Stellar (The Halo Series Book 3) Read online

“Yeah, but Harry’s parents were both good,” she said resentfully, tugging at a wad of grass. “David…isn’t.”

  "No, he's not. But Soren's favorite character is actually Snape."

  Aurora's lip curled. "Snape? He was such a jerk."

  "Snape had people on both sides. Just like Soren."

  Aurora swallowed the familiar creeping jealousy she had about how much easier it was for Soren to talk to Gray. "How do you know all of this about Soren?"

  "He told me..." Gray said. "He also told me why he thinks he's responsible for his foster parents' deaths."

  Aurora's body tensed all over. "Why?"

  "Everyone he ever lived with died in strange ways. Freak accidents and fires. He thinks he's cursed. I think it was Samuel or David."

  Sickness churned in Aurora's stomach at the thought of her ex. "I'll guarantee it was. David said he found out about Soren only recently, but he's a liar. He could've known about him Soren's entire life…haunting him from afar."

  Gray’s face clouded over. “Do you think Soren looks anything like David?”

  There was something beneath this question, Aurora saw, but she wasn’t sure what it was. The image of her son shimmered in her mind’s eye like a mirage. “I don’t know… Soren has dark hair, which was clearly not from me. But all of his features, his eyes, his nose, his lips. They are all mine. So, just his hair, I guess.”

  “But David had straight hair. Soren’s is curly.”

  “And mine is curly.” Aurora looked at Gray with narrowed eyes. “Why are you asking this? Do you think David isn’t the father? Like I might have mixed him up with all the other guys I slept with?”

  “Obviously not. I just…there’s just something…familiar about Soren. Something more than the fact that he’s your son.”

  Aurora felt her brows squeeze together and her mouth turn down. “What, like, he’s your son too somehow?”

  It was Gray’s turn to tug at the grass, worrying it between his fingertips and not making eye contact with Aurora. “No…I don’t know.”

  A rush of affection bubbled up inside of Aurora, making her uncharacteristically reach for Gray, placing a hand on his forearm. “You know that’s not possible.”

  “I thought maybe because we’re Stellars… Never mind. I’m probably just being stupid.” Gray muttered, looking at the ground.

  “You’re not being stupid, Gray. And, if it helps, I hope part of you is in him too.”

  “You do?”

  “Of course I—”

  Her words were cut off by Gray’s mouth on hers. And then they were lying flat out on the ground, his legs entwined around hers and their hearts pressed together. All remnants of anger or annoyance with Gray sizzled away with his touch, leaving nothing but an all-consuming fire filled with only the best sensations.

  Aurora would have liked to see any demon try to attack them. It wouldn’t have been able to come within a mile of the Stellars without disintegrating into ashes.

  Nine

  SOREN

  The spine of Soren’s book flapped as he closed it for the thousandth time. The cover was beginning to come away from the pages after years of use and abuse. It was the only thing his father had allowed him to bring to Seattle. He’d read it so many times, he had it memorized.

  His second foster mom had been a big fan of the Harry Potter books and read them all to him before bed. The later books got kind of dark, and she worried about scaring him, but he'd insisted. There was something about the characters that comforted him…but they also kind of scared him. The good guy and the bad guy were both orphans. But one had turned out evil, and the other turned out to be the hero.

  Soren often wondered which one he’d prove to be more like.

  He tucked the book into the little satchel the British Halo, Sevastion, had given him. He’d said it was necessary for every young boy with an interest in books. Approaching the window, Soren looked out at the angel city in which he still felt like an outsider. He was part of them, yet separate at the same time. He was just a little boy so no one would listen if he tried to explain how he felt. Over the years in his foster homes, he had to learn to keep his feelings to himself. No one really cared anyhow.

  The sun was low in the sky now, and the rumble in his stomach told him it was dinner time. His mom—well, Aurora… he wasn’t sure he was ready to always call her mom—still hadn’t returned. Gray had gone looking for her. Soren hadn’t thought anything about her leaving until Gray looked so worried when he found out she was gone.

  Soren thought maybe he should go look for her too.

