The Fallen Stars (A Star Child Novel) (6 page)

“We just made a wrong turn,” Gabe offered. “We got lost.”

The man scowled. “Lost, huh? Well, y’all better get out of here. I’m calling security if y’all don’t.”

Playing along with Gabe’s approach seemed like the best bet. Leaning forward, I spoke up. “Can you show us the way?”

The man rolled his eyes as if I’d just asked him to cook a five-course meal for the three of us. “Fine. Come on, out you go. Follow me,” he said.

Without a word, we all followed him out through the doors and into a food court.

“Now get out of here before you get in trouble.” He stared us down, apparently to emphasize his words, before turning and walking back in the direction from which we’d come.

Panning the area, I looked for some sign or marking that would tell us where we were. We’d been set down in the middle of chaos, which made that easier said than done. Everywhere, people bustled about with trays. Many of the shops looked as though they were cleaning up or winding down for the day. Grates were slid into place. We stood in the middle of it all, trying to sort things out, probably looking like a trio of lost schoolchildren.

After about a minute of this, I realized that people stared at us. We were still in our wedding clothes, with Calienta in her gown. She’d narrowly avoided having to wear one of those hideously large monstrosities that many brides seemed to prefer, but that didn’t prevent her from sticking out in a crowd now.

I hissed under my breath to Gabe, “We need to get Calienta out of this dress, otherwise forget going in disguise.”

Gabe nodded but didn’t say anything as he shot furtive glances around the area in which we stood.

Recognition hit me as I panned the area. I’d been in that exact spot before. “I know where we are. Heathrow Airport, London.” I’d flown in and out of Heathrow on my trip to and from boarding school. Great. It looked like we’d be flying today on top of everything else.

Did Lugh think that the C.O.D. wouldn’t know how to find the airport?

CHAPTER SIX

CALIENTA—
OVERWHELMED

Gabriel, Kellen, and I stood in the middle of the airport food area surrounded by mortals. There were so many sounds and smells, not all of them pleasant. Kellen held my hand, but my head spun from the intensity of it all.

“There’s a Starbucks!” Gabe’s eyes shone with tears as he displayed quite a bit of emotion.

I held onto Kellen. So many important words that I would need to learn. How would I ever understand the mortal language? “What’s a Starbucks?” I asked Kellen.

Kellen ignored my question, which we’d have to discuss when we were alone.
Unacceptable
. Instead, he turned to Gabe. “We’ll get coffee later. Gabe, what’s in the package that Lugh gave you?”

Gabe glared at Kellen again, all enthusiasm at finding the star place apparently forgotten. That surprised me. There was something there…something between Gabe and Kellen that hadn’t been there before.

“I was just going to look,” Gabe said, as if in defense. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out the envelopes and ripped them open. An announcement began, a boarding call for someplace called Bos-ton.

Gabe’s head snapped up after he read the papers. “Kellen, we don’t have time to go shopping for Calienta. We have to get on that plane to Boston…”

I’d stopped listening, as I found myself drawn to the place that Gabe had gotten excited about. Maybe it was because it had the word
star
in the name, but this place seemed magickal. I wanted to go inside.

Then Kellen came and took my arm, leading me back to where Gabe stood. I frowned at him. “But the lights are so pretty, and it smells nice.”

“Babe, we have to go. Now. Okay?” he said. I could tell he fought not to laugh at me.

How dare he treat me like a wondering child! Yet I couldn’t bring myself to say anything to him. As I looked around, all I could see were people, lights, and movement. If it had been left up to me, I would have had no idea how to navigate my way through this.

Thank goodness I trusted Kellen and Gabriel implicitly. They would help me.
And how would I help them, now that I had no powers?
The voice became a whispering menace in my mind as Kellen took my hand
.

CHAPTER SEVEN

KELLEN—
LATE FLIGHT

Grabbing Calienta’s hand, I ran, pulling her through the crowd. Gabe kept close behind us. We navigated roller bags and toddlers, seniors and teenagers, zigzagging this way and that. Calienta’s dress made our mad dash to the gate awkward; she kept tripping over it every few feet.

