The Fallen Stars (A Star Child Novel) (29 page)

“And the amulet?”

Cali shifted slightly on Skyler’s back and I assumed that she wasn’t going to answer me. She surprised me. “Arawn had an amulet that he stole from Danu. It was…the worst kind of evil. It controlled anyone and anything within thousands of miles of him, should he choose to use it. When he trapped my family underground, he used the amulet to control them.”

“So he’s taken the ultimate form of vengeance. He’s held your family prisoner and turned them against you,” I said.

“Yes, but now I don’t quite understand, because Willock said that Dillion has the amulet.”

“It seemed that way to me. He looks so much older since he turned up at our wedding. Could having this amulet do that to him?”

Cali wrapped her arms around me tightly. Her cinnamon scent enveloped me. “I couldn’t say, but having that much power can’t be good.”

Skyler slowed, coming to a stop. He whined as he paced back and forth, seeming not to want to continue. Patting his back, I encouraged him. “Good boy. You’re a good boy.”

There was quite a bit of back and forth from Skyler for a few moments before he turned in a different direction and took off. Both of us continued to hold on for dear life, not knowing where we were going. Skyler let out an unearthly howl again. His large paws pounded the earth as we ran, the only sound save for our breathing.

Leaning forward, I whispered into Skyler’s ear. “What is it? What is it, boy?”

“He keeps running in and out of Faerie. He’s trying to stay out of the Cusp,” Calienta said. “The in-between place that borders both lands.” Skyler howled again. “See, every time you feel better, it’s because you’re out of the Cusp,” Cali explained.

My senses awakened and I could feel everything: Cali’s arms around me, the smell of Skyler’s fur, the feel of it under my hands, the movement of his legs as they moved him forward.

Then everything was gone. Skyler. Cali. The woods. I found myself standing in the middle of the road with a speeding car driving straight at me.

CHAPTER FORTY

CALI—
DEATH

Gasping, I sat upright. I’d nearly dislodged myself from the mighty Skyler’s back when Kellen disappeared and I’d fallen forward into Skyler’s fur.

Kellen had gone. One moment he rode with me and then in the next, he was gone.

Opening my mouth to cry out his name seemed like a good idea until I drew a breath to yell and Skyler gave me a warning look. He must have realized what I’d been planning to do. Shutting my mouth firmly, I hung onto the dog for dear life. Skyler’s morbid cry repeated.

“Skyler, take me to Kellen.” Bending over, I wrapped my arms tighter around Skyler’s neck as he ran. In no time at all, I could hear the pounding of the ocean against the rocks.

It seemed to me that my body had frozen so long ago that I had no more feeling in my limbs. My hands were burrowed into Skyler’s fur like rigid sticks. It seemed an absolute wonder that I even managed to stay on Skyler’s back at all. Yet if a chance existed that Skyler knew where Kellen was, I would ride on.

The beast ran for another minute before he came to a halt at a small precipice that overlooked the ocean. Kellen was nowhere to be seen. Skyler howled and howled, raising his wet nose high and proud in the air as he gave the signal.

“Take me to him, Skyler.”

“No, Skyler, don’t.”

The sound of Dillion’s voice caught me off guard and I whipped my head around. There my uncle stood amongst the trees. My eyes flicked to the night sky. It held an odd sort of glow about it, like the sun was going to burst forth at any moment. It couldn’t be morning, though I had no idea of the time. There were bad things coming, I could feel it.

Kellen. Running to my uncle, I fell to my knees. “Kellen was with me and then he disappeared.”

Dillion patted my back gently. “Shh. Willock will be here soon, so we don’t have much time. He’s coming after me, you see. Kellen is in danger,” Dillion warned.

“It’s coming true, isn’t it? The second part of the prophecy.” Bile rose in my throat, burning it.

Dillion’s eyes seemed to hold all the pain and anguish I was experiencing. “Yes.
The one who refuses immortality in light will receive it in darkness.
”

“I couldn’t remember how it went before. That was the only line I remembered,” I confessed.

