Velocity: The Gravity Series #2

by A. B. Bloom

  “My mum?” Kale shook his head. “No, she’s fine, I promise. I can explain if you will give me the chance. I’ll tell you everything that happened on the moor, and why we made the decisions that we did. But you must listen. Everything is more complicated than we ever could have known.”

  I glanced between him and Nick. I couldn’t work out what was going on. Was Nick okay with all this? Didn’t he have something to say about the fact I’d been hidden from him, that he’d been banned from seeing me? Or the fact his eternal soul mate had accidentally been born into the last remaining star child?

  Except I was no longer the last star child. I had a twin sister who had been kept from me.

  And that's when I remembered. My legs buckled beneath me and Nick grasped onto my arms, holding me up like a dolly as I threatened to crumple to the ground. "My sister," I gasped. The sound strangling from my throat as I struggled to make my chest rise and fall with breaths.

  Eleanor. I'd only found out she was my sister just before the white flames had consumed me. The last time I'd seen her she'd been a bedraggled mess slumped on the floor of our pretend father's feet.

  “Where is Eleanor?” I demanded. I hated Eleanor, always had done. We’d always been sworn enemies our entire lives and I'd never known the reason why. Never known my step father was pretending to be her dad the same time he was parenting me. Never known he was feeding her all sorts of jealous thoughts that would make her resent me and make my life hell. Yet, I could remember, all too clearly, how I’d felt when I’d seen her bundle to the floor at Aaron’s feet.

  “We don’t know.” Kale said.

  “But she’s your daughter too?”

  “I didn’t know.” He held his hands palm up. “I only knew about you.” The blood in my veins sizzled and burned. I absorbed the sight of them all. This was a game to them, a war, and Eleanor and myself were the pieces they were going to play with. My stomach lurched.

  “Stay away from me!” I shouted, as I backed my way to the kitchen door, my hand fumbling until it connected with the brass handle. Nick started forward. “Including you.” I seethed the words at him and he recoiled at my vehemence. I stepped backwards through the door, making sure that none of them followed. As soon as I was clear of the frame, I started to run in the darkness. The violet dress flying around my legs as I made my escape. I didn't know where I was running to, all I knew was that I needed some time to get my head around everything.

  I followed the lanes until I hit the dark, murky sea. All the roads lead to the sea here. Twice in one night I'd chased to the shore, the first time to find Nick, the second to escape him. Once there, I came to a standstill; I breathed in deep, filling my straining lungs with salt tinged air.

  This was too much for me. I snorted at the thought. Before the events on the moor, I’d thought I’d learned enough to overload my brain forever.

  Stars were real. They could come to the earth and manipulate matter. I was a star child and could use energy to transform myself. Then on the moor I’d found out about my sister.

  My heart ached.

  I wanted to go back to that night. I wanted to go get Lauren, my best friend, and untie the gag around her mouth myself. I wanted to tell Eleanor that somehow we would sort all this out. Somehow we would find a way to save the world, save the stars, save ourselves. But I had done none of that. Instead, I’d died, and when I'd woken, I'd been submerged into a glamour that had twisted my reality one step too far. They'd made me think my mother was dead. That grief had been real. It had pulled my insides out and made my heart splinter like it would have . . . I cut the thought from my mind. They'd made me think I'd spent years moving around, alone. Instead of a solitary existence, I'd had a best friend all my life.

  I didn't know if I could forgive them any of this.

  What was worse—Nick. A sob caught in my throat. Nick who was supposed to be my soul mate had been ripped away into the sky. The next time I died and he was forced away, it wouldn’t be me he would come back to. It would be my soul, but not me containing it. It was the most daunting prospect of all, trying to wrap my head around the other girls. Understanding that all the girls I’d dreamed of had contained my soul, but none of them had been me. None of them knew about each other.

  I was the only one who knew.

  I sat on a slab of limestone rock overlooking the churning, inky, black sea. This was more of a mess than I ever would have thought.

