Brielle stopped walking forward, coming to a halt in front of a bush covered in golden roses. “Oh my gosh. I think I know him!”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He flew one of the guys in my group to Seattle. Right before Caducus fell.”
Danni Jo’s mouth slackened. “Holy moly. You’re part of that group?”
“Yeah! Did he tell you about us?”
The blonde was shaking her head now. “Well, yeah, but he’s not the only one. Your group is kind of famous amongst the other Power Halos.”
Brielle flashed her a bewildered look. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. You’re with the two guys who are writing that demon book, and the twins, and the soul mates who stopped the battle on Etheria, right?”
“That would be us.”
“Wow.” Danni Jo brought a hand to her mouth to cover her wide smile. “I feel like I just realized I’ve been talking to a celebrity or something.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
“You know what they call y’all, right?”
Brielle’s brows moved together, and she shook her head.
“They call y’all the Super Halos.”
Brielle snorted. “Super Halos?”
Danni Jo nodded emphatically. “Yeah. It’s a good thing. I promise. Everyone thinks y’all are more powerful than all the rest of us. Like superheroes, you know? You’re famous, girl.” Danni Jo nudged Brielle with her elbow, taking a sip of her latte.
A smile she couldn’t keep from forming spread across Brielle’s face. They’d been so stuck in their own little bubble that none of them had considered what the other Power Halos must have thought about them. She tried really hard not to let their divine power go to her head. But if she said this news didn’t make her feel a little bit like a badass, she’d be lying.
The image of her standing atop of a tall building dressed in a skintight catsuit, long brown hair blowing dramatically in the wind, bubbled up in her mind like the memory of an embarrassing dream. It was lame to get excited about this, she knew. But it was also really freaking cool. Everyone wanted to be known for something, right? And now she was.
She was a Super Halo.
CHORD
Fueled by the thought of actually doing something productive that didn’t involve riding around in a little angel boat all the live long day made Chord pack a small bag faster than he’d ever packed in his life. Usually, this was an ordeal. What vest looked best with what shoes? What skinny tie should he wear with that shirt? How much hair product was too much hair product? Well, you could never have too much hair product. So that was always a stupid question. But now, with Sev bustling around in the other room, Chord shoved an array of Halo armor into a bag. That’s all he wore now anyway.
Passing by the dresser covered in his beauty supplies, he paused. His hand itched, and he gave into the temptation, swiping his hair clay into the leather bag. And his shampoo. And his tweezers. You never know when you might have a stray eyebrow hair that needs plucking. And a comb, because, hair needed to be free of tangles to be completely out of the way. Wouldn’t want any stray strands falling in his eyes at the wrong time. It was really a life or death tool if you thought about it.
Fifteen minutes later, after an agonizing mental battle over whether he should bring his aftershave or not, Chord emerged from the room. “Ready.”
Sev, carrying a small leather tote, gave him a tight-lipped smile, eyes moving down to Chord’s over-stuffed bag of toiletries piled atop Halo armor.
“Shut up, Sevastion. I only brought the necessities.”
“Clay Pomade is a necessity?”
Chord looked down to see the lid of his precious hair product sticking out of the zipper. “The fact that you know what that is from just the top tells me you’re a lot gayer than you were letting on.”
“I read the label.”
“Then you have insanely good eyesight. Either way, this isn’t helpful. Let’s go.” Chord moved to leave the apartment, but Sev held out a hand to bar his exit. “What are you doing?”
“We are waiting for Verity.”
Chord’s head bobbed forward in an are-you-effing-kidding-me way. “You told Verity about our plan?”
“Not yet. But I plan on it.”
“I know you Brits always try to do what’s socially proper and shit, but telling our group leader that we are leaving Hiraeth to capture a Beast and conduct experiments on it is not the best idea you’ve ever had.”
Sev shrugged, clearly disagreeing. “It’s best to be honest. So they don’t worry.”
