Starlight

by Lauren Jade Case

  “No,” she agreed. “And we haven’t spoken about names.”

  “Jasper’s good,” Jasper decided, sitting next to his brother. “Nice and strong.”

  “Or Alex,” Alex suggested, taking up the spot beside Peri. “It’s gender-neutral.”

  Archie bit into his next slice. “I’m sure we’ll consider all options.”

  Sarah nodded, a piece of hair falling from her top knot. “I suppose soon you’ll be looking for your own house too.”

  Peri grinned at Archie as she said, “One by the sea.”

  “Speaking of water.” Jasper turned to his brother. “Is that baby going to actually be a little fish?”

  Peri threw a pizza crust at him, but answered once everyone had stopped laughing. “We don’t know. It could be either.”

  The rest of the table descended into conversation. Even Noah joined in.

  Natalia stayed quiet, picking at her food, too aware of her pain and how Kei was mooching around. The Monster girl finally stopped and sat beside Jasper, seeming to find every possible excuse to touch him. Natalia’s stomach wrapped itself in knots every time.

  The doorbell rang and Noah offered to get it. Everyone became easily distracted again so Natalia took her chance and escaped.

  She crept towards the basement. Hearing her father’s voice, and then Katherine’s, nearly made her stop. Nevertheless, she carried on, taking extra care with the door behind her.

  The training room was exactly as it’d been left. Painted targets were at the far end and punching bags at the other, one now with a tear since Natalia’s blade had nicked it.

  Natalia walked to the target her blade was stuck in and plucked it out, knowing full well she could’ve commanded it to her. She walked away and then suddenly swung round, flicking her wrist hard. The blade sank into the target’s edge. She repeated everything over. This time, the blade landed point centre. The next time, she completely missed.

  She sighed in frustration. No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t get a handle on anything. She couldn’t throw consistently, and though she could just command her blade on where to land, it felt like cheating. Besides, one day the power may be taken, or she might have a normal blade to throw. She couldn’t dodge attacks and nearly always got hit. She didn’t have magic at her disposal, only her dust, and even that she couldn’t aim directly enough. If she could even call on it.

  The only thing of value, that would work every time as a defence, would be her wings. Wings she was yet to gain. The itch always came but nothing ever appeared. No matter what she did, whether it was calling on them or trying to force them out, nothing.

  What’s wrong with me? If she couldn’t make her wings appear, there was only so much she could do. How can I face Monsters when I can’t even help myself?

  Her heart sank. The one thing she thought made her a true Fairy was the one thing she couldn’t make materialise.

  You burn brighter than your sisters and brothers. And I came here to find you.

  Natalia let her blade fly and wanted to scream when it grazed the target’s edge. The thought had caught her off guard. Clearly seeing Kei had caused the memory to resurface and she hated it. Kei was extremely unsettling. Was it because of the memories she brought with her or something else? Natalia couldn’t put her finger on it.

  “Princess?” Natalia called her blade to her hand as Noah edged into the room, the lights giving his umber skin a sheen over his forehead. “Are you alright?”

  “I wanted to get more practise in.” Saying the words made her realise how much better at lying without showing physical symptoms she was.

  “That’s not it,” he told her. “Or you wouldn’t have snuck away when everyone was focused on Tony and Katherine.”

  “I didn’t sneak.”

  Noah pointed at himself. “I’m the only one here. And it took me minutes to realise you were gone and didn’t seem to be returning. So, what’s really going on?”

  “When I get my hands on her—” Natalia and Noah turned to see Peri hobbling off the last step. Peri spotted them and marched over. The look on her face warned Natalia she better brace herself for a slap, but instead got a tight hug. Peri pulled back, touching her stump with her hand. “And where do you think you were sneaking off too, amore?”

  “Told you,” Noah said pointedly.

  “I didn’t sneak,” Natalia argued. “And if I had, I haven’t got very far, have I? I came here to practise.”

  Peri said nothing, but dragged Natalia into the tiny toilet room at the back of the training room. Inside, Peri forced her round to look in the mirror.

