Twenty-One
GRAY
Fighting demons in the dark was much more difficult than Gray would have ever imagined. Fires always provided their own light, even if the city was locked in the grip of a blackout. But this pub was shrouded in a veil of blinding blackness. Not even the light from the streets of London was able to filter in through the darkened windows.
Muffled screams and loud crashes filled the small space, and Gray lost the feel of Luna’s hand in his as their table toppled over, food and drinks spilling across the floor. At least, that’s what Gray imagined was happening, judging by the sound of breaking glass.
With the darkness came the smell of sulfur. Like volcanic ash or molten lava flaring up in his nostrils. The smell he now associated with demons. He clutched his glowing purple crux tightly in his left hand, afraid to attack in case he accidentally hit a fellow Halo or an innocent patron of the pub.
The thing clamping down on his ankle with crushing pincers, though, was definitely neither of those. Kicking out hard, his boot connected with the vile creature, which made a squeaking sound reminiscent of a large bug resisting being crushed.
Dropping to his knees, Gray swung his crux in a sideways arc and connected with the hard plated skin of the demon. He knew this hadn’t killed the thing when he felt the demon’s pincer clamp around his upper right arm. Luckily his Halo armor had been created to keep things such as dismemberment from occurring…but it still hurt like hell.
And pissed him off.
Slashing his crux in an X and then jabbing at the demon, searching for a fleshy break in its armor, he was finally rewarded with a loud squeal as his weapon sank to the hilt in the demon’s abdominal cavity.
He must have been the first in the building to kill a demon with a crux because, up until this point, he’d forgotten that demons caught fire when their skin came in contact with salt—which just so happened to be with what the blade of their weapons were imbued.
Flames erupted out from the demon’s stab wound creating enough light to illuminate the small pub. And, for a moment, he sort of wished he had been kept in the dark. Gray looked up to see a gruesome scene of Halos entangled in battle with demons of their own…and some of them were losing.
Aurora hadn’t had time to reach for her crux apparently and was wrestling with a creature, which looked like a gorilla that traded its fur for scaly reptilian skin.
Luna and Logan stood back to back, kicking and jabbing out at a ring of bat-like demons pumping their wings and flying around them in a dizzying circle.
Brielle was on the bar, using both her bright pink crux and a broken beer bottle as a weapon to fight off a slithering creature as long as a snake.
Sev was in the grips of a demon that, in basic shape, looked like a person, but without any distinguishing features whatsoever. It was all black and faceless. Like a shadow come to life.
The flames of Gray’s demon burned brightly for just a moment, allowing Gray to take this all in, throwing light on the demons and Halos, creating long shadows that made the dark creatures appear even more menacing than they already were.
With the light, the Halos were able to see what they were battling and took advantage of their newfound sight, each of them making a move to kill the creature in their path. Then more flames erupted throughout the room as each of the Halos used their crux to slice through the demons’ thick skin.
“Aurora! Gray!” Logan shouted over the screeching demons. “It’d be really great if you guys used your handy dandy Stellar powers right about now!”
As Gray slashed through the air at a winged demon, missing it just barely, he processed Logan’s words and felt stupid for not having thought of this immediately. He tried to make eye contact with his Stellar, but she wasn’t looking his way due to four demons of varying sizes closing in on her. He’d have to battle his way to her.
Fifteen feet across the room felt like fifteen miles. Each step was met with another snarling, snapping demon that had to be dealt with.
Four feet away and several demons later, he shouted out to Aurora, who was sliding her purple crux artfully across the neck of another naked gorilla demon.
He called her name, and she looked up, sweat glistening like glitter on her forehead in the light of the flames from the creature she’d just killed. And for the first time since they’d started training together, she reached for him without preamble. Without doubt or second thoughts in the depths of her eyes. Aurora’s open hand stretched towards his, and he leapt over the still body of a human patron to get to her.
