Velocity: The Gravity Series #2

by A. B. Bloom

  He held out a hand for me to hold. I knew it was there to guide me, but it felt like something else, a peace offering perhaps. “Hold onto my hand and don’t let go.”

  We stepped towards the light and a pulse of excitement fired through me. “Don’t let go,” I said. I was stepping into the unknown and the only person I had to cling onto was Connor. I grasped his hand so tight our fingers slipped with sweat.

  He smiled. “I won’t, Bronte Bell, we’re in this together now.”

  We stepped into the brilliant blue vortex and it closed around us, ready to move us on. I needed to save the other last Star Child so we could make a choice together the way it was always meant to be.

  I had one last thought as we stepped away from Cornwall and I gripped Connor’s hand so tight it stung. “You so need to teach me how to do this.”

  He chuckled, the sound reverberating in the dark blue encasing us. “All in good time, sweetheart, all in good time.”

  I clung onto Connor’s hand. For a long, too long moment it felt like the world had slipped away. All that was left was Connor and I, a mismatched band of two. My stomach ached where my separation from Nick stung like a hefty punch. My head whirled. But all the time Connor held my hand. It was like the bottom had fallen from the universe and we were slipping through.

  It was only when Connor said, “You can open your eyes,” that I realised I had them screwed tightly shut, like a stuck lid on a jam jar.

  I blinked into the darkness. It seemed like the bottom had fallen out of the universe. “Where on earth we are?”

  Connor snickered in the darkness and the sound seemed to echo as if he was laughing into an empty chasm. Despite his laughter, his fingers kept their firm hold. “Are you particularly attached to being on earth?”

  I jolted a little from his grasp but he held firm. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, technically we aren’t on earth.”

  “Where are we?”

  I could sense his shrug in the darkness and the familiar urge to punch him rushed back.

  “It’s how we travel, when needs must.” His breath breezed over my face and I realised how close we were in the dark. As I didn’t know where we were, exactly, I wasn’t in a huge rush to move away from his close proximity. “Space,” he said matter of factly.

  “Space. As in outer?”

  Another snigger. “Inner.”

  “You are teasing, aren’t you?” My voice tightened and it whined into the darkness.

  “Are you going to freak out if I’m not?”

  I pulled in a lungful of “Space” air. “Possibly.”

  “Then, yes, I’m totally teasing, sweetheart.” He wasn’t. I knew it. I felt a distinct need to puke at a projectile rate. “Anyway, it’s nearly done.” He seemed to lean in a little closer. “Wait for it.” I could hear the smile in his voice and watched it morph into a wolfish grin. The darkness lifted into a dark blue, flashing with vibrant sparks of electricity.

  The next thing I knew, my eyes were blinking at the murky daylight surrounding me.

  My legs collapsed onto the mud grass of the moor and I heaved a few times.

  “Very attractive.” He rolled his eyes, but then let out a deep sigh and rubbed circles on my back. Sweat prickled along my skin and it reminded me very much of how I felt before I’d accessed my Star energy. I pushed at clammy strands of hair stuck to my forehead.

  “Space?” I gasped.

  “You’re seriously over thinking it. It’s just a step through the universe. Without actually having to go through the boring rigmarole of catching the train.”

  My eyes were wide. “I’ll catch the train next time.”

  “Sure thing, sweetheart, and I’ll see you hours later as opposed to minutes.” He showed me his watch. It had only been a few minutes since Nick had left to kill my sister.

  My steely resolve hardened. It coiled inside, hardening my senses until I knew protecting her would be the last thing I would do. Even if I had to protect her from Nick. Nick who was serving a punishment for something he wouldn’t even tell me about. Maybe he wasn’t the good guy I’d been lead to believe.

  Connor eyed me with keen scrutiny. “You really are a little firecracker, aren’t you? It’s no wonder he’s been loitering outside your front door the last few years—waiting for you to grow up.” He sent me a broad wink.

  “Shut up, don’t be disgusting,” I snapped. “Listen, how about we have a deal. You stay out of my head and I stay out of yours.” I knew I was nowhere near close enough to controlling my energy so I could block him all the time. The prospect seemed exhausting.

