Starbright (The Starbright Series) (49 page)

             
Or guardian grumpy old guy from the planet Jupiter.

             
Either way.

             
Aliah stood watching us. I could feel swarms of Shadows nearby, enough to drag us all down to hell, but he didn’t summon them immediately and I couldn’t help but wonder what his game was.
I could feel how hungry they were though, as the
wispy demons
waited on the sidelines.
Their hunger licked against my skin, I felt the hairs stand up on my neck as they snapped and bit at an invisible gate to get to us. Aliah had them cowed, but they were desperate to consume our goodness and I could feel it in
the very fibers of the air between us.
The temperature had dropped dangerously with such a concentrated evil presence nearby and I struggled not to gag from the scent of sulfur polluting the air.

             
My eyes drifted from Aliah to those Fallen surrounding him. They were all former Angels, completely perfect and beautiful outwardly and morally bankrupt internally. Saul was back, along with two other Warriors, one so blonde and pale that he seemed to be all one monochromatic shade of albino and the other with striking silver hair and a scar that ran from his eye to his jawline.
And then there were two Stars. The first was shockingly alien like. She had long, soft peach hair that wrapped around her half naked body like a cloak, her limbs were long and lanky and her skin so golden and tanned that she still seemed to glow even with the haze of gray around her.

             
And then there was the final Star.

             
Seven.

             
I knew her without anyone saying her name.

             
Seth stood stoically still next to me, his chest not even moving with the effort to breath.
His eyes boring into his sister and I desperately wanted to make her pay for her sins against my Counterpart. She
would
pay. I would make her answer for her betrayal.

Her hair was golden brown like I had imagined in my dream, just like Seth’s, only it was wrapped up in a high bun on the top of her head. Her eyes were just like Seth’s, liquid gold and they sat tilted at the corners making her look exotic and mysterious. Her plump, full lips were quirked in an evil smirk and her head tilted
smugly
on her long, pretty neck.

             
I gulped back a shiver as I took her in, noticing the bright yellow light fil
tering
the air around her. She was clearly evil, everything from her expression, to the posture of her body to the way she was sizing me up screamed immoral and wicked. Yet the light pouring from her in warming purity defied that very notion.

             
I tore my eyes away from hers, hating how she had locked our gazes together easily and looked to Seth. I didn’t even want to investigate the range of emotions he was going through, or imagine what this must be like for him.
I felt like it would destroy me before the battle even began.
And to his credit, he was definitely not going to give anything away.

             
He didn’t even look at her.

             
His eyes stayed focus on Aliah, never once straying to the long lost sister that had taken everything from him.

             
He was certainly doing better than me. I wanted to rip her pretty little throat out and send her to the Hell she
pledged
her life to.

             
“I suppose you have some kind of master plan for challenging us today,” Seren
a
grunted after the silent standoff stretched her patience too thin. 

“We’re waiting,” he smirked while continuing to remain patient. “Since you two refused to play nicely,
and die easily,
” he finished with a sneer and I wanted to flinch.
His eyes flicked between Seth and
me
with a devouring intensity. He wanted so much more than our death, it was sickening.
He wanted our allegiance.
I
held my ground, boring my eyes into his, forcing myself to stay brave.

             
“
What are you waiting for?” I asked casually, figuring he hadn’t really lied to me up until this point so why not go for it
.

             
“Your parents,” he growled and then switched back into a more relaxed version of evil.

             
I shuddered. I shuddered hard.

             
“
I thought if one family should get to be together tonight, why not
every
family,” Aliah declared with a sick twist to his mouth.

             
Seven let out a laugh that filled the space around all of us. The Shadows tittered in the background in response to her musical laughter that chimed like bells. She didn’t sound evil, which was almost more haunting than if she had spoken with a deep growl or worse.

             
The laugh sounded innocent and pure.

             
I shuddered again.

             
“It is good to see you again brother,” Seven gushed, her eyes lighting up when she talked to Seth and she bounced on her toes anxiously. “I’ve missed you,” she declared.

             
Seven sounded disgustingly sincere, her eyes immediately filling with tears. I was disturbed by her, more than I thought possible. She was older than Seth and I, but her voice was bubbly and young sounding. She was evil, but
unexplainably
she had an unquestionable bright light and I could have sworn that when she talked to Seth it actually increased in intensity.

             
It didn’t make sense.

             
Her light should be as black as her heart.

             
Seth stood there, not responding except for clenching his jaw as tightly as he could, and
tightening his grip on the sword that hung at his side.

             
“He doesn’t miss
you
,
Seven,” Aliah announced. He sounded sad and confused, but worst of all he sounded disappointed in Seth. I wanted to laugh at Aliah for even considering Seth join the other side, but when
I
glanced over at Seth again I was shocked by how affected he seemed by the disappointment.