I glanced down for a moment before looking back, wishing he hadn’t quoted that line of the second part of the prophecy just then. “He would never—”

“Cali, you do not know that. You do not know what choice he will make. Arawn will likely offer him something that he has always wanted, has always yearned for.”

Dillion sat down on the ground and I sat down beside him. “What can we do to save him? There must be some way.” My voice at least sounded less petulant now.

Dillion sighed. “I’m afraid that they were using Kellen as bait, just like Willock said. Bait for me. They used Kellen to get me here because they know that I care about the boy.”

On my knees in the blink of an eye, I turned to face him. “What? But you don’t even
like
him!”

“People often do strange things where the people they love are concerned,” Dillion replied, repeating his earlier words. “Although Arawn still wants revenge on Kellen, he would be willing to overlook it if I gave him what he’s asking for.”

“The amulet. You
do
have it.” Then memories that I thought I’d lost came crashing down around me and I wished, perhaps for the first time, that I didn’t remember.

Dillion looked at me, surprise written across his face.

I leaned toward him. “Tell me how you came to have Danu’s amulet, Dillion. Have you had it all along? Is that why you’ve remained so good while the other Children of Danu turned?”

Dillion shook his head. “You flatter me, my dear. I simply employed willpower. Having a cause can do that to you. My cause was my son. Searching for Willock kept me normal. No, when Kellen slew Arawn, everyone in Faerie, even those that tried to be good—and there were quite a few—went insane. At least that is how they seemed to me. They were free after centuries of imprisonment and they were planning on running rampant in the mortal world. “If any of them got their hands on Danu’s Amulet, they would take over every living creature out there. The mother goddess Danu used the amulet to channel her powers. When she died it retained all of her energy, all of her power, every last ounce of it.”

He cleared his throat and continued. “When Arawn murdered Danu and Bile, he could not physically bear receiving her power himself because it was filled with so much goodness and light. After she was gone, he trapped it within the amulet she wore around her neck. Though the power did not exist within him, he found that he could call upon it whenever he wanted. Once Kellen killed Arawn, we knew that he’d gone, or at least been weakened, after we went one night without The Call. Everyone clamored to get aboveground, but I went in the opposite direction. I went to Arawn’s home.”

Dillion’s voice took on a thoughtful tone. “I made the journey through the darkest places in Faerie to reach Arawn’s home. When I at last arrived, it was empty except for Skyler here.” He gestured to the dog. “He’d been abused, you see. I freed him.” Dillion patted Skyler, and the huge beast bent down and licked his face with a large pink tongue. “He was the one who led me to the amulet. All I did was say ‘take me to it, boy’ and he seemed to know what I asked for. Though it took quite a while to get to it, I finally did. When I found it, I took Skyler and immediately transported myself to your wedding, Cali. Just in time, too.”

“But it’s killing you.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them, before I’d even realized they were true. Yet they were true. Dillion was dying.

“Father.” Willock stepped out from behind the trees. He startled me, making me jump where I sat. Willock’s voice sounded weary. “Why don’t you just give the amulet to me?”

“Because if I do, I will have broken my promise to Danu and your mother’s death will have been in vain, son. Arawn will have won and the mortal world will be destroyed.”

Willock stared at his father. “Just give it to me.” His voice was a whisper. “You know that it wasn’t meant for you. You were never the true owner.”

“It will be too much for him. No, you’ll have to take it from me, Willock.”

“It’s not up to you.” Willock stared at Dillion, echoing Dillion’s own words to me earlier. “You wanted me to remember the oath that I took. You need to as well. When we swore to help Danu, we promised to get the amulet to the one who was supposed to bear the power.”

“But if you take it, it will kill you, too!” Dillion’s cry broke the night. All I could do was watch the pair of them from my seat on the frozen ground.

“That’s my penance for the mistake that I made with you and the mistake I made with Stephen,” Willock said.

With Stephen? Kellen’s father?

“I’m sorry, Father. I’m so sorry,” Willock said. With that, he pointed a wand at Dillion and blasted him off his feet.

“Dillion!” I cried, rushing to his side.

