One Starry Knight: A Scifi Alien Love Story (The Starry Knight Saga Book 1)

by Carrie Lynn Thomas

  Ice snakes up my legs. I am in the lake at our beach with Adam by my side. Grabbing onto his waist, we stumble together to the shore, falling to the sand. I grab the towels Adam had brought and wrap them around us.

  “Let me get your mom—“

  “Shhh,” he says and stops me. “I’m fine, give me a minute.”

  I lay my head on his shaking shoulder and close my eyes. The shuddering fades and his heart slows to normal levels. When it’s quiet, I turn to him and ask, “What just happened?”

  “The tree. I can’t get to it. I keep trying, but something blocks me. It's like the Nexus has grown a mind of its own.”

  “Wait, what?” My voice grows loud. Anger builds beneath my skin. “You’re gonna kill yourself. You're not supposed to be using the Nexus like that.”

  “It’s a short distance. Not like traveling across the country. And I survived that,” he says. “But no matter how hard I try to get to that tree, it’s blocked somehow.”

  “You’ve done this more than once?” I shake with fury. All I can think of is our ride in the truck with the Nexians. When he was dying and I wanted to die with him. “How could you be so stupid?”

  “It’s okay.” His voice hums with bitterness. “I’m fine. Besides, my dad’s not about to let that happen. Did you not notice Vin?”

  “Vin?” The blond guy who brought us back. The guy from the picture. I look around for him, but it’s just Adam and I on the beach.

  “Don’t worry. You won’t see him unless it’s necessary. He’s like my invisible babysitter.” He lifts the corner of his mouth and squints. “He’s been on me ever since we got back from our road trip.”

  Zane was right.

  “I need to get to that tree,” Adam rubs a hand across his forehead. “It’s so frustrating. But this means there must be something to it. Something is protecting that tree.”

  I shiver and tug my edge of the blanket. If Zane is right, Adam won’t ever get to it. And Zane’s been right about too much already. Adam’s arms tighten around me and he kisses my neck.

  “Don’t worry, I’m going to figure it out,” he whispers.

  Chapter Forty-One

  It’s Saturday, which means the diner is busy. And it’s a week before tourist season, which means busier than normal. I like busy… usually.

  Today is not usually. I’ve overflowed three cups while pouring coffee, and I’ve messed up five orders, one resulting in a red-faced tourist demanding to talk to the manager. Liz settled him down, but she’s been my shadow ever since. And that all happened before noon. But all I can think is Zane was right, and I wrestle between asking Zane for help myself or talking to Adam about it first. In the end, I decide to go to Adam.

  It’s nearly three when I reach Stella’s. She’s behind the counter, her face tired and her smile nonexistent. “He’s gone,” she says. “But he should be back any minute. Do you want to wait?” She watches me with too much concern and curiosity. If I wait here, she’s going to want to know if I found a way to let Adam go.

  “Tell him I’ll wait for him by the lake.” She nods as the phone rings. She answers with her usual ‘Stella’s Star Harbor Cabin Rentals, how may I help you?’, but the normal Stella-infused enthusiasm is missing.

  Sunlight sparkles off the water, and I plop down in the wooden porch swing. I rock the bench back and forth with my feet a dozen times before the weight on the swing shifts. My heart leaps, and then falls to see it’s only Zane.

  “You haven’t called?” he asks.

  “I’m going to soon, I think. There’s something I’ve got to do first.” There, I should get up and walk away. I shouldn’t talk to him. Not yet, not now. Not until I talk to Adam first.

  “What? One of Adam’s brilliant plans?” he asks.

  “I am going to tell him about your plan. Let him decide. That’s what I’m waiting for right now.” I push the swing with my toe and watch his eyes widen.

  “You can’t do that.” There’s a hint of fear and desperation flickering in his voice. Why is he so insistent I don’t tell Adam?

  “Why not?”

  “I already told you why.”

  “But I think you’re wrong. I think I can get Adam to listen, and I don’t think he’ll go running to Laris. Adam will believe me.” I cross my arms and set my lips into a firm line. I’m telling Adam. He is not talking me out of this.

