“And you trust each other?” My father sounded skeptical and authoritative. This was the Warrior I knew he was; the man that would stand up to the Council if he had to.

Raphael met my father’s gaze and said clearly, “No, we don’t. But the rumor of a traitor among us isn’t a secret. And with every day that passes the traitor becomes that much closer to upturning everything we have worked for, to disturbing the careful balance of good versus evil on this last planet, to taking this world to its knees and giving the final victory to our enemy.”

“And so we’ve come to speak with you directly,” Celeste continued after Raphael finished his doomsday speech. “This battle that the Starling fights with her Counterpart is more crucial than ever before. The Fallen are spread out throughout the galaxies, their forces are weakened this way, yet the Shadows flock here en masse. As far as our intelligence can tell, Aliah is acting of his own authority. Something else calls their other leaders away.”

“Aliah is a formidable opponent,” my mom said slowly as if she already knew how this conversation would end.

If only I did.

“But there is no one else like him,” Celeste replied meaningfully.

“Azrael,” my father said quickly. “Sammael, Cassiel.”

“All dead,” Ari answered. “All of them.”

I opened my mouth to ask about a hundred thousand questions, but Celeste continued for me, “Aliah left the eastern galaxies with Ethan and Sitara. At the time, he was not Fallen that we were aware but living among us as a traitor, but still Warrior enough that he was effective during battle. Even Ethan was unaware of his change. Aliah chose to fight closer to this planet, the same planet he inherited after his defection. Meanwhile the Fallen forces have only been somewhat successful on their other outposts. We have reclaimed much of what was taken. The battle turns to a more even plane, and this planet remains in the balance.”

My parents seemed staggered by this revelation. I was still looking for the Cliff Notes version.

“But Earth can never be truly turned, one way or the other,” my mom argued. “That is the bargain. Influence only.”

“Yes,” Ari agreed quickly. “But with Aliah gone….”

My dad saw my absolute confusion and took pity on me, “Aliah is second in command of the entire Darkness in this third of the universe. The other three Angels I mentioned were generals under him. Their leadership is a gaping hole right now. Aliah must be holding the entire army together by a thread.”

Understanding started to flow through me but my mom quickly added, “Not that the Darkness can ever be completely destroyed. There is a balance that has to be maintained. But with Aliah gone, this war would be swung very favorably in our direction.”

“Or at least brought back to the center,” Ari threw out. “We are fighting a losing battle as it stands today. And with every moment of every day Aliah works to destroy this planet from the inside out. Starling you are what remains of hope for us.”

“But, but… what?” Super eloquent…. I cleared my throat and tried again, “Why are you relying on me? I don’t even have the full strength of my powers yet! Why not bring another Star in? Or give it over to Serena completely?”

The Council stared at me as if I spoke in a different language. Again, it was hard to tell what exact emotion was flashing in those bright white eyes, but if I had to guess I would say indignant anger…? Maybe outrage and embarrassment?

Yeah, they were not happy with my attitude.

“You were chosen for this task for a reason,” Celeste lectured. “We can no more remove you from your position than we could have assigned you another one from birth. The Council did not err. This planet has always been yours, since before you were born. You were born the Protector of Earth, and Earth was always destined to be protected by you. There will be no greater guardian than you, no greater sentinel or keeper. This is your fate. Should you fail, we all fail.”

I gulped. That wasn’t exactly the conversation my parents had with me.

“But should you succeed,” Ari continued, “We all succeed.”

“No pressure,” I whispered to myself. These were essentially things I already knew. Although maybe I hadn’t taken them so seriously. I had always believed to a certain extent I was replaceable. With a sky filled with Stars stronger than me, wiser than me, more experienced than me, I just assumed there was a list of others that could fill in where I failed. Serena was a prime example of how quickly this space could be given away. I hadn’t realized how much was left up to me until now.

How alone I was in this fight.

“And Seth?” I whispered.

“He’s important,” Raphael answered almost sadly. “But as with any Warrior, the truth of his strength lies within his Star.”

I gaped at him. I had never heard it like that before. While most of our tasks were interchangeable, we did have different jobs. A Star was always the primary soldier and the Warrior battled only to protect his Star. That was why I was the Protector of Earth and Seth my Counterpart. But logistically, we fought on the same fields, we vanquished the same enemy.

“But he is not as necessary,” Celeste finished.

Rage blinded me for a few moments, pure, primal, suffocating raw rage, and my vision went completely black. He was necessary. He was absolutely necessary. If they thought I could function, or even live without him, they were out of their alien minds.

“She needs a Counterpart,” my mother injected quickly; I had a feeling it was because she saw how close I was to losing my battle with composure.

“And she will always have one.”