  “May I sit?” A voice called behind me. I didn’t bother to turn around.

  “Knock yourself out.”

  “Would you like me to tell you what happened?” Kale asked.

  “No.”

  “Do you even know what I’m asking? I've heard you had a question for everything.”

  “That was before my life imploded.” I kept my eyes focused on the sea.

  “Bronte.” A hand landed on my shoulder and gave a squeeze. I shrugged it off, my blood racing in my veins.

  “Why did you get my mum pregnant when you knew it was illegal?”

  The sea clattered beneath us as I waited for him to answer. Time stretched before he answered. “This war has been brewing for centuries. The fine balance in the sky would never last. And before long, I knew we would never win, we would never fulfil the prophecy of our destiny if I didn't act. I knew the hunter would win, and daylight would fail. We were out of options so I made a hard decision.”

  “So you used my mum?” I wanted to punch him. Harder than I'd wanted to punch Connor for kissing me.

  “No, not at all,” he whispered. “I was in love with your mum, and then when the last star child was slaughtered, I made a decision I never wanted to make.”

  “You were in love with her.” Despite myself, I turned to face him. My knees grazed on the rock through the thin fabric of the dress. I should have been cold, sat in the dark wearing only silk, but I wasn't. That was the power of my energy coursing through my body again. “Why did she never mention you?”

  I watched his eyes harden as he glanced out at the churning ocean. “Once I knew you’d been safely created, I erased all memory of myself from her mind. It wasn’t an easy thing to do, it hurt me more than anything I’d ever experienced, but I knew it was safer for her.”

  “So why did you separate my energy into a necklace?” I could still remember the broken bones and falling hair that had befallen me since my birthday. My life had flushed down the chute after my sixteenth birthday. Until Nick had arrived and helped me access the power I didn’t know was mine.

  “I figured it was safer, that I’d come back and give it to you.” He let out a gust of air. “I knew you’d have enough energy inside you to see you through. I didn’t predict the hunter being so close, nor their being a twin you would have to share your energy with.”

  This still made little sense. “Why didn’t you come and find me then? Find us?”

  Kale’s hand slid down my arm and grasped my hand as he scooted next to me. It was a brave move; I was still pretty close to throwing him off the rock and letting him wash out to sea. Shame Star’s couldn’t die like that. “Do you honestly think I didn’t?”

  I shifted to see him. “Well I was always in the same place.”

  “I know. But I couldn’t see you there. Ash covered you well.”

  “Who’s Ash?”

  Kale frowned. “Ash is who you know as Aaron.”

  “Oh.”

  A thought was niggling at the back of my head and I chased it around until I could pin it down. “How come the other Stars could find me? They’ve been watching me my whole life?”

  “Ash was smarter than I ever would have given him credit for. He played a long game. He allowed them to think they were protecting you from a distance. While disguising you from me and hiding your sister from everyone.”

  “Yep. He’s an evil genius.” I still couldn’t quite grasp my mind around the fact Aaron, my step dad, was the hunter who had mercilessly slaughtered the other star children. Nor, that he’d hidden my twin f
rom me while also pretending to be her dad. My head reeled with the information it tried to contain. Stars could create what they called Glamour’s. They could alter the reality around them and manipulate what humans saw. Aaron had pulled off the biggest glamour of all by pretending to be two people at once, and convincing my mother she’d only had one child. He was more than an evil genius. He was an evil bastard.

  “Will you come back and talk to the others? Celeste thinks you will never forgive her, she’s been fighting for you all the time.”

  “Hm.” I was recalling all too clearly the hair straighteners. "She lied."

  He shook his head. "They were following orders. It's what they are trained to do. They've spent years protecting you at all costs. It was just another protection detail."

  This stung more than I would like. I thought I was Celeste's friend, but really I was a protection job. Tears stung in my eyes but I brushed them away. This was war, not a childish game. I needed to work out my place in the scheme of things. I needed to realise there wasn't room for friendship in war. The sooner I got my head around that, the easier it would be.

