Sunburst

I’d better get used to that idea now.

Because I would have to follow through. If Seth were ever Fallen- truly- I would have an obligation to destroy him.

Gulp.

The very thought of Seth becoming truly evil made my entire body rebel, my head swim, tears flood my eyes. He wouldn’t.

He couldn’t. He couldn’t do that to me.

“It is peculiar though,” Raphael pressed giving me the strongest urge to yell at him to be quiet, “that Seth has left you at all.”

“Well, we’re not exactly married. We sleep at different houses,” I pointed out. “He leaves me every day. I’m only sixteen.”

“We are well aware of how old you are, young Starling,” Ari broke in gently. “What my friend meant by that was that we are surprised Seth left you for this…. quest of his. His place is by you, is it not?”

I did not like how they asked leading questions like that. It felt like they were trying to trap me. Like I was on trial. And other than protecting Seth I hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Technically, we weren’t supposed to meet for another nine years. So, to handcuff Seth to my life now, when only a few months ago I had no expectations of him, or him of me, seems unfair. Seth knows he has my support in whatever he does, in whatever he decides. He will come back to me.” I met each of their other-worldly gazes steadily and confidently. I dared them to defy me, to argue that he wasn’t coming back. I knew that he was.

He had to.

He had to.

“Of course, he will,” Ari gri

Just a smidge.

I refused to look at the other Council members, just to hold onto that small feeling.

“Is that the entire purpose of your visit?” my mom asked with a furrowed brow. “To inquire about Seth?”

The three of them exchanged a telling glance. It was hard to read their expressions exactly because of the whole glowing eye thing, but that was a pretty tell-tale gesture.

After several moments of heavy silence, Celeste said, “We’ve been…. it would seem…. We’re not exactly sure, but there seems to be a traitor in the midst of the council. We haven’t been able to pinpoint who exactly, but the evidence is there.”

“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.