Chord’s eyes fell to slits. “You were one of those kids who told his parents when he stole a cookie from the cookie jar, weren’t you.”
“We call them biscuits.”
Chord threw his hands up in silent exasperation before stomping over to the couch, dropping his heavy bag onto the seat beside him, crossing his arms in defeat. Sev turned away, but Chord thought he saw a hint of an amused grin as he did. Bastard.
Verity showed up a minute later with a dainty knock on the door. Sev let her in with the grace of any proper British aristocrat. All Downton Abbey-like. The hippietastic angel flounced into the room, greeting Chord with an airy wave. Today she wore a multi-colored ensemble of silky scarves and shimmery skirts that sparkled as the light streaming in from the window hit it. She looked like a walking prism.
Sev led her into the sitting room where Chord sat watching her with his mouth set in a straight line. Her strawberry blonde hair—not all that far off from Chord’s own shade—fell in long curls down her back. She brushed it over her shoulder, crossing her legs and folding her hands over her knee as she waited for one of them to speak.
First, she looked to Chord, but when he shook his head and aimed a heated glare at Sev, Verity turned her head towards the Brit.
Sev shot Chord a quick look of exasperation before he spoke. “Verity, Chord and I wanted to inform you of a plan we have.”
“All right.” Verity’s voice was pleasant, and she smiled warmly, communicating that she was listening.
Sev set in on explaining their plan of traveling to land in search of a Beast to capture. He was rather matter-of-fact about it, and nothing in his words conveyed the intention of asking her permission. Her once-pleasant expression shifted to one of mild concern. Chord remained sitting with his arms crossed, slouching down a little into the cushions of the couch. When Sev finished, Verity was silent a moment, apparently processing what she had just been told.
Her head bowed. “I cannot say this plan does not worry me. The land of the earth has been taken over by Caducus’s followers. The actions of the Horns are an attempt to draw the Halos away from Hiraeth, knowing full well they cannot reach you here. If you were to leave, you would essentially be ‘taking the bait’ so to speak.”
Sev nodded in understanding. “I see your concern. Know that we are not traveling to land to fight a horde of Horns or Beasts. We wouldn’t even be traveling to our hometowns. We are solely interested in capturing a Beast to find a way to turn them back.”
“I cannot fault you for that.” Verity smiled in a proud motherly way. “And I cannot tell you to stay, as much as I would like to. The gift of free will was a great one, and the Light is clear about its terms. If a Halo chooses to leave, they are able to at any time.”
“Well, we aren’t leaving for good,” Chord said.
The look on Verity’s face was somber. “Given the danger I have seen on land…you might be.”
Eight
GRAY
Gray gave Aurora a good handful of hours to hate him in whatever way she needed to hate him. After he had told her what had happened to her brother that day in Seattle, she’d rushed away from him. He didn't bother following after her. Knowing Aurora, she would need to be alone. So, he’d given her as much time as he could physically bear to give, driving himself mad with the thought of how much the news he’d delivered had destroyed her.
When he couldn’t take it anymore,
he left his apartment--not even bothering to shut the door behind him--and hurried to Aurora’s room. As much as he wanted to bust the door down, he gritted his teeth and did the gentlemanly act of actually knocking. Counting to ten in his head, he pounded on the door again, a bit harder this time.
Relief followed by disappointment came to him as the door opened to reveal Soren rather than Aurora. The young boy’s dark curls were disheveled, and his bright blue eyes bore into Gray’s.
The unwanted image of the metamorphosed man Gray had pictured during Stellar training fluttered to the forefront of his mind, fading until all Gray could see was Soren.
Impossible, he told himself. That’s impossible.
Soren cut through his obsessive thoughts. “She’s mad at you,” he said directly. “Well, she was mad. Now she’s just sad.”
These words felt like swallowing fire, and Gray clenched his teeth for a while before he was able to respond. “I didn’t want to make her sad. That’s why it took me so long to tell her.”
