Текст книги "Sunburst"

Автор книги: Rachel Higginson

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Текущая страница: 19 (всего у книги 22 страниц)

Chapter Twenty-Three

“Dance, bitch!” Piper demanded as she laughed and followed her own command.

I grinned like an idiot and obeyed. This really was turning into one of the best nights of my life. Tristan and I had been able to relax after the intense beginning to our night. We’d fallen back into the comfortable, open friendship we always had. Piper and Tristan were even getting along tonight and while we all danced together in the middle of the packed Mead High gym, I was laughing more than I had in weeks.

It was good to be surrounded by so many friends. It was nice to relax after weeks of high stress and tension.

The song changed to a slower one and Piper grabbed my arm and tugged me toward the punch. She put up a hand to keep the boys from following us and while they obeyed her, they still wandered away from the dance floor.

Piper and I stumbled over to the punch on sore feet and chugged one glass and then another.

“Have I told you how gorgeous you look tonight?” she laughed breathlessly.

“Yes, but only a hundred times already,” I smiled back. “You too, babe.” And she did, in her bubblegum pink feather dress. It had a deep scoop neck that made her boobs look fantastic without being revealing, then the back clasped in a high collar at the nape of her neck and while it was completely covered, it was a sheer netting kind of covering that she was supposed to wear a shawl over– but wasn’t. The bodice was tight, but poofed into a huge skirt covered in pink feathers on top and puffed up with layered black tulle. Her fishnet stockings and black studded chunky four inch heels completed her edginess. She finished her look with big, wavy hair and extra heavy eyeliner.

She was gorgeous. And totally herself tonight. I loved her look.

“Thanks for making up with Tristan,” I called over the music.

She rolled her eyes, “It’s a temporary treaty. He asked to have this one good night with you. And if he wasn’t so pathetic I would have been able to hold out.”

I shook my head at her. “It’s not what you think, Pi.”

“It is what I think,” she argued. “He has had feelings for you since forever, Stella. But he’s been too much of a coward to do anything about them. So he’s let you sit there, pining for him for years while he’s dated every other thing that moves and has a vagina. And while he’s off whoring himself out to the entire school, he scares every other prospective boy away from you. You have no idea how frustrating it’s been for me to watch you get your heart broken over and over by him. And then Seth finally comes into the picture– a decent, good, super-hot guy that’s interested in you and not intimidated by Tristan at all. Then Tristan decides to go after you. I mean, I know Seth is technically out of the picture now, but Tristan doesn’t just get to have his way whenever he wants it. As far as I’m concerned he lost his chance with you years ago.”

I loved my fierce, fighter of a friend. But she had no idea what happened underneath the surface during all those years. She had no idea Tristan was loving me at a distance because I asked him to. And that Seth wasn’t a catalyst to Tristan coming face to face with his feelings, but the final barrier that kept him away. Tristan wasn’t being selfish, he was doing what he had to until he literally couldn’t make himself anymore.

Bu now things were how they probably always should have been.

“You don’t have to worry anymore, Piper,” I admitted on a weighty breath. “We had a talk tonight. We aren’t, um, we have feelings for each other, but we decided to stay friends.”

Her eyes narrowed, “Your idea or his?” God, I loved this girl. Even though she hated Tristan, she would totally kick his ass if he didn’t give me exactly what I wanted.

“It was mutual,” I answered sincerely. When she rolled her eyes I laughed, “Seriously, it was completely mutual. We are both…. headed in different directions. And we don’t want to lose the friendship. Tristan will always be my best friend, but he can’t be anything more.”

Her expression immediately softened and she pulled me into a hug. “Is this because of Seth?”

I nodded into her shoulder. “I love him, Pi.”

“I know, Stel,” she admitted.

“Stella,” Jude’s voice cut through our moment. Piper and I both whipped around, surprised to

see him here.

He offered us a weak smile, but then his charcoal eyes met mine and held my gaze. He was dressed in exactly his style, skinny black jeans, his motorcycle boots and a white oxford that was rolled up to his forearms. A black tie was pulled loose around his collar and his hair was actually styled into a messy Mohawk. Or uh, faux-hawk.

“You dressed up,” I said dumbly. I didn’t expect to see him here, let alone in something resembling formal attire.

His lips twitched and then quirked into a half smile. “Was that a thinly veiled compliment?”