  Stuffing his bag with his book and an apple and a crux—just in case—Soren left the apartment and traveled down the hall to the elevators. When he was little, his first adopted mom would let him press the buttons any time they rode in an elevator. He'd been too small then to reach them, so she’d have to pick him up so he could jab a chubby little finger at one of the circles that would light up. This always made him laugh for some reason. Now he was grown, well, more grown, and it didn’t seem so funny anymore.

  This elevator wasn’t as fun as the ones on Etheria because it wasn’t made of glass. It was just enclosed and dark, made of silver and that weird pearl stuff with metallic images of angels fighting demons on the inside. He wondered if the demons had a choice in being demons or if they were just born that way like he was. Well, he wasn’t a whole demon. Just a little bit. But he still felt like his blood wasn’t all the way clean. It made him sick to think about.

  The elevator dinged as it arrived at the lobby and Soren stepped off, glad to leave the pictures of the angels and demons behind him. As he walked out of the building, one of the Halos in his mom’s group, Brielle, entered with another girl he didn’t recognize.

  “Excuse us,” the blonde girl said, not paying him much attention.

  Brielle smiled down at him and then did a double take. “Oh, hey, Soren. Where are you rushing off to?”

  “I was looking for my, uh…for Aurora. Have you seen her?”

  Frowning, Brielle looked over her shoulder out the door and then back to him. “No, I haven’t seen her. Is everything okay?”

  He didn’t think his mom would appreciate him telling other people about her brother and about her crying. She didn’t like to cry, he could tell. “Yeah. I was just looking for her.”

  “Well, okay… Be careful, Buddy.”

  “I will.” He tried not to make a face. He hated being called Buddy.

  He walked out the door and stopped. There was a coffee shop downstairs. He knew how much his mom liked coffee and that seemed like the first place she would go when she was upset. Thinking better of his Hiraeth adventure, he retreated back through the door to wait in the coffee shop for his mom.

  Turned out Brielle and her friend liked coffee too, because, instead of traveling up to their separate apartments to change for dinner, they were talking to the baristas and moving to a table with steaming cups of something Soren knew he couldn’t stand.

  “Who was that little boy?” the blonde asked Brielle.

  “That’s Soren.”

  Soren froze. They were talking about him. He didn’t like when people talked about him when he wasn’t around. And they couldn’t see him from behind the giant cylindrical column near the entryway. He edged around it with his back pressed up against the marble, listening.

  The blonde girl didn’t seem to think his name was enough of an explanation. “So, is he a Virtue or something? He wasn’t wearing their usual funny clothes.”

  “He’s a…” Brielle paused, clearly unsure of what he was supposed to be labeled as. Soren didn’t exactly know either. All of the other Halos had been created on purpose. He was an accident. Actually, he was worse than that. “He’s Aurora Coel’s son," Brielle answered. "One of the Super Halos. Jeez. That’s so weird for me to say.”

  Soren didn't know what a Super Halo was, but he assumed she meant Aurora's group.

  The blonde girl took a sip of her gross drink. “Is
he the child of the two Stellars?”

  Brielle paused, and Soren waited impatiently for her to continue. “No…” she answered finally. “He’s just Aurora’s.”

  “Well, I’m assuming he has a dad. What happened to him?”

  Soren didn’t like that other girl. She was nosy. Which he had learned from David was a very rude thing to be.

  “His dad was actually a, uh, Horn.”

  “WHAT?”

  “Shhh!”

  “Sorry.” The blonde girl lowered her voice. “What do you mean his dad was a Horn? How is that even possible?”

  “Well, I didn’t tell you this, but apparently Aurora and this Horn had a thing a while back. She got pregnant and put the baby up for adoption. But, after all this mess with Caducus, the dad got a hold of his son again. He kidnapped Aurora and—I don’t know what all he did, but—he hurt her. Soren attacked him from behind and got Aurora out of there. He’s been with her ever since.”

  There was a beat of silence as the blonde processed this. Then she spoke in an even lower voice, making Soren strain his ears as he listened. “But, I mean…he’s half Horn.”