Their fingers met while he was still mid-air and the force of their connection blew a band of demons down like dominos. Aurora clasped his grip tighter and stabbed at an air born creature, just barely clipping the tip of its wing.
It was enough.
Their combined power pumped into the winged demon, which blew up, causing a chain reaction throughout the pub, reminding Gray of the time they discovered they were Stellars on the top deck of Etheria. Only, then, the demons were dummies and had been blown apart into burning bits of fabric.
Now, the actual demons exploded in bits of bone, pincers, stingers, black blood, and smoldering flesh, covering the establishment and Halos in a layer of disgusting grime.
As the smoldering embers of the last demon died out, darkness bathed the pub once again. Rather than letting go of his hand, Aurora readjusted, so her fingers were now laced in his. Gray knew he should probably let go. He knew if Luna saw, it would most definitely hurt her…but he was selfish. So he held on tighter, relishing the feel of Aurora’s soft skin for just a moment longer.
After the snarling loudness and general cacophony that came with a battle, no matter how small, the quiet was almost just as deafening. The only sounds were the fatigued breaths of the Halos.
A voice shattered through the darkness. It was Brielle. “Is everyone okay?”
The others murmured assurances. Everyone except for Chord.
“Chord?” Gray heard Sev say, gently at first, and then more urgently. “Chord?”
Suddenly the dim lights of the pub flickered back on, and Aurora dropped Gray’s hand, taking a step away from him. The macabre scene made him wish he hadn’t just eaten.
The few patrons who had been dining in the establishment were now lying mangled on the ground, petrified eyes staring blankly into nothingness. The other Halos looked exhausted but seemed relatively unharmed. Except for—
“Chord!” Sev cried out, rushing over to an eerily still figure propped up like a forgotten puppet against the wall, his head lolling forward and to the side. Crouching beside him, Sev placed two long fingers against his neck where a pulse should be. “He’s alive.” He let out a relieved breath. “But his pulse is weak.”
“We can help with that,” a small, unfamiliar voice said from the shadows behind the bar.
Gray’s head snapped to where the sound had come. At first, he didn’t see anyone, but when his gaze lowered down a foot or two, he spotted the top of a head. A small boy’s head. But he wasn’t alone. The curtain leading to the back of the pub moved aside, admitting six more children, all looking to be around the age of seven or so.
The Halos had been stunned into silence. The children, one from seemingly every race, ambled around the bar, so they were lined up, single file before them. They looked like an unusually well-behaved group of school kids dressed in uniform. They wore clean-cut clothes of light blue with bands of gold trimming. Upon their heads rested what looked like thin golden crowns.
“Are you angels?” Brielle asked, voicing Gray’s thoughts.
The child who spoke earlier, an Indian boy with a thick accent, smiled and chuckled at this. “Only half. Like you.”
Logan’s eyebrows rose. “You’re Halos too?”
The boy nodded. “Virtues.”
Gray felt his mouth fall open in surprise. He wasn’t sure why he thought all Halos would be twenty-somethings like the Powers. Clearly, that wasn’t the case.
A little girl with golden hair and eyes to match said, “He needs help,” in an Irish accent, pointing to Chord. The other kids—Virtues—followed her lead and moved as a group to Chord’s side. Sev, looking startled and unsure of these kids’ abilities to heal Chord, stood and backed away to let them kneel on the dirty pub floor.
The seven Virtues placed their small hands on Chord’s arms, legs, shoulders, chest, and head. Then they closed their eyes and began to hum a haunting melody.
Aurora leaned over to murmur in Gray’s ear. “Okay, is it just me or does this sort of remind you of a creepy horror movie?”
Gray bit back the urge to laugh, given that the situation was not at all appropriate for that—and also because Luna’s laser-focused eyes were trained on the two of them. He didn’t particularly feel like yet another discussion about how there was nothing between him and Aurora, all the while his gut reminding him how much he wished there was.