  “And Nick is worried. Worried that this may all be too much for you to deal with,” he continued.

  I glanced up at Kale’s face. Wasn't this the man who had tried to keep us apart? Who had banned Nick for giving me back my energy? “And you don’t find it odd that I’m fated to one of your Star buddies? Isn’t that weird?”

  Kale laughed a low chuckle. “I won't lie, when I walked into that clearing on the moor and found you in his arms, I was a little taken aback.” He squeezed my fingers in a fatherly gesture that made my eyes sting even more. “But I know his connection to you is something else. He found you even though there were three of us hiding you.”

  “Were you hiding me from him or Ash?” I couldn’t bring myself to say the name Aaron. It was easier that the traitor had another name I could spit out like a dirty word.

  “Ash. Nick knows why we kept him away.”

  “Does he?” Cause he seemed kind of mad earlier.

  Kale chuckled again. “Rather, he understands now.” Kale watched the sea. “He also knows there is a price. A price that you both must pay.”

  “A price for what?”

  “For the past.”

  “Okey dokey, then. Now that’s all cleared up.” I clapped my hands together. “So glad I understand.”

  “Do you?” he asked, “Understand?” Sarcasm was clearly of no use.

  “Nope. Nowhere even close.”

  Kale stood and reached his hand for me. “Come back to the house and we can talk in more detail.”

  I didn’t want to, but then I knew staring out at the sea wouldn't get me anywhere. Besides, the fact the chain was rankling, pulling me towards Nick. I stood, ignoring Kale’s outstretched hand. “Listen, Bronte. I need to tell you something.” I looked at him in mock surprise. “More? There is something else I need to know?”

  “Yes.” Nope. Sarcasm was truly lost on him. What a waste. “I will have to send Nick away.”

  I stopped dead. “What? Why?”

  Kale had the decency to look a little ashamed as he watched my reactions closely. “Because you aren’t allowed to be with him.”

  “What because of Connor?” I exploded.

  “No.” He pursed his lips and I realised he was working out how much to tell me. “Because Nick isn’t allowed you. It’s his punishment.”

  “Punishment for what?” I would have got down on my hands and knees and begged if I thought Kale would tell me. But I could sense from the set of his face he wouldn’t.

  “Everything’s different this time.”

  I grabbed his hand. It felt strange. “That’s what Nick keeps saying but I don’t understand.”

  He shook his head, genuine remorse creasing his features into an unhappy mask. “You aren’t supposed to, that’s the point. You already know too much.”

  Deep in my heart, I wasn’t sure I would ever get my head around the history that Nick and I had. This history he knew but I could only dream snippets of. These riddles were too much. It made me wonder if he was actually in love with me, or just the soul I was carrying. Whether it made any difference to him what I looked like, or the personality that I had.

  What did it mean to be fated? What did it mean for gravity to pull you together? Did he hate falling for me, my soul, endlessly?

  The answers to these questions petrified me.

  Scared about what I would learn. Scared about what the price would be that we’d have to pay, and whether it would be too high.

  More than anything, I was terrified that I would not be the girl they all wanted me to be. Maybe they would have been better off with my sister. The other last Star Child.

  The house was teeming with people when we got back. I wondered where they’d all come from. Had they been there all along, but just hidden from me? Was I that unobservant? Dad and I had maintained an uneasy silence on the walk home. My meshed memories were causing residual head pains, but I could feel my energy. It flowed through me. I took comfort from that. I had so many questions to ask Nick still, like I wanted to know how he had kept my energy for so long? How he had found me and fallen again? How had he felt about those other girls? Why was this happening to us? How could he be serving a punishment and then I ended up in the body of the last star child? Was that part of the punishment?

  What were we being punished for?

  Yet at the same time, I also knew I had questions for other people.