  With frazzled hair, scratches over her neck and cheeks, and a dark bruise forming above her collarbone, she was a mess. Her upper lip was split and her cheeks were sparkling more than she’d ever seen them.

  Scratch being a mess. She was worse than that.

  “I think you’re done,” Peri said, using a tone that left no room for arguing. They re-entered the room. “Come back upstairs and eat more pizza. Or we can go into another room and play games? Maybe spar on the lawn, instead? We could even go for a swim?”

  “Wouldn’t it be freezing?” Noah pointed out.

  “Didn’t you ban yourself from some those things?” Natalia added.

  “Keeping a fish from water isn’t healthy for it,” Peri said, waving her stump dismissively. She put her hand on her stomach. “Being in the water is kind of my thing, and it won’t hurt the baby. Mermaids don’t just let go of the water when they’re pregnant. Mermaids are the water. Plus, it’ll keep my overall fitness up.”

  “Maybe tomorrow? I really do want to get in more practise.”

  Peri folded her arms. “Why? What are you trying to prove?”

  “Prove? I’m not trying to prove anything.”

  “Are you sure you’re not trying to prove to Kei that you’re capable of fighting?”

  “What—”

  “Because I think you are. And Kei isn’t worth it. She’s finicky and tricky and sometimes downright nasty. Archie was telling me how hard she went with you when she barely made any moves with or against the others. She probably saw you as a threat, as competition, and didn’t like it. So she went out of her way to make you suffer and back off, which, because of your lack of training, is easy for someone like her.”

  Natalia was beyond confused. “Threat? Competition? Back off what?”

  “Jasper,” Peri and Noah said in unison.

  Natalia’s eyes flicked between them both. “What?”

  “Kei has had a thing for Jasper for as long as I can remember,” Peri explained. “She even thought I was a threat until she realised I was with Archie, and even then she thought I was going to snatch him.”

  Natalia didn’t like this. She wanted it to stop. She’d barely just come to a conclusive thought about Jasper and how she felt about him – that maybe she liked him as more than a friend and that they maybe shared some sort of connection.

  Noah and Peri smiled like Natalia’s silence was enough. Natalia wanted to deny it, to refuse the unsaid accusations, but she felt her cheeks warm and dust coated them in seconds until it was even manifesting in her palms – she’d never done that before.

  All three of them went to speak when someone called out. However, their words were muffled by a large, deafening, alarm.

  “Shit,” Peri cursed. “Merda!”

  “What’s happening?” Noah asked, holding onto Natalia for support.

  Peri’s voice wrapped around Natalia until her spine felt weak. “That’s the alarm for a Monster invasion.”

  14

  The Waves Inside A Heart

  Tony reached out and instinctively tucked Katherine to his side. Despite the noise and commotion, he heard her gasp. He forced them both forwards. He had to find his little girl. Love had been lost from him once. He wasn’t about to lose again.

  His chest constricted with every step, an invisible killer snake winding around the lungs. At the last second, Natalia barged thr
ough a door beside him. He snatched her and nearly tore her arm from its socket as he pulled her into a fierce hug. His heart became unbound and free once more.

  The alarm shut off as quickly as it’d come, the Darby family congregating in the hallway as if awaiting instructions.

  Sarah, the lady of the house, pulled on a jacket. “Okay,” she said, demanding everyone’s attention. “That was the Monster alarm. It means there is more than one out there, more than a handful. This won’t be easy.” Her eyes caught Noah in the small crowd. “Noah? Since you have little training, you’re staying.” Humans could fight the fight with Creatures, but it was rare.

  Noah looked pale. “Fine with me,” he agreed.

  “I will too,” said the mermaid, Peri.

  Her boyfriend, Archie, went to her. He was much larger in both muscle and height but they fit together when he pulled her into hug. It reminded Tony of himself and Lavender. And now Katherine, maybe. As if knowing his thoughts, Katherine put a hand to his chest, spreading her fingers over his shirt. Could she feel his heart and how it thumped at her touch?

