The Fallen Stars (A Star Child Novel) (20 page)

Gabe set the medical supplies on the countertop. “We should just go get in the car now and drive somewhere,” he said, panic creeping into his eyes.

Calienta shook her head. “I had the same thought, but they’d get us the moment that we stepped outside. We have to stay here. For the time being, this is the only place that we’re truly safe.”

“But what about William?” Gabe asked.

“If William had plans to harm us, he would have done it already. Though I admit he’s definitely lied to us,” Cali said.

“Okay, then we stay. We’d better get some sleep,” Gabe said, moving out of the bathroom and sitting in a nearby chair by the bed. “It doesn’t make sense for all of us to sleep at the same time, not after K’s dream. I’ll take the first watch. K, C, you guys get some rest.”

“Okay, I’ll be in in a moment,” said Cali, going into the bathroom and shutting the door.

I looked to the dripping bed, but it no longer looked inviting. Though Gabe and Cali had stripped the sheets and done what they could to dry it out, it would take time. I opted for the generous couch in the corner that looked like it could have accommodated four people lying horizontally. Sinking into the cushions, I grabbed the warm blanket that awaited me.

My mind debated about William. Knowing that Gabe had invited him in reintroduced all of the doubts that I’d had about him before. Who was he really? If he’d intended to harm me, why hadn’t he killed me earlier in his truck? Or even at dinner?

One thing was certain: if the Children Of Danu hadn’t known how to find us before, they did now. Though I dreaded falling asleep and relinquishing any semblance of safety, but in the next moment I was out.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

CALI—
INTERLOPER

In the bathroom, I took my time brushing my teeth and washing my face. Trying to think of anything, really, that took my mind off of Kellen and what had almost happened.
He’d almost died in his sleep.

Shuddering again, I turned out the light and walked back into the bedroom, deliberately avoiding looking at the bed. I didn’t want to remember where the seaweed had loosely clung to the sheets or the sand adhered to his pillow.

Both Gabriel and Kellen were asleep—Kellen on the oversized couch, Gabriel in the chair. Both men snored loudly. I thought about waking Gabriel, but I let him go. I didn’t think that I’d be able to sleep after what I’d just witnessed, so I could be the one to stand guard. I climbed onto the couch and lay down behind Kellen, wrapping my arms around him. Relief at his safety, for an end to the fighting between us, astounded me and I cuddled against him.

“I love you, Kellen St. James.” My whisper sounded like a shout in the quiet room, but Gabriel couldn’t hear. The loud rumbling that he made confirmed that belief. Kellen, however, shifted in his spot on the sofa to lie on his back. He smelled wonderful, clean and fresh from the shower—not a normal guy smell, at least if Gabriel was any comparison. Kellen opened his eyes, which were puffy from his bout with the sea, and looked at me, giving me a sleepy smile. His expression instantly turned to worry.

“I love you, too. What’s wrong?” His voice sounded husky with sleep.

He picked up on my emotions so well. However, I didn’t want to tell him about William yet, not then, after what Kellen had had to deal with that evening. Wanting to erase the memory of William’s kiss, wanting the last pair of lips to grace mine to be Kellen’s, I kissed him. Kellen responded eagerly, his lips meeting mine as though no time had passed between our time in front of the fire and then. Yet his ribs served as a reminder and he winced as he tried to wrap his arms around me.

“Ah,” he said, lowering his arm, “about before. I—”

“Shh,” I said. “You need your rest. I’ll be right here.”

A satisfied smile raised the corners of his battered face. “Okay, baby.” He reached up tentatively, as though testing out his ribs again, and pulled a blanket down from the back of the couch. Awkwardly, he spread it over me with one hand. Within seconds, his even breathing lulled me to sleep, though I fought it.
Please just let us all wake up.

***

I found myself alone on the overstuffed sofa. Kellen and Gabriel were nowhere to be seen. Getting up and taking the three steps into the bathroom, I noticed that the blood from last night had been cleaned up. Kellen could definitely be called “unusually tidy” for a boy.