My eyebrows slammed together and I immediately started sputtering, “Are you kidding?”

“I want to dance,” he interrupted me and his eyes shot to the dance floor.

Piper snorted into her punch glass. I rolled my eyes and looked around for Tristan. He would come rescue me from the pure evil demon trying to dance with me.

The theme for this year’s prom was “Timeless” and the prom committee had actually done a decent job of decorating. It was sort of an ironic theme since time pieces decorated every inch of the room in steam-punkish pocket watches and old clocks. One entire wall was sort of an exploding hour glass with the top corner of the gym wall picturing an hour glass and then the bottom shattering into broken glass looking pieces with glitter– that was supposed to look like sand– covering every inch of the rest of the wall. That’s where the prom pictures were taken when we first walked in the gym.

Tristan was standing over there with Rigley and Lincoln, laughing about something and having a good time. I didn’t want to interrupt his night by causing a scene. He could easily swoop in and rescue me, but I wasn’t exactly the kind of girl that needed rescuing.

Or I wasn’t supposed to be anyway.

“You want to dance with me?” I repeated, meeting Jude’s eyes again.

He faked a gasp, “I’d be honored.” His eyes were twinkling when he took my hands and led me out to the dance floor.

I shot a pleading look at Piper but she just smiled and waved. She thought this was cute, that Jude was pursuing me or something. If only she knew the truth.

“The dress fits,” Jude murmured directly into my ear when we were standing in the middle of the crowd, bodies pressed together, his hands on my hip, mine awkwardly on his shoulders.

I guessed that was his way of complimenting me.

“It does,” I admitted. “But you already knew that because you already saw me in it.”

“I did a very nice job of picking it out,” he chuckled against my skin. His nose skimmed my ear and his hot, minty breath cascaded down my neck.

I pushed him back before he got any ideas and gave him a pointed look. “You are an arrogant asshole, you know that?”

He smirked at me and brought one hand up so that he could pull on my bottom lip with his thumb and forefinger. “So mouthy,” he whispered.

I struggled to swallow. He was making me nervous and mostly because I didn’t understand his plan. I knew he came here for a reason and instinct told me it was more than just to drive me crazy.

“What are you doing here, Jude?” I found my voice and feigned confidence.

“My job,” he growled. Suddenly his mood was as dark and forbidding as any Fallen I’d come in contact with before. This was not the playful mischief of his normal personality; this was a glimpse at the soulless creature he truly was. “Stella, there is something….” He winced as if in pain and then tried again. “Seth will not live through the night unless you do something.”

“What do you mean?” I whispered, the words barely escaping my closed throat.

“There are those that want Seth dead. That see him as a threat to their… political aspirations. He’s being set up.”

“Tonight?”

“Tonight.”

“Where’s Aliah? What about the contract?”

“Aliah’s…. otherwise engaged.” Jude stopped our innocuous swaying and stepped away from me. His hand lingered on my waist while his other rubbed up and down on his face roughly. “I don’t know where Aliah is truthfully. And I don’t know whether this is one of his schemes or if this is happening without his knowledge. What I do know is that I am bound to you by contract, and your Counterpart is in danger.”

I stared at him curiously. I should already be on my way to Seth, but there was something I needed to figure out first. “You’re bound to keep me alive, not to warn me when one of my friends is in trouble.”

“He’s more than your friend, is he not?” Jude demanded harshly. “And besides, you’d never forgive me if I allowed this to happen and never told you about it.”

I felt myself suck in a sharp breath, but couldn’t hear it over the roaring in my ears. “Forgive you? Since when are you concerned with forgiveness?”

“Starling, I am doing you a favor. I didn’t have to come here and I didn’t have to warn you.” He wrenched out of my grip and I realized for the first time I was clutching at his bicep. He stormed off the dance floor and slammed through the side doors that led to the outside.

I stood staring after him, completely confused by his behavior. From start to finish, he didn’t make sense. And then slowly his words of warning trickled through my confusion and I realized that Seth was in trouble.

I tore off after him. I vaguely heard Tristan call after me, but I was too focused on pushing through the happy crowd and chasing after Jude.

I pushed through the same doors he went through and then stood panting in the extra warm evening. I looked around in every direction, but he was gone– vanished. My shoulders slumped and I realized what an idiot I had been. Who cared if Jude was developing non-evil emotions? Who cared if Jude could actually feel things like remorse and concern? If he wanted things like forgiveness? He was absolutely inconsequential when Seth’s life was at stake.