  “You’re going to screw this up. Even if you’re right and he doesn’t run to daddy, he’s still on a short leash. Tell him and you may as well tell his dad too.”

  “Stop,” I say. “I’m going to tell him. I should have told him the other night. He’ll be here any minute, and you are not changing my mind.”

  “Sage, do you want him to stay?” Zane’s eyes suddenly soften and lock with mine. He leans into me until I feel his words on my cheek. “Really, really want him to stay?”

  “Of course,” I whisper. “More than anything.” And then Zane’s lips are on mine, pressing into me. The summer before my dad died, we went to Disneyland. He talked me into riding the Matterhorn, and I still remember the curves and twists and the creepy eyes in the dark. I held my breath and clutched the bar and prayed for the ride to be over. I had forgotten that feeling, until now. Until this moment and this kiss. And I’m stuck on that roller coaster, my stomach dropping out from underneath me. It’s cold and scary and wrong.

  Because he is kissing me.

  Zane is kissing me. What the—?

  Pressing both of my hands against his chest, I push him away.

  “What did you do that for?” I ask wiping my lip. But Zane’s not looking at me. He looks behind me. He looks at Adam, who stands on the grass with his arms crossed and his eyes darting between us. The fear and pain crossing his face cuts me in every possible place I can be cut. I bleed inside, raw, red, never ending.

  “No.” I leap from the swing, I reach for him, but he turns around. Turns around and walks away. “No, Adam. Stop.” I grab his arm and he spins, his face contorted and red and angry. “It's not what you think. He kissed me.”

  He looks at me, his face flashing thousands of emotions. Hurt, anger, rage, betrayal, hurt. And I’m dying inside with each one. “Please, please. You have to believe me.”

  He stops and stares at me. Stares and stares and stares. Heat flares in his face and his breathing is short and shallow.

  “Please,” I beg.

  He stares. Minutes of painful silence pass. It’s like we’re balancing crystal and glass between us and if either of us move, it will fall and break into thousands of pieces.

  Adam shatters it first.

  “Say, I do believe you,” he says. “That doesn’t explain why you were with him. What were you doing?”

  “I was waiting for you.”

  “With him?”

  “No, he just showed up.”

  “I told you about Zane, how dangerous he was. I told you what to do if you saw him.” Adam crosses his arms and narrows his gaze.

  “I know. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

  “About him?”

  “Yes, I think he could help us.” Desperation bleeds through my voice. Believe me, believe me, believe me.

  “You what? Did you not listen to a word I said? He’s a murderer.” His words are laced with hurt, and my heart cracks.

  “No,” I say. “I listened. I’m just not sure you know the whole story.”

  “You think that I’m some idiot?”

  “No.” Tears spill across my cheeks. “No, please, no.”

  “Just go,” he said. “Go, get away.” His face is pale and he doubles over, erupting into deep choking coughs.

  “Adam.” I reach for his shoulder, but he shakes me off.

  “Don’t touch me.” He’s hot and hoarse and sinking to the sand. I reach for him, trying to hold him up, but he bats my hands away. Not quick enough for me to feel the scorching fire beneath his skin. His blood. The Nexus.

  “No Adam, no. What are you doing? Where’s t
he Nexus? Stop it. Stop it. Stop it.”

  Zane stands by the swing, his arms crossed, watching. “Help,” I yell to him. “Help him.”

  “No, I don’t need your help. And especially not his.” Adam’s words slur and stumble out of him.

  “Zane?”

  Zane looks past me towards the cabins where three figures run towards us. His gaze shifts back to me. “Sorry,” he says before he takes off into the woods.

  “Coward,” I whisper.

  Laris and Vin reach us, pushing me out of the way and hauling Adam to his feet. “What happened?” Laris asks.

  I step forward. “He—”

  “Get her away from me,” Adam growls.

  “No. You don’t mean that.”

  “Get her away from me,” Adam groans and Vin steps between us.

  “No.” I move to go around Vin, but he blocks me. “I need to see him.”

  Vin holds up a hand and steps backwards. He reaches for Adam’s shoulder as Laris whispers something into Adam’s ear. White light flashes and everybody disappears. Everybody, but me.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  I’m still on the beach when Zane reappears. I tackle him, pummeling my fists as hard as I can into his face.