The Virtues continued their humming, eyes still closed. Gray watched in fascination as these kids, clearly wise beyond their years, did what he could only assume was supposed to be healing Chord. And, despite his unspoken doubts, it appeared to be working.
Chord’s hands were twitching now and his eyelashes fluttered open. His hanging head lifted slightly and looked over at the Indian boy who was smiling sweetly at him now. Then Chord cursed, jumping at the sight of the small children.
“Am I dead?” He pulled his hands away from the two Virtues who’d been holding them.
“Not dead. You’re better now.”
Chord’s eyes widened, and he pressed his back more firmly against the wall to add some distance between him and the boy.
“Who are you?”
“I am Rudra.” The boy pressed a small hand to his own chest. “And we are Virtue Halos.”
Chord looked thoroughly confused. “But you’re just little kids.”
“As are you,” one of the other Virtues pointed out.
Aurora snorted. “You just got burned by a seven-year-old, dude.”
Blinking and looking up, Chord seemed to comprehend he wasn’t alone with these children. He struggled to a standing position, the Virtues still forming a horseshoe around him. “What just happened? Where are the demons?”
Aurora recounted the events of the past half hour in a voice more suited to describing a particularly lackluster movie rather than a battle with demons.
The Virtues waited patiently—very unlike most children their age—and, when Aurora finished with her thrilling account of the attack, Rudra spoke. “When you are ready, we will take you to the Dominion Halos.”
“The Dominions?” Chord said. “As in the Halos who are going to tell us how to lock the city and what not?”
“Yes,” Rudra said. “Come outside.”
He waved a hand for the Powers to follow him and the fourteen Halos exited the warzone of the pub. Coming to a halt outside the building, Gray and the others stared in shock at the empty city that had been bustling when they’d entered the Dove & Anchor.
Gray had lived in a big city all his life. There was always noise, no matter what the time. Car horns, distant shouting, breaking glass, laughter. Always something. Now, though…London was still. No cars on the streets, no people on the sidewalks. Not even a whisper. Just silence and stillness.
“Where is everyone?” he asked Rudra in a hushed voice.
“When the Principalities arrived in London, all the people who were out and about suddenly felt they needed to be at home in bed. This way, when we lock the souls of the city, their bodies will be safe in their homes. The only ones in danger are the homeless. But the Angel and Archangel Halos will help them. For now, though, we must begin what we came here to do.”
Suddenly, a voice cut through the thick silence. “We will take it from here, Rudra. It’s time.”
LOGAN
So, basically, Dominions were supermodels. The new group of towering Halos approached the Powers and Virtues decked in golden designs fit for a runway; a cloak inlaid with intricate swirls of diamonds hung from each of their shoulders. They carried a sword and a scepter with a ball of undulating light at the top. But that wasn’t the most impressive part.
No, the part that made Logan slightly sick and a little turned on all at the same time was that they were all drop dead gorgeous. Perfection in its most physical form. Logan had seen her fair share of beautiful people, but they’d always had flaws of some sort—a gap between their teeth, a scar cutting through their lip or brow, large pores. You know. But these people looked how celebrities appear on the cover of Cosmo after they’d been photo-shopped.
Their leader, a russet-skinned stunner with long hair of black curls and eyes of light green, flashed their group a welcoming smile.
“It’s good to finally meet you, Power Halos,” she said in a voice that had the smooth quality of the finest chocolate. Her accent was indiscernible. But, perhaps that was because Logan’s brain was a little muddled as she stared at the girl’s perfectly shaped, full lips. “I am Keva. And this is, Lyneth, Maysun, Tayten, Esther, Tegan, and Jolie.” As she said each of these names, the beautiful Dominions waved a hand or nodded in greeting, flashing a set of perfectly straight, perfectly white teeth. Logan hated them and loved them and wanted to sleep with all of them. Even the guys.
Peering over at the others, Logan was relieved to see she wasn’t the only one with these feelings. Nearly everyone in their group was gazing up at these giant beauties in stunned awe. The only one who appeared unimpressed was, of course, Aurora, who seemed more wary of the new group than anything.
