The Fallen Stars (A Star Child Novel) (11 page)

“Maybe, but you need to at least get some sleep. One of us has to be well rested besides Cali,” he said, inclining his head to the backseat and smiling at me.

He had a point. Cali had been sleeping from almost the moment we’d gotten into the car. I’d been surprised that I could last that long; normally I conked out at the barest hint of white noise.

Gabe turned on the radio so that it blared rock music, before switching to some sort of eighties party station. He started singing along to the Human League.

Eventually I gave up, unable to fight the heaviness of my drooping eyelids. The image of Cali’s hair bouncing on the seat kept replaying in my mind as sleep claimed me.

***

Hair. Someone combed his or her hair. Parted it down the middle, rigidly. Not Cali, but a man. He leaned forward, so that I couldn’t see his face. Then he looked up and into the mirror and I recognized my father, Stephen St. James. Before I could react, my perspective shifted and I stood in the room behind him.

My father, or Stephen as I chose to call him because he never deserved the title of “Father”, looked haggard. If we’d never met, I would have assumed that this man hadn’t slept well in about a week. Though I hadn’t spent much more than that under Stephen’s roof in the last ten years, I knew something was up with him.

Looking around, I tried to figure out where we were. The warm and toasty room couldn’t have been more of a contradiction to the environment that I’d known as a child, when Stephen would insist on keeping the house unnaturally cold. Either he’d remodeled or he’d been traveling. Though it just as possibly could have been the home of a one-night stand.

“It’s like Kellen has disappeared. I can’t find him anywhere,” Stephen said. His voice sounded uncharacteristically worried.

When had he ever been worried about me?

Looking around, I tried to see to whom Stephen was speaking. Probably one of the many women he dated. There had been a revolving door in our house since my mother died. All of the potential contenders for her replacement left as quickly as they arrived.

A male voice answered then, surprising me. “He’ll turn up. You know how kids are. Besides, we’ll be the first to know when he surfaces.” The other person technically sounded like he tried to console Stephen, but his voice rang untrue. As if he neither cared about me coming back nor believed it would happen.

“He has to. I need him!” Stephen punched his fist on the desk.

My stomach dropped; disbelief paralyzed me. Was this really Stephen? Or was this just another manifestation of the father that I wished I had?

Tearing my eyes away, I tried to see the other person. A foot extended out from a pair of crossed legs, but the bed hangings were blocking the person’s face from view. Inching forward, I craned my neck, trying to see who’d been speaking.

***

In an instant, I snapped out of the dream and looked around me. Cali and Gabe were talking. She’d leaned forward, her head resting sleepily on the back of my seat. Heart pounding, I sat up straighter in the seat, taking a slow breath.

There hadn’t been a time in my life when dreams were not part of my normal sleep pattern. However, I’d never once dreamed about Stephen before. He’d looked so different, so worn out in the dream.
Who had he been talking too?

“Kellen, we’re here, man.” Gabe seemed tired, but pleased.

“Where are we?” Rubbing my eyes with the heels of my hands, I tried to see out the window. We rolled to a stop, the headlights illuminating a small parking area.

“A bar.” Cali’s voice sounded sleepy. She yawned.

Gabe chuckled. “No, I said Bar Harbor, not a bar.”

“Maine?” Searching my imagination, I tried to recall any attachment that Gabe might have had to Maine. Ah, yes. He’d said his family had some beach vacation homes. His favorite was in North Carolina. The other one had been in Maine.
Okay, I’ll ask the blunt question.
“Why didn’t we just fly here, man?”

Gabe turned the ignition off and the car silenced. “We had a connecting flight for later today, but I didn’t want to have to wait around in the airport or be in the air any longer than necessary. It seemed risky, with all that’s been going on.”

“Yeah, I get that,” I said as Gabe reached over and opened his door. I got out, shutting my door then walking to the rear door to help Cali. Swinging open her door, I offered her my hand, which she accepted, and pulled her into my arms. “How you doing, baby?”

“Good.” She seemed to sag into me despite her words. The wind blew her hair in my face and I smelled the salt in the air. The ocean sounded close, a roar that filled the otherwise quiet night.