The long draw of breath drew my attention and I whirled around to find Jude leaning back against the brick wall of the gymnasium, cigarette wedged in between his pressed lips.

“I was being ironic,” he drawled. Another long puff on his cigarette made his words sound like they were being sucked into a vacuum.

“Seth isn’t in trouble?”

“No, your Warrior is most definitely in trouble.” He shook out his head and looked to the dark horizon. “But I don’t really care what you do about him. Although I would like to be apprised of your decision. Since either way I’ll have to stay with you.”

“Either way?” I felt like a puppet just answering questions he was laying out for me.

“If you go, I’ll obviously have to accompany you. Whether Aliah is behind this or not, I would really like to live through the night. And if you stay, well, either way, you’ll be next. If Seth falls, they will come for you next.”

“They might not,” I argued, even while I knew he was right.

“The only reason you’re still alive is because your precious Warrior signed away his soul to keep you that way. If he dies, there’s nothing left to stop others from coming after you. And that’s what they– we all want. We all want you dead.”

“Then you should know that I’m going.”

“I wouldn’t have expected anything less.” But it sounded like an insult coming from him.

I spun around on my bare feet and moved to the door. His hand snapped out and caught my forearm. “Where are you going? I thought we were leaving?”

I narrowed my eyes on the hand that was holding me and said caustically, “I’m saying goodbye to my friends and grabbing my clutch.”

“You need your purse?”

“I need my cell phone so I can call for back up.”

He seemed to accept that answer but then his eyes dropped down my body, raking upwards in a slow slide. “You’ll need to change too.”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. “I’m well aware I can’t fight anything in this.”

“Good,” he rasped and then immediately let me go.

My arm burned where he was touching me and I realized it was actually burning. His skin had been super-heated while he touched me.

“Wait here for me,” I ordered.

“Your wish,” he muttered and pulled out another cigarette.

I slipped back into the dance, even though this door was supposed to be locked. It wasn’t and I assumed it only opened because other students were using it to leave for…. various reasons. This was prom after all.

As soon as I was back inside the gym I was assaulted by Piper. “Where did you go?” she demanded.

“I pissed Jude off and then I felt bad.”

She smiled knowingly at me. “He has it so bad for you, Stel.”

I rolled my eyes, “Trust me, we could not be more different. We’re on like opposite sides of the spectrum. He doesn’t have it bad for me, he’s fascinated by a decent person that doesn’t need to spread evil to every corner of the globe.”

She giggled, “And by that you mean, he is fascinated by the gorgeous good girl that he can’t seem to stop stalking.”

“That’s it exactly! He’s stalking me.”

She just shook her head at me, “Well, we’ll see.”

“Where are the boys?” I asked in a blatant attempt to change the subject.

Piper pointed and we started walking over to them while I battled with what to tell them. They were sitting at a table we had claimed in the corner and laughing while discretely passing around a flask. I watched Tristan pass it on without taking a drink, and had to wonder if that was for him, or for me.

Piper immediately slid onto Lincoln’s lap and greeted him with a very enthusiastic kiss. I met Tristan’s eyes and watched the expectation in them turn to accusation. He handed me my clutch.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, kicking his shiny dress shoe with the toe of my bare foot.

“Duty calls,” he sighed. His green eyes met mine and heated suddenly. His eyes drifted to my lips but then immediately snapped back up. This was the end of it. The end of our night.

The end of us.

“I love you,” I mouthed, with my head dropped so no one else could see.

“I know,” he smirked at me. He stood up and pulled me into a warm hug. His lips brushed my cheek and then he buried his face in my hair. “Be safe,” he murmured. “Stay alive.”

“Always,” I promised.

“Call me tomorrow?” He seemed to think better of that and the moment suddenly grew awkward, “Or whenever you can.”

“I will. I’ll call tomorrow.” If I was still alive. But one step at a time.

I stepped out of Tristan’s embrace, out of the comfort of his arm and the familiarity of his touch. I held his gaze for one moment more and then I turned and left the dance without saying goodbye to anyone else or picking up my shoes that were somewhere by the punch table.

I pushed through the heavy metal doors and met Jude in the darkness. “So I need to go home and change.”

