Stellar (The Halo Series Book 3)

by Melody Robinette

  Sev finished his work, pulling the wire free. The mouth dropped open, and Chord made a revolted noise from behind Sev as he inspected the interior of the creature’s mouth. Sores of some sort covered the inside of his cheeks and coated his tongue.

  Sev wondered if it had something to do with the demon venom. It didn’t look like the creature had bitten itself. More like the patches one might get from sucking on a sour candy for too long.

  Dropping the forceps onto the tray of instruments, Sev heaved the pail of salt water off the counter.

  “Thank you for the water, by the way, Jill.”

  It took Chord a moment to get the joke. It usually did. Perhaps because it always caught him off guard when Sev joked.

  Either way, he laughed now.

  Sev carried the pail to the examining table. He dipped a cloth inside, wringing it out and placing it on the creature’s arm. A sound like a sizzle could be heard and, as Sev lifted the cloth, he saw the skin had returned to its olive tone. But it only lasted a handful of seconds before reverting to grey.

  “What are you doing?” Chord asked, moving closer now.

  Sev remained quiet as he filled a shallow basin with the salt water, placing the creature’s hand inside. He watched as, again, the skin returned to a pleasant, olive tone. This time, it didn’t revert. Because it didn’t have a chance. The salt in the water kept it from doing so.

  “Clearly the saline has an adverse effect on the demon poison,” Sev muttered more to himself than to Chord. “The quandary is discovering a way for it to be permanent rather than temporary.”

  “Maybe the salt water needs to be poured inside of him,” Chord suggested.

  “Could be…”

  Sev dipped the cloth in the sea water once again, only this time he wrung it out inside the creature’s agape mouth. The sores on the beast’s cheeks and tongue stitched themselves together. To Sev’s surprise, they stayed that way rather than reverting.

  “Perhaps if we filled his veins with saline…” Sev thought aloud.

  “Well, the problem is that this creature is dead. So, its blood isn’t circulating. Nothing we do to this thing,” Chord nudged the dead beast with the back of his hand, “will tell us exactly what would happen to one who was alive.”

  Sev folded his arms, leaning back. “You’re right.”

  “I know.”

  “You know what this means, right?”

  Chord sighed heavily, looking truly put out. “Yeah… I’ll go get more weapons.”

  Twenty-One

  GRAY

  Evidently, Aurora was still angry with Gray for allowing Lilith to trick him the way she did. He couldn’t say he blamed her. Part of him had known something was wrong, but he thought it could have been because of where they were, like their connection didn’t work the same in Hell 2.0, or something. Aurora wouldn’t accept such an excuse, of course.

  He forced himself not to worry about it.

  She would get over it.

  She always did.

  That was just part of loving Aurora. Gray would have to deal with bouts of silence laced with anger and annoyance.

  At the moment, Aurora's anger was the least of his worries. Because, apparently, their group was traveling to Hell.

  Actual Hell.

  After breakfast, Lucifer and Lilith stood simultaneously, triggering a chain reaction around the table until everyone was out of their seats.

  “Follow us, pets,” Lilith said with that purr in her voice, like an evil cat turned human.

  “Are we taking another portal?” Aurora asked.

  “Of sorts,” the dark woman answered.

  Seemed Aurora had met her match when it came to cryptic women. Judging by the dissatisfied look upon his Stellar’s face, she wasn’t pleased about it.

  Lilith led the way out of the kitchen and down a passageway ending in an iron door embellished with blood-red rubies in the shape of a pentagram.

  A sick, uneasy feeling settled in Gray’s stomach. None of this felt right. Lucifer and Lilith behaved like caricatures of themselves. But this was likely a front. He hoped Hell didn’t bring out their extra-evil sides. Like Exorcist level evil.

  The door with the pentagram didn’t have a knob. Lilith ran a finger along the rubies in the star-like configuration, and it opened inward. She smiled in satisfaction.

  Gray had always thought when women smiled, it made them more beautiful. The opposite could be said for Lilith. Her unnaturally carved face looked more wicked each time she did this.