Needing a good stretch, I reached my arms to the sky. Cali never moved from her position against my chest. Had she fallen asleep standing up? After a brief moment, I leaned forward and picked her up. She had the weight of a feather in my arms, almost non-existent. Since I didn’t have Gabe’s six pack and pecs, this surprised me. Then again, I had changed physically during my time in Faerie, gotten stronger. Maybe I’d bulked up and didn’t notice it. It would probably be good to actually look at myself in a mirror now and again.

Gabe walked around to the back of the car and opened the trunk. He shoved our bags into a larger duffle bag that he’d bought on our shopping trip. Once he seemed satisfied that he’d gotten everything, he slung the bag over his shoulder and shut the trunk. He shook his head as he looked at me carrying a sleeping Cali in my arms.

A beam of light cut into the darkness as Gabe turned on his flashlight and pointed it in the direction of the house. “Be careful here. There’s a bridge,” Gabe said. Mimicking his stance, I followed him, taking my time and trying not to bang Cali’s head or feet against the safety railings.

Reaching up, he searched along the top of a massive doorframe for something. With a start, I realized that he was searching for the key.
People still do that? Amazing.

“Gotta have the key,” Gabe said. The clink of the key in the lock followed Gabe’s comment, and soon we were inside the house. It had to be colder on the inside than on the outside.

“Sorry about the cold. It’s the off-season. All of the utilities are shut off to keep the pipes from freezing during the winter. We’ll have to rough it at first,” Gabe said.

“It’s fine.” It didn’t matter to me where we were going. I wanted nothing more than to crash.

Using his flashlight, Gabe walked over to a dark corner of the room. For a moment, he became completely engulfed in the shadows and I lost sight of him. Then Gabe’s quiet exclamation broke the silence. “Yes!”

My lips curved into a wry smile. It was probably three-thirty in the morning by now and Gabe still appeared happy and upbeat. At least now that he didn’t seem angry with me and he’d had his granola.

A moment later, a crackle, and light pierced the quiet darkness as a fire came to life in the fireplace. The small flames soon partially illuminated Gabe’s face. “Why don’t we stay in here tonight and we’ll sort out rooms tomorrow?” he suggested.

“That would be good,” I said. Searching for the best spot, I finally set Cali down on the part of the sofa closest to the fire. Taking off Cali’s coat and my own, I tossed them onto the floor of a little alcove by the door. Gabe left, but returned quickly with a stack of blankets. I helped him spread them out on a large sectional, which looked like it could accommodate at least fifteen. Gabe took one end of the sofa and Cali and I took the other.

My stomach grumbled, but snacks didn’t appeal to me. I wanted real food. Pushing images of a ginormous cheeseburger and soft drink from my mind, I kicked off my shoes and removed Cali’s. Lying down behind Cali, I curled up against her, reaching for several of the thick blankets. The fire would start to warm us eventually, but in the meantime I could still see my breath. The warmth from the blankets enveloped me, even though they’d been sitting around in the cold house. Contented, I lay my arm over Cali and buried my face in her hair. She smelled incredible.

I knew I should sleep. I wanted to crash and not wake up for a week. But with Cali’s softness pressed against me, I just couldn’t. I wanted her in a way that I’d never wanted a girl, a woman, before.

Closing my eyes, I willed myself to relax, to calm down.
Yeah, right.

A mumble came from Gabe at the other end of the couch. “Night, man.”

My throat was dry; I could barely speak. “Night,” I forced out.

Sure, I’d paid attention to women before. I’d imagined…well, what most guys imagined. Yet, those moments never amounted to more than random fantasies. Here, on the sofa, in the dead of night, with Cali’s body pressing into me, things were different. My brain flashed to the curves that I’d almost glimpsed when she started removing her wedding dress in the airport. Those curves that I’d been inches away from seeing…

Cali let out a little sigh and pushed into me more, maybe struggling to warm up in her sleep. Putting my fist in my mouth, I stifled a groan, trying not to imagine what this night would have been like in another scenario. In the meantime, I wasn’t about to cop a feel on someone who was unconscious, no matter how tempting that unconscious someone might have been.