             
He would never let
it
show to anyone else, or admit that he was seeking Aliah’s approval, but it was in his amber eyes
when they
flashed with a desire to please and in the sinking of his broad shoulders that felt the weight of trying to
gratify
a parent.

             
Seth was facing demons from his past, literally
,
and he was doing everything he could to hold on to who he was.

             
“You are one sick, son of a b-“ I started before I could even stop myself.

             
But then I was cut off by Aliah himself, “Now, now Stella, we wouldn’t want to get negative marks for performing badly in
our training
, now would we?” He gestured at the high school, but I knew he was referring to me training to be a Star.
“You are a saucy little thing,” he murmured, his voice slithering over me like slime.

             
“I cannot wait for the day you go to meet the master you decided to serve. That will be a well-deserved life sentence
. Hell has a very special place for the depth of your depravity
,” I smiled
, taunting him
.

             
“Shut up!” Seven screamed from her place next to Aliah. This time her voice was shrill and ugly, shrieking into the charged air between our side and theirs.

             
She was standing next to Aliah, almost hiding behind him. He kept his body so that it shielded her without having to put his arm around her and I wondered what their relationship was. He whispered in her ear after her outburst, calming her…. centering her….
controlling her….
and even though it was just for a brief second, he seemed to have the desired effect on her that he wanted.
She melted into him, letting his words
float over her like a hit of her favorite drug.

             
“Ah, finally,” Aliah announced, although maybe four minutes had passed since we met them on the football field.

             
My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach,
and my lungs stopped functioning. My
chest
constricted painfully and my vision blurred into confusion
as six more Fallen walked across the field roughly holding my parents and Tristan. The evil Angels held multiple swords to each of them as they walked across the field and in front of me.

             
For at least a
full
minute I saw red…. like the actual color. My vision blurred into a hazy nothingness of rage and I fought the urge to rush at the six capable Warriors and fight my loved one’s way to freedom.

             
I shook my head, focusing my vision back on the people I loved most in this world and stopped thinking things through. I let an ancie
nt battle instinct take over
that had been passed from generation to generation since the beginning of tim
e, finally landing on me
and readied myself for what would be the most important battle of my life
so far
.

             
My eyes met my parents, who stood with
unabandoned
resolve, ready for whatever fate they faced. And then flickered to Tristan’s who mirrored their resolve. I took a second to stare at him and force
d
myself to believe he was actually ready to die; but his emerald green eyes shimmered with a strong belie
f
in me and if it wasn’t me that could save him than he could face death.
He was willing to die for this….

             
My heart contracted at the thought of it. The impossible thought of it. I would never let him die from my war.
Never.

             
“A human, Aliah? Really?” That’s low for even you.” Seren
a
growled, her shoulders trembling
with barely restrained
anguish
.

             
“Really?” Aliah asked dryly. “You really think there is something too evil for me?”

             
Laughter bubbled up in Seven again and the sound was hauntingly refreshing in the midst of all the thick battle tension. And because of that, she seemed even more disturbing. I hated the brightness of her light and the depth of her evil mixed together. She shouldn’t be able to keep both.

             
“Off you go, my pet. Say goodbye to your brother and I’ll meet you at home,” Aliah murmured to her sweetly.

             
“Seth won’t you come with me?” Seven asked, her bottom lip trembling in a pout.

             
“No, Seven,” Seth growled, his voice husky from a
complexity
of emotion I couldn’t even
comprehend
.

             
I began to tremble then, looking across the
field at my parents and Tristan, at
hearing the turmoil in Seth’s voice. I needed the battle to begin
now,
I needed to move into action and save some people. My eyes cut to Tristan’s again and held his gaze for a moment, promising him I wouldn’t let anything happen to him.

             
“Till next time then,” Seven smiled wickedly at Seth and then she shot across the field to cup his face in her hands.

             
The rest of us stood shocked for just the second it took for her to place a kiss on his cheek and then shoot up into the sky. Seth’s eyes followed her but he stayed next to me, he stayed
with me
to fight.

             
And I could literally feel the war waging inside of him to follow her.

             
Thankfully
,
with Seven’s movement the battle began. Seren
a
descended on Aliah with all of her heavenly power and the rest of us followed suit. Swords were drawn, metal
met metal
, and the sound of Shadows shrieking
and screaming
filled the air.

             
The black sky opened up and snow poured from the dark clouds in a violent bl
izzard of ice and wind. I let my
light extend around me so that I could be as strong of a fighter as possible. Lightning cracked overhead and flashed
;
striking images of good versus evil all over the field
came in short glimpses through the darkness
.