  A staircase made of stone lay just beyond the threshold. The group of angels—half, whole, and fallen—walked forward into the dark enclosure. The door slammed shut behind them.

  Cracks in the wall filled with a lava-like-glow lit the stairway. All ethereal, lavender light from the ice castle had vanished.

  No one spoke.

  The stairs didn’t spiral or curve, instead they tilted straight downward. As a fireman, Gray had climbed and descended his fair share of stairs. He’d never complained. And he didn’t now. But he did wonder how many steps they had taken. Were they literally walking down into Hell? Surely that wasn’t how things worked. But what did he really know about multidimensional travel?

  As he thought this, he took a step forward and stumbled, realizing he’d reached the bottom. Lilith sent him an amused smirk.

  Gray moved out of the staircase into what looked like a train terminal in New York City. Only, rather than tracks, a river ran down into a dark tunnel. It reminded Gray of the time he’d visited a theme park and gone on the river raft ride.

  But this was no ordinary river.

  It was a river of blood.

  AURORA

  Approaching the edge of the river, Aurora peered down with a look of deep disgust.

  “That’s not water, is it.” It wasn’t really a question. Not when she knew the answer.

  “No, puppet,” Lilith said from closer than Aurora preferred. “That’s most certainly not water.”

  Aurora didn’t have to ask what it was. The dark red and syrupy thickness screamed that this was a vampire’s dream of a swimming pool.

  Just when she thought Lilith and Lucifer were pathetic excuses for rulers of Hell, they proved her wrong. Her eyes cut over to Michael, who looked supremely uncomfortable. Even more than the two Stellars. “We aren’t swimming to Hell are we?”

  “Come now, darling,” Lucifer tittered, acting more flamboyant by the hour. “We aren’t animals.”

  Just as he said this, a small boat, the size of a gondola came floating out of the shadows. Scenes from Willy Wonka filled Aurora’s mind. But this was not a chocolate river. And she had a feeling it was going to cost them a lot more than a golden ticket to enter where they were going.

  Before, all she had cared about was finding her son. Saving him. But, now, the reality of where they were going settled in her stomach like an inflated blowfish.

  Lucifer gestured towards the red velvet-covered seats in the boat. “Ladies first.”

  Aurora’s teeth clenched as she stepped down into the boat, forgoing the help offered by the devil’s outstretched hand. The vessel rocked as she stepped inside, and she lost her balance, falling back onto one of the seats.

  “Careful now,” Lilith murmured. “Wouldn’t want you to fall in. Never know what’s hiding beneath the surface…”

  Aurora pressed her back into the seat. For the first time, she thought she would prefer air travel. And despite the fact that she was decidedly angry with Gray for essentially cheating on her with Lilith, she was relieved when he sat beside her.

  The three angels boarded the boat, and it pulled away from the edge, rocking from side to side as it moved forward into impenetrable darkness. It picked up speed. Wisps of hair that had fallen around Aurora's face blew back with the wind created by the boat.

  They traveled through a pitch-black tunnel for a silent while. And it didn’t take Aurora long to come up with an elaborate scenario in which the fallen angels had captured a
rguably the most crucial Halos to the holy battle with Caducus.

  She pictured her and Gray being locked into rooms covered in waterfalls of blood, shackled to the floor like prisoners.

  Why had they thought this would be a good idea?

  But then they emerged into a cavern with a depth rivaling that of the Grand Canyon. Ahead, a sheet of pouring blood could be seen. A waterfall of thick red liquid.

  And their boat was heading right for it.

  Aurora cursed under her breath.

  Then she cursed out loud.

  Squeezing her eyes shut, she ducked her head, picturing her blonde hair turning red as the vessel moved beneath the waterfall.

  Nothing happened.

  At least, not in the way Aurora expected. The blood never touched them but, rather, parted like a curtain before blackness which consumed Aurora’s vision.

  As it had before when Michael took them through the austium, the surface of her body felt it was being pressed inward. Squished and suffocated.

  Portal travel, she decided, was worse even than flying.