Lifting myself up on my elbow, I kissed her cheek, smoothing back her hair. “I love you,” I whispered.

Cali sighed, but didn’t say anything. I lowered myself down to the pillow.

All we needed to do was get through this and we could start our life together. We could be alone then. But would we escape the enemies that were after us? I had no idea how to stop them or what our next move should be. Were they already here? Would they be able to find us?

Despite my own fears, my heart rate settled into a slightly less erratic pattern out of sheer exhaustion. Sleep overcame me before I could answer my own questions.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CALI—
MORNING

When my eyes opened after only a few hours of sleep, they immediately focused on the water outside the window. It made me think of Ireland and my family. I missed them.

Forcing the thoughts aside, I took care not to wake Kellen or Gabe as I stood up. A blanket on one of the chairs would provide a makeshift coat since I had no idea where mine had been stored. Selecting one, I wrapped it around myself against the chill.

Stepping outside on the balcony and shutting the door behind me, I stared out at the surf in the early morning. “I’m mortal,” I whispered to the ocean. Without hesitation, I opened up the blanket and let the frigid wind blast my mortal body. “I’m mortal!” I cried, louder. I reveled in the change in me, in the knowledge that I would never be the same. This moment belonged to me and I welcomed my mortality. I didn’t even realize it when I started crying.

It shouldn’t have worked this way. Kellen and I planned to be married first and then we would have gone away somewhere. I could have slowly gotten used to my mortal bones. He would have patiently taught me everything that I needed to know.

But never in any of my imaginings did I think I’d be in such a cold place, and with Gabriel as well. The company could have been far worse, of course, but I’d wanted time alone with Kellen. The pair us of had been cheated out of that from the beginning. Now, who knew how long we would have to wait before we actually got married?

CHAPTER NINETEEN

KELLEN—
EMPTY

I bolted upright after finding the space next to me empty.
Cali wasn’t there.

Searching the room, I found myself alone except for Gabe, who lay fast asleep, all four limbs spread out around him, making him look like a giant star. He snored like a bear.

Something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. Turning, I watched the edge of a blanket flapping in the wind outside. Walking closer, I realized that Cali stood on the balcony, a thick blue blanket wrapped around her.

She’s okay.
Relief flooded me and I scanned the massive great room, looking for my coat. Each room connected with the others, joining to form one large space. The comfortable living area blended seamlessly with the dining room and a kitchen that looked like it could have accommodated a restaurant. A balcony spanned the length of the entire area. Glass doors opened out onto it from all three areas of the room.

Walking to the front of the room, I grabbed our coats. I slipped into mine as I padded across the cold hardwood floor to the sliding door in my socks. Stepping outside, a cold blast of air met me, its chill contradicting the sunshine. The door made a clicking sound when I shut it. Turning, I looked at Cali. I didn’t think she’d noticed my arrival over the crashing of the waves against the rock. She remained unmoving, leaning against the railing, shivering in the morning cold. On this particular morning, her beauty went beyond imagination.

Sliding the coat over her shoulders, I put my arms around her pulling pulled her close to me. She’d tensed, probably with surprise, but quickly seemed to calm herself, sighing and leaning into me. “Thanks,” she said.

“Mmmhh.”

We stood like that for many moments, looking at the bay while the seagulls dipped and dove over the water. Their cries acted as a greeting to the both of us, a worthy audience for their first show of the day.

Scanning my memory, I tried to recall a time when I’d come across a view like this one. Certainly some of the places that I’d visited in Ireland were breathtaking, but Maine set its own standard. The landscape had been described to me as
rugged
, both in geography classes as well as in magazines and coffee table books that I’d skimmed over the years. No explanation could have been more accurate. The rocky, jagged coastline simply fell into Frenchman Bay as it led out to the rough seas of the Atlantic. Pine trees dotted the landscape, jutting out at odd angles. The smell of saltwater filled my lungs as I took a slow, deep breath. I could only sum it up in one word: extraordinary.