Looking at myself in the mirror, I nearly jumped at the mess I presented. After hundreds of years of looking gorgeous all the time with no effort, mortal mornings were something that I had to get used to. Grabbing at the toothbrush on the counter, I brushed my teeth thoroughly again before getting into the shower. I loved showers. They were one of the things that I enjoyed most as a mortal. Stepping under the heated spray and out of your life, away from your troubles for a brief period in time. The shower woke me up. When I stepped out of the stall, I found a towel waiting for me on the sink. Drying off, I wrapped the towel around me and walked into the bedroom.

Kellen sat on a bench at the end of the bed, looking a little less battered than the night before and still just as gorgeous as he always did, despite the bruises. He’d just raised his cup of coffee to his lips when he halted, the cup at a standstill in mid-air. His eyes watched me, twinkling, as I walked into the room. He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” I said, blushing. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be here,” he said.

Quickly, I went across the hall and grabbed my layers of clothing, donning a pair of these things they called “jeans,” as well as a “sweatshirt.” Both were heavenly, divine pieces of clothing that were designed with nothing but the wearer’s comfort in mind. The purple woolen “socks” were also exquisite.

Returning to the bedroom, I sat down next to Kellen, and he handed me a cup of coffee from the table. I took a sip, but my unforgiving stomach rumbled mercilessly. Before I became mortal, I could eat anytime I wanted, but I never needed to. Now I always seemed to be hungry.

Kellen’s expression seemed guarded. “What’s up?” I asked him.

He smiled that smile of his, the one that had always captivated me. It was…what was that word I’d read on the magazine in town? Oh yes,
sexy
. Gabriel told me that it meant that someone was good-looking.

“You’re beautiful. Even more so than yesterday.” He dipped down gingerly and caught my lips with his own. Probably conscious of not damaging his injuries from the previous night any further. His words made me glow inside; they made me feel loved.

“Well, you’re sexy.” Sitting up straighter, I smiled with pride at my use of this new word.

Kellen’s eyes shot open and he smiled. “Really
?”

“Mm-hm.”

“Thanks. I’ve never been called that before.” He seemed to sit up straighter.

“Gabriel taught me that word.”

“Why am I not surprised?” When I didn’t respond, he continued. “Listen, Cali—” I just loved when he used my nickname. “Last night was crazy…”

My cheeks flooded with crimson at the memory of his touch, and as he looked into my eyes, I could see that it had meant as much to him as it did to me. He kissed me again, softer this time, his tongue touching mine in a way that left me senseless, before pulling away.

“Why did you go outside after Gabriel…interrupted us?” I asked, blushing as I remembered what we’d been doing at the time. The question had been on my mind. It followed me around as I went about the house or tried to sleep. “What possessed you to go out there in the first place?”

His voice sounded husky. “I wanted you too much. After being that close to you, I had to go outside, to think. But then, it was like, one moment I stood there, and in the next I found myself walking and couldn’t remember why I needed to stop.” Kellen shuddered.

And then I realized the only reason Kellen would have left the grounds. “They lured you out, didn’t they?”

He nodded.

“Yeah. It was like, one moment I stood there, and in the next I found myself walking and couldn’t remember why I needed to stop.”

“I should have come outside to look for you sooner,” I said.

He pulled me closer, his arm around me. “I think William messed with my dream.”

My blood ran cold when William’s name was spoken, the memory of my shared kiss with him brought into sharp relief. I needed to tell Kellen about what happened with William. He wouldn’t like it, but I knew he’d listen and take my side.

“What about William?” Gabriel walked into the room then, a fork in each hand with twin pieces of meat pierced by matching tines. He chewed as he waited, a questioning look on his face.

Kellen sat up a little straighter and looked directly at Gabriel. “I said that I think he messed with my dream.”

“Probably,” said Gabriel, continuing to chew as he spoke. He swallowed. “He seems like the likely choice, the messed-up psycho in the woods.”

Kellen nodded. “We need to get out of here.”

“But where are we gonna go?” Gabriel shook for a moment, perhaps cold. Taking a deep breath, he sat down and took a moment to regain his composure.

