Gray had been expecting one of the three primary characters, or perhaps an animal. Not the guy who basically tortured Harry throughout the series. But the more he thought about it, the more similarities he saw between Soren and the dark potions master. “The double-agent?” Gray said. “Or have you read to the end?”
“Yes, of course I have.”
Soren said this as if he were the one speaking to a young child rather than the other way around.
“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 eery 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 polka-dot 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.
“Yo
u’re lucky I love you.”
“You’re right.”
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Melody is the Amazon Bestselling Author of the Underground Series. She lives in Texas with her husband and two fat cats. When she isn’t teaching, she can be found in a cozy coffee shop with a latte in her hand, typing madly away with little awareness of the world around her. As a dreamer by nature—her story worlds are where she is happiest.
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Echo (The Halo Series Book 2) Page 29