  “Tony?” James called, stepping forwards.

  Before Natalia had ever met the Darby’s, Tony had known of James John Darby. Lavender had introduced them years ago after a trip to Paris; they’d been travelling for fun while James was moving for work. Coincidence had meant they’d met then and now.

  Tony shook his head. “I’m staying,” he decided. It wasn’t a hard choice to make. “I can’t fight anymore.” He’d done some training in his time, but it’d been minimal and he was way out of practise.

  “I’m coming,” Katherine said immediately after. She stared up at Tony shyly, not asking for permission – she didn’t need to ask for permission, they didn’t own or control each other – but in a way to reassure him that this was right and what she needed and wanted to do, and that she would be alright.

  “Natalia,” Sarah called, not in question. Natalia perked up. “You’re staying.”

  “What?” Natalia’s voice was shrill.

  Kei, the Monster girl, whose skin was blue and curvy again, grinned, though it looked more like a snarl. “It’s because you can’t fight,” she mocked. “We would be too busy looking after you and picking your pieces up afterwards.” She shuffled her body to stand in front of Jasper, blocking him.

  Tony looked down at his daughter. She was seething. “I can fight!”

  “You’ve had luck before.”

  James pulled Kei away by her arm and Tony clutched onto his daughter, both girls being held to stop them before a fight ensued here in the hall. Tony looked at his daughter, more concerned about her – she’d never once gotten into a fight before. The look on Natalia’s face gave away exactly how she felt; he could see that this wasn’t exactly all about not being able to fight.

  “You can fight,” Sarah assured her as James continued to block the still-snarling Kei. “We’ve seen it. But this isn’t a one-on-one situation. We’ll be outnumbered. You’ve only just become a Creature and lack the training for this. And until you’ve had that training, it’s not safe for you. I’m sorry.”

  Tony held onto his little girl but Natalia didn’t seem to want to argue. He hoped Natalia knew these people wanted to keep her safe just like he did.

  It had killed him to lie, to pretend for all those years that Natalia was Human, but it had been his wife’s last wish. Tony had never known what from or why, but Lavender had wanted to protect Natalia.

  He hadn’t been inside the room for Natalia’s birth, but Lavender had died nearly two months later, so something had been wrong almost from that poignant moment. Maybe before? No one had been sure. Had what killed Lavender been what she was protecting Natalia from? How had she known what to protect Natalia from, or had she been taking no chances?

  Tony never understood but had respected Lavender’s wishes, keeping Natalia away from that life until right moment. Except there hadn’t been one. She’d been attacked before he could explain. If only he’d told her sooner, she wouldn’t be so inexperienced and could be on her way now to follow the Purpose she was born with. Instead he had to watch her sink back like she’d been stung.

  As the Darby’s fanned out, shutting the door behind them, Natalia stepped away from her father, giving him a raised eyebrow before turning her back.

  He went to call out that she would get her chance when he felt a sudden kiss against his cheek. Katherine pulled away but Tony wasn’t about to let her go easily, and with so little.

  He held onto her waist and tugged on the ends of her jacket until they were pressed together. Years he’d been waiting for this and it just happened to come before she would leave towards danger. Part of him had wanted to be free of this world, free of the life of Creatures and Monsters and the war, but the other part was glad he’d stayed.

  With a heart burning with complications and conflictions, he pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was sweet and slow, her lips soft, as if they had time to spare for each other.

  They parted too soon. Tony kissed Katherine’s hand; a promise that when she came back things would move on with them, but first she must return. Katherine squeezed his hand and wiped the edge of his mouth, then left without looking back.

  Tony sighed and spotted Peri, a smirk on her face. Noah, too, seemed a little impressed, his eyebrows raised high. Tony blushed. He turned to Natalia, but she wasn’t there.

  A gust of wind lapped his ankles and he spun, panic coursing through him. The doors in the kitchen were wide open.