Willock walked over to Dillion, who lay unconscious on the grass, and removed his hat. When a large glowing stone on a chain fell out, Willock grabbed it. He took a deep breath as he held the object, and in the space of a second looked like he’d aged ten years. He looked down at his father and held his head in his hands for just a moment, like a small boy would.

My hand on his arm stopped him. “Arawn’s not going to let Kellen go, is he?”

Willock met my gaze and I could swear his eyes held remorse. “No. He was never going to. I’m sorry, Cali. I wish things could be different between us.” Leaning forward, he claimed my lips, kissing me greedily, holding my head from behind. “Cali,” he whispered.

Turning my head to the side, I broke the connection. “Please don’t do that. I’ve made my choice.”

Willock’s breathing hitched as I looked up into his eyes. “But there’s no future for you with either of us. Surely you must know that.”

I didn’t want to think about what he’d just said and how it might apply to Kellen. “It’s not too late for you to choose the right side,” I whispered, turning things back on Willock.

“Goodbye, Cali,” he said. Before I could say anything more, Willock disappeared.

Turning back to my uncle, I gasped. Dillion’s eyes were closed but he’d begun to age right in front me, hundreds of years passing by in a single moment. Falling to my knees, I shook him fiercely, trying to wake him.

Finally, he opened his eyes. Dillion touched my cheek, holding my face tenderly. “Danu cursed the amulet so that only the true bearer would be able to wear it. Once you hold it in your hand, you can never let it go. It transfers all of your power and light into the stone until you are bound to it. Once you let it go, all of your light goes with it and you die. Even if you are an immortal.”

“But uncle, I love you. You can’t die, you can’t!” I wanted to curl up in a ball and sob. As a goddess, I’d been better equipped to handle these sorts of things, disappearances, instant aging, large dogs. I could probably have healed him.

Then I remembered something that my father said to me after I’d turned mortal. Jumping up, I placed a hand on either side of my mouth and yelled, “Father!” Nothing but the night sounds of the woods responded. Kneeling back down, I took Dillion’s hand.

“He can’t hear you,” Dillion said. “No one can. Only the power of the amulet granted me entrance. Cali, listen to me. You need to get out of here and get back to Ireland.” Dillion winced, seeming to be in an extraordinary amount of pain.

“What? How? I have no idea—” The very idea of finding my passport and going to that air-o-plane place again felt completely overwhelming to me in my current state.

“Listen to me,” Dillion said. “You have to climb the mountain. Climb to the top and jump off of it. There is a portal there that will take you home.”

“My home…or yours?” I asked, wariness sliding into my voice.

“Ireland. Go to Cadillac Mountain and find the portal. Get help…”

“Wait, uncle. Who is the true bearer of the amulet?” My heart pounded. “Is it Kellen? I need to know.”

He smiled at me, his eyes wistful. Dillion’s hand, which had been squeezing my own, relaxed its grip and his body disappeared before my eyes.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

KELLEN—
FISHERMAN

“Cali!” I cried out as the car’s headlights drew closer to me in the middle of the road. I couldn’t move, couldn’t think. I’d tasted death before, when it’d encroached like bile in the back of my throat. We were not strangers. Yet now, I’d become frozen. My death sped toward me, only a few feet away, and one thought popped into my mind:
Cali
.

“Move out of the way, eejit!” The sound of the male voice with a thick Irish brogue jolted me. So did the shove that forced me out of the road and into woods that banked it. Large hands gripped my shoulders, not intending to cause me pain, I assumed, but instead to save me. The car skidded some distance away, turned around, and began to return. It had been coming for me.

In the dark, I couldn’t see who had helped me, or see anything at all really. My eyes still worked to adjust from being plucked off of Skyler’s back in the moonlight and being plunged into the darkness of the still woods.

The hands picked me up and carried me. We ran through the dark as I caught the distinct smell of fish and woods. It tickled my nose as we moved forward. Intuition told me that this person could be trusted, but wariness still hovered. “Put me down. I can run myself.”

“And we’d be a-waitin’ all night for you for certain. I’ll carry you.”