Catching Stardust (17 page)

Or maybe it was because everywhere inside the café she could feel the traces of others of her kind. Other travelers who’d lingered here for a cup of coffee and a feeling of familiarity. The scent of stardust still hung in the air here—warm and sweet like apple pie.

If she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her body, she could almost imagine her sisters’ embraces.

“This way, dear,” Castalia said from behind her as she flicked off the light switch with one hand, the other balancing a tray of cookies and tea. She started up a staircase Maia hadn’t even noticed.

“I thought you said there were renovations going on?”

“I did.”

“It doesn’t look like there’s any work going on in the café or the kitchen, so why close? Why lose business?” Maia asked, taking a seat on a worn floral sofa, sipping her tea. The small living room was cozy and cluttered with little knickknacks on every flat surface.

“Not all renovations are cosmetic.”

“I know you’re an all-knowing kind of person and all that, and I’m usually pretty perceptive about things, but that was way too cryptic even for me.”

“Why did you come to see me?”

Maia sipped her tea again, hoping to gain comfort from it. It didn’t really work.

“I need help and I don’t know anyone else in the city to turn to.”

“Anything you need, dear. Of course I’m here to help the daughter of Atlas.”

“I need help getting home.”

Castalia leaned back in her chair and shook her head. “I’m afraid even I can’t help you with that.”

Maia’s mouth dropped open. If Castalia—the wisest woman in the entire universe couldn’t help her, who could? “What do you mean? You can help everyone. That’s one of the reasons people come here to speak with you, and now you’re telling me you can’t help me. I don’t understand.”

“I can’t help you. There’s not much more to understand. I’m afraid we’re all sort of on our own for the time being.”

Maia could feel her panic level rising. “I can’t get home. You have to help me. First of all, I didn’t ask to come to Earth, I showed up here one day without warning. And now I can’t even call for a ride home because my call won’t go through. There has to be a way to talk to someone up there. You have to have some guidance for me.”

The wrinkles in Castalia’s forehead deepened. “I’ve been cut off too. Everyone has. You’re not the first to bang on my door, you know? All I know is that I received a call out of the blue from Zeus. He said I’m to close up shop until further notice. He said it wasn’t safe and that I shouldn’t open my doors for anyone.” She laughed then, even though Maia didn’t see anything funny about the situation. “I guess I never was very good at listening to rules since I seem to be opening my door every five minutes.”

“You were told to close? But why? Why is Zeus taking away one of our only safe havens here and why was he able to call but we can’t call him back?”

“I wish I knew. All he told me was that there was an increased threat level and that we all had to buckle down for a while. Now why did you just show up here one day when you didn’t want to come?”

“I’ll give you a hint. Orion.”

“He’s bothering you again, is he? Why won’t that boy ever grow up and be a man for a change. Why won’t he stop pestering you girls and finally realize the Pleiades sisters will never be with him?”

“Because he’s a stubborn idiot who thinks with his club and not his head.”

“But that still doesn’t tell us why Zeus would send you here when you normally push Orion away and be done with it.”

“I don’t know. Zeus said something about this time being worse. I don’t know how it can get any worse than Orion hitting on my sisters and me all the time. It’s not like we’ve ever given him any indication that any of us might actually want to marry him someday. And we certainly don’t plan on ever having a fling with him so he’s not coming for a booty call.”

“That’s it!” Castalia jumped up from her spot on the chair and crossed the room to an old cabinet that looked like it had seen better days—better centuries. She pulled open the doors and scanned the rows of books inside, the spines cracked, obviously older than the cabinet itself. After a moment, she chose a book and returned to her seat.

“Yes, it has to be in this one.”

“What?” Maia asked completely confused. “What are you so excited about?”

The woman tsked and Maia fell silent, trying her best to be quiet.

“Here it is.” Castalia’s voice was full of excitement. Instantly Maia felt renewed hope that there was a reason for all of this and that some way, somehow she was going to get back home.

Then she’d kick Orion’s ass, which she should have done a long time ago.

“Tell me.” Maia couldn’t hide her excitement any longer. Home. She was going to find a way home. She knew coming to Castalia was the right move.

“It’s all right here. It all makes sense. Now I see why Zeus sent you here. I wonder what he did to protect your sisters.”

Maia’s excitement crumbled. “Protect my sisters from what?” It hadn’t occurred to Maia that her sisters might be in danger. Were they alone and scared somewhere too?

“Well from Orion, of course. It says here that if a god has a child with a goddess, the child will be immortal.”

“Is that it?” Maia flopped back onto the couch. “We’re practically immortal as it is. I have lived an eternity already and so has Orion and Zeus and everyone else in the universe. I don’t get it.”

“True. But you can all still be hurt on Earth. Your child, should you have one with Orion, would be immune to even death on Earth. A child like that could have ruling power in the universe, far more than you and your founding sisters do. Far more than even Atlas. A child created between you and Orion would be very powerful indeed. And in turn, you and Orion would be powerful too.”

“First, stop talking about Orion and me getting busy because creating a child together is not something that’s ever going to happen, nor is it something I want to think about. Second, Orion is powerful enough on his own, why would he need me or my sisters to give him a child?”

“Because as powerful as he is, he is nothing compared to your father and as long as Atlas is around, no one will ever be more powerful than him. And since your father doesn’t often travel to places where he could leave himself vulnerable to getting injured or worse, then Orion must see no choice but to find another way to put himself in power—have a child with a daughter of Atlas and gain the universe. Simple really. I’m surprised it took him this long to think of it.”

