channel streaming through the town. She’d noticed the two of them talking more frequently the past week. She knew they were friends now. She’d even known—as if it wasn’t blatantly obvious—Luna had a massive crush on Gray.
She hadn’t known it had turned into something more. And fast. When Aurora decided she couldn’t be with Gray, she knew he would eventually find someone else. She just hadn’t thought it would be this soon, or that it would hurt this much.
“Damn,” a voice said from behind Aurora, nearly causing her to fall off the branch. “You already know, huh?”
Aurora turned around to see the third last person she wanted to see right now. Logan. Luna’s twin. Usually, she couldn’t see the similarity between the two girls. Now she definitely could. Same almond-shaped eyes, same pointed chin, same slender frame.
“Know what?” Aurora asked though she felt sure she knew precisely to what Logan was referring.
“About Gray and Luna.”
Aurora's expression hardened, and she turned away from Logan to peer down at her fellow Stellar and his new girl. “What about them,” she said tightly.
“Well, I told Luna she should probably talk to you first—and she was going to today—but then Gray showed up at our door and invited her to go on a walk and, well, you probably know what that means.”
“No, sorry. I don’t know what that means or what it has to do with me,” Aurora replied through a jaw clenched so tight it hurt.
“Yeah, you do.”
“Gray doesn’t belong to me, Logan. He’s free to do whatever he wants. Or whoever he wants.”
Logan laughed. “Well, I can assure you they won’t be doing anything like that for a while.”
“Either way. I don’t care.”
“Yeah, you do,” Logan said again.
“I’m sorry, did you need something?” Aurora flashed Logan a mutinous glare. “Because I was doing just fine on my own before you came along assuming you know everything about me.”
“Nah. No one knows everything about you, do they?” Logan’s eyes were narrowed, her lips upturned. “You’re damaged and broken and closed off to the world.”
“That’s right,” Aurora said with false sweetness. “Now run along before I get my twisted inner darkness all over you.”
Logan laughed. “You know, I think we’d be friends if we weren’t such bitches to each other.”
“Sure we would,” Aurora said as Logan turned to stumble back down the hill, leaving her alone again.
Aurora hated to admit that what Logan had just done was rather thoughtful. And, if she hadn’t known about Gray and Luna, it would have been better to hear about it from Logan than for the first time in front of everyone. The thing that bothered her most about all of this, though, was that Gray hadn’t talked to her first. Not that he needed her permission or anything. It just would’ve been nice.
; But why would he? She’d made it quite clear she didn’t love him and didn’t want to share herself with him—most of all, her past. She’d already shared too much of that as it was.
It was better this way. It was. Luna was a nice girl—too nice, really—which was what Gray needed. Someone good. Someone like him.
And at that moment, a peculiar feeling of tranquility settled over her. Now she didn’t have to worry about him tempting her. They could just continue to fight side by side as Stellars, and that was it.
No awkward glances.
No racing heartbeats.
No more longing to kiss him and hold him and touch him and—
Just no more of that.
And, rather than feel devastated. Devastated that the man she potentially…cared a whole lot about, was now in a relationship, she felt relieved.
Free, even. Free from the obligation of having to resist something that should be completely and positively natural and good.
And instead of crying like a sane person, she looked down at Gray and Luna, now specks in the distance, and smiled.
Nine
LUNA
Luna had never dated someone so beautiful.
Typically, you don't hear men described as being beautiful. Hot, maybe. Or handsome. Even dashing, gorgeous, sexy. Gray was all of those too. But the way his goodness shone in his eyes, the way he smiled openly and honestly without any care in the world, that’s what made him beautiful.
Luna resented that his pure soul was tied to someone like Aurora. Luna wanted to like Gray's Stellar. Truly, she did. But she couldn’t. And not just because Aurora was Gray’s soul mate—though Luna really, really, really didn’t like to think of it in that way. She could just see the effect Aurora had on Gray. The way his perfect smiling face fell when she brushed him off or left him behind. Luna wished she could be that for him. She wished her soul had been the one fused with his. To think he was bound to Aurora in such an intimate way nearly drove her insane.
Echo (The Halo Series Book 2) Page 4