The constant rush of passersby as people headed for their departure gates overwhelmed me. And if it overwhelmed me, what would it have felt like to someone who’d been mortal for approximately fifteen minutes? Add to that all of the strange lights and sounds.

Finally, we made it to our gate, just a little out of breath. The last zone had been called for boarding. Twelve weary-looking travelers stood in line, all probably searching for potentially polite ways to cut in front of one another.

A sandwich vendor had set up directly next to the gate. Shoving a fifty-pound note at the guy running it, I grabbed three sandwiches and three soft drinks.

Gabe and Calienta had gotten into line, so I didn’t have time to wait for the change. “Keep it,” I said, gesturing to the bill I’d just handed the vendor.

The guy broke into a huge grin, seemingly awestruck at the giant tip I’d just given him. “Thanks!”

Walking quickly, I reached Gabe and Calienta. Calienta moved to stand behind me. She wrapped her arms around me and laid her head against my shoulder before standing on tiptoe to see in front of me. Gabe handed me my cell phone, passport, and boarding pass without comment.

I pocketed the phone. Glancing at the passport in my hand, I verified with surprise that it wasn’t a fake, but my actual passport. There was a small white mark on the cover that I’d gotten sometime during my last flight to the UK to see Alistair. Man, Lugh had mad skills.

Stepping toward Calienta, Gabe smiled at her encouragingly. “Now, Calienta, you need to keep these documents with you at all times, okay?” He handed her a passport and boarding pass.

She returned his smile as though he’d given her a present. “Thanks, Gabriel.”

Glaring at Gabe, I fought to keep the edge out of my voice. “I can take care of her Gabe. She’s my wife.”

Gabe threw me a hard look. “She was
almost
your wife.”

Ouch. What a tool.
Glaring back, I said nothing further.

“Kellen, I can hold my own papers.” Calienta’s voice held a note of annoyance.

Great.
I seemed to be ticking everyone off today.

“I’ve never ridden on an airplane before,” she confessed. Calienta’s annoyance evaporated quickly, and her emotions wrapped around me like a thick blanket. Anxiety. Excitement.

Reaching back, I squeezed her hand. Then something occurred to me. Tapping Gabe on the shoulder, I said, “But we haven’t been through secur—”

Surprise made me pause. The boarding pass had already been marked, to indicate a pass through customs.

“It’s been taken care of,” Gabe barked at me, leading the way to the gate.

Clearly, his newfound leadership role had gone to his head. Annoyance trailed me like a pesky gnat, refusing to give me any peace. “Did we get first class at least?” My voice held out a last shred of hope. Gabe grunted.

“What’s first class?” Calienta continued to look around, from all appearances getting excited at the prospect of what the term
first class
might entail.

Muttering under my breath, I made my way forward to board the plane. “This is going to be a very long night.”

As it turned out, we did not get first class. Lugh, the Sun God, the one responsible for all of the light on Earth and controller of the elements, had put us in coach.

CHAPTER EIGHT

CALIENTA—
SLEEP

Kellen led me through a line of people and into a crowded compartment. He’d been considerate enough to explain things to me, like we’d boarded something called an aeroplane.

My stomach had been making odd sounds for a while and a mildly painful feeling of discomfort had started.

“You’re probably just hungry,” Kellen said, as he led me to a seat in the back.

The seat sank in as I leaned back into it. The exterior of the cushioning was smooth beneath my hands, warm to the touch. Kellen placed two packages on a tray in front of me.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Something to eat. It’s called a sandwich. You’ll like it.” Kellen smiled as he showed me how to open the package.

I’d humor him by eating, but all I really wanted to do was sleep.
They were coming for us.
Even in that moment, while we sat with our food, I knew that they were coming for us.