  He grinned and appraised me, his hands on his hips as he surveyed what he saw. "What's it worth?"

  "Me not moaning all the time?"

  He laughed and held a hand out for me to grasp hold of. "Sounds like an offer I can't refuse."

  "You'd be crazy to."

  "Okay, sweetheart, you've got a deal."

  "Can you not call me sweetheart?"

  "No deal."

  I groaned but allowed him to grab my sweaty hand and yank me from the floor.

  "Oh, listen, Bronte." I knew this must be serious because he was using my name.

  "Yep?"

  "Don't go wandering through space by yourself."

  I glanced down at the section of grass I'd landed on as we scuttled through his energy portal. "Why?"

  "It's easy to get lost in there."

  I grimaced at the prospect of getting lost in the darkness and shrugged. "Where am I going to go? You're my last remaining ally."

  Connor looked up at the darkening sky. "Yep. Come on let's go and find some more."

  It only felt like yesterday we'd been on the moor, surrounded by the majestic tents of the Stars as we faced down Ash. It felt like yesterday but I knew everything had changed.

  I'd changed.

  Nick had changed. So it seemed.

  He said he'd protect me at all costs. Would that price be the ultimate sacrifice—his soul?

  I knew that only people, or entities rather, of pure soul kept their unique coloured glow around them. If you took a life, then your soul would be lost forever.

  Weren't our souls fated? So, if he lost his then what would happen to mine? Did I want to be fated to him if he could contemplate killing someone, even if it was in the name of protecting me?

  What would he look like without the beautiful aura of his violet soul shimmering around him?

  We found our way to the low stone wall that separated the moor from the narrow lanes. "Where do you think they are?" I cast a sideways glance at Connor.

  He frowned at the moss-covered wall. "Well I don't know exactly, but Ash will know they are on the move."

  "How?" I gripped the wall and slung my leg over—it didn't seem we had time to frolic in the countryside searching out a wooden gate.

  “Every time we use our skills . . .” He winked here, causing my face to scrunch. “to travel, it causes fluctuations in the energy levels of the universe.”

  “Huh?” I had to stop walking. I shook my head. “Huh?” I repeated, for good measure. “Fluctuation levels in the universe?”

  Connor grinned. “Can I just remind you that you are standing here with a fine specimen of celestial goodness?”

  “Can I just remind you, that you are a complete bloody idiot?”

  He was about to retort when the steady purr of a car made his head whip round. With a sharp tug of his hand he yanked me onto the grass, pulling me low behind the wall and away from the view of the passing car. “What are you doing?” I batted his hand away from its tight grasp on my wrist.

  “Keeping you safe, we don’t know who is looking for you.”

  I watched him with eyes on stalks. “Do you think Aaron is still here?”

  “Who knows who’s where?”

  “Do you not even know where Nick and Celeste are?”

  He shook his head, a flicker of frustration dashing across his features. “No. But they know where we a
re, our little trip through the atmosphere will have flagged that you are no longer at the safe house.”

  “Safe house?” I’d never seen it as that. I hadn’t seen it as anything other than a prison, where I’d been stashed and my memories erased.

  “Where are we going to stay now?” I wondered. I probably should have thought of this earlier.

  Connor’s shoulders lifted. “Let's hope your friend remembers you.”

  “What do you mean, hope? Can’t you just make her remember?”

  His head shook and he pursed his lips. “Sadly not.”

  I scrambled from the dirt. The car was long gone and now we were just lying around in the mud chatting.

  “Why?” I brushed at the debris clinging to my jeans.

  “Because it was Kale who placed the glamour and he’s stronger than me.”

  “Is he stronger than the two of us together?” I remembered all too clearly the thrill of my energy and how much of it there was flowing through my veins. Enough for two, surely?

  It was the first time I’d had the thought. Couldn’t Eleanor and I share the energy? Did it have to be one of us, like Ash said? I mean, after all, he was the one who had told us that. And he was psychotic . . . I knew we had to try . . . before Nick or one of the others got to her first and stopped us from the destiny we both had a right to.

