Sunburst (Starbright Series) by Rachel Higginson

yet.
                  I allowed fatigue to settle over me again, and because I didn’t have anything else to do, I went back to sleep.
                  I had weird dreams. Well, I’d been having annoying nightmares ever since the attack, but this time, in my place, the nightmare centered on Seth. He took my place, and I stood in a weird limbo watching it happen in front of me, unable to intervene or stop him from getting hurt.
    I saw him near the equipment shed in deep conversation with his sister. But he didn’t look right. His skin was ghostly white, and his eyes were black and blue with fatigue. He was gaunt and sickly, a shadow of himself. I watched as Seven whispered lie after lie into his bleeding ears. And even though I couldn’t make out what she was telling him, I knew it was bad; I knew it would change him forever.
                  Then Aliah showed up, and didn’t just bring two henchmen with him, but thousands and thousands of Fallen. They surrounded him until I couldn’t see him anymore, until all I could do was listen for the strangled call of my name- pleading for help. But it never came. He was swallowed up by all that evil, into the depths of Hell and he seemed to go…. willingly.
    And then we were back in that desert. Only instead of me propped up into sitting, waiting for the blow of the sword, it was Seth. And while he looked as calm and laid-back as ever, I was scrambling to find a weapon to protect him. But when I’d finally located a suitable blade it was too heavy for me to pick up. I tried dragging it over so I could stop Saul from swinging his sword, but I couldn’t make it budge. Finally, I gave up and attacked Saul with my bare hands. I clawed and scratched at his face; I bit his shoulder like a savage cannibal and I ripped his skin and muscles from his bones. Finally Saul fell to his knees, and then to his face as he bled out all over the dry, cracked desert floor. I kicked him, so that he rolled over, suddenly feeling like something was very wrong.
                  Instead of Saul’s intimidating features, it was Seth’s hollow eyes that looked back at me, dead, lifeless, vacant.
                  I woke up screaming in bed, ripping the blankets off me, desperate to get the blood off my hands.
                  My parents came running into the room, panicked and slightly afraid of my hysteria.
                  I eventually calmed down and focused on my breathing evenly, but it was too late.
                  The realization settled over me as the panic ebbed away. I was too late. The knowledge was so concrete and right inside me that my soul felt sick with awareness. He was my other half, my Counterpart. I could feel his emotions when we were together, I could find him anywhere on Earth if I needed to. If he wanted me to . But he didn’t.
                  Our connection was severed- completely.
                  Seth was gone.
                  And not just for the day.
                  Seth had left me for Seven.
                  For Aliah.
     
    ----
     
                  “I’ve looked everywhere for him,” I walked back in the kitchen door and slunk down into a chair around the table. “He’s gone. I feel that he’s gone.”
                  Serena and Nate were still out canvasing the sky for him while Jupiter sat at the table with his face buried in his hands. My revelation that Seth had disappeared was first met with disbelief and denial. But at my prompting, we all split up to find him.
                  And, no surprise to me, he was nowhere to be found.
                  A note had been left for Jupiter on their refrigerator but all it said was, “Trust me.”
                  Jupiter apparently did not trust Seth because he pretty much lost his mind after the first few hours when