“This is my daughter,” he announced, holding an arm out for me. I walked into his half embrace just as he finished, “Stella.”

“The Protector,” I heard mumbled in reply.

And then I was before the most other-world, most beautiful and striking Angels I had ever seen. These were not Warriors or Stars. These were the kind of Angels that sat in councils and meetings every day of their life, that never left the lower realms of Heaven. These were the beings I was never supposed to meet.

My father continued, “Stella, the Council has paid us a visit.”

My mouth fell open; all of time seemed to stand still and wait for my brain to catch up with that announcement. I knew they were not like us… but I didn’t expect…. The Council was here. On Earth. In our house. Standing in front of me.

This was either going to be really, really, really, really bad.

Or just really bad.

There were three of them, two men and a woman. And they were completely ethereal- so obviously and strikingly not human that I felt a bit mesmerized.

The woman was tall, well over six feet with willowy arms and legs and pale, translucent skin. Her hair, sleek and straight, held a grayish purple hue, like the color of lightning. Her eyes glowed pure white, shining orbs that had no color, or every color, depending on how you looked at it. She stood fierce, and so composed she seemed more statue than living creature.

The men differed from each other as starkly as they possibly could and also from my father and what I knew of other Warriors. The first had skin so dark and black, he seemed to be made out of silk. His short hair by contrast was pure white, as were his eyes. He towered just as tall as the woman, but not much taller than her. And he bulked with toned muscle, imposing, and absolutely serious. If the woman reminded me of a statue, this man mimicked a boulder.

He was terrifying.

The third and final man at least put me somewhat at ease. He had a pleasant expression and a calming smile. His skin was pale, but not as pale as the woman’s. His eyes were the same luminescent white as the others but somehow warmer and not as clinical. His hair burst from his head in shocking red chunks that seemed to fall wherever they wanted in wild disarray. He was the most classically good-looking of all three, but they were all beautiful in their own unearthly way. The first man looked too scary to really be considered attractive, and the woman was one of those ladies who would be called handsome over lovely, or fine instead of pretty. She appeared to be the oldest present. The third man was actually hot- big dimples when his mouth relaxed into a smile and had a firm, muscled body that wasn’t just simply overwhelming.

“So, you are the Star of Earth,” the woman began, her assessing eye appraised me with a scrutiny that made me struggle to swallow. She had the strong accent of Heaven. It was musical and lilting, but so completely foreign that my brain struggled to correlate it with the English she spoke.

“I am,” I tilted my chin up, grasping for confidence that was nonexistent. “And you are….?” I prompted when nobody seemed to want to speak next.

The woman scowled, her silvery eyebrows slammed down over her shining eyes and her thin lips puckered unhappily. The men seemed equally as stunned by my question, but weren’t as hostile with their reactions. I realized I’d probably spoken out of turn, but I was impatient to get to the point. A sickening feeling of unease had slithered into my stomach and made my insides ice cold.

“This is Celeste,” the red haired man said helpfully, the same accent as the woman tingeing each of his words. A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips and his white orb-like eyes seemed to warm somehow. “Raphael.” He pointed to monster Angel. “And I am Ariel.” And as an afterthought he amended, “But you may call me Ari.”

This earned him a scathing look from Celeste, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“Nice to meet you,” I said politely.

“Shall we sit?” my dad gestured around the room at which the Council members seemed to take it all in with an attitude of absolute repulsion. My dad was a trained and vetted Warrior, their reactions weren’t lost on him. “Or we can stand,” he added quickly.

Nobody said anything. This was awkward.

Were they always like this?

“We are graced with your presence,” my mom offered magnanimously. “But we would have readily come to you. If you only would have summoned us.”

“We came to see the Starling,” Celeste explained. Each of her words were spoken slowly, carefully, as if she chose each word specifically, and with each syllable uttered she carried out a particular purpose. “We understand that she is not allowed to leave this…. planet.”

“That is true,” mom answered. Now she sounded suspicious.

Something was going on.

“And your Counterpart?” Raphael was less precise with his words. They came out in a rush of menacing dominance; his accent sounded as overpowering as it did authoritative. “Where is he?”

The question was directed at me, but I was not about to answer him. That just seemed like an entire cauldron of trouble.

Thankfully, my dad stepped in, “It will be easier if you tell us what you’ve heard. We can fill in any missing pieces that are left.”

Ari chuckled lightly and it seemed so out of place in this room filled with tension and stress. In a friendly voice he eased some of the strain between us. “I apologize for our grim arrival, but news has found its way to the Sanctum that is very alarming. We’ve come to find the truth of this matter. We’re not here to harm or even punish you, Starling. We are simply looking for answers that will help us understand our position on planet.”

I definitely liked him the best out of the three. He put me at ease with his friendly warmth and silky tone. He was different than the cold, military style of the others.

So I started to tell them what happened, “Seth, um, my Counterpart, in an effort to protect me….” And then I realized I couldn’t say what he had done. I couldn’t tell them how he sold his soul and became Aliah’s lap dog. They would never understand. And worse, they would never believe he could return with his soul still intact.

Even I didn’t know if that was possible.

“He’s on a mission,” my dad lied. I flinched, but tried to reel it in since I knew every eye in the room was watching me.

My dad was lying to the Council. That was not only unacceptable, but grounds for a trial. If he were caught in this lie, he would be taken away and judged as a Fallen. Warriors and Stars usually had no reason to lie, no reason to keep secrets. This would look very badly when- not if- it came out.

The sick feeling grew to almost an unbearable ache. I hated that my dad was lying, but at the same time so thankful. There was an ulcer brewing in my stomach for sure.

“On a mission?” Celeste asked with narrowed eyes. “Who sent him?”

“He went by himself. We had no idea what he was contemplating and would never have allowed it had we known. He was, he is…. he is a special target by the Fallen that occupy this planet. As you know, his parents, Ethan and Sitara were killed by one of their close friends. Aliah has done nothing but pursue Seth since his identity became known in January. Seth took it upon himself to remove the threat from Stella’s life.”

Ok, so he wasn’t so much straight out lying as he was embellishing the truth- just a little. Go Dad!

“We are acquainted with the Warrior’s history.” Raphael’s voice was deep and melodic, a smooth sound that crested gently before dropping to a low bass that rumbled in his chest. His voice was more beautiful than even his face. But not in the I-could-listen-to-it-for-hours way, more like the intimidating kind of beauty that made me feel insecure and insignificant.

These Angels were awe-inspiring but frightening. Yeesh! I wondered if I was raised in the Lower Realms, if I would feel the same way. Or was this only because they were as foreign to me as they would be to anyone else on Earth?

“But we have also heard that now he is Fallen,” Celeste continued coolly. “There have been those that say he joined forces with Aliah.”

“He hasn’t.” I was adamant, because it was the truth. He was not willfully apart of Aliah’s schemes or plans. He was doing what he thought was best for me.

And sometimes I wondered if it was. I wondered if it was the only way I was still alive.

“You would protect him to death, would you not?” Raphael asked again and it wasn’t exactly a question. “He is your other half.”

“Be that as it may,” I started with the most mature phrase I knew, “I am well aware how dangerous he would be if he were Fallen. As my enemy he would be a threat not only to this planet, but to me specifically. I would take care of him, if that were true.” There, the whole truth. I let out a steady breath and realized how deeply I believed that. If Seth became unredeemable, I would have no choice.

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 grinned happily. He ran a hand through his red mop of hair and the gesture was so normal… so casual, I felt myself relax.

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.”