CHAPTER NINE

KELLEN—
CALL ME CALI

I’d gotten stuck sitting in the middle seat in the center of the last row of an overbooked flight. Sweat beaded on my forehead and the back of my neck. Sharing my shoulders were Gabe and Calienta, both of whom had fallen asleep. I’d shrugged out of my jacket when we sat down, but even that had done little to keep me cool.

Gabe snored into my ear, doing his imitation of a freight train.
The ultimate nightmare passenger.
Calienta slept without a sound. Every once in a while she would snuggle closer to me.

The woman next to Calienta sat clutching her handbag to her chest and staring at the hem of Calienta’s gown. The lace encroached into the space by the woman’s feet and she observed it as if it were a large insect. Reaching over with my foot, I nudged the gown back under Calienta’s seat to get it out of the way, avoiding the woman’s eye.

My long leg bumped the tray table in front of Calienta as I pulled it back, jostling the sandwich wrapper and drink that she’d left scattered in front of her. Earlier, Calienta had had an introduction to the concept of a “sandwich”. It had been entertaining watching her dissect it and taste each piece of meat in the Italian sub before putting the entire combination back together.

“Mmph.” Gabe moved closer to me, putting his hand on my chest, a mirror of the position that Calienta had taken up.

Annoyed, I shoved at Gabe. “Get off me.” He rolled off and then fell back against me, snuggling into my shoulder.
Again.

“Mom,” Gabe mumbled in his sleep.

“I’m not your mother.” My hiss jarred him slightly and this time I pushed him off of me and back into his own seat. He never woke. With Gabe moved, I turned to Calienta, hoping I hadn’t woken her. She’d shifted beside me, but didn’t wake. Curious, I reached down and slipped her passport from between her fingers, taking care not to disturb her.

When we’d boarded, I’d noticed that she’d been given a US passport. There hadn’t been the opportunity to look at it carefully before, with our mad dash to get on the plane. Curiosity got the better of me. Calienta had no last name. What would be on her passport?

Flipping open the firm navy cover of the brand new passport, I read her name: Cali St. James. A smile broke across my face. Even though we hadn’t gotten married, she would be traveling as my wife. Unexplained possessiveness crept into my veins and I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close.
Mine
.

Calienta yawned and opened her eyes, looking first at me and then at the open passport in my hand.

“Hey you.” I kissed her forehead. “Cali St. James?” She blinked. Lifting the passport up, I showed her the first page. She read her name in print and smiled.

Sitting up straighter in her seat, she took the passport from me, running a finger over the name. A new name for a new life. She looked up from the passport and into my eyes. “I think you should call me Cali,” she said.

“Cali, huh?” I liked the way that sounded.

“Yes, it seems more mortal, more normal,” she whispered. “That’s what my sister and brother used to call me when we were younger.”

Vaguely I kicked around in my head for what age they would have been considered “younger”. Fifty? Seventy-five?

“I miss my brother and my sister,” she said.. Ah, her sister Rowan. Calienta loved her, but they rarely got a chance to see one another because Rowan had been turned into a mortal.

Immortals and mortals rarely kept in touch, as time passed differently in the immortal world. An immortal could hang out for a day and an entire mortal life would pass by, or something like that. No one had gotten the time difference down to an exact science.

Calienta—Cali
—
hadn’t told me much about Rowan, other than she’d married a famous musician. She’d never mentioned his name. I had no idea how long ago this had happened; Cali’s concept of mortal time had definitely been skewed.

Cabhan…Well, his story had been an entirely different one. He’d loved a mortal woman once, but Lugh refused him mortality so he could be with her. After Cabhan got seriously pissed off and tried to kill his father, Lugh forgave him and consented to make Cabhan a mortal. He also helped him travel back in time to be with the woman he loved. Ironically, she ended up being my great-grandmother, squared. Every action so that he could while away the years with his mortal love. Unfortunately, she died several generations ago, which meant so had he. What a long story. At least he had the chance to be with the woman he loved.