The unspoken words echoed through the room as loudly as any explosion- but it doesn’t have to be Seth.

My heart dropped to my stomach and my legs suddenly felt like jelly. I leaned into my dad and felt the literal weight of the world. I was somehow supposed to be strong enough to defeat Aliah and bring the balance back, but I couldn’t even imagine tomorrow without Seth.

“Is there anything else?” my dad asked in a ragged, exhausted voice.

“We have come to warn you,” Celeste started again. “Trust no one. Not any of our Council are to be given faith. In the month of your July you are to return to the Lower Realm with Celina for a summit, at which time the traitor will be named. Until then, you are expected to carry on as usual.”

“But without any help from you,” I bit out.

The three of them eyed me in that carefully detached way again and then Celeste said, “Correct.”

“I thought we weren’t supposed to trust anyone,” I pointed out, but that only got me silence.

Psht.

The three of them moved for the door again. Without a word, without a goodbye. They were just going to walk out as coldly as they’d come.

We watched them go and followed behind them until we were all standing out on the porch in the cool night air. In the dark night of the country they had a visible aura of light that shimmered around their bodies. They seemed softer out here, more angelic and less…. dreadful.

They took a stance in the middle of our big yard and looked heavenward. At the last moment, Ari looked at me and gave me a charming smile.

“Starling, while you may not trust us, you have our faith. This world is yours to keep. Let not the Darkness prevail.”

And then they were gone just as I tried to sort out his words.

Our entire property lit up with the brightness of their energy. They burned like hot, holy light and everything that was anything for miles was touched by them- touched, but not burned.

They disappeared into the atmosphere as fast as they came, leaving us reeling with their words and warnings.

“Stella,” my dad said immediately. His voice was roughened with what felt like years of struggle and heartache. “They…. those-“ His voice broke and tears immediately flooded my eyes. What was it about parents? Like the minute they showed any emotion I was a weeping mess. “The Council doesn’t understand what life is like down here. They can plot and plan and prepare, but they have no idea what it takes to live here. Listen to what they say, but only take what you want from it. No matter what, you have to know we stand behind you in everything. You are not alone.”

My mom pulled me into a tight hug and I just let her hold me. Finally I found the courage to ask, “What about Seth?”

But they didn’t answer. My dad lay a heavy hand on the back of my head and my mom let out an exhausted sigh.

They didn’t know either.

Don’t give up on me, Stella.

I promised that I wouldn’t give up on him.

And I wouldn’t.

Chapter Twenty-Two

“He’s here, Stel,” my mom whispered from the doorway.

I was staring at myself in my vanity thinking about everything except prom. My hair was done in a pretty, loose bun thingy that tapered to the side and wrapped around my neck. My nails were done, my legs were shaved, my eyebrows perfectly plucked. My makeup was bronzy in golds and pinks and my dress fit perfectly.

But dancing the night away was literally the last thing I wanted to do. I hadn’t been able to get the Council’s visit out of my head and I still hadn’t heard from Seth. He seemed to have disappeared into the black abyss of Aliah’s underworld.

The last three days had been painful. And I hadn’t exactly done my best to disguise my misery. Even Jude was concerned, well, as much as Jude was capable of feeling concern. There was a lot of cigarette smoke, a lot of reminding me that his life was at stake during this contract, too, and then there was some grunting noise that sounded like “Snap out of it.”

I stepped into my simple nude pumps that were four inches high and would pinch my toes after five minutes in them. I picked up my carefully packed gold sequined clutch and turned to my mom for her approval.

She smiled at me with tears in her eyes, “You’re beautiful.”

I rolled my eyes, “Thanks.”

“Now, it’s time to stop moping. Enjoy tonight. You can go back to making yourself sick about Seth tomorrow. Let Tristan have tonight.”

Her words hit home quickly. “Yeesh, mom.”

“I’m your mother,” she reminded me. “I’m supposed to know exactly what to say.”

I laughed before I could pretend I wasn’t affected.

She went on, “Give up the fight for just tonight, Stella. It will be there for you to pick right back up tomorrow. But you’re supposed to experience this world before you defend it, and I think tonight is the perfect opportunity to do just that.”

“You’re right,” I sighed.

“He’s going to die when he sees you,” she grinned at me.

“I know!” Her enthusiasm was catching. I couldn’t help it!

She grabbed my hand and led me down the stairs. Tristan was waiting in the entryway talking to my dad. I knew he was supposed to be impressed by what I looked like, but honestly, Tristan in a tux took my breath away.

His hair was freshly shaved and his green eyes glistened against his tan skin. His tux was incredibly crisp with clean lines and a classic white shirt, black bowtie look. His lean muscles filled out the suit to perfection and I couldn’t wait to stand next to him, to be pulled into his gravity of beauty.