  Connor laughed outright in my face. “Sweetheart, your energy is like puppy kisses compared to his.”

  I tilted my head and evaluated him. “Maybe.” I grinned wickedly. “But I am his daughter and maybe some things are inherited.”

  Connor’s blues flashed as bright as day. “Maybe.” He gazed far off into the distance for a moment. “And you picked up the plasma charge very quick.”

  “Let’s see what you’ve got.” He took a step forward and I backed away.

  “What are you going to do?”

  He laughed in my face which seemed to happen too much and reminded me why I disliked him so. “I’m not going to do anything. You’re going to access your energy and then let me gauge it.”

  My eyes narrowed. “How can I trust you?”

  He laughed again. “How can you not? I’m all you’ve got, sweetheart.”

  This was a sad realisation. He was all I had. We were on the moors in Yorkshire, looking for a friend who couldn’t remember me while my boyfriend / fated soul was off looking for my twin sister to kill.

  Connor’s smile widened and I wanted to wipe it off his face. “See, I’m all you’ve got.”

  “Hey. I thought we were staying out of each other’s head?” He groaned.

  “Yeah, but you are still so damn easy to read.”

  “Try.” I frowned.

  He winked. “Hit me, baby.”

  “Don’t call me baby.” I shut my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see his smug face, and concentrated on finding my energy. It didn’t come naturally to me, I didn’t know if it ever would, but if I searched I could feel it. It ran through me like sparking electricity. Once I’d found it and I could sense the pulse I contained, I opened my eyes with a snap and found Connor watching me closely. His close proximity startled me and I nearly lost my grasp on the pulse, but I managed to hold it steady.

  With his eyes focused on mine he held his hand out. “I’m not taking it, Bron, I’m just sensing. I’ve got to be careful in case it’s too much and it blasts me into smithereens.” He sounded like he was trying to reassure me, and I wondered what he could read on my face.

  While I wasn't opposed to the idea of blasting him into tiny fragments, it would leave me on my own.

  I placed my fingers against his, just a fleeting touch. The energy thrummed between us, not in the electric way it felt when Nick touched me, but I could feel it all same. Connor closed his eyes in concentration.

  When he opened them, he gently pulled his hand away. “It makes so much more sense now.”

  “What?”

  “Why they wanted to hide you from Nick.”

  “I thought they were hiding me from Ash?”

  “That too. But they didn’t want Nick to give you back your energy.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re like the detonator of a nuclear bomb. How Nick held all that energy for so long is beyond me.” His eyes skimmed over me. “Maybe he truly loves you after all.”

  I thought of him leaving to go murder my sister. “I can assure you he doesn’t.” I waved my hands to change the subject. “So now what?” I asked.

  “Now.” He turned for the empty road. “Now, we go and find your best friend and give her her memories back.”

  I rushed down the lanes towards what should have been my home. My feet felt drawn towards my house, to my mum. If I could just see her then I was sure it would make everything at least vaguely bearable. But I knew I couldn’t. I had to keep her safe. Even if the prospect of not seeing her left an aching emptiness like the gaping entry wound of a cannon ball in my chest.

  I stood outside Lauren’s house, my heart thumping and my mouth tingling with a dry tongue.

  It shouldn’t have been nerve wracking. It should have just been a case of marching up to her door, giving her back her memories and everything else turning out hunky dory. But it didn’t feel that easy.

  What if she didn’t want to remember me? What if she was happier the way she was, without knowing about Stars, and wars and Hunters?

  “What time is it?” I asked Connor. He tutted and squinted up at the dimly outlined sun, gauging its position. “Really?” I questioned.

  He grinned which was good, it helped me relax, just a fraction. “No, not really.” he pulled out a phone and frowned at the screen.

  “What?”

  “It’s as I thought. They know we’ve left the safe house.”

  Nick. I didn’t want it to but my first thought was for him.

  “And?”

  Connor pouted his lips and handed me the phone. “It’s for you.”