  “Well, yeah, but that’s only a quarter demon, though… I know it sounds bad, but he’s really a sweet little boy. Really quiet, but sweet.”

  “Yeah, now he's sweet. What if one of you makes him angry? What if he just goes crazy one day and kills one of you in your sleep? It’s like that creepy movie with the devil kid who has the 666 tattooed on the back of his head. You know what I’m talking about? The one where the kid tries to kill his mom? Just because a kid is cute, doesn’t mean he isn’t evil.”

  “I really don’t think he would do something like that,” Brielle said, but Soren couldn’t help but notice the doubt lacing her words.

  He ran trembling fingers across the back of his skull, feeling for a tattoo. Could you feel a tattoo?

  “You never know,” the blonde sang. “I’m just glad I’m not sleeping anywhere near him, that’s all I’m gonna say. No offense to his mom, but they never should have brought him here. This is an island for Halos and angels. Not the spawn of Caducus.”

  Moving swiftly, and ducking to avoid being seen, Soren left the building once again. But this time…he didn’t plan on returning.

  CHORD

  After their little chat and Verity’s blessing wrapped up in a caveat, the majestic Power led Chord and Sev down the street towards the edge of the cliff where the steep stone staircase resided. As they walked away from the city of Hiraeth, Aurora and Gray walked toward it.

  Chord flashed them an up and down eyebrow wag. “What were you two doing?”

  Aurora rolled her eyes. “Stellar stuff.”

  “Yeah. I’ll bet you were.”

  “And what are you two doing?” she asked, indicating Chord and Sev.

  The lighthearted mood shifted to a more somber one as the two of them exchanged a glance.

  Sev was the one to speak. “We’re leaving, actually,” he said. And for the third time that day he quickly spouted off their plan about capturing a Beast, which sounded crazier each time Chord heard it.

  Aurora’s eyes widened, and she looked to Verity. “Is that safe?”

  The strawberry-haired angel stood tall and regal, all essence of being a hippy gone. “Nothing is safe for us now.”

  Thick silence settled over the five of them. Then Gray held out a hand to Sev, who took it. “Well. Good luck, man. Be safe out there.”

  Chord shook Gray's hand as well and accepted an awkward hug from Aurora. Neither of them was really a “hugger.”

  “Don’t do anything I wouldn't do,” she said to him. “And use protection.”

  Chord snorted. Verity seemed oblivious to the dirty joke as they parted ways with the two Halos.

  “I think the ship, Lady Lionheart, will be best suited for this journey,” Verity said after a moment. “It’s the smallest and most heavily armed. I informed Michael of your quest, and he agreed.”

  “Lady?” Chord muttered as he and Sev followed Verity down the steps of the steep cliff that led to the docks. He kept a tight grip on the railing. “Why Lady? Why not just Lionheart?”

  Sev glanced back at him with a raised eyebrow. “Do you honestly have a problem with the name of our boat, Chord?”

  “No, I don’t have a problem with the name of the boat, Sevastion. It was just a question, is all. Never bloody mind. You always have something to say about something I’m saying, don’t you.”

  Verity sent them both an amused look over her shoulder. “Are you sure you two will be able to be around one another for the duration of this mission?”

  “As long as he can keep his mouth shut and pants off, we’ll be good,” Chord muttered in a voice low enough for only Sev to hear.

  Or perhaps not. Because Chord could have sworn he saw Verity smirk and blush as she turned back around.

  Sev elbowed him in the ribs. “You are so wildly inappropriate.”

  “You like it.”

  This time Sev was the one to smirk. Clearly, he couldn’t resist Chord’s undeniable eloquence and charm.

  They made it down the stone steps without falling to their deaths luckily enough. Sev and Chord walked side by side behind Verity as she led them down the dock stretching around the perimeter of the island. Etheria and the other Halo ships loomed over them like marble mountains making the smaller travel boats like Echo look like nothing more than sad little bathtub toys.

  And then they made it to Lady Lionheart.