  The key one being how the hell did I die and come back to life? Before I faced anyone, I ran up to my violet walled room. My colour scheme made much more sense now I knew about Nick. The walls were the exact same colour as his eyes and his soul. My soul. I ran for my cupboard, worried I would miss something downstairs. I tore off the evening dress I’d been wearing for too many hours and pulled on some old sweats and a hoodie. Instantly, I felt a little more like myself—whoever she was.

  Celeste sent me a mournful look as I entered the room. Stars hovered around expectantly, waiting for something to begin. It felt like being at an AGM but not knowing what the AGM was for . . . How to Stop a Psycho from ruining the world? Most of the visitors I recognised from the night before Aaron came along and ruined everything, and the night we’d spent stationed on the moor at the Star camp. Kesh, their leader was in the corner talking in hushed tones to a tall, fair man. At least I'd thought Kesh was their leader, but as I watched Kale stride into the centre of the room, I was no longer sure.

  Nick sat on the sofa, his arms resting on his knees and a grim look about his face. He was angry with me for running off. I sunk down on the seat next to him and nudged him with my shoulder. “Sorry,” I murmured.

  His face turned and the violets melted into warm pools. “No need.” He said the words but his body language remained stiff.

  “So, everyone. Bronte, or Tara as we have been calling her, has regained her memories.” Kale, took to the room, his commanding voice captivating.

  I gave a little throat clearing cough.

  Kale lifted both eyebrows, a small smile playing on his lisp. “Yes?”

  “I have a few questions.”

  “You surprise me, Tara, and here I was giving you carte blanche outside but you were just storing them all up.”

  I grimaced at him. “Can we start with you calling me Bronte? I’m not Tara.”

  I caught Nick’s lips lifting a twitch.

  Kale nodded. “Sure, Bronte. And your next question?”

  I pondered which of the many questions my next one should be. I knew I would go off on a tangent once the conversations flowed and the answers came.

  When it came to it, there was only one question for me to ask: “What the hell happened on the moor?”

  Connor snorted loud enough that the room turned to look at him. “What?” He smirked. “Bronte wants to know what happened after her and the boyf got all sucky sucky and exchanged saliva.”

  “Gah, you’re re
pulsive.” I sneered at him but it made him smile more. Then his words registered. “What do you mean after we kissed?” I turned to Nick. “It wasn’t the kissing that made me die, was it?” I flushed, this was uncomfortable in front of an audience.

  Nick let out a deep breath of air and stared at the cream carpet. “I was going for a coma again.” He didn’t make eye contact.

  “What” I exploded. “You were aiming for a coma? Really?”

  Nick had the audacity to straighten his shoulders and look me in the eye. “In a tight spot, I figured it was better than Ash getting hold of you and slitting your throat.” He didn’t hesitate to deliver the punch line. “Which is what he would have done, by the way.”

  I recoiled away from him. “A coma was better?” I was red for a whole other reason than the faint embarrassment that some people may have seen a kiss. Nick held my gaze with a steady calmness.

  “We can talk about this later.” he murmured.

  “Too damn right we will,” I muttered, before having my attention pulled by Kesh, who stood up and joined Kale in the middle of the room.

  “Anyway, Bronte.” His words soothed like a balm and I felt the blood in my veins cool. All the Stars had certain talents. Nick’s was reading my thoughts, creating glamours that could convince hundreds of people they were somewhere they weren’t and apparently putting me into a coma. Celeste could speak directly into the minds of others should she wish. I wondered why she was being so quiet? Her gaze was steady on the carpet. I didn’t know what Connor’s talent was apart from being bloody annoying, but I wondered if Kesh could calm emotions. It sounded crazy, but then my life was anything but sane these days.

  Kesh caught my attention, his dark eyes shining like midnight against his dark skin. “When you were facing Ash.” His face flickered a frown, his eyes narrowing. “I could feel another force coming in. A powerful force.” He glanced up at Kale who seemed to stare into the distance. “And I hoped beyond hope it was who I’d been searching for.” He paused here. “But by that point it was too late, events would be what they would be.”