  “Ow,” he says pushing me off. I roll to my back and push myself up on my arms.

  “What have you done? Why? Why? Why?” I scream the words as tears drip down my cheeks.

  “I did you a favor.”

  “A favor? A favor? You’ve ruined my life.” I scream the words and the blood pounds and pounds and pounds through me. I want to kill him. I want to wrap my fingers around his neck and strangle him for what he’s done.

  “Oh, stop being such a drama queen. I haven’t ruined anything. I’m trying to help you.” He stands up and brushes sand from his black jeans and leather jacket sleeves.

  “By making Adam hate me?”

  “Exactly.”

  “So you kissed me on purpose. You knew Adam was there.”

  “I certainly wasn’t kissing you just to kiss you.” His eyes rake over me. “You are not my type at all.”

  “I hate you.” I throw a punch into his arm, but he moves and all I punch is air.

  “Settle down.”

  “I can’t,” I say. “I can’t. I can’t.” I’m crashing inside. Crashing, exploding, dying.

  “But you can.” He’s grabbing my shoulders. “You can, you hear me? This is all part of the plan. Adam will see that.”

  “No. No he won’t. All he sees is that I betrayed him.” Adam’s hurt eyes flash in front of my face and I’m cut again. Cut and bleeding and—

  I sink to the sand and wrap my arms around my legs. “How?” I ask. “You saw him. He’ll never forgive me.” I drop my face to my knees, wet tears beginning to soak into my jeans.

  Zane sighs and sits down next to me. “I’m sure he’ll forgive you when he knows the truth. Probably before then, knowing him. But I couldn’t let you tell him yet. Not if this is going to work.” His hand reaches out and strokes my back. Flinching, I move away from him. No way do I want condolences from the guy who may have messed everything up with Adam. He drops his hand to the sand and leans back on his elbows.

  “What is this?” I turn to him. “You keep saying you have some grand plan, but what is it?”

  “This is me saving his ass and making you both happy.”

  “By kissing me?”

  “It made you happy, didn’t it?” He grins.

  I slap him. Straight across the face. “I hate you. Hate you. Hate you. And say something like that again, I’ll make sure you can’t make any little human alien half-breeds.” I spit the words as I rub my stinging palm, and he rubs his pink jaw.

  He raises an eyebrow. “Adam needs to convince his dad that he’s going to go save Perseida. Not fight Laris’s plans anymore,” he says. “If he thinks you two are over, it will be more convincing. Trust me on this.”

  “Trust you? How can I trust you? You won’t even tell me exactly what your stupid plan is. And I don’t like this ‘don’t tell Adam’ stuff.”

  “Adam can’t know.”

  I shake my head at him. “I don’t get it,” I say.

  “Laris will see right through it if he tries to fake it. The only way for Adam to convince Laris he’s going is if Adam really wants to go. And the only reason he doesn’t want to go is you. So if you’re out of the picture….” Zane lifts a brow and shrugs his shoulder.

  The anger drains and an empty sadness begins to fill the empty space it leaves behind. “Adam will go,” I whisper the words and ache at their sound. “After today, he’s going to go, isn’t he? Because he thinks I betrayed him?”

  Zane doesn’t answer, but he doesn’t need to. Adam’s face, the shock, the pain, the hurt. It’s burned into my brain, punching me in the gut over and over. I can’t tell Adam about Zane’s plan anymore. We can’t have the talk I had planned where we figure it out together, where we’re in this together. Now it’s only up to me. “Okay.” I glance at Zane. “If I go along with all of this, what next?”

  “Once Laris is comfortable that Adam has accepted his fate, he’ll stop watching Adam every second and let him have the last few weeks with his mom. That’s when you tell him everything and why you did it. He’ll believe you. Once you’ve done that, you and Adam need to get out of town.”

  “To where?”

  “It doesn’t matter, and I really don’t care. You need to hide out until Adam’s birthday.” He leans back on his arms and closes his eyes as if he’s soaking in the sun. How can he be so calm about this?