“I’ll come with.”

“Jude, I-“ I turned not really knowing what I was going to say, not really having an idea of how to address the fear Piper had planted in my head.

But he shot me an impatient look and then gestured with his hands in an “I’m waiting” move. I decided Piper was out of her damn mind and finished with, “Thanks for the heads up.”

“Well, he still might die,” he answered gruffly. “Let’s go.”

I held up a finger and dialed Jupiter first and then Serena. Jupiter was already with my parents and Serena had already been instinctively notified that something big was about to go down. Serena and Nate were just about to conference with Jupiter and my parents. We decided to meet at my parent’s farmhouse and go from there.

Jude and I took off into the night– true Angel style. He kept up with me even while a dark light surrounded him. He wasn’t totally muted of color, like other Fallen I had seen, but there was definitely something different about the aura of power that surrounded him.

I thought through the night ahead, about how I would face this threat, how I would protect Seth even while he might not want to be protected.

And was this another plot by Aliah? Or were there more forces at work?

Either way I was in this to win. I wouldn’t let Seth die tonight without me. Fate and destiny be damned, because without Seth there was nothing for me.

Chapter Twenty-Five

We hovered in the sky over the white, sparkling beach and an ocean that seemed to stretch on infinitely– even from my lofty vantage point. The sun was just rising on the eastern horizon and painted the sky with pink, purple and orange brush strokes. The bluest water in the world glistened like a mirror below us and all around puffy, misting clouds were turning from gray to white as the sun rose higher in the sky.

Sri Lanka.

The island lay before us– particularly the isolated stretch of beach we were deciding what to do with. Green-leafed palm trees dotted the shoreline and the sand was virtually undisturbed, silky and smooth as it wrapped around the water’s edge. White-crested waves crashed against the beach in a hypnotizing dance, creating a soothing lapping sound that betrayed the true danger of the morning.

I wasn’t exactly surprised to be at the place Seth called his childhood home. Somehow meeting Seth and his Fallen friends on this stretch of beach seemed appropriate, if not a little messed up.

I looked over at Serena to check out her reaction to this obvious trap– and for us, not Seth. Her bright orange hair whipped around her pale, ethereal face in the rushing wind, her ocean blue eyes matched the color of the water below us and met mine with a startling intensity. Gone was the cool, confident warrioress, with her disturbing excitement and anticipation for battle. She truly looked concerned for what lay ahead of us.

And that made me more than a little anxious.

I could handle not understanding her enjoyment of conflict or sword play. I could handle feeling amused at the brightness in her eyes whenever bloodshed was involved. I could not handle her being afraid.

My eyes moved from Nate to Jupiter, to my parents– who all wore that same unsure expression. Finally, I found Jude’s dark gray eyes and raised an eyebrow at him. He brought us here. He played my emotions and fears like only a true master manipulator could.

And now this.

I watched a thousand different emotions begin and then quickly fizzle behind his shuttered gaze, until he finally decided on the one I expected the most– indifference. He shrugged a casual shoulder and then his mouth twisted into a cruel smirk.

“I didn’t know about this,” he started, looking down at the gathered Fallen surrounding Seth, Aliah and Seven. Shadows slithered in and around their feet, turning that particular part of the beach black with their inky evil. “But I have to say, well done.” His smirk lifted into a full grin and I could hear his deep chuckle even over the rush of wind in my ears.

I spun all the way around and jabbed one of my katanas directly into the hollow of his throat. “This is funny to you?”

He thought that over for a moment and settled with, “A little amusing.” And then he shrugged. Shrugged.

“I thought we were-“ I shook my head quickly and steeled my expression.

He barked out a rough laugh and when his eyes found mine again they were dancing with sinister disbelief. “You thought what? You thought we were friends?”

“No,” I growled. “I thought you were less of a disgusting piece of trash than your associates.” I tossed my head toward the beach and waited for him to say anything that would allow me to believe he wasn’t as horrible as he seemed right now. I didn’t like Jude, I wouldn’t ever like Jude. But I had come to a see a side of him that wasn’t completely repulsive and saturated with evil. I had hoped there was a modicum of difference between the monster I knew was Aliah and the kidnapped, forced-into-Darkness Jude.