“There isn’t much time,” Keva stated. “The Horns have already arrived in the city. They aren’t privy to the Light’s plan, but they will soon know where the soul keeper is located. Once they find out, the battle will undoubtedly begin.”
“Where is the soul keeper located?” Aurora asked, the only one in the group able to form coherent words in the presence of such intimidating exquisiteness.
Keva smiled in a knowing way as if she held secrets only she knew. Secrets the Powers would never learn. “Come with us.”
Their usually snarky and talkative group followed after the Dominions in stony silence, the burden of the task ahead weighing like Etheria’s anchors on their shoulders. Bitter London wind blew down the cobblestone street, chilling Logan through her black trench coat now covered in a layer of demon guts.
She walked at the back of the group, keeping a protective eye on the others—her sister especially. Luna kept a tight hold on Gray’s hand as if attempting to pull strength from him. Unfortunately for her, the stronger of the two Stellars was now walking beside Logan, her head held high, dark blue eyes focused resolutely forward.
“You seem unimpressed by the hotness of our new Halo guides,” Logan muttered to the resilient blonde.
Aurora kept her gaze forward, but the corner of her mouth lifted at this. “Perfection is boring.”
Logan snorted.
The quiet city was eerie. Only the wind rustling the trees and the distant sounds of the waves in the River Thames could be heard. The Dominions walked in a horizontal line towards the Westminster Bridge.
“Where are we going?” Logan asked when the silence began to press painfully on her eardrums.
One of the Dominions—Esther, she thought her name was—pointed towards the clock tower on the other side of the bridge.
“Big Ben?” Logan asked.
“Actually,” Sev cut in, “the current official name is Elizabeth Tower, named after Queen Elizabeth II in her Diamond Jubilee year. Many people think the tower itself is called Big Ben, but that’s actually the name of the bell within the tower.”
Logan raised an eyebrow at him. “Fascinating.”
Sev didn't seem to catch the dripping sarcasm in her voice and nodded in agreement. "Very."
“Be nice,” Brielle muttered to Logan under her breath. “He just lost his parents.”
“Ooh, scold me again,” Logan shot back at her in a
low murmur. “I liked it.”
She mostly said things like this to make people blush. Brielle didn’t disappoint as her already pink cheeks grew pinker. For just a moment, her sister’s words about how she thought Brielle might have a thing for Logan drifted into her consciousness. Inwardly rolling her eyes at herself, she shooed them away like an annoying insect. They were about to lock the souls of the city with a band of stunning Dominions. Now was not the time to ponder potential feelings about a straight girl.
As a piercing scream sounded far ahead of them, all thoughts of anything at all vanished from Logan’s mind.
The Dominions were tall and fanned out in a loose V-formation, so it took Logan a few seconds to see who had screamed and why.
“Help!” the same voice cried. “Get the Powers!”
Fueled by a burst of adrenaline, Logan rushed forward, breaking through the now staggered line of Dominions. A small girl, maybe a teenager, stood on the bridge before them with black mascara tears tracked down her face. She wore a pale yellow dress…covered in bright red blood.
Twenty-Two
LUNA
Luna’s stomach clenched with fear at the sight of the girl dressed in yellow and blood. She couldn’t have been older than fifteen.
“Please help us!” the girl cried again. “They’re attacking! My friend is—”
Just then a clump of dark figures appeared in the distance behind the girl in yellow, approaching the group of Halos. They wore clothes of all black with hoods pulled up so that their faces were nothing but shadows.
But Luna had seen flashes of these figures in Alaska before boarding Etheria. These were the people who had planted the stones in the Halos’ bags, which released the hordes of demons onto the ship. These were the people turned into monsters by demon blood. These were—
“Beasts.” Keva’s once smooth voice was ragged and dark now.
Echo (The Halo Series Book 2) Page 12