  “That’s not for another two months. What about the Nexians? Or his dad? Won’t they find us?” Fear trickles along my skin. Zane’s plan doesn’t seem like much of a plan at all.

  “I’ll take care of that. Laris won’t even know he’s missing, trust me. And since you’ll be out of the picture, being broken up and all, they won’t notice you are either.”

  “And what about the Nexus? He won't leave without that. What if he uses it and gets sick and dies?”

  “He won’t die from using it if he doesn't bring it. Besides he doesn't need it. He'll be fine. Trust me.”

  “You say that a lot,” I say. I turn away from him, watching the waves lap at the beach, trying to push Adam’s face out of mine. The hurt, the pain. Am I doing the right thing?

  “How can you know he’ll be fine?” I ask. “Who are you?”

  “Doesn’t matter.”

  “Adam thinks you’re a Nexian.”

  “So you’ve said. Maybe I am, maybe I’m not. Maybe I play both sides. Nexian, Perseidian, I’m helping you, so does it matter?”

  “The Nexians murder people.”

  “Perseidians do too.” He leaps to his feet, sending a puff of sand blowing into my eyes. “There’s a lot you don’t know, and I’m out of time and answers for today.”

  “Wait. What am I supposed to do now?”

  “Do?”

  “About Adam.”

  “Don’t make up with him.” He backs away, slow, careful, deliberate steps. “Don’t call him. Stay away from this beach. If you want this to work you’re just going to have to—”

  “Yeah, I know. Trust you.”

  “Good girl.” He grins and salutes before turning around and fading into gold light.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  I’m buried under my blankets to drown out the noise of my mom and Mark. Their fight grows louder, but it hasn’t erupted into a full-blown physical confrontation. Please, not tonight. I grasp my phone in my hand, hoping it will ring. Hoping Adam will call. Hoping, hoping, hoping.

  My mom screams, loud and whiny, but not in pain. The front door slams and her scream fades to a whimper. Covering my ears, I bury myself even further. When her cries ease into silence, I pull back the blankets and suck in air. My fingers are still clamped around the silent phone. It’s warm in my hand and I’m itching. Itching to press the buttons. To dial his number.

  Don’t make up with Adam.
I have to.

  He answers on the second ring. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. He breathes, slow and deep. Like he’s waiting for more. But I’m afraid to say more. Afraid to move. Afraid to breathe.

  “I’m coming over,” he says, and the phone clicks into nothingness.

  I change from my pajamas into clothes and tiptoe through the dark house. I notice the light from the garage on the front porch. Mark’s in the garage. If Adam pulls in the driveway, we’ll have to deal with Mark, asking questions, demanding answers. No thanks. I keep to the shadows of the trees and walk to the road.

  It’s several moments before the headlights. His headlights.

  They grow, and my heartbeat grows with them. I step into the road and hold my hands up. The car slows, braking as it nears me. Adam’s shadowy outline comes into focus as the car stops in front of me. Even in the dark, I can see the heaviness in Adam’s eyes. Don’t make up with him. What am I doing?

  I crawl into the passenger side. Adam doesn’t turn in my direction, doesn’t say anything. He keeps his eyes to the road, and I play with my fingers. What do I say?

  “Why were you on the road?”

  I jump at his question. “Oh. Mark’s in the garage,” I say. “I didn’t think you’d want to deal with him.”

  He nods as he does a U-turn on Star Harbor Road, heading back towards his mom’s. I wonder if that’s where we’re going, but we breeze by the entrance a few minutes later. I glance over at him, but he stares at the road. His hands are tight on the steering wheel, and his jaw is rigid. I nearly ask him where we’re going, but when we slow and abruptly turn into the trees, I don’t have to.

  It’s not like last time. The branches still scratch and scrape the bouncing car, but Adam isn’t dying in the backseat. He drives slower than Stella, and when we pull into the clearing, he turns the headlights off. The stones glisten in the moonlight. He stares for a moment, his face full of unsaid words I can’t read. Then he opens the car door and climbs out. I’m like a puppy dog, rushing out my door, scrambling to follow him. I’m afraid of what he’ll say. I’m afraid of what he won’t.