  Not being able to breathe wasn’t okay with her. But she couldn’t find her voice to yell at the villains in the front of the boat to make it stop.

  Then it did.

  And she almost wished it hadn’t.

  Hell was everything terrible and frightening. But it was also twisted and sickening.

  Their boat remained on the river of blood, now filled with people grasping at the edge of the vessel. Aurora scooted away from the side, crashing into Gray. Neither of them moved back. She couldn’t even remember why she’d been mad at him.

  All she knew was terror.

  Sulfurous fumes polluted the air, choking Aurora and making her feel as though she couldn't take a full breath. Horrific scenes painted the landscape. Aircrafts fell from a black sky and crashed into the vast plains of what looked like volcanic rock. Clouds of black smoke and orange flames rose up from the wreckage. The river was lined with women giving birth and dropping the newborns into the bloody water.

  Aurora’s shaking hand covered her mouth to keep the creeping vomit down. Then her eyes fell upon a scene of familiar people, and her stomach twisted further, her heart nearly freezing.

  On the bank of the blood river, her mom, brother, and Soren were in the grips of a man with dark hair.

  David.

  His mouth turned up into a sickening sneer. He turned his eyes upon her family once more who was writhing and trying to get away. Pulling a knife from the inside of his coat, David jabbed the instrument forward, piercing Aurora’s mom and then brother and then Soren over and over in the abdomen and chest.

  They screamed and cried in pain.

  But Aurora could barely hear them through her own screams.

  Twenty-Two

  GRAY

  Nausea was the primary feeling in Gray’s gut as they traveled deeper into Hell, which seemed to have been designed specifically for him.

  Towering skyscrapers engulfed in flames skirted the river. People could be heard screaming from within. Firemen dressed in black gear ran into the entrances only to be buried in a pile of rubble as the buildings collapsed.

  Thick smoke hung in the air, choking him, as more skyscrapers rose from the ground, shooting upwards like cement roses. Seconds had passed before they were, once again, hit by a crashing plane, ravaged by flames and jet fuel.

  It’s not real, he told himself, squeezing his eyes shut. It’s not real.

  The only thing that could tear Gray from his self-induced darkness was the sound of Aurora’s tortured scream.

  Eyes flying open and zeroing in on his Stellar, Gray took in the petrified expression painted on her bloodless face, trembling fingers covering her open mouth and tears filling her sapphire eyes.

  “Aurora.” He reached out, grasping her free hand with his and curling his other arm around her hunched shoulders. “Don’t look at it. Aurora. It’s not real.”

  She turned from the disturbing scene—and Gray had a feeling she was seeing something entirely different from him. Pressing her face into his chest, their connection immediately tethered together, covering them like a soothing blanket.

  A cackle came from the front of the boat. “Alright, pets. I suppose that’s enough fun.” Lilith twisted to shoot them both a satisfied smile. “I just wanted to see which of you would break first. Surprising, Blondie. For the veil of strength you wear, I figured you would be able to handle Hell a bit better.”

  Aurora withdrew her face from Gray’s chest, fixing a pair of rage-filled eyes on Lilith before she spat a string of curse words at the Queen of Hell. None of them fazed the lavender-eyed vixen. She merely laughed at Aurora.

  The images of burning buildings and screaming people vanished from Gray’s view, replaced by cliffs of volcanic rock covered with an assortment of crawling demons.

  Aurora visibly relaxed, letting out a long, slow breath.

  In the distance, a looming castle made of needle-like turrets and hunched gargoyles arose from the vaporous shadows. It looked like the perfect place to house the two most loathsome beings in the universe. The fact that Gray and Aurora were riding in the same boat with them did not make him feel much better about the situation.

  The vessel passed beneath an archway of yellowed bones. The blood river dumped into a moat surrounding the castle.

  Pressing a hand to Michael’s back, Lucifer turned around to speak to the Stellars. Michael flinched but didn’t pull away.

  “Welcome, little halflings, to my humble abode.”

  “Our humble abode,” Lilith correct with a hiss.