“This is Orion we’re talking about, remember? It can take him a year to remember his own name. If he’s in a hunting kind of mood that’s all he thinks about—hunting.” Maia sighed. “Damn it to Hades. I’m his prey, aren’t I?”

“It would appear so. It would be my best guess that Zeus sent you here as a way to protect you since Orion’s tracking abilities are weakest here on Earth.”

“Weaker than in the stars sure, but he could still find me if he tries.”

“True, but that would involve a greater risk to himself and you. He probably isn’t going to come here looking for you. He’s probably going to lay in wait until all this blows over and you come home on your own. Then he’ll approach you again. My advice would be to think about what you really want and be ready when he comes looking.”

“I don’t need to think about anything. My mind is made up. I’m not going to be with an overbearing oaf like Orion and I’m not going to let my sisters settle for him either. So he can get over it and go pester someone in another galaxy for a while.”

Castalia quietly replaced her book back into the cabinet before returning to her chair and her tea. “It’s about time you admitted to yourself who you really are. You and your sisters are the closest thing to royalty the universe has. You’re like the princesses of the cosmos. Ignoring it is not going to change how people view you and your family.”

“Nope. No way. Do not make me into a cartoon princess.”

“Think about it. If you marry and have a child with someone like Orion, the whole universe will see you two as the new power couple. There’s big benefits to that, and I don’t only mean for Orion.”

“None of those big benefits has anything to do with going to bed with Orion.”

“I don’t know about that. You know what they say about the size of a hunter’s club.”

Maia choked on her tea. “No. Seriously, I’m not talking about this anymore. And I’m not—nor are any of my sisters—going to get into bed with Orion and his club.”

“At least we know why you’re here now. But sadly I still don’t know how to get you home.”

“Thanks for your help. I’m not about to let him get away with his plan for me or for my sisters. I’ll find a way home. And then I’ll find a way to stop him, once and for all.”

Chapter Fourteen

Zander opened the car door for Maia, offering her his hand as she climbed out of the low front seat. Thankfully, she’d managed the feat without flashing the valet attendant, a trick most women would have failed at given the length of her skirt tonight.

He loved borrowing his brother’s sports car—on the rare occasion he needed to drive anywhere—and getting it onto the open road, but the car was not conducive to a girl in a short skirt kind of situation. Maia looked smoking hot in her tight blue cocktail dress, the hem of which barely graced her mid-thigh, and a pair of sparkling silver heels that had to be three inches high. The combo made her legs appear deliciously long. It had taken everything in his power not to run his fingers along her bare skin as they’d driven down the Long Island Expressway.

Maia held his hand even after the door was closed behind her and together they walked around the corner of the observatory. The sky above them was filled with stars, visible even with the light from the building. They were lucky the sky was clear tonight. Last year the event had almost total cloud cover—hard to convince guests to donate money to a program they can’t experience themselves. Thankfully, that wouldn’t be the case tonight.

As they rounded the corner, the party came into view. Maia made a soft sound beside him. She slowed her pace as she took in the surroundings. Zander knew it was stunning. He’d been amazed the first time he’d seen the grounds lit up for a party too. The volunteers always did an amazing job transforming the place from a boring lawn into something of beauty.

Twinkle lights hung from trees. Tables draped with gauzy, white linens outlined the space. A raised dance floor was filled with people moving in beat to live music.

“This place is amazing.” Maia took a glass of champagne offered to her by one of the many wait staff circulating the area. Another followed closely behind with a tray of crab puffs.

“I love it here. Every year they put on a great event and raise a bunch of money for astronomy programming. Some of that money even benefits the Stargazers Club I was with in the park the night we met.”

Maia looked down at her glass, almost as if she were embarrassed by the memory. Embarrassment wasn’t at all what he felt when he thought back to that night. All he remembered was meeting the most intriguing woman he’d ever encountered and then being disappointed at the realization he was probably never going to see her again. Thank god he’d been wrong about that last part.

“I don’t think I ever said it, but I think it’s really cool you work with kids. It’s so nice to have a passion you can share with others.” Maia smiled and he wondered what he’d ever done to deserve a girl who looked at him like that.

“Thanks. I really enjoy working with them and cultivating their love for the stars.”

Maia sipped her champagne and stared out at the dance floor of pulsating bodies. He wasn’t much of a dancer, but he wanted her to have a good time. Maybe he could take a spin on the dance floor without becoming a mess of uncoordinated limbs.

“Want to dance?” he asked.

“Sure. I love dancing.”

They made their way out onto the dance floor, the music fast-paced and energetic. It always amused him how even the stuffiest scientific minds he knew still enjoyed dancing to this music.

Zander stood transfixed as Maia swayed her hips to the beat of the music, unable to pull his brain back into focus enough to make his body move. Her short skirt hugged her hips and thighs, the hemline creeping up a fraction of an inch—her long, lean legs made even longer by the sparkling silver stilettos she wore. Someone bumped into him from behind and finally he snapped out of his daze and began moving along with Maia, trying desperately to look cool.

Other guys might have rhythm. He did not.

Maia grinned and cocked an eyebrow at his moves. He flushed a little at her attention. He wasn’t used to not being completely sure of himself. Dancing certainly didn’t make him feel sure about his skills. He snuck a quick peek at the others around him and tried his best to copy their movements. Not bad, but not so good either.

The band stopped playing and everyone on the dance floor paused to clap. New chords strummed through the speakers, slow and lazy.

He looked at Maia and wrapped one hand around her waist. “Do you mind staying for another song?”

“I’d love to,” Maia said, draping her arms across his shoulders, pulling herself closer.