“You didn’t do anything bad,” the young boy said in an echoing voice. “It wasn’t you. It was the Horns.” A shadow passed across his features. “Caducus’s people. Bad people. Like my dad.”
Gray knelt down in front of Soren, making eye contact, trying to forget the image of the metamorphosed man. “You know that who he is, isn’t who you are, right? You also have part of your mom in you. The good part.”
“I am like him though,” he said in a haunted voice. “I hurt people.”
“Hurt people? You mean your foster parents?”
Soren’s eyes cut away from Gray’s, moving to the hard marble floor and remaining there. He didn’t speak.
“It’s okay,” Gray said in a quiet voice. “You don’t have to talk about it now.”
Soren’s eyebrows rose, clearly surprised that he wasn’t going to be asked to speak words he didn't want to say. Surely David wouldn't have let an unanswered question go.
Gray moved to a standing position, attempting to look past Soren into the apartment. No trace of Aurora could be seen. “Can I come in?”
“She’s not here,” Soren said.
Gray’s stomach dropped and twisted at the same time. “She’s not?”
The boy’s dark curls moved as he shook his head. “She was here. But now she’s not.”
“Did she say where she was going?”
“For a walk.”
Gray bit back the frustrated curse bubbling up his throat. “Okay. I’m going to make sure she’s okay. If she comes back before I find her, will you tell her I was here?” Not that she would go looking for him. But at least she would know he hadn’t completely abandoned her.
“I’ll tell her.”
Finding Aurora in Hiraeth was like trying to find a grain of rice in a bucket of sand you couldn’t pour out. It could be done…but it was going to take a while. He knew it was unlikely that she would be anywhere inside the city, given that people were in the city, and when Aurora sought out a place of solitude, she searched for places with the least amount of people possible.
Gray rode the elevator down to the base of their apartment complex, passing the little coffee shop, Thinking better of it, he doubled back.
“Hello,” he said to the two baristas behind the counter. Their golden name tags read “Ebony” and “Ivory,” which was slightly amusing because they looked like a real-life representation of the song Ebony and Ivory. One of them—Ivory—was pale with platinum hair and ice-blue eyes, and the other—Ebony—was the deepest shade of black, with dark eyes and braided hair a shade darker than her skin.
“What can we get for you, Gray?” Ivory asked.
“Oh, uh, nothing. I was just going to see if you remembered seeing a blonde girl leaving the building by herself.”
“Aurora?” Ebony asked.
This took Gray slightly aback for just a moment, though it shouldn’t by now. All the angels seemed to know their names. “Yes, her.”
Both of the girls nodded.
“She left about half an hour ago. Walking in that direction.” Ivory pointed to the window facing the direction of the sea.
“She didn’t order any coffee,” Ebony said with a regretful frown. “Which is a shame because she loves coffee.”
“Would you like us to make you both something?” Ivory asked as Ebony began flitting around behind the bar.
“Oh, no, that’s not—”
“Here you are.” Ebony handed over two coffees. “One with brown sugar and cream, one without.”
Gray took the drinks and thanked the two angel baristas before breezing out the door. He resisted the urge to throw the cups away because he didn’t at all feel like drinking coffee. But a peace offering might be necessary if he found Aurora. When I find her, he thought, not if.
He turned to the right, wandering down the silver sidewalk lining the massive buildings. The amount of Halos from all nine choirs out and about surprised Gray. He tried not to judge them for their ease of laughing and strolling about the city, seemingly oblivious to the horror taking place on land. People dealt with their grief and stress differently. Sometimes finding a distraction was all a person could do to keep themselves together.
Passing a group of Virtue Halos lying in the shade of an ash tree, Gray noticed the buildings becoming less tall and squished together, making room for foliage and greenery. He was nearing the edge of the cliff. And he half expected to find Aurora on a random wooden swing set attached to a large rock or something. But no swing set, wooden or otherwise, came into view. The coffees in his hands remained scalding, and he wondered if there was some kind of angel magic in them to retain the heat.