  The three who were left ran to the open space, their feet meeting grass. Tony spotted Natalia atop the fence at the bottom of the garden. He called to her, hard and loud, his heart pounding inside his head.

  Not again. Not again. Not again.

  I can’t lose you too!

  She didn’t hear him and disappeared over the top.

  Jasper nearly let out a laugh, and would’ve if the situation was different.

  Scorpios, more than he’d ever seen in one place before, scuttled onto the beach from the sea, pincers snapping and tails thrusting. Two Kiffleggers were scaling down the cliff-side, the noise of what was below drawing them in. There was even a Poena climbing out of the water it lived in; sea creatures were mixed inside of its grey yet pellucid body – they absorbed anything they touched to gain energy, and they’d been known to snatch a bit of magic from a Witch if they touched one.

  Jasper rubbed his hands together but not for warmth. He was about to mention how this wasn’t an invasion when three Mitters – Monsters that were as hard as rock, the colour of damp slate, and were seven feet tall at their smallest – burst from the cliffside. Jasper groaned. Now it was an invasion. Why did he even have to think otherwise? He should’ve known the Seven Hells seemed to listen.

  The sand shifted beneath his feet, making it hard to run. He had to persevere. Gritting his teeth, his eyes found Archie being swarmed by the Mitters.

  Jasper touched his fingertips of both hands together, and when he pulled them apart, two of the Mitters scattered. One was dumped into the ocean, its body seizing on impact – water was their one weakness, so it was odd to find them so close to it. The other Mitter collided with the cliff and seemed to become lost within it.

  Twice more Jasper thrusted his magic and twice more he was successful. He wiped the sweat from his head and his heart pounded relentlessly as two Siltapolia burst from the ground, and Jasper tumbled into the pit they’d created. He frowned. For Monsters that preferred to roam densely treed areas, or would skulk around fresh water lakes, it seemed curious to find them on Venderly.

  Something was going on, it had to be. Something wrong. It couldn’t be a coincidence that Monsters who weren’t normally found in places like this were suddenly sprouting here.

  Wrinkling his nose at the damp smell, Jasper tried to find a way out of the hole. Though it wasn’t overly deep, the dry sand shifted faster than he could grab onto it. But he had no other option. Just as he went to climb, one of the Si
ltapolias peered over the edge of the pit. Jasper cursed.

  Black tar-like gunk dripped from the Monster. Jasper dodged it the best he could in the small space, relieved when it burnt the pale sand instead. He remembered all too well the last time he’d been touched by this Monster type, and wore the scar by his neck as proof.

  Palms touching, Jasper raised his arms and breathed out. The Monster above him reacted, suddenly listening, knowing something was nearby. Then Jasper turned his hands, one going upside-down while the other was righted.

  With a noise that sounded like a pipe draining, the Monster came apart.

  The sand shifted, threatening to bury him alive. It took most of the strength he had to climb free.

  “Fuck,” he cursed, knowing how close to being burnt he’d been. One misstep and he’d have had a second scar.

  “Jasper?” Archie’s voice carried from somewhere.

  Jasper looked for his brother but found only the torn apart beach.

  He wasted no time, he had no time, and flung himself forwards. He clapped his hands together and tore them apart seconds later, repeating it over and over.

  Two Scorpios split into ash. Three Siltapolias dodged his trap but fell into his mother’s. Archie finally came into sight, nearly touched by the Poena, but his dad saved him, only for another Scorpio to spring from the sea. Katherine, who Jasper deemed was definitely misplaced running a cake shop, waved her hands and a cascade of waves attacked the Monsters closest to her at her command. Kei was even attacking one of her own; her face was a mask of fury as if she didn’t want to be associated with what she had once been a part of.

  Unlike all other attacks, this one seemed unnatural. The way these Monsters kept appearing, it was as if they were being forced to – like their need to randomly destroy and bring Hell to everywhere was being focused and narrowed on this one point. Jasper was sure he’d never seen or heard of this kind of coordinated attack before.

  Monsters attacked each other; their need to destroy included themselves. So what was it here? Why were they attacking this beach?