Jude’s expression froze into a mask of hatred. “You don’t know anything about me. And by the looks of it, you never will. I couldn’t care less if you want to insult me, Starling, but you do well to acknowledge you have never known, nor will you ever know anything about me.”

“Fair enough.” I drew back my sword acknowledging that it was doing nothing to intimidate Jude and that he was right. I really didn’t know anything about him. “But let’s remember why you’re here in the first place. They,” I gestured toward the beach with one of my swords, “can’t touch me. Evil or not, that contract means something binding. They can’t kill me.”

He stepped forward in air, just as easily as if he were walking on the solid ground. His black aura seemed to suck all the light from around him. It wasn’t a color that surrounded him, but rather a lack of color. And this was different than before. A switch had flipped and I knew without a doubt I was the one who turned it. His Fallen soul couldn’t sustain the Light that he was born with, except on the very edges. Just where the dark atmosphere surrounding him met the normal, non-tainted air, there was a brilliant gold outline that shone brighter than even my inner Light. It was like pure, solid gold, almost blinding in its intensity. When we were only inches away from each other, he met my angry stare with dead, vacant eyes.

“There are other ways to die than physical death, Stella.” His words were rough, grating on my skin. And the words were a promise– spoken from experience and conviction.

I tore my gaze from his and looked back at my parents and friends. He was right. They couldn’t kill me.

But the Fallen, Aliah… Seven…. even Seth could kill them.

What would be worse than my own death? Losing everyone I cared about.

I spun around so that my back was to Jude and looked down at Seth as he stood next to Aliah– at his right hand. Seven on the other side. Twenty-five Fallen at their sides and a horde of Shadows at their feet.

They were waiting for us.

And we would engage.

It was in our nature. We couldn’t not fight them.

“Stella,” my dad rasped. “Don’t let what happens down there damage you.” My eyes filled with tears as he fought for composure. He was waging an internal battle of raw anger, battle-readied with insane focus and fear– for me, for my mom…. for Seth. “Do what you have to do. You can survive whatever happens here. I know that you can. It’s why you were chosen above everyone else for this task.”

His words were like daggers of truth, slicing open my veins and infusing my blood with their powerful reality. I nodded because my throat had dried out and then closed up. Words failed me.

No matter how wrong and deranged this situation was, this was my future, my destiny. Not because it was elaborately planned by some greater imperial force than me, but because this was the only way for me to move forward in time. Fate could be this confusing cosmic what-if, or it could be what I chose to make of it with the circumstances I was given. This was my destiny because I was making it my destiny. The outcome wasn’t decided yet, but whatever happened, I would choose how I came out.

And cutting immense thoughts and ideas down to those simplistic terms made me feel in control again– made me confident that I couldn’t just control what happened to me, but what happened to everyone.

“I love you,” I looked at my dad and then to my mom. “I love you too, Mom.”

She immediately echoed my words and so did my dad. I adjusted the grip on the hilts of my katanas and swung them around a few times, keeping my wrists loose and ready. I nodded at Serena, smiled at Nate– who looked stronger than ever since his chest healed, and then met Jupiter’s firm expression. He was the only one of us that didn’t light up when we took flight and it was still weird to me to see a normal-looking human hovering in the air without anything aiding him.

He wasn’t exactly normal though, since he was completely healed from his burn wounds, not a scar in sight. He could blend in with humanity, but like us, he would never be a part of it.

I was a Star, but Jupiter was a for-real alien. Was I the only person that felt weird about that?

My attention returned to the beach and I struggled to swallow my real, bone-deep fear.

We had no choice but to fight the Fallen below. There were too many of us to disappear into the sky. If we moved as fast as we needed to get away before they could chase us, we would destroy the planet we were fighting to save. And I had no doubt they would pursue us. They came here to fight. Besides where would we take them? Back to Mead? Not acceptable.

We were brought here for a purpose and we were prisoners to how this would play out now. And there was still the chance that Seth needed me, that he was still in trouble.

I didn’t have time for another thought, though, because Serena took off for the ground like a bullet and I was nose-diving before I could even entertain another insecure thought.

We landed directly in the middle of the large group of Fallen. I was the last to land, because I was the slowest, and my tennis-shoe clad feet sunk into the grainy sand immediately. I kept my swords at my sides, mimicking the stances of everyone else around me, even while instinct screamed inside me to raise them, to start swinging before a single word was uttered between our two sides.