“You all right, man?” Kellen’s voice showed his concern. Gabriel was like a brother to him. Well, far better than his real brother Roger, at least. What was it that Kellen called Roger? A
turd
.

“Sorry. I just…I don’t know where we can go. Lugh put me in charge and I got you both into trouble right away.” Gabriel set aside the cleared utensils and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure something out,” Kellen assured him. “I do think we need to move again, though. It’s too dangerous to stay here and none of us can safely go to sleep. Not after last night.”

“We can’t leave. Right now, this house is the only thing protecting us,” I said.

Gabe and Kellen looked at me, but neither of them spoke. Here we were, stuck in this impossible situation. We had no way out because there was nowhere we could run that they wouldn’t find us now.

A pounding on the front door broke our reveries. My heart seemed to lodge itself in my throat. Maybe the time to run had passed us by.
Had they already come for us?

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

CALI—
DILLION

The banging at the door had us running at full speed down the hall from the upstairs bedrooms, down the flight of stairs and to the front door. All three of us came to a halt at the end of the rug that lay in front of the door. No one made a move; I think we were all too afraid to.

“Open up, its Dillion.” My heart hammered at the sound of the voice on the other side of the door. I wanted it to be Dillion so badly, but after the events of last night, could I trust that it was really him?

Growing up, I’d never known about him. All of my father’s family, once they’d been trapped in Faerie, became our immortal enemies, and Brigid’s family had long since passed away. When Kellen and I were forced to travel to Faerie to save my father, Mother told me I could trust only one below ground: my uncle Dillion. He’d been the only relative who hadn’t turned when he’d been trapped in Faerie. He helped my father escape from the Children of Danu all those years ago when he himself had tried to save his brothers and sisters from Arawn.

“Kellen, open the door.” Dillion’s exasperated voice sounded from the other side. My heart leapt. It had been so stressful being here, not knowing when and if we would be attacked. The presence of my uncle calmed me, even if he stood on the other side of the door.

“How do I know it’s you?” Kellen asked.

There was a sigh and some shuffling on the other side of the door. “Ask me something only I would know.”

“Okay, what advice did you give me before my almost wedding day?” Kellen asked.

There was a chuckle from outside. “Whatever you do, don’t make that one angry.”

Kellen laughed as my cheeks burned bright red.
Bastard
. “Enough of this.” Unable to keep the scowl from my face, I marched over to the door, unlocked it, and pulled it open. All traces of anger were gone once I faced Uncle Dillion, who stood across the bridge. He himself, one of the Children of Danu, needed permission to enter. “Come in, Uncle,” I said. Uncle Dillion ran across the bridge and into the house. He looked behind him as he entered.

“Quickly, quickly, shut the door,” he said, seemingly to no one in particular. He shrugged out of his coat and hat, letting them drop to the floor. He didn’t need to dress for the cold, but he would have done such a thing to blend in, in case he came across any mortals. My breath hitched as I took in Dillion’s haggard appearance. He looked like he’d aged twenty years since the last time we’d come in contact. Though immortals age, the rate is roughly five hundred years for every mortal year.

Kellen acknowledged his appearance first, the concern unmistakable in his voice. “Uncle Dillion, what happened to you?”

“Ah…” Uncle Dillion waved off his question, walking further into the house. “How about a bit of breakfast for this old man, eh? I’ve been traveling for a while now. I should at least get a bite of meat or toast out of the bargain.” He rolled happily on the balls of his feet. I smiled. Dillion didn’t need to eat; he was probably just trying to make everyone more comfortable.

“Sure, man. We’ve got lots of food here. Kellen makes a mean ham and cheese omelet, too.” Gabriel smiled, looking at Kellen. “I’ll take one too, K, if you’re cooking.” He winked.

Kellen smiled and rolled up his sleeves. Looking at me, he asked “Anything for you?” I smiled and nodded. We walked into the cooking area and Kellen reached for the ingredients from the cooling machine. “Let’s get cooking and then Dillion can tell us what’s been going on.”