  “Please, Lil. You live here because I allow it.” Lucifer turned back to the Stellars with a chuckle and a shake of his head, as if to say, silly woman. Lilith shot him a glare filled with all the fire in Hell, but Lucifer ignored her. “As I was saying, the two of you are the first halflings to visit this realm with the intention of actually leaving. A room will be prepared for you as well as an extravagant dinner. If you thought breakfast was good, wait until you try triple berry trifle made by the best chef in France. He was a vile man during his brief lifetime, you see, but still a rather excellent cook. I made a deal with him before he was strung on the gallows for mass-murder. Now I get lovely meals whenever I want, and he gets out of being tortured—for the most part. Win, win.”

  Aurora stared blankly at Lucifer, and Gray wasn’t sure whether he should smile politely or grimace. The resulting expression was a strange mixture of the two. Either way, Lucifer didn’t appear to notice as the boat came to a halt beside a small dock beneath the shadows of a bridge.

  The dark ruler stood and departed the boat without stepping over the edge, but gliding smoothly through the air.

  Gray was the last to vacate the vessel. As he stepped foot on land, the boat began to sink down into the thick red water until it could no longer be seen.

  No going back now.

  A door made from what looked like the skulls of small children sat in the castle wall before them. Gray surveyed the entrance with an expression of repugnance.

  “Don’t worry,” Lilith murmured, her lips brushing his ear. “They were naughty little children.”

  He pulled away from her as she grinned before stepping in front of Lucifer. Reaching her slender hand inside the gaping mouth of one of the skulls, Lilith somehow opened the door to permit entrance into Hell's Castle.

  A child waited on the other side of the door—a girl with long dark hair, the top of her head only reaching Gray’s hip. She said nothing but looked up at Lucifer in adoration. Her eyes were all black. No whites to be seen. Gray’s stomach twisted.

  “Show the Halos to their rooms,” Lucifer said to the girl without looking at her.

  Nodding curtly, she turned to face Gray and Aurora and spoke a single, echoing word.

  “Come.”

  AURORA

  Aurora was forcibly reminded why she’d never been particularly fond of children. Quite frankly, they could be creepy a
s hell. What had this young demon done that warranted an eternity in this place? Didn’t all children go to heaven? What had this girl managed to accomplish in her short life that landed her in a dark castle, serving the most evil of all demons?

  Aurora and Gray followed the girl, clothed in a proper Victorian-style dress, down dark corridors dimly lit by torches of black fire.

  The child began to hum a haunting melody. Aurora wanted to ask her to stop but didn’t for fear of angering the girl and having her go all exorcist on them.

  All the other demon workers were of the same short stature, their eyes completely black. They smiled eerily at the pair of passing Stellars.

  Aurora, who’d been lagging behind, hurried forward as a young boy cracked open one of the doors, peering out with his soulless eyes, reaching for her.

  The demon girl leading them stopped abruptly in front of a door, covered not in skulls, but pentagrams. “Here.”

  “Thanks…” Gray said, seeming as unsure of the little demon as Aurora was.

  “Enjoy your stay here. Best hope it’s not too long. Hell can change people.” She looked up at them with her beetle black eyes and giggled.

  The two Stellars exchanged a loaded glance before looking back to the girl. But she was no longer there.

  “Where did she—” Gray began.

  “Who cares,” Aurora interrupted, stepping past him to open the door.

  Their rooms were in the same apartment-like layout, situated on opposite sides of a large sitting room filled with bone-white furniture. Aurora hoped it wasn’t actually made from bones.

  As they entered, Aurora’s head craned back to look at the ceiling arching high above them, making her feel small in a way Etheria never had. She didn’t like to feel small.

  Now that they were alone, the earlier awkwardness settled over them again.

  Gray glanced uncertainly over at Aurora. “Listen…about last night with Lilith. I didn’t realize at first what—”

  Aurora held up a hand. “You don’t have to explain, Gray. I’m too exhausted and creeped out to be mad at you, honestly. I’m just going to take a nap.”