There was something I knew acutely, something I had learned over the last several months that I hadn’t taken seriously before. While weapons were deadly, dangerous and all-in-all bad news, the most debilitating weapon of all wasn’t a sword or knife, it was words.

Aliah, Seven, even Seth, especially Seth, had the power to strip me with their words until I was a useless, weeping victim, if I let them. And I couldn’t let them. While my soul was on the line here, it was my parents’ lives that hung in the balance of this fight– my friends, my mentors, my Counterparts.

“Welcome,” Aliah grinned at me specifically.

And we were off.

“What is this?” I asked in a weak, embarrassing voice.

Aliah glanced around and then back to me with pretend confusion. “What, this?”

“Yes, this,” I groaned. “I was at prom. This couldn’t have waited?” And I had been at prom– just an hour ago. Although because of the time difference and the early morning sun here, it felt like an entire night had passed instead of just sixty minutes.

It was warmer on the ground. The wind changed from the iciness of the sky to a warm, balmy ocean breeze that wrapped around my skin like a melody. It was darker down here too, but I felt that had more to do with the black auras of the Fallen spread out around us than the actual time of day.

“I have a problem,” Aliah explained with a twist to his full lips, hidden in his manicured beard.

“Just one?” I snipped.

Aliah ignored me. And continued, “I signed this little contract as a formality, an incentive to procure something I had been working on for a very long time. Because of the terms of the contract, I hadn’t anticipated it being quite the thorn in my side that it’s turning out to be. It’s time for me to tie up some loose ends.”

Until that moment I had refused to look at Seth, refused to meet his golden amber gaze and see the emptiness I was positive was there. I refused to see his beautiful body, his perfect face, and familiar mouth, bending and breaking at the will of someone so evil.

But I couldn’t stop myself; I couldn’t hold back my heart anymore. I flicked my gaze to Aliah’s right and met the startling, livid, loathing eyes of the one man I loved so fully. My soul shattered in that moment, broke apart into thousands, millions of destroyed pieces as I saw the utter hatred in Seth’s expression. There was such a strong, aching pain in the area where my heart used to reside that I couldn’t breathe through it, couldn’t see through the flood of tears in my eyes.

The thing I had been most afraid of had happened. Gone was whatever was left of Seth’s purity and innocence, and in its place was the soulless shell of a man that now hated me, me the reason he suffered, the reason he had lost that vital, good part of himself.

Me the reason all had been taken from him.

“As it turns out, I’m not the only one anxious to move on from the stipulations of our agreement,” Aliah continued. He was addressing me, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Seth. And as Aliah spoke, Seth’s jaw clenched with a hard determination. He raised his swords as if he were anxious to get on with this. “We are bound by blood,” Aliah continued, “but not for long.”

And then all hell– almost literally– broke out.

Aliah issued one last command, “Leave the Starling for the boy!”

And then the quiet of the peaceful morning was ripped to violent, bloody shreds as sword after sword clashed together in a frenzy of bloodlust and mutual hatred.

Thinking quickly and impulsively, I dashed away from Seth and into the far side of the crowd. The Fallen couldn’t kill me, but I could kill them. In fact, the only person that could hurt me was Seth, and while I had no doubt he intended to not just hurt me, but kill me, I could at least delay his fun.

And in the process, I could hopefully help out my family and friends.

It was easy to distinguish true Angels from the Fallen, as every one of us lit up with the power of our Light, our skin turning to that pure brilliancy, the rays of our inner beings reaching well beyond us. I engaged with whoever was close to me. I felt how they held back just enough for me to get the upper hand. They had to defend themselves at the same time honor this stupid contract.

And while I fought, I noticed Jude slip away on the beach. He just walked away from this like it had nothing to do with him, like he wasn’t the one that brought us here. Somehow fighting off the female Fallen in front of me, I watched as Jude pulled a cigarette from his back pocket, light it and just continue to walk. His feet made indents in the wet sand near the shoreline as he went, only to be washed away by the next crash of waves. And he just went on like that, casual and uncaring, smoke puffing from his mouth and into the air next to his head as he went.

Nobody seemed to care and I wasn’t going to call him out, although I was dying to know why he wasn’t fighting with his evil brethren. I glanced over at Aliah who was standing back from the group as well, Seven at his side, watching with fascinated interest as the battle raged on.