  I hesitated.

  “Me?”

  He thrust the phone at me and I glanced at screen. Firstly, it was four thirty in the afternoon, so Lauren should be home. Secondly, there was a message across the screen. In my haste to leave the Cornish safe house I’d left all my belongings at home. I only had with me what I was wearing. Not my phone.

  I ASKED YOU TO TRUST ME. NOT HIM.

  The chain that I’d forcibly snapped in two pooled and turned, the separate ends straining to reconnect. I wished I couldn’t feel it as intensely as I did. It hurt on levels I didn’t know it was possible to suffer. I bent over and breathed through the intense pull.

  Connor placed his hand on my shoulder. “It hurts,” he soothed. “I know it does.”

  I searched for his eyes, trying to read if he was being honest. “How do you know?”

  “I’ve seen it before.”

  Clutching onto his arm I straightened up. I was determined to fight the pain.

  “What’s happening?”

  “You’ve broken the connection between your souls.” His face flinched. “It’s gonna sting a little.” I waited for him to slip ‘Sweetheart’ in there, so I could despise him just a little bit, but he didn’t. Instead his steady blue eyes watched me as I breathed through the ache.

  I was using my lungs naturally to breathe in and out when Lauren’s front door flung open. My mouth dropped as I watched my mother step out onto the front porch.

  “What the . . ?” I began to say, but Connor grasped my hand. A veil as fine as fresh spun spider webs dropped between my mother and I. She was turning and smiling at Lauren’s mum.

  “Thanks, Brenda.” she said. “It’s such a relief to talk. I don’t know what’s going on with her.”

  Brenda was smiling and nodding sympathetically. “Daughters, hey?” She laughed. “Who’d have them?”

  Mum sighed. “I know, and I’m sure Eleanor sets out on a daily basis to fill my life with unexpected challenges. And to think I wanted more children.” Just then there was a loud shriek from inside Lauren’
s house and the crash of something breakable.

  I gasped. But hidden behind the veil of Connor’s glamour no one heard me.

  “You wouldn’t change it though.” Brenda said, her attention distracted by the explosion noise escalating in the house behind her.

  Mum smiled. “I wouldn’t change her for the world.”

  Another crash had Brenda closing the door. “I’ll see you soon.”

  Mum turned and walked down the lane to our house. My feet turned to follow her. Why did she think Eleanor was her daughter? How did she even know about Eleanor?

  What the hell was going on?

  “Wait.” Connor pulled on my arm. “Wait, this isn’t right.” His fingers gripped into my flesh but in a way the pain was good, it kept me focused and together somehow. “Celeste said they’d found her, not that she was where we’d left her all along.” His face scrunched and he chewed on a rag of nail as he contemplated what to do.

  I didn’t have time for this. “I’m going after her.”

  “Who, Eleanor?”

  “No. You idiot. My mum.”

  Connor tried to grasp my sleeve but I dodged him, pacing after mum. I mean, in all honesty it didn’t matter if she turned and saw me over her shoulder, she had another daughter now.

  My head spun as I followed her.

  She had another daughter now.

  My heart thumped inside my chest, banging with such ferocity, I thought it may break it’s way free of my rib cage.

  What had happened here? They’d told me they’d erased the memories of mum and Lauren. Not that I’d been replaced by the girl I’d always hated but who was also my sister.

  The house was the same as it always had been. The bins were against the small porch and the pathway needed weeding. My bedroom window was slightly ajar. I thought of when Nick had perched on my bedroom window ledge and asked me to take a walk with him. Before Aaron had found the Star camp and attacked.

  Bile rose up my throat and I swallowed it back down, grimacing at the sour after taste. Mum slammed her way through the door calling, “Baby, I’m home.” The door shut before I could hear the response.

  My feet kept moving along the path. It felt familiar. The grooves of small stones stuck under the soles of my shoes the way they had countless times before. On the doorstep was a milk bottle with a rolled-up piece of paper poking from the top. Without reading it I knew it was telling the milkman to only bring one bottle the following day because mum was going to try Soya again.