Then all thoughts of hot coffee left his brain.
Aurora was in the distance, her golden hair whipping in the wind. She stood at the edge of the cliff. The very edge. Her arms were spread out wide and her back curved, as if she were leaning forward. The most terrifying of all thoughts entered his mind then.
She’s going to jump.
The drinks fell from his hands, crashing and spilling onto the soft ground.
Then he ran.
AURORA
Standing on the edge of the cliffs of Hiraeth, Aurora tried to imagine what it might feel like to fly. It was a shame that Halos couldn’t have wings, at least not until after they died and became Guardians. It was probably for the better, to be honest. They would likely get little training done if they knew they could just jump into the air and soar away at their whim.
Holding her arms out and arching her back, Aurora closed her eyes, soaking in every sensation. The saltwater breeze cooled her still-hot cheeks, and she reveled in the sound of the waves, the feel of the air, the smell of the ocean.
Then a wall of flesh and muscle and armor crashed into her, pulling her back and slamming her to the ground.
Rolling onto her side, the blurry face of her assailant materialized. At first, her brain conjured up the image of David, and she immediately unsheathed her crux. Then she saw the dark curls and hazel eyes set in a chiseled face of terror mingled with fury. The air had been knocked from her, so it took quite a bit longer than she would have liked to spit the next words.
“What in the fiery pits of hell do you think you’re you doing, Gray?”
“What am I doing? What are you doing?” His voice sounded angrier than she’d ever heard it. Both of them sat up now. “Jesus, Aurora. I know you’re upset about what happened to your brother, but you can’t just go and do something stupid like this. Honestly. What were you thinking? You have a son. You have a duty to him, and to the rest of us. The other Halos. And to me. Hate me all you want, hit me with big giant rocks and torture me with silence, but don’t go and jump off cliffs.”
Aurora held up her hands, stopping him. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second. You seriously thought I was trying to kill myself? Are you kidding me, Cross?”
“Well? You were standing right on the ledge with your arms out, leaning forward. How was I supposed to know you—wait, di
d you just call me by my surname?”
Shrugging, Aurora pushed herself up to a standing position, holding out a hand for Gray to take. “Probably. I do that when I’m mad. I was a substitute for too long. Or maybe I read too much Harry Potter as a child.”
“You read Harry Potter?” Gray’s eyebrows rose as he remained on the ground.
“Of course I read Harry Potter. It’s a classic. Why the tone of surprise?”
“I’m not surprised. You have too colorful of a vocabulary to not be a reader. Though, given the nature of the book you were reading the first time I met you on the plane, I figured you traded out fantasy and fairy tales for gore and horror.”
Aurora took back her outstretched hand and placed it on her hip, looking out over the low clouds and tumultuous ocean. “Oh right… I forgot about that book. I never got to finish.”
Not that it mattered all that much now she had actually seen death, even caused it firsthand. After you’ve been bathed in demon blood, the idea of reading a horror novel for fun sounded almost sadistic.
Aurora looked away from the view to Gray's eyes, flickering with something like amusement. “What?”
“Soren reads Harry Potter too, you know.”
“Yes, I know. He carries that book everywhere he goes. I’m not that unobservant of a mother.”
Gray ignored this last comment. “You know why he reads that, don’t you?”
Aurora sighed in exasperation, plopping back down beside Gray who was leaning back on the ground, propped up on his forearms. She tried to ignore the definition of his muscles beneath his shirt. It didn't help her waning annoyance.
“I don’t know. Because he likes magic? Because he likes British people? Because he likes owls and broomsticks and strangely shaped scars?”
Gray chuckled and shook his head, the corner of his mouth ticking up into a lazy smile. “Because he relates to it. To the main character. They’re both orphans. They both have parents who aren’t entirely human. They both feel like outcasts in one way or another.”
Stellar (The Halo Series Book 3) Page 5