  It was nothing like Echo had been. Where the latter had been curves and pearl and sunshine, Lady Lionheart was all sharp edges, oil-colored marble, and menacing shadows. It looked like a haunted house turned into a sailing vessel.

  Chord’s eyebrows squeezed together as he took in his supposed temporary home. “You sure this isn’t actually a ship for Horns?”

  Verity surveyed the vessel with hands perched on hips, the sea wind whipping her cascading hair over her shoulder. She looked like she belonged in a castle in Scotland. Matter of fact, now that Chord thought about it, her accent did seem sound sort of Scottish-ish.

  “It was Michael’s boat once upon a time, actually,” she said in a far off voice as if time itself was pulling it away. “It was used in battle.”

  “What battle?” Chord pried. “Against Satan?”

  The corner of Verity’s lip quirked up in suppressed amusement, but she kept her dazed eyes on Lady Lionheart. “I sometimes forget that humans only know a fraction of angel history. And even that is an incorrect snapshot of what actually happened.” At Chord and Sev’s bemused looks she added, “Angels have fought battles before and after Lucifer. The darkest times humans have had on Earth were because of an increased absence of angels. I know mortals like to think we have all this miraculous power over what happens to them. But, the truth is, we fight exponentially hard just to keep the balance between the Light and Darkness. Something of which I’m sure the Halos will have a better idea after all this is over.”

  Chord approached Lady Lionheart with a newfound appreciation, placing a hand on the smooth marble-like surface that looked like it had been coated in shining black oil. "So, this was Michael's battleship, huh?"

  Verity’s head dipped in a nod, her mouth forming a closed-lipped smile.

  “We will treat it with the utmost care,” Sev assured her.

  “I have no doubt you will.” Verity's green eyes moved from the two of them, back to the ship. “Though, I fear the Horns and Beasts may not be as kind.”

  Chord snorted. “I love your positivity, Verity.”

  She merely smiled in response. Chord sometimes wondered if sarcasm was lost on angels. “Travel safe, Halos,” Verity said. “I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

  Sev and Chord climbed the ramp to the top deck of the vessel. The ramp rolled itself up behind them, disappearing from view once they’d reached the top. The two Halos turned, wearing torn expressions as the boat pulled away from the dock on its own accord
, leaving Verity behind to watch them with that faraway look on her face.

  “Maybe you should write an Angel Compendium instead,” Chord uttered to Sev. “Seems like there’s more to them than anyone knew.”

  Sev’s long fingers wrapped around the black railing of Lady Lionheart, bracing him against the steadily growing wind. “Yes…but let’s finish the first project we started before we dive into the complex realm of angel history.”

  “If you say so.” Chord watched Hiraeth disappear in the thick fog until all he could see was navy water and gray everything else. “I hope this boat knows where it’s going.”

  “It does,” Sev said with confidence. “It goes where we are most needed.”

  “Smart little ship. Now let’s go traverse its innards.”

  Sev’s heavy brow rose as he glanced sideways. “Have I mentioned how eloquent I think you are?”

  “Every day. Now come on.” Chord slapped Sev on the ass with a satisfying smack.

  For a minute he thought Sev might scold him, but then Chord felt a slight sting on his own rear end. Sev blew a puff of air on the tips of his fingers, reminiscent of a cowboy blowing the smoke from his gun in the wild, wild west. “Best to get all the fun and games out of the way before the work begins.”

  “Oh, is that so?” Chord said after he regained control of his surprised features. “Screw traversing the innards, then. Let’s just traverse each other.”

  Clothes fell to the deck then, and the two Halos crumpled with them, wrapping in a swirling blanket of fog.

  SOREN

  It is hard to remain hidden on terrain that was relatively flat and treeless. But one massive boulder casting a dark shadow was enough for Soren to duck behind until the coast was clear. He spotted Aurora and Gray walking back to the Power Halo apartments. A confusing mix of emotions sparked within him like pepper being sprinkled over a flame—relief his mom was okay and profound sadness at the thought of leaving her when he was just beginning to know her. But that was part of why he had to leave. No one was safe when he was around.